Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
image: 
For me, there were too many plot holes, feeble characters (she’s smart enough for difficult circumstances and utterly nonsensical for simple/obvious situations) and what sounded like a promising story premise but it just turned into a mini dumpster fire.
It was fast pace with odd encounters so holding my attention was not a problem. This book probably will be most appreciated by a certain age group – 8-14yrs and could undoubtedly fill a teacher’s discussion planner for months – many aspects of stereotyping to scrutinize. But it’s nowhere close to being intelligent enough or filling in holes that Hunger Games or Divergent leave on readers – don’t believe the “marketing” on the book jacket!
Gender game – one naturally wonders about romance…forget about it. The book has plenty of violence (homicide, cage fighting, near rape…) but gives the reader an absurdly clumsy romance!?
World building - ?? They ride motorcycles, fly helicopters, track people, yet, use landline phones and rowboats? Zero points. But there’s a forest that is deadly but I guess the sequel unlocks that mystery.
The ending was definitely easy to see coming and was intended to boggle the reader's mind as to wonder if you/I could really stomach to foray into the sequel. I’m tempted because nothing makes sense but a part of me is curious to see how bad the book could be. It’s the proverbial roadside wreck/rubbernecking ploy.
For me, there were too many plot holes, feeble characters (she’s smart enough for difficult circumstances and utterly nonsensical for simple/obvious situations) and what sounded like a promising story premise but it just turned into a mini dumpster fire.
It was fast pace with odd encounters so holding my attention was not a problem. This book probably will be most appreciated by a certain age group – 8-14yrs and could undoubtedly fill a teacher’s discussion planner for months – many aspects of stereotyping to scrutinize. But it’s nowhere close to being intelligent enough or filling in holes that Hunger Games or Divergent leave on readers – don’t believe the “marketing” on the book jacket!
Gender game – one naturally wonders about romance…forget about it. The book has plenty of violence (homicide, cage fighting, near rape…) but gives the reader an absurdly clumsy romance!?
World building - ?? They ride motorcycles, fly helicopters, track people, yet, use landline phones and rowboats? Zero points. But there’s a forest that is deadly but I guess the sequel unlocks that mystery.
The ending was definitely easy to see coming and was intended to boggle the reader's mind as to wonder if you/I could really stomach to foray into the sequel. I’m tempted because nothing makes sense but a part of me is curious to see how bad the book could be. It’s the proverbial roadside wreck/rubbernecking ploy.
Solid read- Definitely nothing like an easy, dystopian read to breeze through (3/5)
slow-paced
This book was a gripping page turner! I'm interested to see what happens next.
Audio book review.
An action-packed YA spy novel with a focus on a budding forbidden romance. Our main character, Violet, is a troublemaking orphan. After killing a third girl in self-defense, she is recruited by royalty to go to the neighboring kingdom, marry their man on the inside, Lee, and retrieve a stolen biological artifact without arousing suspicion that her home kingdom is to blame. That's a simplified version. Let me just say, this setup sucks. I'm fine with the spy story unravelling as it did, but the way the author chose to get her character into that role makes no sense to me.
While planning this mission with her fake husband, the two agree the best way to shift blame is to place it squarely on another's shoulders, Viggo. Violet suggests getting to be friends with Viggo will give them inside information, so the two end up spending a lot of time together. They fall in love, big surprise. That bit was predictable.
I did NOT think the world building was convincing. Doesn't make sense to have neighboring kingdoms, one ruled by women, the other by men, and to have them hate each other so much that the opposite gender is treated like absolute garbage. Men and women become property, disposable, utterly defenseless. I could get more into that, but let's just say it's not fun to read, and if it weren't for Violet and Viggo, I'd have put the book down.
The saving grace for me was the awkward interactions, the conversations edging closer to friendship, the building of a tenuous understanding of each other. These two characters just work for me, regardless of how the rest of the story works. I just HAD to keep reading to find out what happens to them. I will read on in book 2, so hopefully my characters retain their integrity and intensity.
An action-packed YA spy novel with a focus on a budding forbidden romance. Our main character, Violet, is a troublemaking orphan. After killing a third girl in self-defense, she is recruited by royalty to go to the neighboring kingdom, marry their man on the inside, Lee, and retrieve a stolen biological artifact without arousing suspicion that her home kingdom is to blame. That's a simplified version. Let me just say, this setup sucks. I'm fine with the spy story unravelling as it did, but the way the author chose to get her character into that role makes no sense to me.
While planning this mission with her fake husband, the two agree the best way to shift blame is to place it squarely on another's shoulders, Viggo. Violet suggests getting to be friends with Viggo will give them inside information, so the two end up spending a lot of time together. They fall in love, big surprise. That bit was predictable.
I did NOT think the world building was convincing. Doesn't make sense to have neighboring kingdoms, one ruled by women, the other by men, and to have them hate each other so much that the opposite gender is treated like absolute garbage. Men and women become property, disposable, utterly defenseless. I could get more into that, but let's just say it's not fun to read, and if it weren't for Violet and Viggo, I'd have put the book down.
The saving grace for me was the awkward interactions, the conversations edging closer to friendship, the building of a tenuous understanding of each other. These two characters just work for me, regardless of how the rest of the story works. I just HAD to keep reading to find out what happens to them. I will read on in book 2, so hopefully my characters retain their integrity and intensity.
Oh my God, this book is so bad! Not only is the world building very limited and the characters a shadow of developed characters but it's as if a first grader tried to write a dystopian novel!
I peeked into the rest of the books in this series and it only gets worse!
Normally, I don't like to rant about books but with this one, I can't seem to stop...
Complete waste of time!!!
I peeked into the rest of the books in this series and it only gets worse!
Normally, I don't like to rant about books but with this one, I can't seem to stop...
Complete waste of time!!!
Fantastic
Great start to a series! I can’t wait to read more about Violet. I couldn’t put this book down! Page turner!
Great start to a series! I can’t wait to read more about Violet. I couldn’t put this book down! Page turner!
This book was so good! Dont let the cover fool you! this woman is so independent and amazing as a character!
A good generic sci-fi for those who enjoyed Hunger Games—but honestly, my favorite character was the dog. And that was left unresolved.