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A review by yas_sezer
Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
3.75
3.75 stars🙂‍↔️
we have improved, i’m hoping it keeps going up from here.
- i liked the focus of this being on dean and his fathers history with being a serial killer. if anything i would have liked a lot more information regarding what went on behind the scenes, but it is YA so getting too graphic might not be the best thing to do
- as i have mentioned before, i really like deans character and i think him and cassie make a great match and balance each other out quite well. i didn’t really feel a romantic connection between cassie and michael, and tbh him sitting around like a duck waiting for her to pick him is embarrassing. get off the floor. him and lia tho.. i hope they become endgame too
- side note for sloane. she needs more love and appreciation 🥹
- agent sterling took a while to grow on me for the same reasons she took a while to grow on cassie. we just got betrayed by agent locke, can we really be blamed for being suspicious. i have no bad vibes with agent sterling at this stage so if we get betrayed by her too, i will be utterly shocked. but anyway, her dynamic with briggs (ex-hubby lol) i like and i hope they find a way to resolve their past issues. she’s his work partner now, surely there’s a hidden workplace romance going on here
- judd is growing on me but i can’t help but have a lingering suspicion about him. is he too nice? too safe? i don’t know exactly what it is but something about him makes me feel tense, like he is going to be involved in all this drama in some way. i don’t want to put that much thought into that idea because i would rather live in denial🙂
- the group themselves have grown on me and the found family is great in this series. it’s only book 2, and i feel like i really know them and have grown to care about them. they’re all memorable and have qualities specific to just them, and i like the more difficult concepts that are explored with their back stories. particularly since it’s YA, exposure and representation is important (eg. sexual assault, physical abuse, neglect, imposter syndrome).
- once again, i don’t want to be too critical of this series (i tend to be less critical when it comes to YA because i am not exactly the main target audience and i know that). the writing is easy to read and digest, there are parts that feel very “telling” and not “showing”, and i understand that based on our characters abilities, there is a lot of verbal explanations that need to happen so everyone knows what’s happening. but at the same time, i would have preferred having some things left for the reader to pick up on themselves and figure out. you can read this so mindlessly because everything is spoon fed to you
- i found the reveal to be a bit disappointing. the killers being who they were felt a bit like a cop out and was not as impactful as i would have liked. i just had a very “oh” reaction rather than “oooo”, which isn’t great for a mystery. but alas, i enjoyed the ride and hope we keep going up from here
- i would recommend this series thus far, but don’t expect anything crazy. it’s just a fun time, so take it for what it is. onto the next!
we have improved, i’m hoping it keeps going up from here.
- i liked the focus of this being on dean and his fathers history with being a serial killer. if anything i would have liked a lot more information regarding what went on behind the scenes, but it is YA so getting too graphic might not be the best thing to do
- as i have mentioned before, i really like deans character and i think him and cassie make a great match and balance each other out quite well. i didn’t really feel a romantic connection between cassie and michael, and tbh him sitting around like a duck waiting for her to pick him is embarrassing. get off the floor. him and lia tho.. i hope they become endgame too
- side note for sloane. she needs more love and appreciation 🥹
- agent sterling took a while to grow on me for the same reasons she took a while to grow on cassie. we just got betrayed by agent locke, can we really be blamed for being suspicious. i have no bad vibes with agent sterling at this stage so if we get betrayed by her too, i will be utterly shocked. but anyway, her dynamic with briggs (ex-hubby lol) i like and i hope they find a way to resolve their past issues. she’s his work partner now, surely there’s a hidden workplace romance going on here
- judd is growing on me but i can’t help but have a lingering suspicion about him. is he too nice? too safe? i don’t know exactly what it is but something about him makes me feel tense, like he is going to be involved in all this drama in some way. i don’t want to put that much thought into that idea because i would rather live in denial🙂
- the group themselves have grown on me and the found family is great in this series. it’s only book 2, and i feel like i really know them and have grown to care about them. they’re all memorable and have qualities specific to just them, and i like the more difficult concepts that are explored with their back stories. particularly since it’s YA, exposure and representation is important (eg. sexual assault, physical abuse, neglect, imposter syndrome).
- once again, i don’t want to be too critical of this series (i tend to be less critical when it comes to YA because i am not exactly the main target audience and i know that). the writing is easy to read and digest, there are parts that feel very “telling” and not “showing”, and i understand that based on our characters abilities, there is a lot of verbal explanations that need to happen so everyone knows what’s happening. but at the same time, i would have preferred having some things left for the reader to pick up on themselves and figure out. you can read this so mindlessly because everything is spoon fed to you
- i found the reveal to be a bit disappointing. the killers being who they were felt a bit like a cop out and was not as impactful as i would have liked. i just had a very “oh” reaction rather than “oooo”, which isn’t great for a mystery. but alas, i enjoyed the ride and hope we keep going up from here
- i would recommend this series thus far, but don’t expect anything crazy. it’s just a fun time, so take it for what it is. onto the next!