I absolutely devoured this and I cannot wait for the novella to come out on the 25th!
We get so much more of Lia’s story, and also Cassies own life with her mother. Now on the track of her mothers attacker, Cassie and the rest of the Naturals are in a town with a cult on its borders and a poison museum, oh and did I mention that this was the home of a serial killer? And that Cassie has realised she had forgotten the life she lived there with her mother.
Yes yes yes.
World – 5/5 – this is dark and psychological, and I love it so much!
Plot – 5/5 – I knew what was going to happen, or I thought it did, but it still surprised me! I loved that there were multiple mysteries within the book.
Characters – 5/5 – wow.
Romance – 5/5 – I love Dean and Cassie, we only get little tiny moments of them but they are so good together.
Violence Rating: Level 5
Romance Rating: Soft
Content Warnings: Rape (in past, resulted in a child), dead animals, murder, serial killers, drugs, torture, child abuse.
I am used to having sequal disappointment, but this one was honestly a worthy continuation to the series and added something to the original plot and world.
In this one a serial killer is now copying Daniel Reddings murder MO, but seemingly erratically – we have a collage class that teaches about Daniel Redding’s genius in his serial killing, various potential suspects and all of the internal drama as the Naturals battle against their own pasts.
I read this one in one day and honestly I adored it. A full five stars because it was so good.
World – 5/5 – gritty and great.
Romance – 4/5 – continuation of the love triangle and I’m not going to say who she ends up with but I enjoyed it a lot.
Characters – 5/5 – I love the way that Jennifer lets us in on small bits of information about the characters so slowly, it’s realistic and also makes every book have so much more mystery and reveals to them than just the main case.
Plot – 5/5 – I was not expecting that reveal at all!
Violence Rating: Level 5, no SA, just psychological murders.
To begin with why is this not more famous than the inheritance games? This book is flawless, and honestly? It deserves the title of the best of series ten times over because what do you mean I was absorbed and obsessed from page one?
Okay so the premise surrounds the FBI and serial killers – the FBI are secretly using children with almost supernatural abilities to track down serial killers and our main character has just been recruited.
To begin with, the way that Jennifer writes the serial killers perspective is just so so stunning and dark, and I absolutely adore that it really shows how psychological it is to have to figure out a serial killers motive. There is this undercurrent throughout that the only way they can figure out the serial killers is because they are one push away from becoming them themselves which is just perfection and I adore a good moral edge.
This is much darker than the Inheritance Games and her debutante series because it focuses on the worse of murders and also abusive households. All of the children in the program come from extremely abusive homes because that is the reason they have developed these abilities – to read emotions, to understand patterns and numbers, to tell when someone is lying perfectly even on paper, to be able to lie over and over and get away with it.
World – 5/5 – dark, gritty, perfection.
Romance – Soft – 5/5 – we have a love triangle emerging but unusually I actually get both the men’s appeal so I’m loving that!
Plot – 5/5 – I was shook by the end! It was so good and so out of no where that honestly you just need to read it!
Characters – 10000/5 – yes. Just yes they are so complex and difficult and I want a spin off from all of their POVS!
Romance Rating: Soft – kisses, low description, no making out.
Okay so I admit I was a little wary going in. Its one of those books that everyone either loves or hates (and they ping pong back from review to review) so I wasnt sure I was going to enjoy it. BUT! I did. Its not my usual genre – its contempory mystery thriller with a subplot of romance that I fear is going to become a love triangle but I’m suspecting it’ll be an excellent one. From the back I thought it would be more of a light easy read – a few puzzles thrown in and a bit like a game of Cluedo with four brothers every review goes on about OR a dark thriller about truely how far the rich would go to keep their wealth and power.
Avery is quite a stereotypical lead and we can understand her character very quickly. Its needed because the rest of the characters have layers upon layers and yet nothing. Her best friend Maxine’s odd swearing got a little on my nerves. Instead of using the actual words she substituted them them frequently. I almost wish that she had just said the words, I found myself having to figure out what her convoluted swearing substitutions actually meant. That said I did like how Avery was called out on her self absorbed behavior – the mc often has the most drama, but that is no reason not to know your best friends boyfriends name.
The four brothers felt a little samey but it was really interesting to see just how far the machinations of their grandfather went. Tobias Hawthorne was truly either a genius or a twisted psychopath and I cant decide if he was both. Greyson, Nash, Jameson and Xander have been pitted against each other constantly as children in these challenges and games. The old man would set up these complex riddles for them to follow, and in the end the boys were encouraged to backstab and betray each other to get to the answer first.
The supporting characters were interesting and I wish that Skye the mother got more page time, it would be interesting to hear her side of the really unjust inheritance system and toxic grandfather whom pitted everyone against each other.
The world is well…this one. Usually in fantasy/dystopian I talk about the world building and lore but because its contempory I’m going to talk about the locations. Hawthorne House is the perfect setting – all those tunnels and passages and just how deep Tobias Hawthornes plan runs inside the bones of the house is incredible. I wish we had got more time at the private school, it felt like Avery barely dipped her toe into that world but the book does take place over less than a week so I’m just hoping for more in the next book.
The plot was interesting. Overall it was complex and many layered but the solution was found very easily. This is because the plot was entirely engineered by Tobias Hawthorne and we as the reader have no clue about his motivations yet. I felt Avery was a little swept away and confused (understandably) by her new world and it is really interesting just how easily she is manipulated. In a lot of books the character either doesnt realise they are being manipulated until they are told, or does a cynics stand against it and likely ends up in some kind of plot point anyway. However Avery was realistically stranded with an unreliable sister (Libby whom I do like but she isnt in the best place to help Avery) in a out of state manor with people who detest her.
Romance is the one thing I am not sure how I feel about. Jameson and Avery appear to be getting into a relationship but then not at the same time (I am so glad the DNA test came back quickly tho) and the other characters romance is all in the past.
Emily is the main subplot point that guides the main plot. Its interesting to wonder if Tobias was intentionally bringing her back up or if it was accidental. Either way, Emily as a character serves as the warning for what Avery could become. She had two of the Hawthorne boys, Jameson and Grayson and in the end she loved both and neither because she wanted the experience of being a millionaire more than the boys. Avery is juxtaposed against Emily with a few key differences.
Plot – 4/5
World – 3/5 – I dont know what it is but I just didnt grasp the world quite as well as usual despite the fact I live on the same planet.
Characters – 4/5
Romance – 3/5 – Sweet Romance – hardly there to be honest but i can feel the love triangle coming on.
Things to be aware of: Death, manipulation, domestic abuse (none on the page but mentioned)
Damsel in Delight 