SCARLET By Marissa Meyer

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

SCARLET By Marissa MeyerScarlet by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #2
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 1/1/13
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Retellings, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 464
Format: Ebook, Paperback
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Short and Sweet Review

In France we meet Scarlet Benoit whose grandmother has disappeared. Scarlet is looking for any clue that could lead to where she is but she doesn’t realize the kind of danger her grandmother could be in until she meets wolf. Wolf is from Luna and has been modified and is in Queen Levana’s army. Scarlet reluctantly teams up with Wolf to try to find her grandmother and ends up running into members of wolf’s pack who are looking for information about Princess Selene that Scarlets grandmother would have. Cinder on the other hand is breaking out of prison and that’s where she meets Captain Carswell Thorne. Together Cinder and Thorne escape and make it to his ship and they end up going to France because Cinder is also trying to find Michelle Benoit for information about her past.

Every book in this series just gets better and in this sequel we meet Scarlet, Wolf, and Thorne. Scarlet just has a fire about her she’s not afraid to do what’s right and she’s not going to back down. We learn that there’s things that even Scarlet didn’t know about her grandmothers past so she’s surprised but she’s still determined to save her. Wolf is an interesting character he was made to serve the queen but he wants to break away, which is why he helps Scarlet. I think the bond that Scarlet and Wolf form is cute, they really look out for each other. Carswell Thorne is like comedic relief. Thorne is a serial flirter and it’s funny because not everyone is trying to be wooed by him and sometimes he doesn’t get it. We see Scarlet and Wolf go around France looking for her grandmother and fighting off others who have been modified like Wolf. Cinder and Thorne on the other hand are fugitives who are trying to evade capture. I love that we also get to see more of Iko but this time she’s the ship that Cinder and Thorne are in.

Now we have a few more characters joining Cinder and each character is important to helping Cinder take down Levana. I’m just excited to read Cress next and see where our characters will end up!

CINDER By Marissa Meyer

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

CINDER By Marissa MeyerCinder by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 1/1/12
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Retellings, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: Ebook, Paperback
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.

Short and Sweet Review

Cinder is a futuristic retelling of Cinderella. We follow our main character Cinder who is also part cyborg and lives in the commonwealth of China. Cinder lives with her stepmother Adri and two stepsisters Pearl and Peony. Cinder also has a super cool android named Iko. Anyway Cinder works at the market as a mechanic and is basically the breadwinner for the family and is treated like dirt by everyone except for Peony. One day Prince Kai comes to Cinders market stand to ask for help fixing his android. The sparks between Cinder and Kai fly and Cinder knows that she doesn’t really have a chance with a Prince so she tries to fight off her feelings but he does ask her to go to the ball with him. Cinder is obviously told she can’t go to the ball and unfortunately her sister Peony ends up getting Letumosis a disease that has killed millions. Cinder is blamed for this and Adri signs Cinder up for the cyborg draft which subjects cyborgs to be tested on to find an antidote. It’s there that the head scientist realizes that Cinder is not only a cyborg but Lunar and she needs to keep a low profile because Queen Levana of the Lunars is coming to the Commonwealth and she won’t want Cinder alive, because Cinder may be the only one who can stop her. It’s interesting to see how some Lunars have powers and others don’t. Cinder never knew she was a Lunar until she met Dr. Erland who was able to tell her things about her past that she didn’t know, like she’s the lost Princess of Lunar!

Cinder is such a fun and different take on Cinderella. I loved the futuristic elements and that Cinder is a mechanic and a cyborg. Iko is a great sidekick to Cinder. There was a lot of world building and it’s great. We’re introduced to some characters that are going to be paramount in the next three books in the series and just rereading this book I see a lot of things that I may have missed the first time around. The Lunar Chronicles is one of my favorite series and Cinder is just setting everything up for what’s to come in the next installments. This series is a lot of fun and I love retellings and it’s going to be fun rereading this series and seeing where Cinder will end up and who she’ll meet.

THUNDERHEAD By Neal Shusterman

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THUNDERHEAD By Neal ShustermanThunderhead by Neal Shusterman
Series: Arc of a Scythe #2
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on 1/9/18
Genres: Dystopian, Fantasy & Magic, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 509
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Humans learn from their mistakes. I cannot. I make no mistakes.

The Thunderhead is the perfect ruler of a perfect world, but it has no control over the scythedom. A year has passed since Rowan had gone off grid. Since then, he has become an urban legend, a vigilante snuffing out corrupt scythes in a trial by fire. His story is told in whispers across the continent.

As Scythe Anastasia, Citra gleans with compassion and openly challenges the ideals of the “new order.” But when her life is threatened and her methods questioned, it becomes clear that not everyone is open to the change.

Old foes and new enemies converge, and as corruption within the Scythedom spreads, Rowan and Citra begin to lose hope. Will the Thunderhead intervene?

Or will it simply watch as this perfect world begins to unravel?

Short and Sweet Review

After the events of Scythe, Citra has become Scythe Anastasia and has Scythe Curie as her mentor, while Rowan has stolen Scythe Goddard’s ring and has become Scythe Lucifer. Citra tries to do her gleaning with compassion and her way of doing things are starting to rock the boat. Rowan on the other hand is gleaning scythes that he finds to be corrupt. The Thunderhead is also more engaging in this book. It still has rules it has to abide by but it uses one of its favorite people to try to be able to make sure that Citra is safe. The Thunderhead is also upset with all of the corruption that is going on around the world. We also see old and new enemies, and the question is will the Thunderhead do anything to help?

Thunderhead was a pretty well written sequel. Now that Citra is a scythe we see how divided things are within the scythedom, every scythe has different opinions on how things should be conducted. We’re also introduced to a new character Greyson whom the thunderhead uses as a go between because it’s not allowed to speak to scythes. There was a lot of Greyson in the story but it made sense because I think this book really revolved around the Thunderhead and how it was feeling about the things it was seeing and Greyson was its way of trying to fix things. I do think there wasn’t a lot of Rowan we saw him go about taking out scythes that he found to be corrupt and then more towards the end when an old foe shows up to use him for their gain. There’s also a lot of Citra as she’s new to being a scythe and we see her new ideas aren’t going over well with other scythes and there’s someone trying to take either her or scythe curie out.

This book was so good and hard to put down. I remember some parts made my jaw drop because I just wasn’t expecting the book to take the turns it did. I enjoyed reading the little tidbits from the Thunderhead and seeing its reactions to the things going on. The ending was great and I’m excited to see where things will go from here. I would definitely recommend continuing on with this series as it only gets better!

H2O By Virginia Bergin

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

H2O By Virginia BerginH2O by Virginia Bergin
Series: The Rain #1
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on 10/7/14
Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 354
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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.27 is a number Ruby hates. It's a number that marks the percentage of the population that has survived. It's a number that means she's one of the "lucky" few still standing. And it's a number that says her father is probably dead.

Against all odds, Ruby has survived the catastrophic onset of the killer rain. Two weeks after the radio started broadcasting the warning, "It's in the rain. It's fatal and there's no cure," the drinkable water is running out. Ruby's left with two options: persevere on her own or embark on a treacherous journey across the country to find her father—if he's even still alive.

Short and Sweet Review

Ruby is hanging out at a friends house when the panic begins that something is wrong with the rain and it ends up being all the water. The rain is deadly and one drop hitting you could kill you, Ruby ends up surviving but its been two weeks since the initial rain storm that started everything and now drinkable water is running out. Now Ruby has decide whether she wants to stick it out on her own or try to go to London and find her dad.

This was an interesting book because it’s all about your survival instincts and Ruby has to learn to think about herself if she’s going to make it. After the first storm, Ruby was with her mom, baby brother, and step dad, but eventually it’s just Ruby. When it’s just Ruby that’s when I thought the book started to pick up mainly because we get to see how she’s going to survive on her own and make the trip to London. Eventually she meets up with someone from school Darius and a girl that he found and they begin to travel with Ruby. This is where things started to go downhill. I thought Ruby was better off on her own, there was nothing wrong with Darius he honestly had a lot of good input but for some reason Ruby always wanted to argue with him, most of their dialogue was Ruby shouting at him. She also started to make some questionable decisions. The book is written in a way in which its Ruby writing about her experience. I didn’t mind the writing style but I did mind how a promising character seemed to forget what she should be focusing on.

Overall the premise is interesting and I may read the sequel just to see how everything ends.

THE VAULT OF DREAMERS By Caragh M. O’Brien

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE VAULT OF DREAMERS By Caragh M. O’BrienThe Vault of Dreamers by Caragh M. O'Brien
Series: The Vault of Dreamers #1
Published by Roaring Brook Press on 9/16/14
Genres: Dystopian, Mystery & Detective, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 433
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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The Forge School is the most prestigious arts school in the country. The secret to its success: every moment of the students' lives is televised as part of the insanely popular Forge Show, and the students' schedule includes twelve hours of induced sleep meant to enhance creativity. But when first year student Rosie Sinclair skips her sleeping pill, she discovers there is something off about Forge. In fact, she suspects that there are sinister things going on deep below the reaches of the cameras in the school. What's worse is, she starts to notice that the ridges of her consciousness do not feel quite right. And soon, she unearths the ghastly secret that the Forge School is hiding—and what it truly means to dream there.

Short and Sweet Review

The Forge is a prestigious arts school and Rosie Sinclair is lucky to be attending the school. The students are supposed to take a sleeping pill so that they get 12 hours of sleep to help their creativity. The students lives are filmed for the other 12 hours a day and their streams can be watched and based on their stream views the students are ranked. Rosie isn’t very popular she’s usually at the bottom of the rankings. Rosie skips her pill one night and she realizes that there is something off about the school.

Honestly this school has a plot that’s interesting and will pull you in but for me Rosie put me off. Rosie was basically playing a game of cat and mouse with the dean. I wish Rosie was smarter in the way she went about things. Obviously she found out that weird things were happening at the school during the times she should have been asleep, and instead of trying to be discreet she made it easy for the adults to figure out what she was up to. I will admit dream mining and seeding is quite intense and wrong and Rosie learns that the dean is doing these things, but the dean also knows that she’s sneaking around. It was a mess in that aspect it made you want to grab her by her shoulders and shake her, like be more careful. Anyway Rosie gets involved with Linus a guy who works in the kitchen and unfortunately because of Rosie he gets fired. I also didn’t like some of the conversations Rosie had with other people. She had a I’m right and I’m going to do what I want, a act now think later kind of attitude, even when people tried to warn her to be careful.

This is the second time I’ve read this book and I feel like my rating has gone down. The concept is great but Rosie as a main character just made me shake my head. I’m interested in seeing what happens in the next book just because of how this book ended.

THE TIMEMATICIAN By Steven Bereznai

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE TIMEMATICIAN By Steven BereznaiThe Timematician by Steven Bereznai
Published by Jambor on 8/2/22
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 194
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The Genetic Wars have left the planet an apocalyptic wreck. All it needs is one final push from mad genius Doctor BetterThan to finish the job.

With his unique time abilities, he has all the power he needs to thrash pesky superheroes intent on thwarting him—and make them pay for decades of disrespect. “Triumphi!”

Destroying the world solves everything. Until she comes along.

On the cusp of total victory, fellow tech maniac Mairi Lin Monroe plays her surprising hand, and sparks fly as she and her cybernetic lady-matons threaten to transcend Doctor BetterThan's grand plan.

Can he achieve new depths of deceit to defeat her and be the last person standing? Can he become THE TIMEMATICIAN?

Or has he finally met his match?

Short and Sweet Review

The Timematician is about Doctor BetterThan, his plan is to be the only person on the planet and it’s going well until Mairi Lin Monroe comes along. Mairi Lin and her cybernetic lady’s plan on thwarting Doctor BetterThan’s grand plans.

I read the first Gen M book and this one is supposed to be a prequel/sequel or can be read alone. I don’t think it makes sense as a prequel or sequel I don’t see how it would fit. I think Doctor BetterThan is a character from the first book I can faintly remember a character that shares the same attributes but I don’t remember his name. Honestly this book was ridiculous. Its basically just Doctor BetterThan trying to be the last man standing but he meets Mairi Lin and learns that she’s not going to let him be and they end up battling and falling in love. Doctor BetterThan wasn’t a good character he was supposed to be smart but he acted like a child and when he didn’t get his way he would stomp his foot and it was just too childish. The story was boring it was just Doctor BetterThan and Mairi Lin going back and forth and it was predictable. The only thing that was redeemable was the fact that this was a short book.

SUPERNOVA By Marissa Meyer

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

SUPERNOVA By Marissa MeyerSupernova by Marissa Meyer
Series: Renegades #3
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 11/5/19
Genres: Dystopian, Fantasy & Magic, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 560
Format: Paperback
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Nova and Adrian struggle to keep their secret identities concealed while the battle rages on between their alter egos, their allies, and their greatest fears come to life. Secrets, lies, and betrayals are revealed as anarchy once again threatens to reclaim Gatlon City.

Short and Sweet Review

Everything has come to this, the end. The real battle is about to begin and Nova and Adrian will have to fight what they believe is right in their hearts.

Adrian is a renegade all he knows is being a hero. Nova is an anarchist disguising herself as a renegade but after all the time she’s spent with the renegades she’s trying to decide if taking down the renegades is really what she wants. Nova has conflicting feelings about everything going on, she doesn’t fully agree with either side, but with the anarchist she’s like their leader and even if she doesn’t agree they’ll go on with their plans.

This was an amazing conclusion to this series. I remember starting this series and thinking that I wouldn’t finish because I thought the first book was so slow but I’m glad I continued on. There’s a lot going on in this book, but in a good way. I think my favorite part was seeing the characters especially Nova and Adrian struggle with what people wanted them to do but knowing in their heart what they really wanted. The both of them grew a lot and I did like their relationship, the enemies into lovers trope except he doesn’t really know that she’s his enemy. There’s a lot of things that were revealed, twists and turns, and things that just keep me turning the pages. I love all of these characters and it was kind of intense to see how everything would turn out. I don’t want to spoil anything but just know that the battle and ending of this book was perfect.

I loved this series and would definitely recommend it!

SCYTHE By Neal Shusterman

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

SCYTHE By Neal ShustermanScythe by Neal Shusterman
Series: Arc of a Scythe #1
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on 11/22/16
Genres: Dystopian, Fantasy & Magic, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 448
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

Short and Sweet Review

Humanity has conquered hunger, disease, and even death. Now Scythes are the only ones in the world who can end someone’s life to keep the population under control. Citra and Rowan are chosen by Scythe Faraday to be his apprentices and learn all about becoming a Scythe.

Citra and Rowan were normal teens until they were chosen by Scythe Faraday to become his apprentices. Neither one of them wants the job but they don’t really have a choice. Citra and Rowan join Faraday on his gleanings and learn what it means to be a scythe. We see that each scythe has different methods for what they do. When Citra and Rowan go to a scythe conference the other scythes notice a friendship between them which isn’t ideal. Now Citra and Rowan are pitted against each other and only one of them can win the job and the other will lose their life.

This book was amazing! There was so much going on, but in a good way. I liked seeing how different scythes operate and how sometimes the gleanings did take a toll on them, we get to see more of their thoughts with their journal entries. We see Citra and Rowan taken under the wing of other scythes and it was interesting to see what they learned and it was kind of sad that they were separated from each other. It’s such a fascinating world that Shusterman has created, it made me want to be a scythe. I loved the little mystery and seeing how everything played out. The characters are great and I loved how they never lost who they truly were. I can’t wait to read the other two books in this series!

THE UPPER WORLD By Femi Fadugba

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE UPPER WORLD By Femi FadugbaThe Upper World by Femi Fadugba
Series: The Upper World #1
Published by HarperTeen on 12/7/21
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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Today

During arguably the worst week of Esso’s life, an accident knocks him into an incredible world—a place beyond space or time, where he can see glimpses of the past and future. But if what he sees there is true, he might not have much longer to live, unless he can use his new gift to change the course of history.

Tomorrow

Rhia’s past is filled with questions, none of which she expects a new physics tutor to answer. But Dr. Esso’s not here to help Rhia. He’s here because he needs her help—to unravel a tragedy that happened fifteen years ago. One that holds the key not only to Rhia’s past, but to a future worth fighting for.

Short and Sweet Review

Past: Esso is having the worst week of his life, and after an accident he’s knocked into a different world where he can see glimpses of the past and the future. After seeing what the future has in store Esso realizes he needs to use what he learned to change the future.

Future: Rhia is a foster kid and she has a lot of questions about her birth parents. When Rhia’s new tutor comes around it doesn’t seem like he can give her the answers she wants, but he holds most of the answers to her questions. Dr. Esso needs Rhia’s help to fix what went wrong 15 years ago.

The Upper World has both the POV of Esso and Rhia. Esso is in high school and unfortunately his week has been awful. He’s been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and now some people are after him. Esso’s father isn’t in his life but his mother gives him a journal that belonged to his father which is how Esso learns of the upper world. When Esso somehow gets into the upper world he see’s visuals of the past and the present and know’s that he doesn’t have much time to change the future. Rhia on the other hand is 15 years in the future and she wants answers about her past. When she meets her physics teacher she doesn’t know what to expect, but Esso has information about her birth mother and Rhia wants it. Rhia and Esso end up working together using physics and math to try and figure out how to go back in time to make things right.

This book was so slow and it didn’t help that I just didn’t connect with either character. I feel like if Esso would have just explained himself that things wouldn’t have escalated the way they did. Rhia on the other hand was rash her emotions were all over the place and it just made me not like her. There’s a lot of talk of physics in this book and not a lot of time traveling per se. The upper world is strange and not really something that could be considered time traveling it just showed the characters what would happen. The ending was okay but I just had so many problems with the execution to get there. This is going to have a sequel and I’m not sure what it has in store because I thought everything was wrapped up in the end.

ARCHENEMIES By Marissa Meyer

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

ARCHENEMIES By Marissa MeyerArchenemies by Marissa Meyer
Series: Renegades #2
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 11/6/18
Genres: Dystopian, Fantasy & Magic, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 487
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Nova’s double life is about to get a lot more complicated:

As Insomnia, she is a full-fledged member of the Renegades, a syndicate of powerful and beloved superheroes. She works with Adrian’s patrol unit to protect the weak and maintain order in Gatlon City.

As Nightmare, she is an Anarchist - a group of of villains who are determined to destroy the Renegades. Nova wants vengeance against the so-called heroes who once failed her when she needed them most.

But as Nova, her feelings for Adrian are deepening, despite the fact that he is the son of her sworn enemies and, unbeknownst to Nova, he has some dangerous secrets of his own.

In this second installment of the Renegades trilogy, Nova, Adrian, and the rest of their crew – Ruby, Oscar, and Danna -- are faced with escalating crime in Gatlon City, while covert weapons and conflicting missions have Nova and Adrian questioning not only their beliefs about justice, but also the feelings they have for each other.

The line between good and evil has been blurred, but what's clear to them both is that too much power could mean the end of their city – and the world – as they know it.

Short and Sweet Review

After the battle with the Detonator, Adrian and Nova are thrown back to work after their victory. The Anarchists are still depending on Nova to be successful in her infiltration of the renegades, and the renegades now have a new weapon they believe will take care of their enemies forever.

Nova is living in a web of lies that she created and now she has to keep everything straight. After the events of the last book everyone thinks that Nova’s alias Nightmare is dead and now Nova is just working as a renegade without the worry that the renegades are still looking for Nightmare. Not much is new with Adrian, he still hides the fact that he’s the sentinel. Thinking back on it I don’t think Adrian did much in this book it mostly felt like Nova taking the lead in this book. 

The renegades develop a chemical called Agent N which will remove a prodigy’s powers when they’re injected with it. Though Nova feels it’s wrong to use it she decides that it’ll come in handy during her take down of the renegades. Nova’s main goal in the book is to get Ace Anarchy’s helmet and finally be done posing as a renegade. Adrian on the other hand feels like his pursuit of Nightmare isn’t over he has a feeling that she’s still around so he spends most of the book chasing leads. 

The romance between these two I’ve decided is horrible. Adrian likes Nova, but Nova on the other hand may have feelings for him but she has the other anarchist reminding her that she needs to use Adrian to get what she wants and that’s exactly what she does. It feels like the romance is one sided and that is unfortunate and makes me feel bad for Adrian because he doesn’t know what’s up. 

The ending was exciting and full of action it was interesting to see the big battle and Nova execute her plan. It’ll be interesting to see what’ll happen next especially with the world knowing that Ace Anarchy isn’t as dead as they once thought he was.