Book Blurb:
DATING AND HIGH SCHOOL: HARD ENOUGH. NOW ADD ASSASSINS.
Avoiding assassination wasn’t on Mel’s to-do list for her junior year. Learning she wasn’t human hadn’t made the list, either.
An only child with overprotective parents, Melody Walters just wants a drama-free year—and to be able to date. She gains the interest of more than one suitor, but doesn’t realize any one of them could be an enemy on the hunt. For her, the dating scene could prove deadly.
Mel discovers she’s a member of a botanical race, forced to hide their daughters in the human world until they mature enough for their powers to bloom. Something goes wrong with her blooming process, breaking her cover and jeopardizing the lives of her protectors and the large family she’d never known about.
With the enemy threat ever-looming, in a rush to master her new powers before she’s stranded in the human world forever, Mel struggles to decide who she can trust and if the sacrifice being asked of her is too great.
I received this book from the author for free. All comments and opinions are entirely my own and this review is voluntary.
Renae’s Review:
Oh my goodness, y’all, I was definitely eager to read this book when I read the synopsis, but I had no idea what I was getting into. I REALLY enjoyed the heck out of it! It was one of those books that’s a page-turner, but you don’t realize how fast you’re turning the pages until you look up and notice that you’re already halfway through it. I stayed up WAY too late reading because I simply did not want to stop, and that’s pretty rare for me.
“‘Our people are so much stronger together, than we are alone. We’re better when we fight side by side. I don’t want to fight with you. I want you by my side.’”
The pacing of the book was fantastic and also constantly kept me on my toes. At first, I thought the book was just going to be all high school drama, but I was so wrong. There were so many curves and twists that drove the plot well outside the confines of the school halls and kept me 100% sucked in, chapter after chapter. While there was definitely some high school drama, these kids had to deal with so much more than the typical teenager, and it was really fun watching the story unfold.
ALSO, J. Houser did a fantastic job of keeping me suspicious literally from start to finish. I read the synopsis, so I knew that there were assassins after Mel from the get-go and therefore questioned EVERY male character’s intentions up to the last chapter, I kid you not. Every time she was alone with a boy, I was internally screaming like when you’re watching a scary movie and the characters start walking to where the killer is. On top of questioning who was good and who was bad, I was so beyond torn between the love interests (inserts crying face emoji) and kept swinging between them like a pendulum. Seriously, I literally cried over this (and several other emotional moments in the book), because I was so invested in these characters.
Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and would absolutely recommend it! However, because this book is about high schoolers and I think teens are the most-likely audience, there are a few things I should warn you about if you’re a teen (or parent of a teen). There are some scenes in the book that would be described as a little spicy if the characters were adults, but because they’re teens it felt spicier, if that makes sense. There is an *almost* sex scene (clothes stay on), a couple of assault scenes (one of which borders on sexual assault, but not really… it’s hard to explain, but proceed with caution if forced kissing triggers you), and more than a handful of kissing scenes. The consensual scenes are super sweet, and nothing sexually nefarious actually happens. But still, you deserve to know what you’re getting into. There’s also a lot of violence (but not super graphic), at least one curse word that I remember, and obviously some fantasy elements. Nevertheless, I still rate it 5 out of 5 personally, because the writing and story were on point and I genuinely had such a good time reading this book.
Rated:
