DNF @ 20%

Got the book on KU after reading the Facebook add and it seemed like something I'd enjoy on my holidays. Had no idea that it was a spin off of a previous series when I started reading but figured it out pretty quickly when whole chunks of the story seemed missed or skipped over. Felt completely lost while reading this and just couldn't focus on the story as I was constantly feeling I'd missed something. Came on here and realised there's a whole series I should have read before this, where all these characters were introduced and the flashback events happened. I find this really frustrating, so I've given up for now. Shame, because I probably would enjoy this series, but I feel if you're going to write a spin off that it so closely tied to previous story lines and characters, then it's probably a good idea to make readers aware they should read in order.

I might give the Phoenix series a go and come back to this, but I'm annoyed I wasted some precious downtime on this so for now I'm going to find something else.

Huh

I’m so confused. It seems like I’m missing parts of the story. Like there’s a book before this one. Kinda lost

Link to review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2310453148?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

This is an interesting fast paced novel with a tongue in cheek writing style, a spunky female character and a hint of romance that doesn’t over power the main narrative. Officially this therefore ticks nearly every box that I’m interested in, but it didn’t quite do it for me. I realised after finishing this that it’s a spin off series, and that may be the reason why the world building and characters seemed somewhat lacking; the author anticipates that you will have read the other series and already be familiar with the world and individuals. Unfortunately, that was not the case and I felt that there was a lot unexplained and unexplored, relationships assumed and character backgrounds known.

Split into two perspectives, Max gets the bulk of the page time which means she is by far the most developed character. Striker gets a handful of chapters at most and felt somewhat thin in comparison - you see Max’s perspective on everything so even her silly decisions make a form of sense. In comparison, when Striker jumps in half cocked despite warnings, you don’t have that same connection. I think a more even split of perspectives would have allowed both characters to have the same depth to them. In a similar vein, you are brought up to speed quickly on Max’s powers, whilst Striker’s are never fully explored. You get tantalising hints rather than anything concrete.

That said, there’s a fantastically well paced narrative here that leaps from action to action, whilst giving you enough breathing space to become emotionally invested. It certainly never turned in quite the direction that I thought it was going to, and I was turning the pages keen to find out just how our two leads were going to drag themselves out of the ever more complicated mess they find themselves in. I just wish there was more space for world building and character development- particularly Striker and the side characters who don’t earn their own point of view. I may have to read the initial series to find out how much additional world building there is there, but I’m not sure I could recommend this as a stand-alone read from my initial impressions. I suspect that it needs the original series to be read first, but this wasn’t clear from the blurb.

Soul Sucker

This book grabs a hold of you from the first paragraph sucking you in. It takes you a wild ride that leaves you wanting more and thankfully there is more to be had. Brilliant!

Captivating

I finished it in less than 2 days. It was intriguing and exciting. Purchased the second and will be starting it ASAP.
Cannot wait to seewhere Max's story goes!