In a world where thieves rule the underworld, it’s important to be part of the right guild. Not all thieves are the same, and by getting involved in the wrong one, that could warrant an early death sentence. The most powerful guild in the underworld is under the leadership of Thren Fellhorn, a ruthless man who has no problem exerting his control. Even if it means ending a life or more. So of course, he would mold his sons to be the exact same way. Right off the bat, it is believed that his eldest would be the one to rule. But he is seen as a disappointment, and he orders his youngest son to kill him.
So he does.
No mercy. No tears. No hesitation. Just like that, his first born is no more, and his youngest son at only 8 years old has just killed his first person. His brother, no less. That is how ruthless Thren is, and that’s exactly how he molds Aaron to be if he is supposed to take his father’s place in the future.
Fast forward a few years, and Aaron is well on his way to being the most dangerous weapon his father has ever created. He is barely a person anymore, and those in his father’s guild are scared of this creature before them. Aaron is okay with this, and he does whatever he can to make sure that he is perfect in his father’s eyes. He had no issue killing his brother, his own flesh and blood at such a young age. He shouldn’t have any issue killing anyone else in order to get what he wants, or to make sure that his father’s guild stays in power in this land. So why is it that now, all of a sudden, he can’t kill the daughter of a priest?
With that decision, he is forced to question everything that he was ever taught. Will his father agree with his decision, that is, if he ever decides to tell the truth about what happened? Will those around him continue to die at the hands of the Trifect, a group of the richest men in their city, who have been on the losing side of this war with the guilds? Everything begins to break down in front of his eyes, and even those that he trusted with his life will not make it to the end.
This was an interesting book to read. There were a lot of characters that I ended up liking but weren’t there by the time the book ended. It made me feel like it wasn’t the first book of an entire series, with getting rid of a lot of characters so soon. I was a little heartbroken by who does end up dying, but I won’t spoil it. I think Aaron made a big decision on his own, and this ends up being his way of rebelling against his father, basically having an alter ego that will fight against those who stand with Thren. Will he be able to survive the rest of the series, when so many of those who were there before him have not? I have no way of telling from this point. I do believe that I would rather have a different protagonist to follow than Aaron though. I just can’t relate to him as much as I would like.
Rated: 4/5 Stars
Tag: 2015 Book
Matched – Book Review
There’s always something particular about dystopian societies in the future that make people keep coming back to read them. It doesn’t matter how many books out there in this genre, it will always remain one of the most popular types of books to read. It all depends on what makes each one different from the others.
The Society has been at peace for as long as they can remember. As long as its citizens follow the rules, there will be no trouble at all. Everyone has their place, everyone has their jobs to do, and everyone has a role in the survival of the human race. Some will bring in the next generation, and others will be Singles, where their use to the Society will not be involved in making more babies. In the Society, everything is perfect, and Cassia has no need to question how things are run.
Until one day when the perfect Society makes a mistake in her Match.
How can Cassia be matched with two different people? The Matching Ceremony told her that she was matched with her best friend Xander, someone she knew her entire life, someone who could she could feel safe with. But when she took a glance at Xander’s information card, another face popped up on the screen, someone else she knew from her life but someone she had never really seen until the Society told her to. From that moment, everything she knew about the Society changed. It wasn’t perfect like she grew up knowing it to be, and she couldn’t help but become more and more curious about Ky, the other face on the screen.
Would she have fallen in love with him if it wasn’t for that mistake? Was she meant to be matched with Ky in the first place? So many questions run through her mind, and it is in this journey that she discovers something powerful and dangerous about what the Society has been keeping from them, and it comes from the most unlikely of sources.
“Do not go gentle.”
I thought that this book was a really great read. This is actually my second time reading it, but I decided to review it this time around. It’s so interesting to see that there are those in dystopian societies that just accept things for the way they are. They don’t question whether the Government should be doing what they are doing, or even what is really going on behind the scenes. I love seeing the little acts of rebellion from Cassia’s grandfather, the one who basically helped her wake up to what was going on and make her think for herself. This is the first book in the trilogy, and I need to know if Cassia ever finds Ky again, if she ends up doing something so drastic that it makes the Society change their ways. I basically need to know if Cassia becomes the hero that I want her to be.
Rated: 5/5 Stars
Red Rising – Book Review
The Earth has long been destroyed by now. Humanity has relocated across the galaxy, and this story takes place on Mars. Near the core, underground where the masses seem to habitat, is where we meet our story’s protagonist, Darrow. He is part of a caste that was created to build a new home for those that haven’t moved to Mars yet. They are made to do the dirty work, putting their lives in danger to find whatever bio-material that can be used to make living on the surface bearable. To Darrow and the rest of the Reds, they are the ones that will help save humanity, that will help make Mars into a new Earth where humans can thrive again. But what they don’t know, what they were never told in the first place, is that Mars is already thriving, and so is the rest of the galaxy.
It’s just that nobody wanted the Reds to know that they were slaves to the higher castes.
Darrow’s life completely changes when he loses the woman he loves, sentenced to die because she chose to stand up for her people and rebel in the most haunting and beautiful way. He almost throws it all away, for he would rather die and be reunited with Eo than live the rest of his days alone and in pain. But he gets a second chance, and doesn’t die like he’s supposed to. Instead, he gets drafted into a secret society that is bent on bringing down the caste system, bringing the Reds to their rightful place among the rest of the colors, and tear down the Golds that have oppressed them for so long. With this newfound reason to live, a reason besides Eo, Darrow transforms himself into a Gold, completely changing his body and mindset, infiltrating their academy where the best of their children go to become warriors, soldiers, important leaders in their world. It is here where Darrow is really tested, where The Institute teaches them about strategy, and how mercy never prevails.
This was one of the best books I ever read, and I’m so glad that I came across it. This book had an interesting take on the popular dystopian genre that seems to be the topic of discussion lately, and I would love to see how the rest of the series turns out. Darrow becomes Gold through and through, and it’s like his entire Red identity disappears the longer he’s in the Institute. He has to be Gold if he is to survive the onslaught of torture and pain that he has to go through. Not just him, but all the other Gold children that survived the initial reaping, the one that decimated the entire Institute population by half before the games really began.
It was only hard to get through this book because I really felt Darrow’s transformation. All the difficult decisions he had to make being a part of the game, helping those on his team survive and take down the enemy that threatens to wipe them out of existence. All of those who died because of him change him even more, and even though he’s Red and they are Gold, there’s a part of him that still feels guilty when he doesn’t wait to. The game is changing him, and his journey to help free his fellow Red people has only just begun.
Rated: 5/5 Stars
Sometimes Leelynn Reads 