Redux by A.L. Davroe

The domed city of Evanescence is in ruins. With nowhere to go, prodigy hacker Ellani “Ella” Drexel and a small band of survivors flee to the Undertunnel below their city.

To escape the wasteland she unknowingly created.

But sanctuary is hard to find. With malfunctioning androids and angry rebels at their backs, the group hopes to press on for the neighboring city of Cadence. But Ella’s chosen path is challenging… life-threatening, even. Worse, the boy she loves is acting distant, and not at all like the person she first met in Nexis.

But then Ella learns a secret… and it changes everything.

Ella knows she needs to turn back and make a stand to reclaim her home. She’s determined to bring a new—and better—life to all who’ve suffered.

Or die trying.

Book 2
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Veronica – ☆☆☆☆☆
Droids have destroyed Evanescence and Ella, Quint, Gus, and a group of residents manage to escape the city alive. Ella feels responsible for the deaths of so many people and is ready to do whatever it takes to keep the survivors alive.

Life outside of Evanescence eventually leads them to come into contact with the disfavoured and we start to learn that there is far more going on than we thought. Outside of the walls of Evanescence, Ella sees people she thought she'd never see again.

The side story of the romance provides a good dollop of teenage drama and angst alongside their fight for survival. But what I loved most about this story is it doesn't really go where I excepted and it is full of surprises. In the end, it is clear that Ella is an amazing heroine and she is willing to make huge personal sacrifices for the greater good.

I was completely engrossed in Redux every step of the way and I can't wait for book three.


Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
At the start of Redux, I was afraid I'd have to reread Nexis. It had been over 15 months since I read the debut in the series, and had read 500+ books in the interim. While I can't say it wasn't a bit of a struggle in the first few pages to situate myself into the universe, characters, and past events, Davroe did a fabulous job leading the reader to remember bits from Nexis, without devolving into an info-dump rehash. So I applaud the author on the seamless delivery of past information.

With that being said, if you enjoy rereading, and you read the first close to its release, I'd suggest rereading prior. As I read Redux, I had moments where I thought it would have been nice to reread to capture the subtle nuances that may otherwise be lost on the reader. Those heart-tugging, gut-wrenching moments, and bits of foreshadowing, where the reader murmurs, "ahhh..." on a reread.

I do not recommend this being read as a standalone or out of series order.

From this point on, to avoid spoilers, I'm going to have a difficult time formulating a cohesive review. It truly would ruin the journey.

Redux was a page-turner, where I found myself getting snippy when torn from the story. I just wanted to sit down and devour it from page one until the end. This fast-paced read is filled with intriguing world-building, adventuring, love and loss, which hit all my emotions.

The opulent, domed city of Evanescence is powered down, with its inhabitants scattered in the wind, and/or no longer among the living. Ella and company try to save the few remaining aristocrats by seeking to locate a sanctuary. There's no real comfort and security, so Ella has to have the backs of her companions. Nothing goes as planned, including all the machinations plotted by the original Tricksters, which put them into the mess they are dealing with now. Lives are lost, friendships are made and tested, and relationships die while others bloom.

Ella is still a strong role model, making good choices with both her head and heart. In a world where the cast of characters is either vapid – and only thinking of their wants and needs – or logical to a fault – where they are missing empathy and compassion, only seeing people as tools, even loved ones and friends – Ella stuck true to her roots, as the perfect mix of both personality types. Ella bridges the gap as the Savior.

Ella does her best, making sacrifices for the good of all the people.

There are several romantic entanglements, adding a nice dose of teenage angst, but they are far from insta-love and do not subtract from the very involved plot. While I wasn't surprised by the direction the author took Ella's romantic interests, I was shocked by another twisty plot point. Young adults and the young at heart will find the romance in Redux to add to the overall enjoyment, give us a reason to root for specific characters. It truly is complementary to the story arc, not propelling it but giving everyone a reason to hope in a desolate situation.

Redux was well worth the wait. Usually when I'm floored by an amazing debut novel, it all goes downhill in the sequel. Nexis and Redux are both equally worthy of a 5-star rating, which I never give lightly. I can't wait to see what the author has in store during the next book.

Recommended to fans of Young Adult, Fantasy, Science-fiction, Dystopian/Utopian fiction, MMORPG video game based novels.

Young Adult age-range: 14+ Adult Language. Violence. Kissing & fade-to-black sexual situations.

Also Available in the Tricksters Series

Book 1
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For reviews & more info, check out our Nexis posts from Erica & Veronica.

A.L. Davroe grew up in Connecticut and, after traveling to many countries, many states, and many fantasy realms – sometimes even living in them – she has decided that Connecticut is a wonderful little state. She likes books, cats, chai tea lattes, and the word "chime." By day, A.L. makes cheese for a local artisan dairy and, by night, A.L. writes in various sub-genres of adult and YA fantasy, science fiction, horror, and romance, but most of her work tends to have a revisionist twist to it. You can follow her various forays into aesthetic merriment and misbegotten shenanigans on Facebook or Twitter and you can check out her current musical obsessions on her website.

Connect with A.L.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Redux (Tricksters #2) by A.L. Davroe to read and review.

The Gift of Gravity by Sage C. Holloway

When Julian Shaw's friend Katie, an at-risk transgender teen, disappears, Julian takes it upon himself to find her. However, after arriving in Milwaukee, nothing goes according to plan. He struggles with boyfriend issues, suddenly finds himself playing foster dad to a kitten, and develops an adversarial relationship with mohawked, tattooed rebel Dashiell, who he keeps bumping into during his search.

Dashiell Sutherland hasn't had it easy. His broken family has made him an outcast, and he's sick of trying to fit in, sick of relationships, and especially sick of running into that entitled redhead everywhere he goes. But something about Julian makes him take notice, and soon he is entangled in the quest to find Katie.

When Julian's world falls apart, Dashiell is there to help pick up the pieces, and an unlikely romance develops between them. But with the clock ticking on the search for Katie, and between Julian's self-esteem issues and Dashiell's less than stellar social skills, their relationship may have been doomed from the start.

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Loose Id

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆
3.5 Stars.

I'm a huge fan of Sage C. Holloway, all the previous books read received 5 stars from me, but The Gift of Gravity was simply okay for me. Written fluidly, it was easy to connect to this quickly flowing read. But there was an underlying feel of immaturity that kept me from engaging emotionally.

The author uses a mystery to draw the love interests together. Julian is a 25-year-old FtM transsexual who is on a mission to locate his missing pen-pal, Katie, who happens to be MtF. This was the thread of the story that truly interested me and kept me engaged.

Dash is a mohawk-wearing, tattoo-covered bad guy, who isn't a bad guy, who works at a pet shop and lives with an elderly lady, and also moonlights as emotional support for LGBTQ victims at the local hospital.

Sounds like a real prince, doesn't he? (Not sarcasm.) Then why at odd intervals does the douchebag-switch get engaged, for no apparent reason? It didn't fit his character whatsoever.

Julian literally runs into Dash – walks right into him, and the story begins. What I felt created a level of immaturity, when Julian was 25 and had been on his own for a decade, was the forced love-hate that ensued. Dash acted like a puke every time Julian appeared – for no reason – and Julian acted like his tongue didn't function. These behaviors were a contradiction to their backstories and who they were as characters.

It made me uncomfortable, Dash calling Julian an ugly redhead. At one point, they kissed seconds later, when the tongue-tied Julian should have had at least some reservations, like, "Dash isn't attracted to me, he thinks me ugly." ... or the fact that Julian was literally in an abusive relationship – on that very day. Calling someone ugly, both in thought and outburst, kind of removes the romance from the story – I can't buy into the romance now. It also goes against the character building, of a guy who is against bullying, yet is bullying Julian until 40% of the book. Like standing in the doorway – what is he, 10? Julian is 25, so it was baffling. Grown men – this wasn't a young adult novel. It wasn't cute, and it was awkward with immaturity and asshattery, felt forced, and took away from the story itself.

Along the way, a kitten was found, who was named Dusty – add a pet to the book and you've got my attention. Pets and kids always increase my reading enjoyment. But it drove me nuts that 'they/them/their' was being used just in case the female tortie kitten was trans – yet another cutesy element that lessened the emotional impact of harsh subject matter, but in a way that made it immature. Mostly, it drove me crazy from an editor standpoint, brain engaging as if the kitten was plural, not a singular being. I realize this is more of a gender fluid concept, not wishing to step on any toes with the wrong pronoun, but it was a kitten... the kitten can't speak languages, except for fluent feline. It just didn't fit, and came off a bit preachy, as it was used to educate the reader on pronoun etiquette. So I give mad props to the author on the inventive delivery of info, but it didn't quite work – for me, may for everyone else, though.

There are a few threads of conflict going on in The Gift of Gravity: the hunt to find the missing friend, the kitten, Dash's father, the romance, the abusive relationship Julian was in with Ryan, among others. Maybe too much going on, with not enough concentration on any given element, as some of these threads contradicted others: character-development-wise.

Truthfully, The Gift of Gravity wasn't a bad book by any stretch of the imagination. Holloway is a great storyteller. But this book was just okay for me, when I'm used to being blown away by the previous works.

I recommend it to those seeking a FtM transsexual read, as it was done with great research, maturity, and compassion on the subject matter. On the trans front, this was one of the better books I've read on the subject as of late (and there have been many read as of late, as this seems to be a popular subject authors are diving into right now. Sadly, many without research, though)

Recommended for those looking for light romance without a ton of will they, won't they angst.

Overall, the book was just a miss for me on many fronts, but was still a good read.

Sage C. Holloway is a parent, sex-positive feminist, pet store employee and resident fruitcake. Her childhood dream consisted of being a writer and an astronaut, and so far, she is about fifty percent there.

She has one husband, who seems to be the only one capable of putting up with her on a regular basis, and one toddler with a life goal of wreaking the ultimate havoc. She is also owned by three cats, who do an excellent job of assisting her by lying on her manuscripts whenever they can tear themselves away from lording over the living room.

Sage loves glitter and loathes Wisconsin winters. She is delighted when she meets people who share her strange sense of humor.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Gift of Gravity by Sage C. Holloway to read and review.

The Night Screams by Devon McCormack

Running naked through the woods, Cal flees the sadistic man who abducted and tortured him. When he stumbles upon a convenience store, he breaks in to steal food. A young store clerk, Jake, confronts him, and they get into a fight that ends with Cal being knocked unconscious. He wakes in the home of Jake’s Uncle Gary, the owner of the convenience store. Realizing Cal needs help, Gary tries to communicate with him, but despite Cal’s efforts, he can’t bring himself to speak. Instead, he writes down his experiences. Horrified by the perverse cruelty Cal endured, Gary takes him to the police, who track down his tormentor.

Abandoned by his parents before his abduction, Cal doesn’t have anywhere to go, so Gary and his wife eagerly welcome him into their home. He feels fortunate to be with such caring people—something he’s never had before. Despite their help, he still can’t find his voice, and he wonders if he ever will. And Jake certainly isn’t making things any easier. It’s clear he doesn’t want Cal to be part of their family. But the more Cal gets to know him, the more he realizes Jake might be the very person who can heal the deep wounds left by his horrifying past.

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Harmony Ink

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Shannan – ☆☆☆☆
After Cal got caught kissing another boy, his parents kicked him out of the house. Cal thought he was putting himself into a safe situation until he woke up chained to a wall in the dark. When he finally is able to escape his abductor, he is starving and naked. He tries to steal some food but is caught. Instead of being taken to the police, he's taken to the owner’s home. He's traumatized, scared, and unable to speak. Gary and Luce provide him with more love than he's ever known. His attraction to Jake, Gary, and Luce's nephew, is unexpected given the way Jake treats Cal.

I enjoyed the base of the story. I would have like to see more from the abduction and Cal's healing. It seemed glossed over, but otherwise it was a quick enjoyable read.


Erica – ☆☆☆
3.5 Stars.

I need to start this review by stating how I read like an editor, not the average reader. I pick up things I wish I didn't, so read my review knowing it's with a clinical bent.

Devon McCormack is a new-to-me author, and I found the writing style to be a steady flow, engaging and easy to read, with likable characters, but the overall story to be emotionally manipulative.

The opening hooked me from word one, written in an inventive manner that truly engaged the reader, and I thought for sure I'd be handing out an automatic 5 stars. Based on the majority of the content, it was a 5-star read, but I felt the emotional side wasn't fully explored or executed properly.

Without going into great detail over the events, as I don't wish to spoil the read – plus, thankfully the author didn't go into detail either as this was a 17-year-old – some major things happen to the narrator, Cal, but the aftermath isn't truly explored, only popping into the story when it benefits the current scene. Inconsistent.

The Night Screams was an emotional book, but with so many different types of tragedies coming at the reader, it desensitized me to all emotional aspects. Abduction. Escape. Physical violence. Abandonment. Love-hate. Teenage angst and jealousy. Gay Bashing with violence. Religion used against homosexuals. Cancer. Strokes. Heart attacks. Crime. Deaths. Coming out in a small town. Within only 200 pages.

If only a handful of these tropes had been fully explored, I would have been a basket case while reading, truly experiencing all the tumultuous emotions Cal's character would have been showing. But with so much happening on every page, without the characters showing the emotional impact, it just felt like the author was using emotional extortion. I can't hand out 5 stars because of brutal content unless I feel it was executed to maximum impact.

Show me – don't tell me. Make me bleed for the character, not ask what's next.

The characters just moved on, without any aftercare from one event to the next, and I was just waiting for what else could possibly occur, and not out of mystery or anticipation. Maybe Armageddon.

Sometimes less is more. Give the reader time to 'feel' what the character is feeling before slapping them in the face with yet another tragic event. Yes, a character needs to earn that happily ever after, but it just starts to feel manipulative on the author's part after 10 or more tragedies.

I've noticed this trend lately in books, where the author emotionally tortures the characters. Several this week alone. Tossing a bunch of tragedies into a hat and picking 10 to 15 of them doesn't make a poignant read – fully exploring a singular event with a major impact in the aftermath does. Build the character.

I feel so awful saying that – truly I do, as I did enjoy the story and the characters. But maybe this was the book that broke the camel's back for me, and I'm judging too harshly. I never got to 'know' Cal, not really, because it was just one thing after the other, leaving me to play catch-up. As for the romance aspects, I never felt I understood Jake's moods, and wondered if the book would have felt more complete with a dual-narrative with Cal and Jake.

Recommended to adults, as I feel they would appreciate the book better than the intended audience who is the age group of the narrator.

Young adult age-range: 16+ due to content. Younger based on the reader's maturity level. Features abduction, sexual content (fade-to-black), and profanity.

Devon McCormack spends most of his time hiding in his lair, adventuring in paranormal worlds with his island of misfit characters. A good ole Southern boy, McCormack grew up in the Georgian suburbs with his two younger brothers and an older sister. At a very young age, he spun tales the old fashioned way, lying to anyone and everyone he encountered. He claimed he was an orphan. He claimed to be a king from another planet. He claimed to have supernatural powers. He has since harnessed this penchant for tall tales by crafting whole worlds where he can live out whatever fantasy he chooses.

A gay man himself, McCormack focuses on gay male characters, adding to the immense body of literature that chooses to represent and advocate gay men's presence in media. His body of work ranges from erotica to young adult, so readers should check the synopses of his books before purchasing so that they know what they're getting into.

Connect with Devon

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Night Screams by Devon McCormack to read and review.

Nexis by A.L. Davroe

In the domed city of Evanescence, appearance is everything. A Natural Born amongst genetically-altered Aristocrats, all Ella ever wanted was to be like everyone else. Augmented, sparkling, and perfect. Then…the crash. Devastated by her father’s death and struggling with her new physical limitations, Ella is terrified to learn she is not just alone, but little more than a prisoner.

Her only escape is to lose herself in Nexis, the hugely popular virtual reality game her father created. In Nexis she meets Guster, a senior player who guides Ella through the strange and compelling new world she now inhabits. He offers Ella guidance, friendship…and something more. Something that allows her to forget about the “real” world, and makes her feel whole again.

But Nexis isn’t quite the game everyone thinks it is.

And it’s been waiting for Ella.

Book 1
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Veronica – ☆☆☆☆
Evanescence is a city that is class driven and its inhabitants incredibly vain. They live with much of their world controlled by electronics and robots, and their careers, and often marriages, are mapped out for them. The virtual world of computer game, Nexis gives people the ability to be whoever they want to be.

The author takes the time to give us a good grounding in this futuristic world. For me, the first half of this book was slow going. The story was interesting, but quite dense and I really had to push through.

The second half of the book was as fast as the first half was slow. I whizzed through it, eager to turn each page and follow Ella's journey. Desperate to find out what is at the end of the game, who Guster (her love interest in Nexis) is in the real world, and who was responsible for Ella's current predicament in life.

Many of the issues explored in Nexis can easily be translated into issues we face in our world today. I couldn't help thinking that this book would be great for high school students to study. They'd be reading something engaging and fun, but also relevant.

By the time Nexis came to an end, I was completely wrapped up in Ella's world and didn't want to leave. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series, Redux, which is due out in December.

A.L. Davroe grew up in Connecticut and, after traveling to many countries, many states, and many fantasy realms - sometimes even living in them - she has decided that Connecticut is a wonderful little state. She likes books, cats, chai tea lattes, and the word "chime." By day, A.L. makes cheese for a local artisan dairy and, by night, A.L. writes in various sub-genres of adult and YA fantasy, science fiction, horror, and romance, but most of her work tends to have a revisionist twist to it. You can follow her various forays into aesthetic merriment and misbegotten shenanigans on Facebook or Twitter and you can check out her current musical obsessions on her website.

Connect with A.L.

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Google+  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Nexis (Tricksters #1) by A.L. Davroe to read and review.

Dishonor Thy Wife by Belinda Austin is Now Available & Reviewed

A Psychological Thriller of Sexual Obsession and a Twisted Romance.

Ronni and Brad have an arranged marriage. Six years ago, he broke off with his fiancée or else face jail time for getting the then underage Ronni pregnant, i.e. statutory rape. The couple has not slept together since. The spoiled Brad is resentful and can be verbally abusive to both Ronni and their daughter who he mostly ignores.

Brad is not the only one trapped in an unwanted marriage. Ronni was a dirt-poor teenager when her grandfather forced her to marry the rich medical student. She is simply trying to make the best of a bad marriage until she can finish college and be able to support herself and Traci.

One day after a medical conference, Brad returns home a changed man. He starts acting like a real father to Traci who now adores him. Brad even treats Ronni with kindness. As her heart melts towards Brad, Ronni wonders if he is still seeing his mistress. As her heart melts towards Brad, Ronni wonders if he is still seeing his mistress even as she begins to trust him.

Ronni finds she enjoys her husband spying through the keyhole of her bedroom door. She begins to perform for him.

Once Ronni has a taste of forbidden passion, she is addicted until Brad begins acting like a Jekyll-Hyde and his violent outbursts return. She believes he may be bipolar, never realizing that something far more sinister is going on, and she is playing a dangerous game beneath the covers with Brad.

As secrets unfold, lies unravel, and fraud is uncovered, what happened at a Philly medical convention sets off a chain of events that begs the question, does a woman really know the cracks beneath her husband's skin?

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Well here goes, now it begins, a devious plan concocted in Philly. “You look nice, Ronni.” Wow! My voice had gone up as if she clenched my balls because the wife looked unbelievably sexy. In soft light, she appeared almost pretty with her hair mussed. One strap of her t-shirt drooped over her shoulder.

Okay, down boy! Quit picturing how she would look with pointy nipples tingling with excitement, and legs spread wide, hips humping. I cursed the desire welling inside my dark soul. I must not sleep with her—ever! That was our agreement. “Ronni?” I said in a eunuch voice.

“Well, who were you expecting, Brad? Fool!”

Next to the wedding picture was a photo of a child, supposedly my daughter. The oldest trick in the book was to trap a man with pregnancy.

“No one calls me a fool and gets away with it!”

She ran towards the stairs.

My legs were longer and I grabbed her arm, laughing at her kicking and missing.

I spun her around, trapping her with my arms. Our bodies touched everywhere and I held her even tighter. “You smell of jasmine,” I moaned, lowering her to the stairs and raining kisses across her neck. Her wiggling aroused me beyond belief. I throbbed, pounding with such pressure; all I could think of was easing my pain in Ronni. My blood rushed to that one spot where my need was desperate. At this moment, the act was worth any price. Guilt could come later. I closed my eyes, and muttered, “God, I promise to say ten Hail Marys later even though I’m not Catholic.”

I shoved her hand on my pants, rubbing her palm against me. “Please, I need you, Ronni. Feel how much I want you. I need you so much, Ronni. Please, stroke me, pet me. Yeah, that’s it. More!”

She quit struggling and groaned.

I removed my hand and she continued rubbing. Squeezing. Pulling. Caressing.

My breath came in deep gasps. “Unzip me,” I panted and tugged at the zipper of her pants, my fingers clumsily poking her.

“Ouch, get off me you oaf!”

She slapped my cheek hard, sobering me, making me remember who we were and that bed was out of the question between us. “Again, Brad? You’re raping me again?”

I stood, straightening my pants and feeling rather sheepish about the rape thing. I plunked down on a step to conceal my throbbing arousal, looking like a petulant child. Any moment now, I might have a temper tantrum—Ronni really should give out to her husband. She was a tramp, just as her mother had been.

“I wish you stayed in Philadelphia permanently, Brad, or the plane crashed,” she snapped.

I never struck a woman in my life and clenched my hands into fists, resisting the urge to punch her. It took a minute for my pants to deflate. I then stumbled up the stairs, banging my ankle against the last step.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Rachael – ☆☆☆
Okay... This is going to be one of the hardest reviews to write. I'm so incredibly torn between loving this book and hating this book.

So, let's start with the good. There is some seriously twisted things going on in these pages. I totally applaud the author for making it so darn twisted and crazy...and fun trying to guess what on Earth is going on. I seriously related to Ronni and the whiplash she was getting from her husband's personality changes.

Now on to the bad, I think the beginning portion of this book was so horribly written and confusing it will lose people before they get farther into the story where things start to click, and where we get to see the real genius behind the author's work. There are parts of the story that were quite unbelievable, and that sort of ruined some of the crazy fun of the story.

All in all, I'm still torn on how I feel about the book. It was a twisted story for sure, and the writing wasn't bad per se, but for some reason at the end of the book, I was happy it was over instead of wanting more, which isn't really a good thing, so take that how you want.

I say pick it up, you may connect more with it in the beginning than I did and get more entertainment from it.

Belinda is a former Software Engineer and Web Developer. She is a Zumbaholic. Belinda loves to create novels with twists and turns, and love stories that will squeeze your heart. Her goal is to entertain and touch you by making you laugh, cry, get angry: go through the emotional experience that makes us all human and by doing so humanize her characters.

Her aim with her books is to grab the reader by the shirt collar and drag him or her into the novel, and not let go until the end. She hopes that the reader will not just read her story, but experience it, with chills, blood pounding, brain bursting, etc.

Belinda was born in the Los Angeles area and lives in Texas.

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Best Friends Never by Isabelle Drake

Be careful who you keep secrets with, especially in picture-perfect Cherry Grove, a place where average isn’t good enough, and nothing is what it seems.

Lexi Welks wants two things—respect and a college acceptance letter that’ll get her out of too-good-to-be-true Cherry Grove. The problem is that the nasty, life-ruining secret she shares with Monica Sanders is about to go public. If their ugly truth comes out, her plans for college—not happening. And that’s only the beginning of her end.

Monica is the kind of student teachers adore—well-behaved, hard-working and always following the rules. She’s the kind of friend other girls follow—well-dressed, popular and always knowing the right thing to do. If only they knew the truth about her. The truth Lexi found out the hard way, after spending the past summer letting Monica talk her into doing things she knew could come back to ruin her.

Now it’s the first week of school and one of the seniors is missing. Lexi knows a thing or two about the circumstances of his disappearance, but she’s not talking. Neither is Monica. But wicked truths have a way of crawling to the surface and tearing through the most careful plans.

Book 1
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Finch  Books

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆
Isabelle Drake is not a new-to-me author, having read some of her racier titles many years ago, so I was surprised to find this young adult novel. The transition was done well.

The beginning flowed steadily, the middle dragged, and the ending was chaotically rushed, leaving me feeling off-kilter.

Best Friends Never is between two friends who were up to no good during the summer. With it now being fall, our narrator – Lexi – and her ex-friend Monica are butting heads. But from page one until the end, the reader never truly learns why.

I enjoyed Lexi for the most part, able to empathize with her and connect. A girl who lost her father at a young age, now has a step-father who comes and goes, hurting her mother time and time again as he pops in and out of their lives. When he comes back, Dale acts as if he is Lexi's real dad, only more overbearing and it feels like a betrayal to her because her mother won't stand up for her. Lexi's mom is the classic doormat.

Not wishing to ruin the plot with an overview or by giving details of what I did and didn't like, as this is a mystery/suspense young adult novel – a classmate is missing at the start of the novel, and then other bad things begin to happen throughout the book, with Lexi a central point.

To be blunt about why I could only give 3 stars, when I believe the intended audience would probably overlook inconsistencies and holes, by book's end, after reading several hundred pages, the reader is not rewarded with what happened, why it happened, or who did it. Not only are there no real answers, I have absolutely no idea what happened in the first place. For the sake of drawing it into another novel, this did the opposite of whet my appetite for the next. It totally turned me off not to get at least what happened. I didn't need to know who did it or even why, but the WHAT would have been nice to know. Yes, Lexi assumes by book's end the who, but even then she doesn't know. The reader should get some sort of a payoff for taking hours of their time to get some answers. I wasn't asking for all of them to be revealed, but something should have been expected.

I'm on the fence on whether or not I will read the next in this series. Recommended to young adults, as I believe most adults will have a similar reaction to the content of the book.

Young adult age-range: 14+ due to darker content.

Isabelle Drake got her start writing confession stories for pulp magazines like True Confessions and True Love. Since publishing those first few stories she has written in many genres, but tends to write about everyday people in extraordinary situations.

When away from her keyboard, she likes watching classic horror films, especially Hammer films such as the Karnstein Trilogy, and reading (of course). An avid traveler, she'll go just about anywhere—at least once—to meet people and get story ideas.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Best Friends Never (Cherry Grove #1) by Isabelle Drake to read and review.

Until Beth by Lisa Amowitz

She doesn’t just play, she kills it.

Talented rock guitarist Beth Collins has been barely holding herself together for months, ever since her boyfriend and bandmate became the latest victim in a string of suspicious disappearances. When her brother is injured an accident and she sees something dark billowing around him as he hovers close to death, she’s convinced her sanity is collapsing for good.

Then she's accepted by a boarding school for the musically gifted. All of her new friends are bursting with talent, but they're also keeping secrets. Can she trust Vincent, who's so sweet that his very touch makes her fears melt away? Or Xavier, who's trying to tell her something but is hiding even more?

And will anyone be safe when her true Talent comes out?

Book 1
Buy Links

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆
Until Beth started out strong, very engaging and fast-paced, but it turned frustrating and extremely confusing.

Beth is grieving over the loss of her bandmate/boyfriend, as well as trying to figure out why children have been coming up missing in her small town. On the same night a scout from a prominent school shows interest in her, her brother's friend tries to assault her, and the brother and his friend are in an accident. This all happens so very quickly in the first chapter, setting up the beyond confusing events of the entire book.

I enjoyed the characterization, the story itself, and the inventiveness of the Talents. In a way, it reminded me of Xavier's school for Gifted Youngsters (Marvel's X-men). In fact, a main character is named Xavier.

But this all fell short with the execution of the storytelling. To me, it felt as if it was written as if the reader should know/understand what was going on because the author knew. There were huge plot holes that were never resolved, or just remembered near the end and quickly explained in a way that was out of place in the current scene.

Beth was 100% clueless (not clueless TSTL girl, but clueless to her predicament) from page one to the end as a way to keep the reader just as clueless, and this led to a very frustrating reading experience. After finishing it, I don't feel as if I know anything about the Talent system, because Beth didn't. It felt as if the author was making it up as they wrote the novel, and failed to go back and fill in the holes in the beginning. As a writer myself, I feel it evolved into something that wasn't the intention from the start. Like the initial idea was a Young Adult mystery surrounding music, but changed to paranormal.

In hopes of feeling Young Adult, the usual dances, crushes, and kissing were injected. But often at extremely odd times. Beth would be a dead girl walking, a minute later her girlfriend would shoo Vincent away, they'd giggle, and get ready for a dance. (No sleep, no food, no shower after crawling out of a labyrinth & nearly dying?) The amount of times that Beth kissed Vincent after thinking of Sam was beyond bizarre, right down to the final paragraph of the book itself. "Let's go find Sam!" ... we kissed and didn't come up for air for a very long time. The author was pushing to create a quadrangle between Beth, the missing Sam, Vincent, and Xavier. Vincent doesn't fit in the angle whatsoever, but he's the one Beth's always reluctantly macking on. Bizarre.

Will adult readers enjoy this book? Probably. There is mystery because it's meant to be a mystery, and then there is a mystery because of the execution of a storyline completely leaving out necessary information in a timely manner. It's enjoyable for an adult if they read as quickly as possible so they don't realize a lot is getting skipped. I basically just read the book, because it flowed from A to D with the reader just guessing how the author arrived at D, filling in B & C for themselves or not at all; and no, B & C were never explained.

Will Young Adult readers like this book? Most certainly. There is mystery to keep them interested. Action and paranormal elements. Characters who have crushes on one another (this is a bit forced from an adult POV).

Will I read the next in the series? I'm on the fence, as I did enjoy the story that was trying to be told, and I'm curious to see if the author's storytelling abilities improve, but I feel a bit let down after such a strong start devolved into an oddly paced book with a Talent system that was never fully developed nor explained.

Genre: Young Adult | Science Fiction/Paranormal | Mystery Suspense |

Age range: 14+ due to mild violence, grief, sexual contact is only kissing except for an interrupted assault.

Lisa Amowitz is an artist and graphic designer by trade, but writing has always been a deep and abiding passion. As a mom of an actual teen, she's not just writing YA; she's living it. Lisa is a member of Enchanted Inkpot, a YA fantasy blog.

Connect with Lisa

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Until Beth (Life & Beth #1) by Lisa Amowitz to read and review.