Welcome to New Vegas, a city once covered in bling, now blanketed in ice. Like much of the destroyed planet, the place knows only one temperature - freezing. But some things never change. The diamond in the ice desert is still a 24-hour hedonistic playground and nothing keeps the crowds away from the casino floors, never mind the rumors about sinister sorcery in its shadows.
At the heart of this city is Natasha Kestal, a young blackjack dealer looking for a way out. Like many, she's heard of a mythical land simply called "the Blue." They say it's a paradise, where the sun still shines and the waters are turquoise. More importantly, it's a place where Nat won't be persecuted, even if her darkest secret comes to light.
But passage to the Blue is treacherous, if not impossible, and her only shot is to bet on a ragtag crew of mercenaries led by a cocky runner named Ryan Wesson there. Danger and deceit await on every corner, even as Nat and Wes find themselves inexorably drawn to each other. But can true love survive the lies?
Fiery hearts collide in this fantastic tale of the evil men do and the awesome power within us all. This is a remarkable first book in a spellbinding new series about the dawn of a new kind of magic.
NYT bestselling author Melissa De La Cruz (Witches of East End) teams up with Michael Johnston for this dystopian and magical realism mash up novel. Published in October 2014 the sequel Stolen is already available on ebook and I definitely recommend this book to any Divergent/Hunger Games fans.
This book is generic, in that comforting when you come home for the first time in a while way. It's that frayed jumper or blackened bed socks. I might be being rather harsh here, the plot has a beautiful progression between event and event. It rises and falls at the times when it'supposed to and all in all I felt I enjoyed it. It was the perfect book to battle readers block, samey enough that I felt comfortable within the genre but also with twists that pulled my mind back when it started to wander. And it did wander.
The novel is an eclectic mix of dystopian science fiction and fantasy magical realism. It is set up nicely with a post-apocalypse, the next ice age world. Like most dystopians there is a totalitarian government to overthrow at some point but a more immediate smaller task that pulls our heroine into the battle. It's all very basic dystopian until the rise of powers and drakon (I assume dragons). It was an interesting twist and I found it all pretty believable until they starting having what was basically leprechauns from the television show Charmed (Midgets casting spells for luck! Really?) Once the magic spell-casting element was introduced, it had gone too far, like with Suzanne Collins and those random lizard men mutts. Too far.
The issue isn't any of this for me however. I have an issue with the characters. At first they were simple to understand and that can really pull a reader in with the ease but I did start to get bored of them.
STARRING:
'The bad boy who's misunderstood and is actually really a good guy!'
'The tough by scared girl with a secret to hide and trust issues.'
'The comic relief'
'The gorgeous girl our protagonist will inevitably become jealous of.'
It's all about character, simple character helps me jump straight into the narrative, but there needs to be development there. They were entertaining and typical and I cared, I felt excited when they succeeded and disheartened when things when wrong but there is just something...something that Divergent, The Hunger Games, The 5th Wave all have that this doesn't. That complexity of character, trying to figure them out because that's half the fun.
The romance was amusing and I ship them hard but I want more conflict, I want the fight, the struggle, the journey of them falling in love. Not a love at first sight doohickey. Attraction at first sight sure, but the 'we met once long ago...destiny brings us together.' The plot was progressive and interesting and full of potential but it needs the character complexity to back it up.
Overall I did thoroughly enjoy this book. It isn't a trainwreck. The dual authorial tones blend together beautifully to the point I can't tell who wrote what. Though I do disagree with Beautiful Creatures Author Kami Garcia. This is not a futuristic Game of Thrones. This is Disney's Frozen meets The Darkest Minds meets Harry Potter. And with a few delicious edits and some new scenes, the book could be top notch.
Happy Reading.
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