Reviewed by Jessica Reeves for Readers' Favorite

What a book! I have to state that I found this book utterly wonderful and a total pleasure to read. The story begins with a young girl living in an off-world colony. The book describes her everyday life as safe, regimented and utterly mundane. She craves excitement and, as soon as you read that, you know her life is never going to be quite the same again. The storyline takes you through a myriad of ventures, all rich in subterfuge. The author writes from the perspective of the main character and therefore only lets the reader in on the barest of facts. This habit, coupled with the author’s custom of weaving snippets of a tantalising sub-plot into the book, leaves one completely unsure of what will occur next. In fact, the reader is never quite sure who the good guys are and who the bad guys are, leaving one totally second guessing and totally hooked.

The author has a talent for keeping her storytelling neat and simple, which promotes a constantly flowing narrative. Also, this relaxed way of writing allows the story to come alive as one reads. It is a book you can pick up and read for ten minutes at a time or for hours at a time. The storyline flows so well that it allows the reader to settle into the book quickly, like a comfy pair of slippers. There is a good collective mix of characters and they are described well, allowing their individual personalities to be quickly established, which I rather enjoyed. I did find some of the scenes slightly more violent than I expected, although the violence was neither overstated nor glorified and I could see why the author felt she had to include them.

I liked the fact that, toward the end of the book, the author does not allow one to think the characters will be sailing off into the sunset, happy and content. The literal whip is still being cracked right up to the very last page, but by then one has come to realise that this author loves to keep your attention by unmercifully teasing you. In conclusion, I would say that this book is well constructed and beautifully engineered. I look forward to reading more from this author