Review: Double Down

Double Down
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Lois Lane has settled in to her new school. She has friends, for maybe the first time in her life. She has a job that challenges her. And her friendship is growing with SmallvilleGuy, her online maybe-more-than-a-friend. But when her friend Maddy’s twin collapses in a part of town she never should’ve been in, Lois finds herself embroiled in a dangerous mystery that brings her closer to the dirty underbelly of Metropolis.

You guuuuys these books are SO good! I completely loved the first one and this one ramps it up a notch and brings back everything I loved in the first book as well as expanding the world of Metropolis and giving us more information on the characters and their backgrounds! I love how the first book links to the second in subtle ways like the game still being used, Taxi Jack and so on  as well as larger ways like James's Dad! I read this in one sitting, it's so easy to just sit and read and read and read! I've said it before and I'll say it again...whether you love the comics, movies or Smallville...check this series out! 

Once again we're straight in with the story and no messing about. Lois is checking out a street artist when she spots Maddy's twin come over all funny and it turns out there's a super secret lab involved, and all of this is somehow connected to a mob boss. On top of that, all may not be as it seems with James's dad. The stakes have been raised, as has the danger level. Not to mention there's a stranger on the boards who supposedly knows where the flying man is going to be...right down to the coordinates! 

I found myself becoming lost with Lois in her world, eager to know what happens next and being surprised left, right and centre, I loved not being able to guess what's going on. I love how the different threads all weave together after being introduced separately, and I love how the mysteries take a turn for the slightly unbelievable, or at least technologically/scientifically advanced, and is done realistically and believably with enough information for you to understand how such a thing has become possible in the book. It's such an imaginative series of books, and this installment is no exception, there's such a great vibe to the book. It's fast paced and the author manages to capture the essence of Lois and Metropolis perfectly. 

Lois continues to be a completely brilliant character, after the last book Perry's waiting for her next big scoop. I love the relationship between Lois and Perry, he's her mentor and it's great to watch him encouraging her. Lois is entertaining and just as snarky as I am which makes her narrative a brilliant read. There's plenty of humour in this book and a lot of it is courtesy of Lois herself! I ended up snorting or laughing out loud so many times! I am loving getting to know Lois, she's a truly brilliant character and her determination is inspiring. She has a bit of a struggle in this book, she wants to expose the truth but she's navigating friendship with Maddy and doesn't want to alienate her. I loved watching the blossoming friendship between the two, Lois hasn't really had a friend before! I also loved watching her friendship grow with the others, although there wasn't as much Devin as I'd have liked! 

The book has such a brilliant group of characters and not only do we get to learn more about all of then, but some of them develop more as well! We learn tidbits about Devin, and loads about Maddy's past as well as James's. I was sad we didn't get to see more of Anavi but we did get an update of sorts! In this book we meet Maddy's twin Melody properly, and we learn about the both of them. I liked Melody, she seemed like a bit of a cow, but she reminded me a bit of Lydia from Teen Wolf, she was a lot smarter than she let on, and I liked watching her develop over the course of the book and get to a much better place in the end, so I'm hoping to see more of her in the next book! (if there's a next book!) We also get to learn a lot more about Maddy as well as we see the relationship between the twins, and watch it change. I felt for Maddy a lot, I got where she was coming from, and it gives you a lot more insight in to her. 

We also get to know James a lot better as we see more of him this book. He's acting a bit strange this book and it's not long before we find out why. He's not the bad guy you think he is for most of the first book and I actually ended up liking him loads more this book and I felt for him a lot as well! He's actually quite a nice guy, and I liked how things went with him and the romance department and I'm interested to see how this develops! There's the return of Principal Butler who I hated in book one, but in this book I started to think maybe he wasn't so bad, I don't like him 100% but he's not too terrible. 

Some of our favourite TV/comic characters are back, for however brief a time, we see Perry again and I'm loving the glimpses of him, we see Lucy, and I really do love her, I can see how she developed in to the character on Supergirl! Her and Lois together crack me up! We also see some more of Lois's dad and there's hints about his work and what he might be up to, and I think we're about to see the start of him being involved in certain...things! 

We get a brand new character in this book, Dante, and I completely loved him. I mean I was a bit wary in the beginning that he might be dodgy and I guess he still could be, but he was interesting and I ship him and Maddy so bad! He certainly livened things up a little bit romance wise! I also need to talk about Lois and Clark! I loved seeing Clark via the messages again, and how he was struggling with what to tell Lois, especially with everything going on. I loved seeing their relationship develop more from friends to maybe something more and I'm excited to see where it's going next after THAT ending! I'm loving seeing the two of them and I think Lois is starting to suspect even more now! The author is writing the pair of them perfectly and they are SO adorable! I love how they're constantly helping each other out as equals and doing all this crazy stuff in this book that they know is bad idea! We see more of The Inventor in this as well and I think my suspicions may have been wrong! I'm not too sure! WHO ARE YOU INVENTOR?! 

As well as all of that there's some dodgy Men In Black types hanging about, a mad scientist that I'm expecting to see again seeing as he's from the comic! He was super creepy, it was brilliant! There's some unsavoury characters in the form of previously said mob boss and the mayor of the town...SO many brilliantly written dodgy characters hanging around causing mischief for Lois to sort out! Like I said in my review of the first book, there are so many Superman and comic references that'll keep fans happy, and squealing when things or people are mentioned. 

Double Down continues to expand on a world we already know and love and continues to build up characters that you just want to know that little bit more about. She is truly doing fantastic things with the world and characters and I'm enjoying seeing Lois as a teenager and how she became the character is when we see her in Superman. She's a brilliant character to read about, she really is, she's intelligent and witty and snarky and determined and makes an excellent narrator. I'm enjoying picking up on all the connections, and seeing how things pan out. I hope there's going to be a few more books yet! There are so many brilliant elements to the book and they keep you gripped and they're complex, funny and humorous and just PERFECT! I think they're going to do a lot to introduce new readers to comics as well, it has to be said!