Hunted

Hunted
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the author

Still reeling from the betrayal and subsequent execution of her best friend, Talia jumps at the chance to be distracted....and see her boyfriend Erik. Talia packs up her bags and heads to Washington DC to help administer the annual Talent Aptitude Tests, which will analyze and identify any children with Talent. Talia finally has a purpose again, but she has to work with Cadence, and there's no love lost between the two. Talia has always known that the Mandatory Testing Law's are controversial, she isn't sure she agree's with them herself, especially now she's seeing up close and personal what happens during the testing, but she's still shocked by the protesters she see's lining the streets. She's even more shocked when she finds out there's a city wide curfew during the testing, it seems that while Penny was a traitor, most people aren't happy a teenager was executed. Talia's misgivings and distrust of the agency and Mac begin to grow, with what Penny showed her, and what she see's happening around her.

 When Erik enlists the help of a friend working in the medical unit, the reason for Talia's seizures is revealed, as well as what the drug is that they're giving her...not to mention a shocking secret of the Agency's. As if that wasn't enough to put a crack in Talia's trust of Mac and the Agency, Mac assigns her a task that will destroy everything she thought she knew. Mac sets Talia, Erik and Cadence up with an extraction team to retrieve a child. A child that is 4 years old. A child that doesn't even have to be tested yet. A child that belongs to a face from her past. When it goes wrong, Talia will have to make a tough decision, one that will take her away from everything she knows and set her on a path of uncertainty, and discovery.

Life altering decisions will be made. Earth shattering secrets will  be revealed. Loyalties will be tested. Enemies will become allies. And a War is about to begin.

The plot thickens. The stakes are raised. And I have never been more shocked the entire way through a book. I'm still processing what I've just finished reading. I mean...wow.

The world building in Hunted is on par with the previous two books. The world of the Dystopian Washington DC is embellished on what we've seen so far, we see the dark underbelly of it, and we get another mini world built on in the form of the Underground. When you start reading the book, or when you go back to it after you've had to force yourself to sleep, you're immediately sucked in to the world, and that's a quality about these books that I love, and is consistent. You get lost in the world, and everything can be pictured so clearly with so few words.

The prose continues to be atmospheric and cinematic. It continues to be concise and is not bogged down with useless information. We learn things as Talia learns them, any background given is kept to the point and doesn't interrupt the flow of the book or the narrative.

The previous book was fast paced, but this book seemed even more so, with so much happening the book. We went from DC to the Underground, to the location of the extractions. There was so much information to process, but it was presented perfectly with great flow from location to location and event to event.

My love Talia grows with each book, when you're reading you feel like you're connected to Talia, we learn things as she learns things, we feel what she feels, and we love her to bits. In Hunted, we watch as Talia loses control of herself and her emotions and how that makes her feel, which I thought was beautifully written, I felt for Talia, and it was realistic in that if I was in her shoes, I feel I'd react the same way. Talia is still the strong character we love, she's just a little bit more flawed which makes her more human and even easier to relate to. We're on this journey with Talia and we're watching her grow and develop and question things. Talia is even more of an amazing character than I first thought, I mean agreeing to look after Alex, after she finds out Donovans his dad? I can honestly say I would not be able to do that.

Erik is still amazing. He's patient with Talia, he's there for her he's perfect. But at the same time, he has very realistic reactions to things, like in one scene when he says he's tired of the mood swings, but then he's still there. He keeps her safe, and his over protectiveness is written perfectly so it comes across as sweet, and funny rather than kind of creepy and scary like so many books that missed the mark with that aspect. I'm excited that Erik's past is revealed a little more, and I'm excited to see more of his past with the introduction of his family.

Donovan. Oh Donovan. Just when I was feeling a little bit sorry for you and thought "hey...you know what..maybe I could like you" you had to go and out douche yourself. I'd suspected for a while that he may be behind her seizures, I just wasn't sure HOW. So ya know..he knows he's the reason and he's not said a word....kind of douchey. But the main reason he's kind of an a-hole, is bigger than that. I get why he hid the kid away, I do. It was very noble and I felt bad towards the end for him. But I just can't get past the fact that he cheated on Talia with Candice, got her pregnant, had a son with her, tried to get back with Talia and was NEVER going to tell her?! Then there's the whole "I love you, I still love you" thing, yet Mac appears to have forced him to date her? I'm curious to see if Donovan will be hard core redeemed, he was working his way there, but this kind of made me hate him again.

The plot definitely thickens. There are so many threads coming together, including threads from the first book, to create an intense and rich plot for this book, and for the final book coming up. Hunted was so brilliantly written, that it's like we're Talia. I'm trying to think how to describe this so bear with the rambling! We don't see how shady some characters are, until Talia does, so we start off loving Donovan, then feeling what Talia feels. We have until this point, felt what Talia felt for Mac. We liked him, thought he was a great guy, but as of last book slightly didn't trust him. Now in this book, as Talia has started to have no trust for Mac, we've started to not trust him either. Along with Talia, we've started to realise that Mac and the Agency may not be what they seem. I can't describe how that makes the experience of reading the book so awesome.

Along with Talia our suspicions have built up, doubts about what we thought we knew are appearing, and for the entire book there's a sense of growing distrust, and you can feel while you're reading that all is not as it seems. This is pretty good indicator of not only how good the writing is, but how invested you become in the books. You're fully immersed in the world. The entire book you're feeling the tension and unease while you're reading, it set me a little on edge, I kept waiting for the bomb to drop, while  being glued to the book.

The bomb did indeed drop. Several of them actually. I love these books  because they're not predictable, and Hunted is no exception. There where so many plot twists that I never saw coming. Yes I said earlier I figured Donovan was the reason for Talia's seizures, I don't view that as a predictable plot twists because I didn't know how he was responsible. That was all part of another huge plot twist that dents Talia's trust hugely. Then we have the kid thing. Then the Penny's alive reveal which is the only one that didn't have me gasping in shock. I'm fairly certain I squealed at a level only dogs could hear. Mac's true colours where revealed and Talia finally realizes who killed her parents among other things.

All these plot twists made for truly explosive reading. You're not expecting them, it just adds to the impact as you turn a page and read another huge plot twist that you didn't see coming. Some questions from the previous books are answered, some threads come together and tie up, but there's many more questions, and there's more threads being added in. You spend the whole book gasping in shock, unable to put it down as the tension mounts and the stakes get higher.

We see more clearly how controlled everything is by the Agency. You can feel revolution in the air. *Do You Hear the People Sing plays*, yes I may have hummed that to myself once or twice at certain appropriate parts. Sue me.

Sophie is one of few authors I know of who can build up the anticipation, and set the scene perfectly for the next installment, without taking away from the storyline of the current book, it's always a well written secondary thing. Believe me when I say Sophie has set up when hell of a finale. The epilogue itself built up so much anticipation I can't even handle it.

The books have, for me, journeyed from a kind of cute romance with some action thrown in, to a mystery with a smidge of romance and building intrigue, into the third book which for me was a book where the action and the intrigue, and the plot are front and centre, and the romance is secondary, but still strong and enjoyable. The books have gotten more serious as it goes on, and the war is pretty much upon them. And ya  know...I'm still reeling from what we discovered in Hunted about the Agency. I mean this is the first Dystopian book that is actually rivaling Hunger Games in the genre in my opinion.

It's just so perfect, and each book just get's better and better as we follow the over arching storyline, we learn more about the characters, we find out more about what's going on, as we follow the path to the end. I can guarantee that no-one who's read all the books has the same opinion of certain characters *coughMaccoughDonovancough* as they did in the beginning. I can't stress enough how much I love that our opinion of the characters changes as Talia's does.

I swear to God Sophie has implanted some sort of mind melding technology in her books so that you are one with Talia. I feel like I've not read Hunted. I feel like I've lived it. I'm simultaneously excited for the final book, but not because you know...it's the end. We're going on a real journey here and Hunted was the climax of that journey.

Hunted is page turning, gripping, on the edge of your seat drama. Shocking revelations abound, and characters appear in totally different light. Questions are answered, but more appear, and the threads of the plot are coming together into an intense spiders web of intrigue, mystery, action, romance, and war. You can't tell me you didn't read this book and get way too emotionally invested in the characters!

Caged

Caged
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: BUY!
Source: Copy courtesy of the author, Sophie Davis.

It's been 9 months since Talia was injected with an unknown substance and shot at Ian Crane's compound in Nevada. Since, she's had to learn to walk all over again, and has been dealing with regular seizures. Talia feels like a prisoner, she's been confined to her childhood home while recovering, with no contact with anyone, and her dream of being a Hunter on hold...possibly forever. So when the Agency director, Mac, asks her to go undercover at the McDonough School for the Talented to find the spy who set the trap for her in Nevada, Talia jumps at the opportunity.

Until she see's she'll be working with Donovan, the ex-boyfriend she's known through childhood that cheated on her. That she's not so jazzed about, to say there was some tension would  be an understatement. But after a fight ends in a seizure, a tentative friendship begins to form. Enter Erik, Talia's former team mate, and make out buddy in the week leading up to her mission, and the guy she's got some very strong feelings for. But hey, atleast she's got her best friend Penny there, to assist her in uncovering the spy, and help her deal with the boy drama.

As Talia becomes more entrenched in her assignment, she quickly discovers the lengths Mac and the Agency will go to in the name of war, and what she's capable of, when the interrogation of a suspect goes horrifically wrong. Talia begins to realize that Crane's influence is spreading, and there are few operatives without a tie to the coalition. Forced to face hard truths, and dangerous conclusions, Talia realizes that it's those closest to her hiding the biggest secrets. As finding the traitor dumps Talia in to a constant state of frustration and desperation, with lies everywhere, she realizes she needs help. But who can she trust when everyone has something to hide. Who isn't who they say they are? Is Donovan responsible for her seizures? What is Mac hiding? And will Talia and Eric get to be together? You know...without the whole arguing and life threatening mission getting in the way?

So, Sophie very kindly sent me this to review, and man am I so glad for her kindness, because it looks to me like this is going to get better and better. We skip all of the recovery period and join Talia 9 months after the end of Talented, and as she's back on her feet.

The amazing world building from Talented is expanded on as we get to see one part of the world that was previously mentioned, in more detail...the school. An entire mini world is created in the world we're already familiar with, that encompasses you and sucks you in. The new scenery keeps the series fresh, and the readers engaged and interested. We also get to see more of how the world works, with the justice system and so on, which is really cool! Going back in to this world, I had to do a little happy dance, because it's so unique, and it's impossible for you to get tired of it!

The prose is just as concise with the background and details, and just as smooth flowing. The prose is so slick, you could slide right off if you where walking on it. There's just as much action, just as much intrigue and just as much humour, but on another level to Talented. I kept flashing back to Talented and how much I loved and enjoyed reading it and how I was consumed with the characters and story, much like I was with Caged all over again!

I loved all the characters in Talented, they where all so well written and full of life, and that's carried on in Caged, but we get to see even more depth to them, and find out more about them. We see Talia in a different way, she's not a Hunter, but she's still badass, but you admire her strength in dealing with the seizures and everything on her plate. I feel like I morph in to Talia, or atleast merge with her when I read, because I find myself not only following her thought process, but thinking some of the same things she does, like with Erik. Like Talia,  I really thought he'd run a mile when he saw her have a seizure, because I was kind of envisioning he-slut Erik, but shame on me. I loved Erik in Talented, he was perfect, and I should have known we'd see an incredibly tender, sweet and caring side to him in Caged regarding what Talia's going through. I love his protectiveness, although the scene after the Dinner scene...I really wanted to smack him one.

Donovan is complicated for me. I was kind of meh about his character in Talented, he was a sweetheart, as I said in my review of Talented, but at the same time, he was a bit of an ass sometimes, and my opinion of him morphed in to hatred after the Incident. I am fully Team Erik. All the way. BUT. Caged, I felt, gave us more of a look at Donovan, we saw deeper in to his character. I saw he had a sweet and caring side, even more so than I originally thought, he was there for Talia even though she was (rightfully) horrible to him, he was remorseful BUT he was kinda stupid thinking she'd take him back and I enjoyed seeing a side of him that wasn't shown very much in Talented, although I was reading and thinking "HELL NO" when Talia was confused about her feelings for him.

With Donovan and what was going on with him and Talia in Caged, I've seen a couple of people saying "Oh I thought the love triangle was out the way in Talented" and blah blah blah. Well, let's be real. Throughout the whole confusion with the guys (which was very realistic by the way and well done) Talia states she has stronger feelings for Erik, and he's who she wants, and I doubt she'll go for Donovan as second best. Donovan's kind of like a safety blanket for Talia, he makes her feel safe at a time when she doesn't. You need to remember that Talia's known him for years, so for me, it wasn't really a love triangle, because I was confident that Erik would prevail, and he did. It was more she wanted to be friends with him, and didn't want to lose her new friendship with him.

Back to Donovan,  I'm interested to see what happens with his character. Can they be friends? Can he get out from under his father's thumb? Speaking of Mac, I personally saw him as a pretty great guy in Talented, Talia's rescuer and protector who took her in, and cared for her. In Caged...well....he's shady. He's up to something, and he's done something, and it is killing me not knowing what and trying to guess.

Everything you thought you knew about the characters when you finished Talented....well...in Caged it gets turned upside down, no more so than with Penny. You see different sides to everyone, and get to know the characters a bit more, they're all built on from Talented, and some of them aren't what you thought they where.

Now. Penny. I really didn't see that coming, I came to the realization after Talia did, when she went storming into the room. I'm simultaneously gutted, because you know....betrayal of my favourite character, but at the same time, I'm intrigued, particularly about the revelation in the last 5% of the book I think it was, during the court scene. I'm frothing at the mouth with anticipation for the next book!

While i'm talking about Penny and shocking revelations, let's move on to the plot. As I said, it's action packed all the way through, we have romance, we have regular drama, bitchy girl drama (seriously, someone smack Cadence) and boy drama. For every question that's answered there are a million more. There's a tonne of twists and turns, and shocking plot twists that I guarantee you even Nancy Drew couldn't predict. You're incapable of putting the book down, but you don't want it to end. Seriously. I was on a night out for a friends birthday and I was thinking about the book.

Davis has a knack for giving you exactly what you want in the book, answering all your questions, but also giving you a load more of intrigue ready to be answered in the next  book, but still leaving you satisfied and ready for more. I honestly cannot get enough, and I feel like the books are just going to get better and better.

Caged ends on a hell of an explosive note, and the anticipation is ramped up as you get closer to the ending. The plot is rich, and complex, and blends the over arching storyline for the series, seamlessly with the storyline for this portion of the series. A lot of sequels aren't as good, but Caged isn't one of them, it's better. A lot of authors put more emphasis on the overarching storyline, and setting up things for the next book. Not Davis. Setting up the next book is provided, but it's not the sole focus. I can't stress enough how perfectly written these books are, and how much you will regret never reading this series!

Talented

Talented
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: BUY!
Source: Copy courtesy of NetGalley

Talia Lyons lives in a world where nuclear pollution has meant that the current generation of kids are mostly born with "Talents", mind control...mind reading...morphing..that kind of thing. People with Talents are in a war with the coalition that thinks that Talents need to be feared and segregated, that they need to be ashamed of their Talents. When Talia and her parents are visiting the states to meet with the director of TOXIC, the agency helping Talents, her parents are murdered in front of her by the coalition leader, Ian Crane's men.

The director of TOXIC offers her a choice....she chooses revenge. Talia goes to a school exclusively for Talents, and is taken in by the director and his wife and child. Talia spends years training to become a Hunter, and to get her revenge on Crane. 16 year old Talia is poised graduate from McDonough School for the Talented, but first she has to complete her final year living at the Elite Headquarters and going on missions with Henri and Erik, the two members of her team. Henri is convinced he can make her ability, to read and influence the minds of others, work in the field for the first time in their history. Talia's the only thing standing in her way, when a mission proves she may not be up to the life she so craves, and with her solo mission and graduation looming, she has to be on top of her game.

Unfortunately for her, her questionable boyfriend is set to break her heart, and her gift has certainly let her down in that front, but she also feels an impossible connection to Erik. Erik's Talent is to mimic other's Talents, and when he's around Talia his thoughts and feelings are projected to her, she's not sure if what she feels is real or all him.

Can she maintain her focus? Can she defeat Crane? Or will hidden secrets come to the surface?

Oh my God, I love this book! I've literally just finished reading and I'm sad it's over and I need to get the other books and just disappear back in to the world, I hated leaving the world created and wanted to stay there forever!

The whole backstory to what happened to the world, and the kind of mythology surrounding Talents was so rich and detailed and unique. It was all presented in a unique way, while being concise and not bogging down the story or making you bored. We find a lot of it out through Talia when an entire chapter will focus on her letting us know what happened, as if she's speaking right to you.

Talia has got to be my favourite character and heroine in a while, she's so badass. She's strong, even though she doesn't always think she is, and she's determined to get what she wants. Not to mention if you make her mad *coughDonovancough* she will totally destroy where you live with just her mind. Oh yeah. Badass. I felt such a connection with Talia that only intensified as the book went on and we learned more about her, she came across as relateable, and to me she was very real and humanized.There was so much depth to her, and all of the other characters we're introduced to. Every single one of them jumps off the page, and appears clearly in your mind, and lodges in your heart.

This is one of those books I get really emotionally invested in really fast and I'm just like "aaaaah". The source of my "aaahh" this time came from the romance going on. So Davis did this really cool thing where you don't realize Donovan is shady at all. Maybe I'm naive, or maybe i'm just stupid, but when you first meet him in the book, I really liked him and I was like aaww he's such a sweetheart. But then it all changed.

Davis starts the book off with us not having much background on the characters, until Talia provides it on herself fairly quickly, and as we go along regarding the others. For me personally, I felt like when it started, my perception of the characters is totally different from what it is now. You think they're one thing, then a few chapters later you realize they're not. I found it awesome to see characters true selves revealed to you bit by bit.

Back to the romance, it all changed when Donovan turned out to be incredibly shady, and I'm sat here reading like "he wouldn't would he? No I'm just so jaded and pessimistic to think that"  and then I got proved right which sucked for me and Talia. BUT the good thing was that everything between those two was presented in a very real way, so real, that you really really want to punch him. In the face. With a brick.

The OTHER good thing is Erik. We start off thinking he's just her team member, but he's slowly revealed to be so much more through his actions. You realize that Erik's not an ass, he's kinda sweet and he really likes Talia. I'm not gonna lie, I was so torn at one point with Donovan and Erik, but when Donovan started being kind of a jerk, Erik's sweetness in comparison for someone who's supposedly a man whore, really had me rooting for him. I thought Erik was just so cute to her, and when everything went down, I was excited for their romance, but then Davis broke my heart and now I have to wait for the next book for the rainbows and unicorns in their romance.

The world building was intense, I had such a clear picture, it was like a movie was running of it in my minds eye while I was reading. It was about 11:30 am when I got sucked in to the world Davis had created...next thing I know, I've finished the book and looked up to find myself sitting in total darkness at 5pm. I was oblivious to the outside world the entire time I was reading. The prose and the world created where so brilliant I lost myself entirely.

All of my focus and attention was on what was happening in the book, and that was partly because of the things I've already mentioned, but also because the book has all the qualities that keep you glued to the page and not want to stop reading. The pace of the book was fast, loads happened, there was always something going on from action to romance to funny moments, the flow of the book was smooth, there was no parts that bored you with irrelevant information or with too much detail, it was perfectly written.

The plot itself was very intricate with lots of threads, and everything is played close to the authors chest until it's revealed, I had one idea of what I thought was going to happen, to being totally wrong. I kind of guessed the big Donovan reveal, but only when the scene in the cabin started, until that point and after that point, I was putty in the authors hands, unable to guess anything that was going to happen, and being taken on a roller coaster of emotions.

I have a feeling that the plot is going to get more complex, with more hidden threads being revealed. Talented is an excellent start to a series that sets the grounds for the next book, without taking away from the story itself.

Talented is full of action, drama, romance, laughter, and emotions. Never before in my life have I had such an urge to deck a fictional character. I have fallen in love with this book, it's characters and the world created, and I really need to get my hands on the next books!

Think of a female James Bond, with a bit of Sookie Stackhouse mixed in, along with a moderate dash of revenge, and the fighting skills of Buffy.