Inevitable Ascension by V.K. McAllister. So I usually shy away from indie authors but I had a good friend that kept raving about this novel. After hearing about it from her and several other people I broke down and gave it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised! I thought I would post my review here 
Characters - 5/5
Violina is the REAL definition of a strong female lead. Katniss and the girl from Divergent can go hang out with Bella in twilight after reading this. It's amazing how well they can pull off being so lovable and yet so... down to business (violently speaking that is).
I've always enjoyed those types of stories where I can put myself in each character's position and understand why they are making the choices they are. Saturday morning cartoons are the most guilty of having villains being "evil" purely for the sake of it. Inevitable Ascension has strong motives for each character, all of which are arguably justified when you take a few minutes to think about it.
Plot 5/5
This is one of those books where several subplots, though each intriguging enough on their own, all end up being pieces to an unseen jigsaw puzzle of mind explodyness. I didn't see it coming. This is the opposite of predictable. The pacing is also relentless in that every time you think things are under control, something blows up and the stakes are raised exponentially.
The overall tone starts out pretty light-hearted, but things get twisted and dark with each passing chapter. While the book has a lot of violence, none of it is gory or disgusting. There's also no sex, swearing, and despite the dark subject matter, its a pretty clean book that would probably be pg-13 if it were a movie.
All in all, this is one that is worth taking the time to read. In a world of rehashed plots and reboots, its nice to have something so original to mix things up.
Characters - 5/5
Violina is the REAL definition of a strong female lead. Katniss and the girl from Divergent can go hang out with Bella in twilight after reading this. It's amazing how well they can pull off being so lovable and yet so... down to business (violently speaking that is).
I've always enjoyed those types of stories where I can put myself in each character's position and understand why they are making the choices they are. Saturday morning cartoons are the most guilty of having villains being "evil" purely for the sake of it. Inevitable Ascension has strong motives for each character, all of which are arguably justified when you take a few minutes to think about it.
Plot 5/5
This is one of those books where several subplots, though each intriguging enough on their own, all end up being pieces to an unseen jigsaw puzzle of mind explodyness. I didn't see it coming. This is the opposite of predictable. The pacing is also relentless in that every time you think things are under control, something blows up and the stakes are raised exponentially.
The overall tone starts out pretty light-hearted, but things get twisted and dark with each passing chapter. While the book has a lot of violence, none of it is gory or disgusting. There's also no sex, swearing, and despite the dark subject matter, its a pretty clean book that would probably be pg-13 if it were a movie.
All in all, this is one that is worth taking the time to read. In a world of rehashed plots and reboots, its nice to have something so original to mix things up.