Review:
*I received an ecopy of this book via NetGalley. This has not influenced my review.*
This book is about three characters who live in a world where everyone knows their deathday, except oops!—these three outlive their respective deathdays and end up empathically linked to each other.
The main characters’ empathic connection was my favorite thing about the book. Not only did they feel each others’ emotions, they also shared taste, smell, and touch, which made things especially interesting. I love reading about empaths, and this was like reading about empaths x10. It was written really well and brought a lot to the story.
The characters themselves were all unique with their own strengths and weaknesses. I’ll admit Franny wasn’t my favorite, and she seemed oddly naive considering her background, but she was determined and compassionate. Court had a lot of walls built-up to push people away and was bad at showing that he cared, but he was intelligent, and he did care. Mykal was not book-smart or great in social situations, but he was passionate and loyal and optimistic and hardworking. Mykal was precious. He was one of those characters you just want to squish and hold like a big teddy bear. He was big and tough, but he was such a sweetheart and always had an easy smile for Court and Franny. And I felt bad for him when he kept feeling like he was useless and a failure. There were also side characters I ended up caring about, like Zimmer and Kinden.
The relationships were interesting as well. Between Court and Mykal, there was longing and feeling that went beyond their connection because they were there for each other when they had no one else. I wouldn’t have minded more angst, but I enjoyed their simmering feelings and the “will they, won’t they” tension. Between Mykal and Franny, there was friendship and inside jokes and loyalty. Between Franny and Court, there was frustration and a figurative wall because of how he kept pushing her away. And I can’t even tell you about my favorite relationship in the book, the one that gave me the most feels, since it would be a spoiler. (Ok, fine, I can’t help myself! But I highly recommend not reading this spoiler if you haven’t read the book yet. *SPOILER* Brothers! I’m so glad Kinden was so stubborn and perceptive and didn’t give up on his suspicion even when all odds and reasoning were against him. The scene when he finally found out was the most emotional for me. I’m really looking forward to seeing more of that relationship. *END SPOILER*)
I had to suspend a lot of disbelief for this book though, and that’s my main complaint. Things like… Certain children having the jobs of adults. Mykal being isolated for so many years but being largely unaffected mentally/emotionally. Court getting such an extreme punishment for his crime (which was kept from the reader for a frustratingly long amount of time). The slightly overdramatized feel to a lot of things. A hotel owner automatically believing Court and co. were paying guests, despite his trusted bellhop telling him otherwise, without even checking the hotel log. Franny knowing how to fight perfectly just because Court once told her the weak places on the body to hit.
The parts of the plot that were believable, however, were slow-paced but good. And there were some twists, especially near the end.
So overall, while I did have a few issues, they were outweighed by the positives. I liked the characters, the relationships, and the connection between the three MCs, and I do want to continue the series!
Recommended For:
Anyone who likes YA, empathic connections, lovable characters, and adorable relationships.
More Books in the Series:
Book Review: The Raging Ones (The Raging Ones Book 1) by Krista & Becca Ritchie
Blog Tour + Book Review: The Last Hope (The Raging Ones Book 2) by Krista & Becca Ritchie
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I hadn’t heard about this book until last month. It looks very unique.. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I enjoyed it! Thanks for checking out my review!
I love the concept of this story, I’m glad it mostly worked for you. I have a love of “empath” stories and situations, so I’d probably enjoy this😁
Empaths are great because they bring more emotion to stories!
yaya I was looking forward to this review because I have this ARC! I kinda skimmed through it right now but Glad to see that you enjoyed even though it had some issues and that you would continue the series 🙂
Thanks! Can’t wait to see what you think 🙂
I have read and enjoyed contemporaries by these authors, am glad their talent translated well to scifi.
I haven’t read their other books, but I did enjoy this one!
I like all of those things you mentioned! This sounds like a fun read. Glad you enjoyed it.
Then you’d probably like this! Thanks 🙂
I love this premise and I think the whole empath thing is fascinating. I feel like I’ve read a fair amount of books with telepathy or various psionic abilities, but not many dealing with empaths? So this definitely has me interested! Plus I love a good will-they-or-won’t-they tension too. Sounds good!
It is a different kind of premise! You should try more books with empaths 😉
I like the sound of this one – thank you for a great review, Kristen:)
I hope you like it if you try it! Thanks!
I’m so happy to see you liked this. I just finished it last night. I LOVE the Ritchie sister’s contemporary series so freaking much – they really do write the BEST sibling relationships. I liked this too but also had to suspend belief for a few things, mostly regarding the ending stuff. But totally agree that it was good. 🙂
I’m glad to hear they write good sibling relationships since that bodes well for the next book! Glad you liked this one too 🙂
I can imagine that it would be terrifying to suddenly continue living after you had been certain you would die. What an interesting concept!
It was interesting, exploring that concept, especially since the characters always knew nothing would kill them until their deathday. So afterward, not knowing when they’d die, was terrifying for them!
I admit, I read the spoiler because how could I not? I may or may not read so I figure it was safe to read it. This is an interesting premise to a book. I mean, the empathic connection is such a cool element to add to it. I have never read any Krista & Becca Ritchie books because they is a lot of drama in their books and I’m happy for some drama, but I feel like it’s a touch too much for my tastes. It sounds like an interesting book, though, so maybe I’ll give it a read.
I’m not the spoiler police lol, I just try to warn sometimes when something is a big spoiler or a small one, etc. Sometimes something in a spoiler can actually make someone want to read a book! This was my first book by them. It did have some of that overdramatic feel, but not too much I don’t think.
I’m not sure if this is for me, but I want to hug Mykal just from your review lol
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
Lol he’s too sweet not to want to hug.
I love the sound of their connection. I also like reading about empaths and telepaths and it sounds like this book handled that part well. I like how you describe the characters and their relationships. And Mykal sounds like such an awesome character to read about. I can see how you would have to suspend your disbelief for some of those parts as those sound a bit unrealistic indeed. I might check this one out as it sounds really good how you describe it here. Not a fan of the whole knowing your death day plot line, but the rest sounds really good. Great review!
I don’t think I’ve read that many books with telepaths. I love empaths though because it usually adds more emotion to the book! Mykal is so sweet. There was definitely some suspension of disbelief, and tbh the deathday thing was another that pushed my suspension, but I figured since that was part of the premise it kinda wasn’t fair of me to complain about that lol. I hope you like it if you try it!
I can’t wait to read this one. I love this writing duo because they do character-driven stories so well. At least what I’ve read from them so far… 😉 I’m glad you enjoyed this one overall, Kristen. I can understand your issues but it seems like maybe the characters won you over. 🙂
This was my first book by them. But if you like them, you’ll probably like this too! It does have some great characters!
I just started this book last night. I haven’t gotten very far in yet but am enjoying it so far. I haven’t met all of the characters yet so I’m curious to see what I think of them once I do. I’m glad to see this was a good read overall for you!
Glad you’re enjoying it so far! I look forward to your thoughts 🙂
This sounds a little too unbelievable to me. I don’t want to even imagine living like that sharing everything.
Yeah, it would be tough not having privacy!
This sounds like a solid read although I do get annoyed when I have to suspend my disbelief as a reader. Great Review.
It was! I get annoyed too, but sometimes I’m able to deal with it if the rest is good. Thakns!
I haven’t read The Raging Ones yet, but I intend to soon! I actually requested this one on NetGalley, didn’t get a response for weeks, and then suddenly got approved! I’m surprised, but pleasantly so. Hopefully I’ll enjoy the characters as much as you did! I have a hard time suspending my disbelief, but it sounds like the characters make the book worth it! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 🙂
I hope you like it! Yeah I have two pending right now that I think were just forgotten, so I can understand why you were surprised after weeks lol. I did think the good characters made up for the issues 🙂
I think empaths are fascinating. Sorry you had to suspend disbelief for a lot of this one though! Thanks for sharing.
-Lauren
Same! Yeah that was a bit frustrating, but I still enjoyed it 🙂
I just read a review from this book and the person really didn’t enjoy it so it is interesting to see an opposite opinion! I actually read a fanfic where the two main characters were empathetically linked but their link was a bit more complex in what they could and couldn’t do – thoughts and some senses but others not and so on. But I liked the idea and found it really unique. I would want to read a novel where it happens too to see how it plays into the storyline and the characters. I love that they have lived longer than their deathday as well. I feel like there is great potential for this one!
I’ve seen some negatives for this one unfortunately :-/ But I liked it. I love the idea of characters being empathically (and more) linked!
‘He was one of those characters you just want to squish and hold like a big teddy bear’ – Have I mentioned that I love you, Kristen? 😉 XD
Does that mean *I* am one of those characters *you* want to squish and hold like a teddy bear???😯
Maybe it does. Maybe it does… 😉
😛