Review: Refreshing
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 26, 2013
I love stories set in alternate dimensions featuring strong female characters, and in that sense, Identified didn't disappoint. Maya was a great MC, and the rest of the cast was just as nicely developed. The relationships were well-drawn, and the friendship aspect was by far my favorite part of the story. Maya's strength and protectiveness was inspiring, Paige's pain heartbreaking, Luz had me laughing out loud with her explosive temperament.Mills takes something familiar, such as the ability to manipulate elements and builds a unique world around it, a world at the same time beautiful and dangerous thanks to a cruel and power-greedy shifter and a prophecy that somehow involves Maya, though not necessarily for good. As the story progresses, it gets considerably darker, much to my delight because I enjoyed the action and fighting scenes.The narrative is sometimes interrupted by journal entries, reports or letters from various characters. Consequently you get a better understanding of the events leading to the main plot, but also get glimpses of what is to come. That knowledge kept me at the edge of my seat, and though I thought I was prepared...I wasn't prepared for that.One thing that I disliked was the prologue. I am generally not a fan of prologues where a character states that their story must be told. Eventually, yes, it is a story worth telling, but I prefer to be allowed to judge it for myself, and that it shows in the story instead of telling me upfront. I also felt it should go through another round of edits since there were quite a few misplaced commas.There is a snippet from the sequel at the end of Identified, and holy cow, it made my heart pound more than anything I have read in quite a while.Overall, it was nice, save for the unfortunate prologue. Trust me, that ending will leave you begging for more.(disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. There was no monetary compensation or any obligation to write a positive review.)