Review: New Adult Dystopian? Hell yeah!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 29, 2014
I had to get my thoughts together for this review. The Wicked We Have Done is unlike any New Adult novel I've read before. First off, it's a Dystopian New Adult. Dystopian, people! Dystopian! The New Adult genre is a relatively new genre and most of it is contemporary romance. So when I heard about this book, I knew I'd get my hands on it the moment it was released.The Wicked We Have Done has a lot of similarities to Sophie Jordan's Uninvited--from the protagonist who is suddenly uprooted from her perfect, normal world, to the strict, government program for criminals. The Wicked We Have Done takes you on a wild ride and doesn't let go. The action starts from the very first chapter and it keeps picking up. Evalyn is being taken to the compass rooms--a prison alternative that lasts a month and is supposed to determine whether she's a criminal at heart, or whether her crime was just a one-time thing. She's being dumped with nine other psychotic criminals and their fight is one to survive. There's so much going on that you just don't know where to look.Evalyn's crime is supposedly the worst of them all--and Harian keeps us on our toes practically the entire time. We only get these small intervals that depict the life Evalyn had before--which includes the perfect boyfriend and awesome best friend. And while we know that she no longer has that life, we don't know exactly what she did to end up in the current situation she's in. Furthermore, Evalyn is a very complex character. From the beginning of the novel, you can feel Evalyn's guilt and self-hatred. She knows she's going to die and she's just waiting for it. The only person left for her to live for is her little brother, and the chances of her making it out of the compass room are very, very, very slim.As the novel progresses, the pieces of Evalyn's crime start coming together. What's more, is that we see Evalyn start to change in her way of thinking. As she spends more and more time with her fellow "inmates" she starts forming friendships and even falls in love. The New Adult genre is filled with romance; that's all there is to it, practically. The Wicked We Have Done, however, focuses on Evalyn's journey. The romance takes a backseat to Evalyn's story, while at the same time having a grand impact in the decisions she makes.The only real critique that I have is in regards to the world-building. It wasn't that we were introduced to a lackluster world, it was that we were introduced to so much at once that it became a bit overwhelming at times. There are all these criminals, all these apparitions, all this action that happens all at once, before I even have a chance to catch my breath. Furthermore, Harian doesn't make it that clear that this is taking place in a futuristic world--at least not at first, so I as a bit lost and confused. It really isn't until the very end that we get more a history and backstory to the setting, and by that time, I'd already gotten used to the Chaos Theory world. While I'll admit that it was a bit weird having the Dystopian and New Adult genres intercept, I'm excited to read more stories like this one. Regardless of it's genre, The Wicked We Have Done is definitely not one you'll want to miss.Visit my blog for more reviews![...]