Review: Looking forward to more!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 23, 2014
Originally published at Rookie Romance.I'm not usually a fan of sci-fi romances, but I am a fan of Sara Wolf so I figured this would still be a good choice. I was so right.Victoria, aka Vic, has not had an easy lot in life. Her mother was killed in a stampede during a protest against the aliens that had crash landed on Earth. Her sister has severe asthma and her father has to work 24/7 to make ends meet. All of this has given Vic a tough exterior and a sharp, biting wit that she uses to keep most people at arm's length. A self-professed loner, she usually finds herself an outsider at school, something she's mroe than happy to have happen at her new school where aliens (gutters) and humans mix. She signs up as an EVE, an Emotion Vesicle Engraft, which basically means her emotions are used to feed the gutters. She might not be a fan of gutters, but at least the fee from being an EVE will ease her father's financial burden.I loved the growth that Vic shows through the story. She learns a lot about the gutter culture and becomes a much more understanding person. She still retains her sarcasm and fierce demeanor, but she also shows that there is a lot of vulnerability under it all.Shadus was a very interesting character. He's a sotho of the Executioner group, which basically means that he's like a Prince and people are constantly trying to curry his favour. He is cold and closed off, but when he and Vic are put together as culture partners at school he spends more time with her and eventually they form a rather unlikely friendship. With her help, he also learns more about humans and his guard starts to lower, bit by bit.Shadus and Vic have very much a slow burner of a relationship. They start out very antagonistic towards each other, before it develops into an uneasy friendship. Soon enough, both of them start to feel things that are less than platonic for each other. Unfortunately these romantic developments don't really take hold until late in the book, so I'll definitely be looking forward to how their relationship develops in the next book!I found the plot very intriguing and it had me hooked. Aspects of the gutter culture are explained throughout the book, and it's all very well explained so I never felt lost in all of this alien information. The ending has definitely left me anxiously and impatiently waiting for the next book- I really, really want to know what happens next!Overall, it's a very interesting and thoroughly enjoyable book with an array of interesting and complex characters. I have no idea what's going to happen next, but man am I excited to find out!*I received a review copy for my honest opinion. Thank you!