Review: Good Start to the Series.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 29, 2013
(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to Megan Thomason, Patchwork Press, and Netgalley.)This is a novella, which comes before book 1 `Daynight', in the Daynight series.Alexa has been living in a van with her mother and three brothers for the past 3 years, after her father ran out on them, and they couldn't afford to pay their rent anymore.Now Alexa's mother is seriously ill, their van has broken down, and they don't even have a working phone to call for help.When Adam comes along with his bus and his offer of health-care, food, and shelter at the `Clean Slate Complex', Alexa is suspicious, but with her mother so ill they have little choice but to accept his help.What exactly is the Clean Slate Complex though? How do they help so many people? And is it really too good to be true?This novella is the start to the Daynight series, and introduces us to Alexa, Adam, and Joshua. I haven't read `Daynight' yet, so I've no idea if these characters will pop up in that too, but from the blurb they don't sound like main characters, although that awaits to be seen.I really liked Alexa, I liked how she stood up for what she felt was right, no matter what trouble it got her in, and I liked how loving and protective she was of her mother.I liked both Adam and Josh, although I was wary of both of them, but for different reasons. Adam seemed a little nave, and came across as almost brainwashed by the people of the Clean Slate Complex, whilst Josh being related to the people running the CSC, made me wonder if Alexa should really trust him.I liked the storyline, and I too was very wary of what exactly this organisations true intentions were, and what happened to these people once they were picked up by the `Second Chance Institute'. I liked the mystery surrounding them, and Alexa's fight to try and work out what was really going on.I liked the little touch of romance in this book, even if there was a hint of a love triangle, although the romance wasn't the focal point of the story, and it will be interesting to see if this couple continue to be a couple in the next book.There were quite a lot of cryptic conversations in this book, and lots of hints towards a bigger story. The book did leave loads of open questions, which was to be expected with this being a prequel novella, but I did like how the story was built up, and I'm interested to see how things will develop in the next book in the series.Overall; an interesting start to the story.6.75 out of 10.