Review: A fabulous start to a new series by a wonderful new author
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 19, 2014
The Wicked We Have Done by Sarah Harian is the first book in her new adult dystopian  thriller, Chaos Theory series. When asked to review this book, I thought the premise sounded interesting, and decided to give it a try. I was totally surprised to find myself immediately hooked and unable to put this book down until the very end. If this is Sarah Harian’s debut novel, please please count me in for the next one and thereafter, as this is a magical beginning to a wonderful career.The Wicked We Have Done is a story of survival and redemption in a futuristic world.  Not quite like the Hunger Games, though with a survival theme very similar.  This is a story with young people who have been convicted of a major crime, who are given a choice; immediate death penalty or accept a one month stay in The Compass Room. If they survive, they will go free, but the percentage of survival is slimmer then none.  The Compass Room is even scarier than the arena in the Hunger Games.  This was a thriller a minute, and though these characters, many of whom were bad to the bone; some of the others you found yourself caring very much for, as you prayed and rooted for the their survival.Evalyn Ibarra is our heroine, who is the major focus of this story.  Evalyn committed a terrible crime, and is considered a terrorist, and very much hated.  But is Evalyn truly guilty?  Throughout the book, there are some flash backs, as we find out what really happened, and why.  From the start, when we meet Evalyn, we find ourselves becoming attached to her, as we watch her say goodbye to her little 5 year old brother, who was adorable and precious.  Evalyn’s strong love for her brother stood out.  Allowing us to ask ourselves, “can you truly be capable of such love, and yet be a cold blooded murderer”? We knew something there was something more behind it, as we anxiously waited to find out more.When taken away, Evalyn travels the other criminals who are going to The Compass Room, and before they reach their destination, a video is shown describing each of their crimes.  To tell too much more would be giving too many spoilers. But I will say that Harian gives us some fantastic characters; Evalyn is awesome; Casey, was mean at the start, but turned into an equally awesome hero; Valerie, was totally unlikeable when we first meet her, but she too turned out to be great; Jace, Tanner, were also very good, and the unredeemable characters were written very well.  Harian had us glued to our seat, as each of them in The Compass Room must face their past, and find a way to survive against the odds, at the same time prove that they can be redeemed.  Will Evalyn survive?  Is there life after The Compass Room?The Wicked We Have Done is a totally different story of survival, in a terrifying race to the finish.  Harian pulls quite a bit of our emotions in this exciting story, filled with nonstop action & great characters; while reading we range from emotional, scary, sad,  and very very intense. Within this tense story, there is a budding romance that at first you could not imagine, but turned out to be a beautiful slow to build relationship.  I cannot wait for the next book in this series.  Sarah Harian is an excellent writer, and I can look forward to more of the same in the future.