REVIEW: Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout

1reviewwicked

22895264

Title: Wicked

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Genre: New Adult, Romance, Paranormal

Format: eBook

Rating:

Synopsis (source):

“Things are about to get Wicked in New Orleans.

Twenty-two year old Ivy Morgan isn’t your average college student. She, and others like her, know humans aren’t the only thing trolling the French Quarter for fun… and for food. Her duty to the Order is her life. After all, four years ago, she lost everything at the hands of the creatures she’d sworn to hunt, tearing her world and her heart apart.

Ren Owens is the last person Ivy expected to enter her rigidly controlled life. He’s six feet and three inches of temptation and swoon-inducing charm. With forest-green eyes and a smile that’s surely left a stream of broken hearts in its wake, he has an uncanny, almost unnatural ability to make her yearn for everything he has to offer. But letting him in is as dangerous as hunting the cold-blooded killers stalking the streets. Losing the boy she loved once before had nearly destroyed her, but the sparking tension that grows between them becomes impossible for Ivy to deny. Deep down, she wants… she needs more than what her duty demands of her, what her past has shaped for her.

But as Ivy grows closer to Ren, she realizes she’s not the only one carrying secrets that could shatter the frail bond between them. There’s something he’s not telling her, and one thing is for certain. She’s no longer sure what is more dangerous to her—the ancient beings threatening to take over the town or the man demanding to lay claim to her heart and her soul.”

overallthoughts

“They wanted to take over the mortal realm. And it was our job to send them back to the Otherworld. Or kill them. Whatever worked the quickest.”

I was drawn to this book for two reasons; Faeries and Jennifer L. Armentrout. I’ve loved every single thing I’ve ever read by her, and I’ve been on a quest to find as many great faeries books as I can this year. Wicked did not disappoint in either department. I loved it. In fact, I felt like Wicked stood apart from every other faerie book I’ve read this year. They’ve all been great, but in the other books I’ve read, there have been good faeries and bad faeries. In this book, they’re all evil.

I loved the uniqueness of it. JLA had me at Fae but then you throw in the fact that they’re evil, the fact that they’re from a realm that has been sealed off from the humans and protected by a secret organization for a long time, the fact that our main protagonist is a part of said secret organization that also hunts down the Fae, and I’m completely sold. Jennifer L. Armentrout wrapped all of that up along with a few interesting mysteries in a unique little package.

Combine that with her incredible writing, the signature kickass female protagonist, the swoon-worthy male lead, the humor inducing secondary character, and you have yourself a fantastic, unforgettable, book.

Not to mention it’s set in New Orleans and I loved it even more for that!

characters

This author knows how to write great, realistic, and memorable characters. One of the things I always love the most about her books is the characters, they always feel so relatable.

“I was more of kick ass first and ask questions later girl.”

Ivy is our kickass female protagonist. I love how she was the perfect mixture of strength and vulnerability. She has snark, stubbornness, a caring heart, and the ability to dream for more than what she was given in life. Ivy has definitely been through some bad times that have caused her to guard her heart, as you will learn in this book, but the fact that she still has all of that strength in her made her an admirable character for me.

“Based on the way his green eyes glimmered, I doubted he knew how to be a good boy.”

Ren is our swoon-worthy male lead. At first, I was all like “Okay, who does this guy think he is?” but then I ended up loving him. Ren is such a headstrong, snarky, determined, go for what he wants kind of character. Like Ivy, he is a mixture of strength and vulnerability. His past broke my heart. I really admired his determination, though, and his ability to live in the moment no matter what.

“You gave Tink a scarf. Tink is free!” He flew out into the hallway like a little cracked-out fairy, screeching, “Tink is freeeee!”

Tink our little witty, cute secondary character that I love so much. He was my favorite! All of his dramatics and sugar highs and just the fact that he provided the story with some much needed comedic relief. I also loved the fact that he was just there for Ivy. Ivy saved his life and through the ups and downs of the story it was nice that he was there for her. Although, I still feel like there are some secrets he’s keeping and I want to know them.

There are a few other secondary characters; Val, Jo Anne, etc. However, I don’t feel like they were in this enough for me to get much of an impression. I did love Val at first and even Jo Anne. They made good first impressions that had me wanting to get to know them more. For reasons that are spoilers we don’t get to know too much about Val, and Jo Anne isn’t in the organization so I feel like that hurt our ability to get to know her. That’s the only thing I didn’t like about this book.

“What I know is that there is no guarantee of tomorrow. There is no promise there will be another day or week for us. When you want something, you go for it. I don’t need to know your life story to want you. And don’t twist that back on me. I see it already building in those pretty blue eyes. I want to know your story. I want to know you.”

The romance was perfect! If there is one thing JLA does well it’s creating breathtaking, swoon-worthy romances. At first, it seems to be a cliche case of insta-love but it wasn’t. It definitely was insta-lust, though, but given the circumstances and the line of work the characters are in it made sense. They don’t have guarantees for tomorrow so if they’re attracted to someone they go full out. Beyond the insta-lust, the romance built nice and slow. You have two characters; one who is all for living while he can and one who has guarded her heart. They balanced each other out so nicely and it was beautiful seeing Ren pull Ivy out of her shell and begin to show her that live is worth living to the fullest no matter what mistakes have been made in the past.

inconclusion

Wicked IS absolutely wicked, swoon-worthy, mysterious, shocking, and full of plot twists that will have you on the edge of your seat wondering what could possibly happen next.

Be prepared because once you start it you will be sucked in and once you reach the end you will automatically wish for the next book. I for one can’t wait to get my hands on it!

You can purchase this book on: Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, Book Depository, or you can check it out at your local library!

Currently the eBook is on sale for $.99 on Amazon, iBooks, B&N, and Kobo!

-Melissa
instagram||goodreads||twitter||facebook||bloglovin’