The Reader by M.K. Harkins (2016)
-NetGalley Review-
YA Fiction | Paranormal Romance
Blurb:
“Hunted, shot, and without her memory, eighteen-year-old Ann Baker wakes in shallow water on a deserted Pacific Northwest island. She is soon approached by two young men claiming to be her friends. Something isn’t right, but when gunshots sound, Ann is left with little choice but to allow Devon and Archer to help her escape. Soon she finds herself in their North Bend mountain compound, where the higher evolved humans claim to be mind-readers. While Ann heals, she realizes they believe her to be one of the last and most powerful of all – The Lost One.
She’s welcomed by most with opened arms, but not everyone is happy about her arrival. A jealous adversary has plans for Ann, which spirals the entire Reader community into chaos.
As lies, murder, and betrayal threaten to rip apart the once harmonious mountain dwellers, Ann is thrust into making a decision that could save or devastate not only The Readers, but all of mankind. But there’s just one glitch: by doing so it may require her to make the ultimate sacrifice.”
–Goodreads
Publication Date: August 25, 2016
pooled ink Review:
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy to review!
This was a good book. The plot was very fast-paced, perhaps because the book itself was comparatively short. In a way it reminded me of The Host or of Shatter Me except a lot shorter and no aliens, superheroes, or such.
Basically there seem to be four different types of humans: Seers, Readers, Hijackers, and regular mortals. In particular we watch a prophesied war between the Readers and the Jacks come to fruition. Very interesting ideas behind this book and the characters were intriguing as well. Besides this whole world hidden from the mortal humans the plot focuses on another part of the prophecy that includes two fated Readers being soul mates and when they found each other it would trigger this devastating war. From the very beginning we see the formation of a love-triangle.
Everything was very high energy and moved along swiftly including this long foreseen war. Really it didn’t even come to a war, actually. But that ties into the tragic twist of an ending. It really was a tragic ending in different ways and for different people. It was hopeful as well, yet still tragic.
While it would have been possible to stretch this story out longer or even into a trilogy like so many authors do, I’m actually okay with how quick this went by. It made for a nice stand-alone paranormal action romance novel for those who are into such topics but don’t want to devote hours and hours to rifling through a giant book series.
Overall I think this was well done and an enjoyable read. Although it also holds great potential for extending/deepening the story (which I would have enjoyed but suppose I can live without) if made into, say, a TV show or something…yes, many possibilities with this book. (It would be cool to see more into the Reader’s techniques, get to know more of/about the Jacks, spend a little more time exploring Samara and the way of life there, more exploration into Ann’s abilities, etc.). But for a short book it was quite satisfactory.
Concise, thrilling, romantic, and tragic, The Reader is a solo story in the world of the impossible. Perfect for any paranormal romance fan seeking a riveting journey that could be read easily in a day.
Cheers.
Purchase here: The Reader
Meet M.K. Harkins!
MK has always been a voracious reader. After hitting a dry spell of reading material, she decided to write the kind of book she’d like to read. This resulted in the creation of her debut novel, Intentional. (Award for Best Sweet Romance – eFestival of Words- August 2014). When she’s not writing novels, she likes to spend her free time traveling the world, splashing in mud puddles (She lives in Seattle, what can she say?), watching movies and reading (!)
MK also runs her own business in her current hometown of Mercer Island, Washington.
She LOVES to hear from her readers!
-Goodreads
pooled ink 