Yeah, I know that’s a mouthful of a title but I honestly wasn’t sure how else to title this. Surprisingly, this type of story is not isolated, and there are quite a few books that fall into this category. Here are my reviews on said books.

Shatter Me – Tahereh Mafi

3 stars

I kept going back and forth on liking, hating, and tolerating this book. The writing, I found to be sometimes nice, and other times more like drivel (eg talking about dying 5 times in one second… ugh). Often, it across as a too flowery, but I did enjoy The cross out of a “real” or raw thought followed by the one that the character thinks should be.

The story was very slow to start, and I wished it would have jumped in a few chapters earlier. Then, the story took a very different “beauty and the beast” vibe, before finally doing a sharp turn to superheroes. It was disorienting to say the least.

I know some spoilers and just CANNOT understand how we get from this book, to the final one….. I almost don’t want to know, and I’m hoping if I read any more, it won’t be a toxic relationship that we are supposed to somehow root for. I never do.

Whisper – Lynette Noni

4 stars

Wowie.
This was a way better executed and altered version of Shatter Me. Obsessed. I loved this one – the only thing I could have done without was some more specifically described torture type scenes.
Characters were great, development of those characters and how especially the main character, figured things out as we went was amazing.
Loved the power element, always fun. Can’t wait to see it a bit more in action in the second book.
Plot wise it was great. Similarities like I said above to Shatter Me, but with a much better execution. Enough differences to be it’s own story, and taking place in Sydney (nice touch), different dynamics and way less characters to keep track of. All that and more made this an action packed, easy to follow, quick to pace through and thoroughly enjoyable story.

The Prison Healer – Lynette Noni

4.5 stars

I was surprised at how much I actually loved this book. The entire plot centres around the elemental trials and life in this crazy dangerous prison.
Our main characters are engaging, interesting and encircled by such an interesting world.
The ending……. I went out and got the next two books on almost that alone. I GOTSTA know what happens next!
Careful of content/trigger warnings (I will list below) but the author didn’t go tooooo far with those so just be aware.

Content warnings: violence (graphic), gore (moderate), self harm (moderate), sexual assault/harassment (moderate), Child abuse (moderate), torture (graphic), confinement (graphic)

Nine – Rachelle Dekker

4.5 stars
Redemption, identity, and are we a product of our environment, or can we choose our lives?
I loved this story! It felt very Jason Bourne meets Divergent and I was here for it!
The characters were easy to connect with, somewhat unreliable at times (which made them exciting and interesting), and brought up some really deep and dense topics. Rachelle handled those topics and characters beautifully! I love the way she writes, and the story was fun and entertaining all the way to the end.

Apprentice – Kristen Young

2.5 stars

Really difficult to care through the first third of the book. I found that boring, uninspiring and hard to push through. Once I did however, the last two thirds were actually interesting. I didn’t mind the Divergent style system and watching recruits go through learning and training for that.
The ultimate plot we are working towards (something I cheated and read about without continuing the series) was interesting, but I wanted it to come sooner and to get more interesting quicker. I had lost most of my interest and there was little to hold my main attention for continuing books.
I found a lot of the world to be boring and complex at the same time. I didn’t enjoy this particular dystopian world at all. I know where the author was going, I just didn’t enjoy it.
I found the characters irritating and unlikable. The story we are trying to figure out was okay. Not great, but okay.

Honestly, my major issues with this book really boiled down to it being too slow to start, and a world build that wasn’t my favourite world. Content warning: death and murder detail, mental health

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I am genuinely surprised that so many of these “secret girl boss prisoner” books exist, but they do. I had fun reading.

See You in The Adventures!
Christy Grace