Title: Pretty Fierce
Author: Kieran Scott
Format: ARC
Source: Received for an honest review
Pages: 320
Rating: 3.5/5
Blurb: Kaia has been on the run her whole life. The daughter of professional assassins, she knows true danger—and she’ll do anything to survive. After her parents vanished during a job gone bad, Kaia’s spent the last year in hiding, trying to blend in as an ordinary teenager, and there’s no one who makes her feel more normal or more special than her boyfriend, Oliver.
But when she’s jumped by a hit man, and Oliver catches her fighting back, Kaia’s secret is exposed. In a split-second decision, she flees the small town, taking Oliver with her. With professional killers stalking their every move, can Oliver and Kaia protect each other long enough to uncover the mysteries of her past?
The premise of this story totally grabbed me. Kaia being the daughter of assassins was super intriguing to me and, luckily, that part of the story definitely followed through. We didn't really get to see much of her previous life - presumably so we wouldn't dislike her parents although I can promise you I wouldn't have disliked them at all. But I really enjoyed seeing what Kaia had learned from this lifestyle.
The fact that she was in a relationship from the start was both a draw and a worry for me. I actually love when relationship drama is resolved really early on and then the love interests work together for the rest of the book so I was excited for that. But I was worried that Oliver might prove judgmental or a liability - that he would hold Kaia back as she fought for survival. Oliver was not my favourite character - I liked him - but I definitely preferred Kaia. That said, Oliver didn't hold her back. He pulled his own weight in the survival stakes and it was great to watch him come out of his shell and be more badass by the end of the book.
The thing that really held this story back for me was that certain parts just didn't add up or make sense particularly - this is definitely a book you need to go into willing to just go with it. Don't think too hard about the mechanics of it, don't start thinking about all the ways their escape could go wrong (and there were many - their escape procedure was seriously faulty) just enjoy the ride and you'll be fine.
I mentioned that I like my relationship drama solved early and we mostly got that here. Mostly. For some reason both Oliver and Kaia, despite being in a pretty solid relationship, found excuses to act in increasingly stupid and relationship damaging ways. Some of this made sense - Oliver did just find out a whole chunk of Kaia's secret past so he has a lot to deal with. But sometimes I just wanted to shake them. However I really liked that no matter how bad you thought things were getting with them their love for each other never wavered and they always did their best to understand and support each other - even when they had no idea why.
Overall, if you want something fun and exciting with a sweet romance and two compelling characters then definitely give this a chance. It's not a book I'll be thinking about for days afterwards and I might not re-read it but I do not regret the time I spent reading it - it was enjoyable.
I have this one to read (I think I saw it on your blog originally) so glad to hear it was mostly good. It does sound like a fun and quick read. I'll keep in mind the relationship and plausibility stuff when I read it. :)
ReplyDeleteNice review!
It was definitely a fun and quick read and would be a great one for getting out of a reading slump! The relationship was mostly adorable and I did believe in them as a couple which was great - and yeah I wish I was more able to ignore plausibility issues, I can't help becoming analytical sometimes!! :)
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