Wicked - Review

Wicked (A Wicked Sage #1)

By: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Published: December 8, 2014

300 pages

Source: Personal Kindle Library

(Goodreads /Amazon)

Summary:

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.

MY REVIEW:
Let me first say that I'm a HUGE fan of Jennifer Armentrout's. I've read numerous books of hers and have really loved and enjoyed them all. So, I had high hopes for this one. Gorgeous cover - although the underwater theme threw me off as to what the story was dealing with.

I'll get what I didn't like out of the way so I can focus more on what I did like. For the first half of the book I was annoyed and highlighting a LOT. I've never noticed it before in her writing but in this book she drops modern day references CONSTANTLY in the first half. Just to name a few: Twilight, Harry Potter, Rule, Jay Crownover, Braveheart, Resident Evil, Marked Men novel, Amazon, bath salts (as in the drug), Theo James, Jensen Ackles. UGH! One or two modern name drops I'll roll my eyes at but not make a big deal out of it. But this was way overkill. So much so that it annoyed me too much and most definitely lowered my overall rating of the book. Second to this annoyance are the mass of analogies used. (Here's just one example - 2 analogies in the same sentence: David had the personality of a rabid chupacabra and Laurie was as sweet as a praline.) These two things combined just had me feeling exasperated through the first half of the book.

Now, let's move on to the story itself. Ivy is a college student living in New Orleans (I think about 21 years old) but her identity comes from a secret group she's apart of, The Order. The Order fights beings from the Otherworld, namely Faes, protecting humans from them. Her entire family was killed by Faes so she is loyal to The Order and their cause. Due to an increase in Fae activity in New Orleans, and too many Order members being killed in a short period of time, a new member is transferred from Colorado to help out. This is Ren. (tongue roll here for yumminess factor!) Ren and Ivy have serious chemistry but she isn't willing to get close to anyone seeing as how their life expectancy is very short due to the dangers of their job. She isn't willing to get her heart broken again by losing someone.

Mysterious Ren....that always amps up the hot factor of any 6 foot 3 inch dude, don't ya think? Seems like Ren is withholding some vital information.

Then there's Tink. He is a brownie that Ivy rescued and he's been living with Ivy ever since. He's a creature from the Otherworld, she could get in major trouble for keeping him a secret. But he's hilarious and adds some light humor to the story.

Overall, I enjoyed this paranormal romance. There's action, there's hotness, there's humor. So yeah, if you're a fan of Armentrout's you'll enjoy this story too. I'll definitely check out the next book in the series, especially after that ending. If I could wave my magic wand it would be to not read any more modern name dropping and overkill of analogies in this series. That would boost my rating for sure.

No Favorite Quotes - this is highly unusual for me as I usually feature my top 5 spoiler-free favorites from each story. I was so distracted from highlighting what I didn't like that I never highlighted any favorite quotes.

Final Rating - 3.5 stars