My review of Wicked

Wicked (A Wicked Saga #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Release Date: December 8, 2014
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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.

Following tradition, Armentrout lures us into the story with a feisty and easy-to-love female protagonist, a unique twist on a supernatural species, and a hot, drool-worthy guy that all readers will be dying to have in their bed by the end of the book (or from the first encounter.) Like all series that I have read from JLA, I have fallen hard for every character in every story and in this start to A Wicked Saga, things are no different. 

In this story, Armentrout takes on fae, a fantasy species that have previously used in other great series such as The Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa and Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. The premise of Wicked all evolves around our main gal Ivy, who works for an organisation called the Order who are in charge of seeing to all fae in the human world being killed or sent back to where they belong: the Otherworld. Fae in this story follow most lores; they feed off the essence of humans in order to prolong their lives to near immortality and maintain their beautiful facade. Ivy is one of the people who tackle the streets of New Orleans in order to do just that, until she encounters a type of fae that can't be banished with a simple iron stake. The fae are planning something big and with the help of the charming and cheeky Ren, they plan to find out exactly what's going on. 

If you haven't read anything by Jennifer Armentrout, that's okay there's still plenty of time to start. Both the Lux and Half-Blood series are great places to start, but if you fancy something maybe a little bit steamier I would recommend Wicked. The chemistry between Ren and Ivy is undeniable and I found myself getting caught up in their romance so easily despite the end of the world possibly looming around the corner. The author has a talent for creating an entertaining voice for the protagonist and I constantly found myself laughing at the dialogue that is formed in Ivy's head. Another relationship that I enjoyed in this book was between Ivy and her small not-so-human friend Tink. Tink is a brownie, which is some kind of creature from the Otherworld that Ivy found injured and decided to take in. They have a human form but a lot smaller, can speak just like humans, and in some cases have a talent at ordering off Amazon Prime. Yep, that was one of his qualities. He's cheeky and, I guess, kind of saucy, and when he's set with Ivy the two just made me laugh so much. I'm sure reading about their relationship could make anyone wish they knew Tink.

Another element that I must point out that I loved was the way that the author weaves in popular culture. For example, mentioning Twilight, Theo James, and Jenson Ackles. I found myself in fits at every Supernatural reference.

Overall, I felt that Wicked is a good, strong start to this fantasy series with entertaining characters, dialogue, and irresistible plot line that will mean you finish it in one sitting; AKA the usual Armentrout recipe. I'm looking forward to seeing the direction she takes this in further and being reunited with some of my favourite characters because I genuinely can't get enough of them. I'd recommend this series to anyone who loves Jennifer Armentrout, or fantasy stories such as The Iron Fey series but slightly sexier and steamier.

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