Hello everyone!
Or, in other words, the weekly book blog!
This week we're returning to an author that I got to know via BookSirens, and actually got an email from them about another ARC being listed, something I squealed about.
Why?
Because it's another post-apocalyptic story, which I LOVED in Prevent the Past, but this one hits a little bit closer to home in that it, one: mentions the pandemic that happened, and two: it's about gratuitous drug use and more.
So it comes with a bunch of warnings but, it's honestly really, really awesome, and explores some pretty interesting (dangerous) concepts.
Let's dive right into Repressed Echoes, shall we?
Now, while I'm not the biggest fan of Hefner's series about vampires, I'm DEFINITELY a fan when it comes to her tackling subjects like saving the world after it's all gone to pot. It's why I stuck around through her previous books, and why I'm not WAY interested into seeing how this unravels!
But, let's get right into it before I digress any further.
Dani, our protagonist, wakes up not knowing where she is, what she's doing, or why she's got a wound in her side - nor, it seems, does she know who the hell the man popping up in her room is, which is why she tries to make a run for it.
However, it turns out that things are ... complicated.
The man? Maverick. Her husband.
The room? Their hideaway from an oppressive government ruled by a dictator who wants to fashion the world in the image of, everybody serves me and me alone.
The wound? She kinda fell onto a pitchfork. No, seriously.
See, the thing is, this book is heavily inspired by the movie 50 First Dates, which means that every night, Dani goes to sleep and forgets what she learned during the day, so every morning, she wakes up with no memory of anything for the past five years or so, which happened because somebody bonked her over the head.
Why?
The story, in less fragments than how you find out about it, goes like this: Dani and her sisters, Raquel, her biological one, and Arianna, her adopted one, lost their mother to cancer very young, which prompted Dani to become a scientist and try to find a cure for the disease (with my own parents having battled and are still battling cancer ... this hits close to home, I'll admit).
She was then lured to Sendaxa, a pharmaceutical company, which promised to fund her cancer research IF she created a drug for them first, one that extends life expectancy. So Dani did exactly that, making EverLife, except things didn't go according to plan.
See, Sendaxa paid off the FDA so it hit the market and would be used in bigger doses than the ones prescribed by her, which, if followed correctly, wouldn't lead to addiction. Naturally, you can see addiction happened anyway, and people started dying because of it.
With what was happening, Dani - having been smart enough to conceal a stash of antidote she'd ALSO created - raced to get it, with her husband Maverick (assigned to her as a guard while she worked on EverLife, which was how they met and fell in love) and his best friend Dominic (inconveniently also in love with her, based on their shared experience over losing someone to cancer). Unfortunately, it's at that point she gets hit over the head by someone, and her amnesia begins where she doesn't remember working for Sendaxa or any of it.
So Mav and Dom grab her younger sister Raquel (also a scientist at Sendaxa, though Maverick notes there were plenty others more qualified, but Dani pulled rank, saying she wanted her or she wouldn't work for them, either), call up the girls' older sister Arianna, a soldier, and they go into hiding.
Thus begins the process of trying everything to get Dani to remember the code she used to lock her lab behind, not that it's working; HOWEVER, she's clever enough to leave herself little notes in Latin, as well as film more videos during the good days so she gets brought up to speed faster the next day.
When a mercenary, Tristan, alerts them that the dictator behind the mess, Luthor Cromwell, knows they plan on breaking into Sendaxa to steal the antidote, it's a race against the clock, and it turns out things are even worse than they seem at first.
Those Latin phrases of Dani's? One was Et tu, Brute?.
And it showcases that she knew, deep down, who'd given her the head injury, when a delusional Raquel bonks MAV over the head after they blow through the walls of the lab, saying she'll finally step out of her sister's shadow, having hated Dani from the moment their mom died because Dani's goodbye seemed to take longer than anticipated.
Oh and also, she's sure she'd have gotten the job at Sendaxa on her own merit, which just shows you how insane she happens to be, but as you do.
With Dominic injured, Arianna a mess about it because she loves the man even though she seems to hate him on the outside, Mav and Dani have no choice but to hightail it out of there after letting Raquel go with Tristan to one of the walled Districts. But, they do get SOME antidote, which Dani cleverly stashed away even from Raquel, so by the time they reach a friendly compound of survivors, Dani can plead with the leader for sanctuary so she can create more of the antidote and try and fix the mess she'd made.
As for Raquel, she waltzes into Cromwell's office thinking she's a hot shot, but needs Tristan to save her ass before she has to perform sexual favours for the perverted dictator just for her own survivor; it's how Tristan ends up with her as his houseguest, which will be interesting, considering everything.
And I honestly can't wait for the showdown between sisters, because I hope that neither Dani nor Arianna ever forgive Raquel for what she's done!
First though, Ari gets her own shot at love with Dominic, in the next book, Scorched Redemption, and I can't WAIT.
And also, I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily, in case that isn't obvious yet.
The MCs: Dani and Maverick steal your heart the first time you meet them. Theirs is a story told through memories shared with her because of amnesia, and made more poignant because Mav absolutely adores her and never wavers. In one word, they're beautiful.
The SCs: I'm not a big fan yet of how Arianna's written, mostly because the character feels like a shoehorn for "no emotions, emotions female, female bad" vibe and trying to capture very masculine traits as well as making her barely palatable otherwise. Hopefully she softens some in her own book, otherwise we in trouble! Dominic was great, and Raquel and Tristan make up our chaotic heroes.
The villain: I find it telling that his name is a combination of villains from our collective psyche. "Luthor Cromwell" bears striking resemblance to Lex Luthor, and we all know what happened to a Cromwell in the 17th century after he tried to remove the monarchy forever. I feel like this is foreshadowing haha!
The worldbuilding: I can't wait to dig into the District and the black market compounds more. It's surely going to be a ride!
Overall: if you don't get it by the time Dani reads her own note "et tu, Brute?" then I don't know what to tell you. It's an engaging story with little crumbs sprinkled throughout leading to the showdown, and honestly, where's a crowbar when you need it?
I'm invested in seeing how Dani saves the world, but I'm also not the forgiving type so ... no forgiveness from me for the traitor.
10/10 recommend if you love angst, romance, and save the world kind of vibes with daily amnesia tossed in for good measure!
The MCs: Dani and Maverick steal your heart the first time you meet them. Theirs is a story told through memories shared with her because of amnesia, and made more poignant because Mav absolutely adores her and never wavers. In one word, they're beautiful.
The SCs: I'm not a big fan yet of how Arianna's written, mostly because the character feels like a shoehorn for "no emotions, emotions female, female bad" vibe and trying to capture very masculine traits as well as making her barely palatable otherwise. Hopefully she softens some in her own book, otherwise we in trouble! Dominic was great, and Raquel and Tristan make up our chaotic heroes.
The villain: I find it telling that his name is a combination of villains from our collective psyche. "Luthor Cromwell" bears striking resemblance to Lex Luthor, and we all know what happened to a Cromwell in the 17th century after he tried to remove the monarchy forever. I feel like this is foreshadowing haha!
The worldbuilding: I can't wait to dig into the District and the black market compounds more. It's surely going to be a ride!
Overall: if you don't get it by the time Dani reads her own note "et tu, Brute?" then I don't know what to tell you. It's an engaging story with little crumbs sprinkled throughout leading to the showdown, and honestly, where's a crowbar when you need it?
I'm invested in seeing how Dani saves the world, but I'm also not the forgiving type so ... no forgiveness from me for the traitor.
10/10 recommend if you love angst, romance, and save the world kind of vibes with daily amnesia tossed in for good measure!
xx
*image not mine
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