First, I have to say - this cover is GORGEOUS.The cover relayed so many emotions to me. There seems to be a blank slate staring at me, yet you can see pain and terror beneath that. I really went into with the hopes of something wonderful that I could share with my kiddos. Unfortunately, the book fell flat. The book was very predictable, and not in a good way. Several times the plot was one dimensional and lacked any kind of progress. The love triangle is a typical but poorly done. It slows down the plot to a nerve grating pace. There were times that I felt like it could turn itself around, but then the book hit a stalemate again. I did finish the novel, but I was very disappointed in the quality of story. This title was a 3/5 star read for me.

This book reminds me so much of when I used to read books on Wattpad. It had the whole "who will she end up with" feel to it. While I liked the nostalgia, this wasn't the book for me.

This book follows the main character, Ann, as she wakes up on a beach to two handsome men. She's then taken to a secret facility in a mountain complete with an in-mountain beach. There, she learns that she is a reader who is able to read minds.

This book has some really good elements. The plot is extremely well thought out complete with a history into the beginning of the readers. Everything that seems impossible is well explained which makes it a little more realistic.

However, a lot of the book revolves around Ann finding her love interest. This isn't bad for everyone, but it wasn't my ideal idea of a good read. However, 15 year-old me would have loved it.

Another interesting thing is that the readers tend to be as good-looking as their power is strong. Ann is extremely strong, so she is extremely "beautiful". It's interesting to read about the author's view of "beauty". In this case it's a 5'3" woman weighing in at 110 lbs. While not necessarily a bad thing, I did hate how much of this book revolved around physical attraction. Again, 15 year-old me might have liked this aspect, but not me now.

Because of the majority of this book revolving around physical looks and "who Ann will end up with" I wasn't a fan of this book. However, it's well-written and you may enjoy it. It just wasn't the book for me.

Seers, mind readers,and body jumpers oh my! If these are the types of things you are interested in dealing with fantasy novels then this book is for you. I give it a solid 4.5 stars. Very interesting story thats an open and shut case. You won't be left with a cliffhanger here although I would be very excited a prequel would be great. Half a star taken off for the jumps in time between chapters that seemed a little off. Would definitely recommend though.

*I received this book from Netgally in return for an honest review.

I finished this book in just two days. It was so amazing!

A young lady wakes up a lone, with a gun shot and no memory of being shot. No idea what has happened and no idea as to who shot her or why. She has no idea who she is or where she came from. She is rescued by two young men whom take her back with them to their home deep in the mountains.Little by little she finds out her name , where she is from and why she is being hunted.Her name is Ann. Someone will soon betray her. Even though she can’t remember anything, she will do whatever it takes to keep the people she loves and cares for safe.

Little by little she finds out her name where she is from and why she is being hunted.Her name is Ann. Someone will soon betray her. Even though she can’t remember anything, she will do whatever it takes to keep the people she loves and cares for safe.

This was a fast and great read it grabbed me right from the first page and never let go until the last page. I loved all the characters and the world that they lived in. Ann was one tough cookie who could fight as well or better than any man.

If you have not read The Reader then I would like to suggest that you do as well. If you like reading a story filled with suspense, intrigue and lots of twist and turns then this is the book for you!

Loved it!
It was very intriguing, I wish there was more to it because I really enjoyed some of the characters.
Unfortunately, it was a tad predictable at times.

It was an interesting experience, going into this book without knowing anything about it - no synopsis, no details, just the genre classification. I was wary - after all, who knows what you are getting? But I cannot say enough how pleased I am that I took the opportunity to read this book. I read it in two sittings (ok, I am on holidays!) in less than 24 hours because I could not put it down. I don't want to reveal too many details about the novel, because it was such a good experience for me going into the book blind. If you are looking for a YA novel and a fan of Sci-fi/fantasy set in a version of our reality, then please pick this up! You will not be disappointed. I am about to start on Book 2 - so I have to go! Enjoy.

The lack of a synopsis caught my attention, and when I saw that other reviews said it was best going into it with no information, I was intrigued! (Obviously, this is not the case for non-NetGalley readers, as the book DOES have a blurb, but it is also suitably vague.)

That said, I was pleasantly surprised by the story. It was imaginative, fast paced and suspense-filled. Harkins does some lovely concept building with the Jacks, Readers and Seers. She lays a strong groundwork for everything that happens to Ann, whose story is revealed in bits and pieces to her (and to you, the reader.) Great suspense as we try to figure out what the truth is of her situation, and there are some good twists.

While part of a series, Ann's story is wrapped up nicely, which I appreciate.
(Honestly, this is my favorite kind of series - I'm too impatient to wait a year between installments.)

This will be a fun one to review as the less spoilers provided, the better!

I am glad this is the first in a series! This was an enjoyable, fast-paced, YA thriller/fantasy novel. There isn't much premise so I went into it blind and I am glad I did, it made it that much better. Great captivating story line with good pacing.
Loved it!

#TheReader #NetGalley

First and foremost thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free ARC of this book.

The writing: the story line was very intriguing and it was the reason I requested this book. The writing was mediocre - the descriptive part of the book was pretty good, the dialogues not so much. At times, I wasn't sure who was talking, when there were more than two people involved in the conversation. The dialogue was a bit cringe worthy, but nothing I couldn't get over.

There was a lot of info dump in parts, instead of getting information by showing, not by telling, but also nothing I haven't ran into before.

The biggest issue for me was the main character, Ann. She wakes up on the beach with a bullet hole in her arm. Someone is after her and she has amnesia. So far so good. She is taken by two hot guys - one nice and one grumpy to safety of their compound inside a mountain. They are part of special "humans" who are called the Readers - they can read minds. Still pretty good.

Then Ann decides to freak about how everybody in this compound is extremely good looking and pretty much a super model. OK, a bit odd, but I go with it. AND THEN SHE ASSUMES THAT SHE IS UGLY or PLAIN or SIMPLE looking???? What in the freaking hell?

Aaaaaand at this point I am out and done with this book.

I don't have an issue with a person (girl or a boy), who feel like they have appearance issues. I have been there when I was a teenager. I had zits and my father would remind me every single day, why was my skin looking so terrible and why wasn't I doing anything about it (clearly, he never heard of puberty, but oh well). But why would the writer make a girl ASSUME about herself that she is ugly or plain? She has amnesia. She can be looking like a Victoria Secret model and yet she believes that she is this plain looking thing among hot people? COME ON! That is, to me, straight up insulting.

And I am not wasting my time with a character like that.

Fantastic story! Kept me on the edge of my seat, the love story is as beautiful and unique as the storyline

This was a quick and enjoyable read. I liked the ideas and the writing but towards the end I thought it would not have an end, that the author would have left the final open and continue in the next book because there was still so much to say. I liked Devon from the beginning and I loved Lucy, I also liked Ann but both her and her relationship with her soulmate needed more space. I believe the biggest flaw of this book is that it needed more pages.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Victory Publishing and the author, M. K. Harkins, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of The Reader in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.
Well, I honestly think this is a very promising start to what is going to be a fantastic series.. I really enjoyed this good, quick read. I was very disappointed when I turned the last page though. It meant I now have to wait for the next book in the series..
The story was well thought out and written. You are immersed into the storyline with amazing characters. I loved it.
Well worth a read.

I actually really liked this book. I am interested to know whether there is more in the works or not. I would 9/10 recommend.

This started of as a really promising read. In fact, for about three quarters of the book it was really promising, but I'll come to that in a moment. There was lots of mystery surrounding the beginning. This was helped along by our MC, Ann, who wakes up on an island, being shot at. Cue mysterious and good-looking boys, an underground secret citadel, magical powers, and danger. All a great start. My main beef is with the ending - in fact the last quarter or so of the book. It just felt a bit rushed. I was fully expecting this to turn into a beefy trilogy, but instead, the author seemed to rush to squeeze everything in and get to the end of the story. The loose ends are tied up with something of an epoligue, but for me it would have been much more satisfactory to let the story play out at a more natural pace.

The story was interesting. The characters were relatable. What bothered me the most was the pace. To me, it went too slowly. I would still recommend the story to others. As stated, the story was interesting.

3.5/5

A thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the pacing of The Reader. It moves fast because a huge majority is exposition in the guise of dialogue. The main character, Ann, has lost her memory, but the people who find her enlighten her that she is a Reader, someone who can read the minds of other people, just not other readers. They hope she might be The Lost One, a Reader who actually can read the minds of readers and will find her soul-mate among four who are destined.

While the dialogue makes the story go very quickly, like I said, exposition in its guise. Everything about the world and the way this paranormal Reader power works, their history--everything is told through dialogue by one of the characters to Ann. We hardly get her internal thoughts and there is very little in traditional exposition in detailing setting, but it's still easy enough to paint a picture of the facility and the characters in my head. Or maybe I'm just making them look how I want them to? :)

The ease of reading is enough to have me interested in book two, but so is the cover of book two. The covers themselves are rather aesthetically pleasing as well.

As the reader (not the character, but you who reads the book) gets acquainted with the world through the first half of the book, the second half is more action-filled, but still chock full of explanations through the use of dialogue. There are a number of scenes and ideas that could have been expanded upon. Originally being a stand-alone piece, there are too many questions and a lackluster climax left with the reader. But since there is actually a sequel, perhaps these ideas will be explored further. The end was a bit predictable because of Ann's visions, and even slightly off-putting because it happened so quickly, a place that could have been approached in a different way or extended.

All in all, an enjoyable, quick read that has me interested in future installments, a book I'd recommend to teens.

I decided to read this book for two reasons:

1. I had just finished a lovely book that was a storytelling masterpiece

2. I love, love, love YA as a genre

This book starts off with a confused action sequence. Our main character has no idea who she is, where she is, or really anything about anything. As a plot device it is used well and the amnesia is explained later in the story. I really hate unexplained amnesia so the explanation came as a relief.

The love triangle reminded me of The Vampire Diaries, which is apt because I actually forgot who one of the main characters was in the last third of the book and thought for a good twenty reading minutes that it was a new character. Now this could because I wasn’t paying attention but I prefer to think that they were not acting like themselves, which is why I struggled to recognise them. Tells me characterization is good!

I raced through the story, read in one go. And enjoyed it. There was a good balance of world building, character development and action. Sometimes I thought the soul mates connection idea could have been even further developed. But I did really enjoy the book.

Rather than move to the next book on my to read list I downloaded the next book in the series. Now I hate, hate, hate getting to the end of a story and needing to read on for a satisfying conclusion. This is NOT one of those series. Yes I wouldn’t recommend starting with the second book, you do need the first book to get it, but you don’t need to read the second book if you are happy with how this book ends.

I’m confident in giving this book a 4/5. This is probably as high a rating as I have given a sci fi/fantasy YA in a very long time. And I suspect it will be a while before I find the next book with this high a rating.

I recieved a gratis copy from the publisher through netgalley.

I really wanted to like this book but the writing was tiresome and I didn't like the characters much.
This book wasn't for me but maybe others will like it more.

Got this book as an Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Wow I went into this completely blind, there was no blurb for this book nothing only reviews which were all good. Man am I glad I read this book, normally I dont read this type of book but it was written just Beautifully. I loved it. Finish it in 5hrs it was that good.
Of to find book 2 now.

I liked the cover first. It's a good story. The characters are engaging. Good plot line. Keeps your interest.