This book was fairly good. I just had a hard time getting through it at times. I did enjoy the writing style.

I adored: the cover; Pike ❤
I liked: the premise/idea; the writing; the first half of the book; River
I didn't much care for: the execution; the second half of the book; Tessa
I disliked: the pacing; the plot holes/ illogicalities, the convenient plot devices

I appreciate: that this is a standalone

The Scorpion robs warehouses in the Light District. These raids help the denizens of the Dark District survive as more and more of the jobs they rely on disappear. But it only takes one person betraying her for the Scorpion to be killed off, replaced in the minds of the Enforcers with a teenage girl, replaced  in their minds with Tessa and thrown in jail to rot far from the people she cares for.  If she wants to get out, to even have the chance at revenge, Tessa will have to team up with the prisoner in the cell next to hers, an outcast from the very Enforcers she wants to stop, Pike. Will their escape allow them to pursue revenge or will the attempt doom them both?

In many ways, Cindy R. Wilson’s Sting feels very much like a book failed by its genre. It feels like a book that had romance ladled into it to avoid filling in the gaps in world building. Or like the author really wanted to dig into the basic social stratification ideas that are heavily used in cyber punk but then backed out for fear of really saying anything. But then it really seems to not know what to do with the romance angle either.

Throughout the first third or so of Sting the reader is introduced to the Dark District with its falling in buildings and denizens who can barely find enough to eat and the jail, Decay, which is being used to erase the jobs that people in the Dark District used to work, thus depriving them of a way to survive, but that has more regular meals and solid shelter than our protagonist can ever remember having had. Tessa wants out though, wants revenge, wants to get back to her sister and helping the people of the Dark District. To do that she has to follow Pike’s plan, which means that she and the reader wind up plopped into the Light District. The reader was shown the Dark District in ruins and told that the Light District was much wealthier, that they had electricity and excess food and all the industry. But then it winds up being so much more than that. The Light District is presented as this big glamorous thing with lights everywhere and brilliant colors on everything and expensive parties regularly.

While I am aware that cities exist with this level of social stratification and that there are people like the Enforcers who want to hurt others seemingly just because they can, it just seems comical here. There is a literal closed off border between the two districts of this one city, a closed off border with armed guards all hopped up on propaganda and undeserved power ready to hurt the Darksiders who might try and go to the Light District for a job or something. It winds up being one of those things that, I am certain that something like it exists, but as presented in Sting it all feels like short hand for actual world building. It feels like the differences needed to be made as stark as possible so that the plot could be remembered through all of Tessa’s random moments of angsting over falling for Pike or over the feelings she had for River.

I confess, a lot of my frustrations here are made much worse by the ending. It feels far too tidy. Too like Wilson was dedicated to that ending from the start and refused to adjust it in light of how dark her antagonist wound up being. It sort of casts everything that came before it in a very artificial light. It feels unearned in a couple of ways.

From a genre angle, as much as I want to compare it to cyber punk, the comparison does not fit well. It is not technology making the Darksiders’ lives worse. Technology really fails to feature heavily, Tessa’s scorpion bots aside. Everything that makes the Darksider’s lives worse is down to one single antagonist and his underlings. The romance plot is certainly key to Sting’s word count, but manages to feel unnecessary and over done. It tends to feel more like filler than important to the character’s arcs. The scenes where Tessa thinks about her feelings for Pike were, at best, frustrating interruptions to what felt like the actual plot even as it feels like the reader is never properly let in on what Pike’s plan is. I kept waiting for something about that to come up, for us to get a better look at how they were planning to deal with the antagonist and show that Pike is as clever as the reader is told he is, but then it never came up.

There was so much here that had the potential to be well done if only given more room for development. So much that should have been given another pass or two before this was sent to the presses. And it just makes the finished book so much more disappointing that the potential was there and not given the development it needed. It took me multiple weeks to finish Sting, not because it was terrible or insulting, but because it was so easy for me to just put it down and do something else. I found other things to do because Tessa getting torn up over her feelings got old just so, so quickly. I came closer to just not finishing Sting than I have any other book in the past three years. For that, it gets two stars.

I really tried to get into this one, but couldn't. The story didn't hold my attention and it was slow. I didn't finish it.

I just really enjoyed this book. It was just really easy to get lost in this book. I will definitely be reading more by this author.

I didn’t know anything about Sting going into it but the synopsis gave me Robin Hood vibes and I though this might be a retelling of sorts. I couldn’t wait to get into Sting and the opening chapter was interesting and I was right about the Robin Hood vibes. We are introduced to Tessa also known as the Scorpion, who lives in the Dark District, this world seems to be divided between the Light and Dark districts with one being wealthy and the other extremely poor. Tessa group numbers only six included River, Cass and Elle. Elle is the odd one out as her family is from the Light District but she feeds information to the Tessa, however, there is some tension between her and Tessa as it seems they are both interested in River but he only has eyes for Tessa.


We learn what life is like in the Dark District and it has been this way for a while. Despite being injured in a previous mission Tessa wants to go ahead with other one they have planned for that night but River is against especially since no one has seen Cass in hours. It turns out that Cass has been taken by the Enforcers and they are planning to kill her unless the Scorpion reveals herself. In order to save her friend Tessa give herself up to the Enforcers but she realises almost too late that she has been betrayed by Elle, probably in an effort to get closer to River but I doubt he will bend to her will and won’t stop fighting until Tessa is free again. I didn’t like the fact this betrayal came so early on as it didn’t hold any emotional weight at all. I think that if this twist had come about the 40% mark when we had time to develop bonds to these characters and actually care about what happens to them, it would have been more impactful. I also didn’t enjoy the fact that Elle’s only shown motivate at this point in her supposed feelings for River but we have absolutely no confirmation of this. While this did put me off I did power through.

After her capture Tessa is thrown into a prison known as Decay which doesn’t bode well for her but here she meets Pike, a former Light enforcer who has been locked up there for over a year and while Tessa doesn’t like him, he does have skills she can use to get back to her friends. Pike, I found to be a very likeable character and one of my favourite by far next to River, and he has his own reasons for wanting to escape Decay. While Tessa is working in the factory she has to avoid the enforcers and keep her identity as the Scorpion a secret as they have already been told that she is dead. However, it isn’t long before Tessa and Pike gain another ally who helps them escape into the Light district and even reveal a huge secret about their joint enemy, Campbell. At this point things were getting more interesting purely because I really liked Pike as a character and wanted to see what happened when he and Tessa had to team up in order to survive and escape. After their escape into the Light District, Tessa feels really out of place and yearns to return home but she can’t risk it just yet because that is where they expect her to be, not hiding under their noses. With the help of Pike’s sister, Jane, Tessa is hiding in plain sight as she and Pike plan their revenge against Campbell, who happens to be the very same man who left the distinctive scar of Tessa’s cheek.

As time goes on we can see Pike and Tessa getting closer especially over their desired revenge against Campbell and the romance blossoming between them way lovely. In terms of romance, I much prefer Pike as Tessa’s main love interest but I understand Elle needed a reason to betray Tessa and making them both in love with River was the obvious way to do it but I felt there were many different ways the author could have achieved the same goal without resorting to the love triangle cliché. Pike eventually admits that the Scorpion aka Tessa directly influenced what he was trying to do in exposing Campbell who also happens to be the father of the friend who betrayed her which deepens their bond even further. Together with Jane as some other allies they have picked up along the way, the pair put their plan into motion, for one final act of rebellion before Tessa can put revenge behind her for good and move on with her life. Honestly, I didn’t really like the first section of the novel which detailed Tessa’s experience in the Dark District and the betrayal but after she gets throw into Decay and meets Pike I really enjoyed the novel.

Overall, I think Sting had lots of potential but didn’t quite reach it for me. The second half of the novel really raised my rating of Sting up after the slightly disappointing first half. I really loved Pike as a character and he made a perfect love interest for Tessa, I also really enjoyed Tessa’s character arc over the novel especially when she started evolving and emerging from the shadow of the Scorpion. I have since learn that Cindy Wilson has written another book Paper Girl which I will definitely be picking up in the future but Sting wasn’t completely to my taste. A solid 4 star read.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. This is one of those books that you will want to read in one setting. In the city called Victor it is divided into two sides. The Lightside where they have enough to eat, have jobs and live in the light. The other is the Darkside where they have none of that and are struggling just to survive. The Scorpion is a person that is doing the best they can to helping those that live in the darkside get what they need. Then something happens and Scorpion is betrayed by those that she is doing her best to help and she ends up in a cell in prison. A rival of her in the next cell and they join forces to find a way out and find out who betrayed them. It was a crazy ride and wonderful worldbuilding that kept me turning the pages.

I am lost for words! I have devoured this story and I loved every chapter of it!

Cindy R. Wilson is amazing, simple as that. With “Sting” we have a story of two separated worlds – the Darkside and the Light District. One world needs a hero and here comes the Scorpion. She fights for justice, she fights to bring food and other supplies to the Darkside until someone betrays her and she ends up in Decay – the worst place she could ever be! However, she finds an ally, a friend and together they will try to bring down a corrupt system. Together, they will try to bring true light on both sides.

The writing hooked me up from the start. Each chapter starts with an inventory – what Tessa has on her in that moment. These first lines are fantastic and bring the reader closer to the character. And are also funny. Tessa is strong, determined and sometimes reckless. When she meets Pike in Decay she becomes more focused and learns to control her impulses. We have a love triangle as well, that confused me at some point because I liked both guys just as well. Yes, I love it…

But I cannot move past some items that could have been better adapted. Although I am happy we have a conclusion in this book (otherwise my heart would have stopped beating), I feel that the political system could have been better explained, as well as the reason why the world is in this state. The universe deserves more exploration. Even if we have 400 pages of story, 200 more wouldn’t have been enough. The action is not rushed at all, but the ending is too simple in my opinion. On one hand, I like the fact that the author kept it clean, with no unnecessary complications, but on the other I wanted more. The love triangle is intense in the beginning, but it was also easily solved.

Now you see my conflict? I love this book and I love the author. If you have not checked her books yet, please go ahead and do it now! But I cannot give 5 stars. I wanted so much more and there is room for so much more. So with my entire affection for “Sting” and Cindy R Wilson, I’m going ahead with 4 stars (though it pains me to do it). I recommend this book wholeheartedly.

This is the first dystopian book I have read by Cindy and it’s the first book in this genre that I have read in a long time. I loved Cindy’s contemporary novel last year Paper Girl. You can find my review of that book here.

I loved watching Tessa, Scorpion, do her badass moves in this book. She’s a very strong and independent teen living in the ruins of what is called the Darkside. In her world all the people who are lucky enough to live on the light side a city that has everything you could ever need, light, pasta, and night clubs. But where she lives people are barely getting by. She’s a leader who helps to get supplies from warehouses to bring back to their community to stay alive. She’s a very patient character who won’t take no for an answer. She’s however very impatient. Overall I really enjoyed her as a character. We get to see both sides of her, her loving and carrying side, and then the side of her that’s a fighter and will hurt anyone necessary.

The other characters I didn’t feel as strongly about, Pike who I did enjoy wasn’t as deep of a character as I was hoping. He wanted to escape. He lacked the determination to help people. He was constantly wanting to back down from the fight.

Plotwise this book was enjoyable but it wasn’t exactly where I was wanting it to be. I didn’t really enjoy the love triangle kind of thing that I was sure was going to happen. A lot of things were predictable and cause me to not enjoy it as much. The ending wasn’t a big surprise but it wasn’t horrible. I wish that we saw more of the reason why the world is the way it is in this book. I know that the author mentioned something about there being a lot of sunlight and it dried up a lot of the world or something like that but we didn’t get much clarity. The world-building was flat. Compared to all the other dystopian books we always know how things ended up the way they did with this one however I have no clue.

Overall I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a simple and quick dystopian book. If you are wanting to read a dystopian book during the pandemic then this would be a decent one to read as there’s no zombies and no viruses.

Inventory: One thoroughly enjoyable futuristic tale, a them-against-us struggle of haves and have-nots fighting a battle of dark and light, where the only two things that matter are hope and revenge.

Tessa has set close boundaries. Cass, someone Tessa saved from the streets, is her only family. The only one on the inside. While many know Tessa's alter ego, Scorpion not many know who she is, and her closest friends don't know her well enough to be trusted to see her scars.

Her closest friends are kept at arm's length because Tessa knows that resistance fighting is dangerous, and the more people you have, the more people you have to lose. While she has feelings for her friend River, Cass is the only one she trusts one-hundred percent. Because the thing about being a darksider is you have to keep your eyes wide open.

The heroine in this book has some incredible development as the plot evolves, and the struggles Cindy R. Wilson gives Tessa to face internally and externally provides the reader with a juxtaposition in the world she has created. The idealism and hope Tessa has for a better life for her people in the outer rings are at war with experience of imprisonment and the weight of consequence.

I could read the fight Tessa had with herself in many parts where she wanted to struggle for righteousness on behalf of people who couldn't fight for themself in a world where that should have meant justice. But in actuality, the righteous were the people who only understood one side of the struggle.

That Tessa made her way through the shallows and depths of these dark waters is a real credit to Wilson.

I feel that this is a great book. I enjoy the issues it speaks to socially. However, it's my opinion that many people will feel triggered by much of what this novel speaks of regarding penal systems, law enforcement, corruption, and government. I think this book has many high talking points for younger audiences to start conversations on many relevant current event topics.

Cindy R. Wilson's prison system is called the Decay, where criminals go and, more or less, are forgotten. And the impoverished ones go there to die. There are two different neighboring social regions the dark district and the light district, which are haves and have-nots. Have-nots are so poor we are talking about happy to eat rats, have a separate industry, that might include a rebellion to take down the corrupt Leader of the nearby Light District city Victor, Head Enforcer Campbell. Who happens to be a douche canoe of significant proportions.

I highly recommend this book. I loved it. My only arguable issue is that I needed something more--not sure what that was because I love this book, but I felt something was missing.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary advance copy of this book.

Do you like YA dystopian books that are a bit different? If so, you will like Sting. I didn't even realize that it was a retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo until after I read it. It was an interesting, if not at sometimes odd, read that moved for the most part at a nice and steady pace.

In terms of romance, I am not a huge fan of love triangles, but I liked how Cindy Wilson had everything play out. This was action packed with a captivating story and interesting characters. I was glad that I was able to check out this book and highly recommend it for other YA dystopian romances- 4 outta 5 stars from me!

PS: Thank you to Cindy R. Wilson, Entangled Teen, Netgalley, and YA Bound Book Tours for allowing me an advanced copy of the book to read and review honestly!

Sting is a second book by Cindy R. Wilson that I had read. Paper Girl was AMAZING and I wanted more, here it's not the case. This book was Average to me.
The story is set in the dystopian world where the city where everything happens is torn into two pieces - Dark and Light.
Tess (The Sting) comes from the dark side and she tries to help other people survive. She's like Robin Hood to them in this Dystopian world.
The story will follow Tess and how she was dealing with everything that was put on her when things had not worked out as planned.
It was An ok read that had the potential to be an awesome one.

This is a fun thrill ride from the opening pages through the pulse-pounding conclusion. Cindy R. Wilson creates fascinating characters and throws them into impossible situations against a rich dystopian backdrop. Scorpion is just a teenage girl who was unfortunately on the wrong side of the bride when the world came tumbling down. Living in a “bunker” in an abandoned gaming center, Tessa, aka the Scorpion, shares her “home” with Cass, a twelve-year-old orphan. The two form a tight family unit, which not only do whatever it takes to survive, but also helping others who live in the Dark District get what they need. This makes her public enemy number one of the Light Sight, which is under the control of Campbell, who also happens to be the father of her best friend, Elle. But when someone betrays her, Tessa is thrown into prison where she meets Pike, a former enforcer in training who wants to take down Campbell almost as much as Tessa does. The two form a friendship that borders on something more as they plan to escape and help the Dark Side and exact revenge on Campbell. But Tessa’s hate for Campbell is powerful and may get in the way of what she needs to do.

There are a lot of similarities between STING and THE HUNGER GAMES. So if you enjoy a good dystopian adventure of the oppressed rising up against their oppressor, a badass heroine with a younger sister figure she’ll do anything for, and a couple of swoony boys fighting over the protagonist, this is right up your alley!

Plot
The main plot centers on Tessa and her quest for revenge against Campbell, the man who has kept the Dark District in the dark. There are strong subplots involving Tessa’s search for Cass, and her relationships with both River, another darksider, and Pike, the lightsider she meets in prison. The story shines in all of these areas. The action is well-spaced ensuring perfect pacing and twists and turns kept me engaged. Some I saw coming, others not so much. Everything is expertly woven together to create a compelling story that is nearly impossible to put down.

Characters
The characters are superb! Scorpion will go down in history as one of my all-time favorite heroines. River, Pike, Cass and the rest are all deep, complex, compelling. Even the antagonists are more than just shallow stereotypes for the most part. Mongo and even Elle at times seemed sort of trope-y, but they served a necessary purpose. I love Tessa so much. She’s tough but vulnerable. Her inexperience with romance makes her stumble over her feelings for those around her, but her fierce loyalty is what endears her to me from the very beginning. Pike is my Peta. He’s also loyal, brave, smart, and he gets Tessa on a deep level. River is my sweet, sweet Gale. He loves Tessa so much, he’d do anything for her. Elle is complex and conflicted as the best friend and daughter of Tessa’s rival, and Campbell, well, he’s easy to believe these days as a greedy bastard who sees the poor people of the world as a drain on his power and wealth.

What I Loved About STING
1. Tessa. She’s the perfect blend of strength, fearlessness, loyalty, and vulnerability.

2. Pike. He’s wonderfully patient, brave, and would do anything for Tessa.

3. Action. There is a lot of it and it’s pulse-pounding and intense.

4. River. Another great guy who will risk everything for the people he cares about.

5. Twists and Turns. Really well done and caught me by surprise more than once.

What Didn’t Quite Work for Me
Nothing! Though I hope this is the first book in a series. It doesn’t end on a cliffhanger and I have no idea what the author would do in a second book, but I love this world and these characters so much, I don’t want to let them go.

Bottom Line
A thrilling dystopian adventure with plenty of romance!

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to YA Bound Book Tours, Netgalley, and Entangled Teen for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

Dang it! Apparently this was another Count of Monte Cristo retelling and I wouldn’t have known! Thank goodness Wilson actually indicated that one her review about her novel, because seriously I am just not up to date on what books are retellings, what aren’t, what the Count of Monte Cristo is, etc. But either way, even if you don’t know the original material like me, don’t let that stop you from reading this novel because you won’t need that backstory really. This stands on its own and it was great.

The Scorpion.

I’m seriously digging her alias because I for one would not want to mess with anyone that would name themselves after a creature like that. Scorpions are dangerous and should not be messed with under any circumstances in my opinion. It also makes her seem almost vicious in the fact that she will sting back. She isn’t just a docile creature that you can try to step on and ignore when things hit the fan, you know? So yeah, I dig it. And I definitely feel her anger and rage at being betrayed by some nobody pretty much and none of the people that she’s ever helped during this time of bad things happening even helped her.

It sucks, and while we are supposed to be the kind of people that don’t do anything just to get something out of it, we can’t help but think that way when nobody is willing to even bend a little bit to help us. You know what I mean? It just kind of makes you feel like you were taken advantage of for your resources and the goodness of your heart to be able to be in a position to do these things, but when the time came down to it, nobody felt that way about you.

Clearly I have some feelings about this kind of treatment in general so I felt even more upset when I read this book. But I loved it, and I think you will enjoy it too. This is my first novel from Wilson and I think it was a great introduction to her writing style for me.

This was the first book that I have read by Cindy R. Wilson and the moment I finished it I downloaded her other title, Paper Girl.

Sting was fantastic! I was hooked from the very first page. Our main character is Tessa, also known as Scorpion; she lives on the dark side where people are barely surviving, she has no living relatives but takes care of Cass, every day is a fight for survival, one she faces willingly, risking her life to steal from the Light and give to the Dark.

Tessa finds herself imprisoned but with the help from fellow inmate Pike she has revenge is on her mind as she plans to take down the city’s leader, I couldn't understand his motives but it all came down to selfishness and greed,

The world-building was done extremely well, the divide between rich and poor and the way that they both lived was interesting.

There is a love triangle which I don't always enjoy but in my mind there was a clear choice and it didn't grate on my nerves as I thought it would. Pike was a fantastic love interest.

The dynamic between the characters was wonderful, especially the bond shared between Tessa and Cass, Tessa took on the role of protector to not just those she cared about but everyone that was less fortunate.

There were many challenges faced by the characters and I was never quite sure who could be trusted. I loved every moment of it and instantly downloaded Paper Girl by Cindy R. Wilson, I thoroughly enjoyed her gripping writing style.

Thank you to Entangled Teen and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read and review Sting.

This book was a classic book about revenge and
A dark side and a light side. Very basic. It wasn’t the best thing ever but it also wasn’t bad. It did take me a while to read. This book was also given to me by Netgalley for reviewing purposes!

Scorpion is the hero of the Darksiders. A regular Robin Hood if you please. Taking from the rich and giving to the poor. Trying to survive in a world where the Enforcers are doing the bidding of an evil leader determined to bring the Scorpion down.

Tessa, the Scorpion, can’t afford to care too much about the little girl, Cass, and her best friend, River, because it makes her vulnerable. The Enforcers are looking for the Scorpion and the people she cares about can be taken away in an instant. When she is betrayed by a friend and thrown into Decay, the local prison, she discovers secrets that could save the Darksiders. The only problem is she has to escape Decay with the assistance of Pike, an ex-Enforcer and fellow prisoner and expose the deadly man who gave her the scar on her face.

Sting is a fast-paced action and adventure story in a dystopian world filled with Darksiders, Lightsiders, Enforcers, and robots. Tessa, the Scorpion is a badass with knives and creating bots. Tessa, the human is torn between River from the Dark District, and Pike from the Light District. Who can she trust and who is the One? If you enjoy badass heroines with interesting and colorful supporting characters, please give this book a try.

Thank you to Ms. Wilson for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

Sting is the first book I’ve read by Cindy Wilson but it won’t be the last. This book has some interesting characters and a story that kept me turning the pages to see what was going to happen next.

I thought the world building in this book was done well. In Victor, you have the Darkside where people are cutoff from electricity and basic things needed to survive and then you have The Light District where everything is, as you can imagine, bright and lively. There are parties and shopping, and no one really knows about the challenges the Darkside go through. Of course, this sets the stage for the story.

Scorpion (Tessa) is our main character and she has been on her own for a while living amongst the Darksiders. She’s known as Scorpion because of the scorpion bots she uses to scope out areas and she does what she can for those around her and there are a few people that she will do anything for because they have become her family over time. I thought Wilson did a good job of reflecting the relationship that Tessa had with each of these characters. Elle is the daughter of a powerful man in the Light District but opposed to the way things are run, Cass is essentially her little sister, and River is the boy she has feelings for but is afraid to really analyze what those feelings really mean.

Over time, Tessa has built a bit of a reputation amongst the people in the Dark District and that means that the leaders of The Light District see her as a danger and they have begun to make the missions she goes on to get supplies much more risky now that the Enforcers are out searching for her. When one of the people she trusted most betrays her, Tessa sacrifices her freedom to save Cass. This puts her a prison called Decay and under the watch of some very questionable men.

In prison, Tessa meets Pike. Pike has been in Decay for a while, but he has a plan to get out and now that Tessa is there, he decides she will be the perfect person to help him. As Tessa learns to navigate the prison, she realizes that her mechanical knowledge is what is going to help her get the warden to loosen up on her monitoring. By doing this, she sometimes gets a bit more freedom and that means she and Pike also have a bit more space to finalize their plan to escape and when they do, they find themselves trying to hide out in The Light District.

Once they get to the Light District, Tessa doesn’t know who she can trust from her old life. The one thing she does know is that she needs to find Cass. When the people in her new life begin to mix with those of her old life, she realizes just how much she has changed. I thought Wilson did a good job of reflecting the growth Tessa goes through over the course of the book. She’s not as standoffish and doesn’t try to hold herself apart from others. I also thought that Pike really balanced her out – he pushed her to not be so reactionary and while she didn’t always listen, it did start to influence her actions.

In the end, the story was one that kept me interested. The characters were developed well and while I questioned some pieces (i.e. how easy it was to get out of Decay), I thought the story was well done. I know I didn’t give a ton of detail in this review, and that is mostly because I think you should read the book and I also don’t like to give anything away. Just know that if you are looking for a Dystopian book with interesting characters, a bit of romance, and good overcoming evil, consider picking this one up.

My first experience with Cindy R. Wilson's books and I am hooked. The blurb got my attention because The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorite classics and I haven't read a retelling based on it before, so I am happy I had the opportunity to read this one.

The story is set in a dystopian world, where people are divided into two factions, The Light and The Darkside. Of course the most privileged are part of Victor, the city of Light where they live the best life, surrounded by opulence while the unfortunate ones are left to starve beyond the borders of the city. Tessa has been on her own since she was twelve, she lost her parents and was forced to survive amongst the Darksiders. She's a warrior at heart and will do anything to help those in need so she becomes a vigilante, a symbol of hope for the people in the dark. But someone in her group betrays her so Tessa finds herself was thrown into jail. The need for revenge fuels her to survive amongst the inmates and with the help of a new ally she plans her escape.

I love Tessa, she is fierce and heads strong, and has such a big heart. She always puts people's needs before her own. It was interesting to see how the love triangle between her, Pike and River evolved and I liked that the story didn't put too much emphasis on that. Her feelings for Pike developed organically and their connection was beautifully presented. The world-building was great and the characters were well presented and relatable. The plotline was suspenseful, intriguing and had enough angst to keep me engaged in the story. I loved how things turned out in the end.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot, it was emotional and entertaining and I recommended it to those who like dystopian YA novels with a twist!

Last fall, I was introduced to Ms. Wilson’s work through her book, Rival, and I liked it very much. At the time, I hoped to see more from her but I didn’t think that would happen so soon. I’m mighty glad I was wrong.

Once again, the author has crafted a story that tips the hat to both another fictional theme, The Count of Monte Cristo, and a legendary quasi-historical figure, Robin Hood. Tessa is a young girl who makes her way in a harsh world—one which we have brought upon ourselves through climate change—but always has an eye towards helping others who are less fortunate by appropriating supplies from those who live a life of privilege and plenty. Tessa has a somewhat surly attitude but she always wants to make life a little easier for those who barely survive day to day in the Dark District and she has formed a family of sorts among a little girl named Cass, a boy named River who is beginning to stir certain feelings in Tessa and Elle, a girl who resents her own origins in the Light District. Each night, they have to avoid the Enforcers who are directed to keep residents of the Dark District in their place.

Tessa has acquired a nickname, Scorpion, largely because of her quick, rapid forays into enemy territory and it’s both a hindrance and a source of pride but betrayal of the deepest sort gets her thrown in the prison known as Decay. After that, escape and revenge are all she wants. A fellow prisoner, Pike, has his own reasons to seek retribution but, for both, the future is a nebulous thing.

Appealing characters and a strong plot, along with a vivid setting, kept me reading into the night and I especially appreciated that this is a self-contained story…although I wouldn’t be averse to another adventure for Tessa and her family 😉

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, March 2020.