It's devastating for a teenaged mathematics genius to lose her gift for numbers. So, Jo Rivers is going through a simulation process with Prodigy Stealth Solutions in an attempt to recover her gift. But when PSS is hacked and a sensitive file goes missing, Jo heads to Tunisia on a mission where more than PSS's secrets are at stake in Simulated by author Nova McBee.

Once I plunged into this YA suspense sequel to Calculated with both feet, I had to keep swimming with as few pauses as possible. While the gradual build in Book One wasn't always the most gripping for me, its solid foundation allowed me to take off and enjoy this second novel more.

*Goodness.* The danger and all the moving parts to the intrigue. The ingenuity and teen prodigies. The thought-provoking nuggets that add true depth to Jo's journey. So good!

Now, I did become frustrated with some of Jo's rash decision-making, which sometimes felt a little contrived for the action's sake. And I'm not sure if the reader is supposed to share Jo's unawareness about who the anonymous hacker is, but the hacker's identity was clear to me quite early on. Also, there are a few reasons why I usually don't care for love triangles in fiction—but because this book isn't a romance novel, at least it didn't have to rush toward a resolution that would've left me irritated.

Now, after the exciting time I had racing through this adventure, I can't wait for Book Three.
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I received an advance reading copy of this book via Netgalley for an honest review.

Can an author top their debut book?

Simulated smacked me upside the head and screamed, "YES THEY FREAKING CAN!" Nova is a brilliant writer with a knack for cliffhangers, non-stop action, and relatable characters that feel like your best friends. Fans of Calculated will love this next installment in Nova's series and LSDHGLDG WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE? GO READ IT NOW!

I loved this book! This will be a short review, because there's not a lot I feel like I can say without spoiling anything, but I love the new guy who was introduced and the crew of prodigies that we meet! Jo goes on a journey of healing and acceptance and growth, while still being the determined, strong heroine we met before. There's a lot of cool new tech introduced, with some great Mission Impossible vibes, and the second half of the book is totally action-packed. I couldn't put it down. The Tunisia locations were described beautifully and gave me such wanderlust. I was a little surprised by how much the new characters grew on me, and I can't wait to find out what happens in the next book!

Jo is back living in Seattle & working with Prodigy Stealth Solutions to get her gift back permanently. They are trying to jumpstart it with simulations. Someone hacks PSS and that hacker gives her a warning about Tunisia and Kai who suddenly goes missing. As does a sensitive PSS file, the Blacklist. Off to Tunisia it is, to save Kai, PSS, the country and probably the world.

Not that I was expecting anything less, but I was hooked from the prologue. The unfolding of the intelligent plot is quite genius. The descriptions are absolutely cinematic, a 1st person POV that has a 360 degree feel to the action in it. The details guide your imagination through all that is happening, and believe me there is plenty to keep you on your toes. The pacing is great and the character development and emotional departments are not left wanting. The figurative speech is edgy with a quirkiness to it.

Jo, who you have fallen in love with since the first book, continues to evolve, but remains impulsive. Sometimes you are concerned and others proud of her boldness. To her, helping others comes naturally. As does protecting those she cares about. The prodigies are very interesting characters, and the mysterious hacker/caller is so exciting to read and... no spoilers.

The truth is I predicted who the mysterious hacker was from the very beginning, but there are so many other unpredictable twists to keep you guessing and well-written action to keep you enthralled. To be honest, it frustrated me that the protagonist did not realize the identity of Coral Hacker earlier, and when she starts to suspect I'm not sure I like how she handles it, but I still enjoyed the reveal. Some of the tech went completely over my head and the love triangle did seem a little forced but then grew on me.

There might not be Red flashbacks in this one, but the protagonist's musings still convey life lessons. I really like how her thoughts are portrayed with such honesty. A few things the book makes you think about are: helping others but also not forgetting yourself, believing in yourself and moving forward as a person not backwards, not running from who you are.

A wild ride of a race against the clock, thrilling spylike adventure, that is totally tech-savvy. An exceptional sequel with a heart-pounding finale and a little scene at the end that makes you 'ache' for the next installment.

I was luck enough to get book 2 of Calculated as an e-arc and I was so excited to get to read Simulated! Calculated was an exciting and adventurous novel, and Simulated was much more!

Simulated is continued from the perspective of Jo Rivers who is officially back in Seattle, she used to be a math genius with powers to calculate equations and numbers of her surroundings, but once she lost her powers from her time in China, Jo is lost and does not know what to do. PSS ( Prodigy Stealth Solutions ) sends an offer that will help trigger Jo's powers though simulations dating back to problems she went through. But during her simulations, there are attempts made to hack into Jo's challenges and into PSS's blacklist file which has many of their sacred secrets. Meanwhile, Jo receives mysterious calls warning Jo about her boyfriend, who has gone lost.
Looking for her boyfriend, Jo sets into a risky trip to Tunisia, which her father reluctantly accepts to locate the PSS blacklist and her boyfriend, and through her adventure, Jo has to trust the mysterious caller who said was by her side.

Simulated has action, adventure, and cliffhangers, that we all want and hope for, and that is paired with a thrilling love triangle. It is enchanting and mysterious, and makes your heart beat radically throughout most chapters!

There were many positives of the book and factors that I really enjoyed that made the story entrancing and different from many more books I have read before.
Nova McBee takes you though different countries and really introduces you different cultures and teaches you through the action all about this country. It's like you are a tourist in this country through the book. You go to Tunisia, and China, and you get a glimpse of the culture throughout Nova McBee's writing because she displays the scene, and she writes about many famous sites in that actual country which is so intriguing!
As well as this, Nova used different languages in the book. You get some Chinese dialogue and also some Arabic which added more depth to the story plot, and it just made it so much more different from other books because you get a look at different cultures, languages, beliefs and it is so interesting!

Simulated is one of the most interesting and heart pounding sequels and novels I have ever read! It is riveting, and the writing is so easy yo understand that it really invites you into the story which is really good because it is easy to understand, but the plot is not easy to crack which is good because it is never fun to know what will happen in the coming plot.

You can also really see the character development, and usually I am not a fan of love triangles however the character development made it all the more better!

Can't wait to see what Nova McBee will do in the last book of the series!