Series: The Caelian Cycle #2.5Author: Donnielle Tyner
Genre: young adult, science fiction, dystopia, fantasy
Published: January 18, 2016
Purchase: Amazon
A boy without a voice.
A teen without a home.
A man without hope.
Kian knows the way his life is headed will be the death of him. It doesn’t matter how many criminals he catches for Gordon's Bounty Detective Agency or how deep he tries to fall into the bottle – those eyes haunt him. All it took was one whisper of bad advice, one wrong choice, one mistake, to wipe out years of confidence he had struggled to build while living on his Grandmother’s farm. Then Kian found the box of files overflowing with unsolved crimes. Those cold cases jolted his soul from its vegetative state and awakened his resolve. Kian knew those cases were meant for him to solve, but the last thing he expected to find within a few wrinkled folders was his ultimate redemption.
* * *
I was never a fan of Kian ever since his first appearance. I never cared about him. And I think that he makes Sadie sometimes dependent on him. Why I even asked for this book? It's because I wanted to see things from this perspective.
Redeem is basically a prequel to the Caelian Cycle series. It tells the story of Kian - his life as a bounty detective and how he came across cold cases that eventually lead him to Sadie. I like how it perfectly connected itself to the first book, Lost. I knew it will happen - when Michael finally appeared - yet I still took pleasure in reading it. My interest was never lost.
I also love how Redeem started in a thrilling action-packed scene. It immediately absorbed me. It was a great hook. It also quickly gave a rundown of the world so it would still be okay if you haven't read the first book of the series. It really serves well as a prequel.
The downside though is it didn't felt consistent to me. There were moments when I'd feel really absorbed (and I was even moved during a certain event) and at times, I'd feel that the narration was so stiff. It's in Kian's voice - first person. It was like a straightforward storytelling. I do understand that a big amount of time were supposed to be told in a short span (since it's a novella) but I didn't like how it sacrificed Kian's voice. Instead of adding real and full conversations, it resulted to plainly explaining the how the conversation is going or how certain things happens. I like the certain points of looking back though - how he goes through the things that happened in the past, the things with his family, his grandmother, and how he came to the hands of Gordon.
Kian's relationship with Gordon is probably one of my fave aspects of the novella. While short-lived, I liked Gordon. He's not on the actual series which is a let down, but reading about him here and how his relationship with Kian is was such a delight. Gordon is a great master for Kian. He's strict but that shows how much he wants to impart everything he knows to Kian.
"I've seen enough of the real world to know that I want it to be better than what it is." -loc114
Redeem is basically a prequel to the Caelian Cycle series. It tells the story of Kian - his life as a bounty detective and how he came across cold cases that eventually lead him to Sadie. I like how it perfectly connected itself to the first book, Lost. I knew it will happen - when Michael finally appeared - yet I still took pleasure in reading it. My interest was never lost.
I also love how Redeem started in a thrilling action-packed scene. It immediately absorbed me. It was a great hook. It also quickly gave a rundown of the world so it would still be okay if you haven't read the first book of the series. It really serves well as a prequel.
"Yer probably right. These cold cases aren't the money makers, but I can see the change in ya. You've found a purpose in life and that's what man has been looking for since the dawn of creation." -loc471
The downside though is it didn't felt consistent to me. There were moments when I'd feel really absorbed (and I was even moved during a certain event) and at times, I'd feel that the narration was so stiff. It's in Kian's voice - first person. It was like a straightforward storytelling. I do understand that a big amount of time were supposed to be told in a short span (since it's a novella) but I didn't like how it sacrificed Kian's voice. Instead of adding real and full conversations, it resulted to plainly explaining the how the conversation is going or how certain things happens. I like the certain points of looking back though - how he goes through the things that happened in the past, the things with his family, his grandmother, and how he came to the hands of Gordon.
Kian's relationship with Gordon is probably one of my fave aspects of the novella. While short-lived, I liked Gordon. He's not on the actual series which is a let down, but reading about him here and how his relationship with Kian is was such a delight. Gordon is a great master for Kian. He's strict but that shows how much he wants to impart everything he knows to Kian.
OVERALL, Redeem generally made me understand Kian. I'm still not a big fan of him but in all honesty, I think that I'll face the next book in a better relationship with him. It explained the world well in a quick and easy-to-understand way. While I did not completely enjoy the storytelling, my interest in the story never lessen.
* * *
What I Like: (1) its attention grabbing, opening scene, (2) how it still explained the world well despite being a novella, (3) the occasional flashback, (4) Kian - honestly, I ended up liking him, (5) Gordon - just because he's him, (6) Kian's relationship with Gordon.
What I Didn’t Like: (1) I still don't feel exactly connected to Kian, (2) the occasional stiff, straightforward narration - not enough conversations, plainly descriptions of conversations
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| 3.5 |
~I received this book in exchange for an honest review~
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