About this book:
“As the orphaned daughter of a traitor, Novalise grew up in hiding with an outlawed religious group hated by the Crown. She dreams of aiding her people as a scientist and begs her overprotective brother for a chance to assist in his schemes against the government. All her hopes of making a difference implode when she's kidnapped and forced to compete against the Enhanced—a group of highly trained, biologically upgraded young women—for a position as the king's Protector.
Plagued by insomnia, King Zadien is still reeling from his father's untimely death. When his council suggests a competition as the way to choose his new bodyguard, he lacks the confidence to oppose the plan. Given the role he played in his father's murder, choosing the right Protector could mean relieving his guilt or repeating his worst mistakes. Can he trust the intriguing and beautiful candidate who's nothing like the others?
After discovering a long-hidden connection between the Enhanced and her father, Novalise realizes winning the competition would give her people the strategic advantage they desperately need. But is that leverage worth compromising herself, body and soul?”
Series: Book #2 in “The Susa Chronicles” series.
Spiritual Content- Romans 8:37 at the dedication; God is called ‘Alpha’ in this world and His followers are called ‘Alphanites’; Alphanites are considered to be “religious extremists/radicals” by this government and it has been deemed treason to teach about Alpha (thus they live in hiding like Novalise’s group); Prayers to Alpha & Thanking Alpha; A few talks about Alpha; 'H's are not capital when referring to Alpha; A ‘for Alpha’s sake’ is said once and eight ‘Thank Alpha’s are said (the majority seem sincere); Mentions of the Alpha (God) & Alphanites (Christians);
*Note: Novalise hears a voice in her head that she thinks is Alpha (God) (They talk about boys, science, and Novalise trusts the voice; The voice gives her directions on how to move during fights; At the beginning, she notes that “All the years I’ve heard this voice, I’ve known it was a he. The timbre has aged with me, sounding more like a childhood playmate when he first showed up almost twelve years ago, Even then, a deep peace accompanied his words, spoken somewhere in the depths of my heart”; The others in her group comment on her ‘imaginary friend’ but some also think she is directly talking to Alpha; Novalise recalls being taught about Alpha by a friend’s parents and “they said we could hear his guidance if we listened hard enough. Everyone else took that as a metaphor. Not me. I hear Alpha, and we talk, same as I do with my friends now.”; As the book continues, she wonders if it’s just an imaginary voice or a friend in her head and doesn’t hear his voice as clearly as she usually does, but the voice is insistent that that isn’t true; At one point, she thinks about hearing about people who hear voices are sick people with broken minds; Novalise avoids asking the voice about some of her thoughts or ideas; She feels peace at times when talking to this voice and other times, she feels his pride in her and him winking at her; The voice is insulted when Novalise calls him her conscience; *Spoiler* Towards the end, she feels like it is foolishness to have the light-hearted conversations with the voice as she thinks it’s an imaginary voice in her head, but eventually calls on the voice again when she needs help and feels a rumble with the voice says “I AM [the real Alpha]”; She realizes that the voice is an advantage for her over the other girls and that she shouldn’t have left him out of her plans *End of Spoiler*); Someone makes a few negative and snide comments about the Alphanites’ god not allowing “progress or some nonsense” when it comes to the “health upgrades” being offered; A mention of a bone protruding at an “unholy angle”.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: two ‘shut up’s, four forms of ‘dumb’, seven forms of ‘idiot’, and twenty-seven forms of ‘stupid’; Fictional curses include: a ‘how in the name of the sun’ (which the voice in Novalise’s head says the sun can’t help her), a ‘sun help me’, a ‘swear on the sun’, a ‘sun rest them’ (when talking about a deceased person), two ‘sun-forsaken’s, three ‘thank the sun’s, six forms of ‘for sun’s sake’, six ‘sun knows’, eight forms of ‘what/why the sun’, six ‘blazing’, and nine ‘blazes/what the blazes’; Eye rolling & Sarcasm (including between siblings); Novalise and her brother clash and argue at times (*Spoilers* When she is kidnapped and hears that her brother was behind it, she feels hurt and betrayed by it, thinking that she would promise to be better to him if he wouldn’t get rid of her like this; *Major Spoiler* It was his plan for her to get kidnapped to be able to become a Protector and have a mole on the inside, but he didn’t tell or warn her about his plan and she understands his intention once it’s explained *End of Spoiler*); Seeing deaths, a picture of a dead body (including a broken neck and those executed by pulse guns, which all greatly affect Novalise and she feels sick) and someone’s leg being caught and badly injured/broken in a heavy moving door (up to semi-detailed); Lots of Fighting (including in training and for her life), Being attacked/beaten, Being kidnapped, Being tied-up, Pain, Injuries, Blood/Bleeding, & Being knocked unconscious (up to semi-detailed); Throwing up (due to guilt); Zadien feels guilt for his father’s murder (*Major Spoilers* because he and a Protector conspired together to have his father in a dangerous situation to be able to have a wish granted by the king; The Protector betrayed the plans she made with Zadien and asked to become the Chief Protector; On a later mission, she glitched and was unable to protect the king from assassins and Zadien feels guilt over this because it may not have happened if he didn’t help the Protector originally get the wish *End of Spoilers*; The Enhanced are considered not to be humans, but war machines by some (including the creator of the technology and *Spoilers, but kidnapping notes* it is revealed that he has been kidnapping and taking young girls from their families to make them into the Enhanced; He mentions towards the end about using younger girls to see if they would do better with the technology enhancements *End of Spoilers*; There are also glitches that happen when the technology moves faster than the rest of them and usually results in death; The creator wants to fix these glitches by developing a new serum that can be injected into the brain stem to make their brains faster); Many mentions of executions (particularly of the Enhanced who failed their mission of protecting the king, the Enhanced who fail their tests, and traitors to the government), deaths, how it happens (including snapped necks and backs & by pulse guns to the head), & deaths (boarder-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Many mentions of a murder/assassination & trying to find the killers; Many mentions of fights/fighting, injuries, broken bones, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of tattoos (as those in the city all receive tattoos starting when they are twelve to cover their nano-tech incisions; Novalise also creates and maintains fake ones for her brother and friends; The Enhanced guards are covered in tattoos because of all of their tech upgrades); Mentions of deaths/murders & grief (including of parents); Mentions of kidnappings and children being taken from their families because of the parents having “fanatical (religious) beliefs”, drug use, criminal activity, mental instability, or orphaned after their parents deaths/murders; Mentions of terrorists (including Novalise’s father who was branded as one); Mentions of fires & burns (including a child’s home being set on fire by those that were afraid of their religious beliefs); Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of manipulation; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of throwing up; A few mentions of some “taking matters into their own hands” (implied suicide in the context); A few mentions of arrests, prisoners, & interrogation (implying beatings); A few mentions of nightmares; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of threats; A mention of someone viewing a family member like a grandmother who is a “burden who will hopefully die soon” (what Novalise thinks her brother thinks of her); A mention of a potential drowning; A mention of the possibility of someone wetting their pants; A mention of something being like a dead animal; A mention of being shot like rabid dogs;
*Note: At one point, Novalise thinks about hearing about people who hear voices are sick people with broken minds (and she wonders if that is the case with her, though the voice in her head says it’s not); In the city, when a child turns twelve, they are required to do a nano treatment that will scar, so tattoos are done to cover it (to not do this is to be considered “markless” and that person will be banned from public areas and denied medical services); The Enhanced are guards for the king and are covered in tattoos to cover the scars from all of their tech upgrades; Novalise has some prejudice towards those with enhancement technology and call them “nano-boosted freaks” (but realizes later that they aren’t all evil).
Sexual Content- A cheek kiss, an almost kiss (barely-above-not-detailed), a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, a semi-detailed kissing session (with many little kisses not on the lips) and a border-line semi-detailed // detailed kiss; Staring at lips; Remembering kisses (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Touches, Hand holding, Shivers, Flutters, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Remembering touches (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to touch (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing & Staring (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Zadien loved the previous Chief Protector, Vastri (*Spoiler* later, she betrayed their plans to be together and he now hates how she manipulated him and used him as a stepping stone to get what she wanted *End of Spoiler*); After meeting Novalise, Zadien wonders if he is drawn to the forbidden (as Protectors can’t get married; he later wonders if it was him rebelling) or if he is trying to back Vastri back from the dead by “snuggling up to one of her peers” which puts a sour taste in his mouth; *Spoilers, but sexual suggestions/assumptions* Zadien plans a way to show if the potential Protectors are interested in him for their own benefits or are there to protect him; He says he has “expectations” of all of them and others believe his double-meaning that he will take advantage of those in his service; Novalise and other guards think poorly of the young king (including one commenting that the girls did not “perform well enough” and Novalise comments on it not making sense for them to defend a guy “when you’re on your back in his bed”); Novalise and others hear a girl brag about her night with the king and that the “evaluation covers a lot more than our ability to stand guard”, which takes a minute for Novalise to understand; Novalise says that the king can’t expect them to give himself themselves, but another says that he can because he is the king and at least he isn’t some creepy old guy); Novalise wonders if the others are wrong, but if they’re not, would she pay that price; When it is Novalise’s turn, she guards the king by not going past the dividers and Zadien is shirtless while saying things about his soft sheets and her “helping” their king (the girls who come with eager reactions are sent packing (which leads to their execution, but he didn’t know this) and those who come with stoic expressions, he plans to have a talk with those in charge about appropriate expectations for the young women); Zadien feels dirty and ashamed by saying all of this; Novalise is firm and nothing happens, but offers to send for one of the many other woman that would be “delighted to entertain [him] for the evening”; Zadien comes around the room divider to find it’s her and they exchange harsh words as she tells him that he has been using the power of his crown to force himself on innocent women who have been brainwashed into protecting him (and she also tells him to put on a shirt); Zadien explains the goal and that he did not sleep with any of the Protector candidates, but Novalise scoffs at this after hearing his attempts of seducing; Zadien later thinks that he needs to clear up the mess with the night duty plan before he damages his reputation (though he isn’t sure which is worse—those they look at him differently because of what they think he did or the ones that don’t seem to care); Mentions of the king’s “night duty propositions” *End of Spoilers*; A radio program calls Zadien “scrumptious” and asks the question if he or another king would look better with their shirts off; Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of attraction, crushes, & handsome guys; Mentions of flirting; Mentions of jealousy; A mention of a rumor about an Enhanced having plenty of other relationships (but not marriage); A mention of Novalise never sneaking out to meet a boy; Some love/attraction, crushes/falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: The Enhanced are unable to have children due to being sterilized; In the author’s note, she shares that the story of Esther and how the king’s advisors rounded up beautiful young virgins, them each spending a night with the king, and while the Bible doesn’t say exactly what happened on that night, the women were moved to be with the king’s concubines “so we can make assumptions”.
-Novalise, age 18
-Zadien, age 20
1st person P.O.V. switches between them
294 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
For some reason, I wasn’t expecting this book to be so intense. Silly me, this is a dystopian plot after all. I have mixed thoughts…positives and negatives to share, so we’ll go back and forth.
I definitely could see the Esther inspiration, but it’s definitely not a retelling. Because of knowing the events of Esther, it gave me a slight comfort in knowing that it should all end okay…right? Right? Well, I guess I’ll have to find out because this book ends in a pretty big cliffhanger. (Which is why I waited to read this one until closer to the sequel’s release date!)
I had a harder time picturing all the scenery and action/fighting/competition parts. Perhaps that’s for the better because the Enhanced fighting is rough (to say the least), but I wasn’t able to follow along as easily as I would have liked.
I did really like all the technology and thought a lot of it was unique compared to other dystopian books I’ve read. Fascinating enough, there is a no-screen order because of the addiction that happened in past generations—which both amused me and also felt a little odd with all the technology around the characters. It would have been good to learn a bit more about that ruling, but all the other tech was interesting—and okay, yes, some of it was horrifying. Such is a dystopian plot.
It was a little…grittier or maybe edgier than I usually prefer, but that can come with the dystopian plotline and it was definitely the cause for this book. I didn’t know what to think about Nova and the situation she’s in, but as the book continued and things were revealed, I started to get more interested in the plot and everything happening.
I’m not sure how I feel about “the Alpha” talking to Nova in her head…it’s obviously supposed to represent God. If it was all Scriptural based I think I would have been fine with it, but because the voice is kind of like an imaginary friend to her (to the point that she even thinks it’s that) and they discuss science and boys, he compliments her, and she feels him wink at her, it felt a little strange and ended up affecting my personal rating. I’m not sure how other readers will feel about this element and it’s was the hardest part of this book to note for this content review. I liked the message of Novalise relying on the Alpha and the importance of having a relationship with him, but how it was done was outside of my comfort zone…and in not a good way.
There was some sexual suggestions that I didn’t care for, but it made sense for the plot—to a degree. Unfortunately, there were some comments connected to the “one night with the king” element that brought down my rating and make me only suggest this book for older teens who have read a lot of dystopian books. If we were going to compare to other dystopian books, I’ve never read “The Hunger Games”, so I can’t compare to that series’ content, but it wasn’t as much sexual content/suggestions as “The Remnants” series by Lisa T Bergren, but wasn’t as clean as the “Anomaly” trilogy by Krista McGee. This book reminded me of the Bergren series at times because of this and also the brutal fighting. “Protector” might not have been as detailed and border-line gory as I remember that series being, but the training and injuries—and seeing deaths—that Novalise/Astra goes through is brutal.
I have to admit to not really liking Zadien at times. He was an unstable jerk towards the end and is very aware of manipulation in general but yet not realizing fully that someone else is manipulating him. I hope he’ll realize the irony in the second book. Honestly, I’m pretty sure I made a face each time he appeared after he did a massive stupid and jerkish thing. He flipped a switch to become a blockhead and then later flipped back the way he was for the beginning part of the book. It was almost whiplash to me, but Novalise is too busy trying not to swoon over him when he is kind.
God’s name is replaced in a lot of fictional curses that Zadien says, which while I appreciate God’s name not being taken in vain, I still winced almost every time because it was so easy to replace it with God’s name. It made sense that because he has grown up in a society that has banned the Alpha (God) that they would use something else, but one character who is supposed to know the Alpha uses “For Alpha’s sake” when frustrated, which was disappointing.
This was interesting. I definitely liked some parts, but also didn’t like some as well. I do plan to read the sequel soon to find out what happens.
See y’all on Wednesday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
