Thursday, November 22, 2012

Review: Red Handed by Gena Showalter

Red Handed (Young Adult Alien Huntress #1) by Gena Showalter
Synopsis (Goodreads):
She's been chosen to fight the elusive enemy among us....

Phoenix Germaine has been trying to earn back her mother's trust after going into rehab and kicking Onadyn -- the drug of choice for New Chicago teens. But when a party in the woods turns into an all-out battle with the most ferocious aliens Phoenix has never seen, she's brought home in what appears to be an Onadyn-induced state. Hello, reform school.

Except, what her mother doesn't know is that Phoenix has just been recruited to join the elite Alien Investigation and Removal agency, where she'll learn to fight dirty, track hard, and destroy the enemy. Her professional training will be rigorous and dangerous, and the fact that one of her instructors is Ryan Stone -- the drop-dead gorgeous, nineteen-year-old agent she met in the woods that night -- doesn't make things any easier. Especially when dating him is totally against the rules....
My Thoughts: I've read a few books in the adult Alien Huntress series and while I liked it enough I was never completely blown away by it. I think this series ties in nicely with the adult series and I do enjoy it but... I'm still not blown away. It's fun. It's full of aliens and friendships and rivalry. There's forbidden love and all that jazz but it felt like I was waiting for something to happen. Yes, there's a nicely climactic battle scene and the rivalries get resolved but... I don't know. I think it was that I never really got the feeling that Phoenix was in danger of being tossed out of the program. For all the conflict, there wasn't a lot of conflict, if that makes sense.

I did enjoy Phoenix's interactions with her fellow trainees. I liked the friendships that blossomed and that Phoenix made an effort to draw the one loner in the group out. I liked the romance but, once again, it never felt like it was something out of reach. Sure, they had to put things on hold while she was training, but training doesn't last forever.

Overall, it was an entertaining read that reminded me that I skipped a few of the adult books (the 2nd and 3rd, I think) and wouldn't mind getting back to them. Fun, but not mindblowing.

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Books in this series
1. Red Handed - Paperback | Kindle
2. Blacklisted

Author Links
| Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon |

4 comments:

  1. I still have not read a single Gena Showalter book. Is there something wrong with me?

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    1. Yes.

      (If you're going to read any of her books, I suggest the Lords of the Underworld. That series is fun and there's lots of durrrrrty sexin'. Actually, it's not all that dirty. Just lots of sexin'.)

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  2. I need to read some Gena Showalter ... I've heard the LoTU books are amazing.

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    1. The LotU books are VERY good. The overriding arc is fabulous. I can't wait to see what happens next in it.

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