Thursday, May 2, 2013

Review: Raksha by Frankie Rose

Raksha
Release Date: 4/30/13

RAKSHA BLURB:
She has no name.

She has her knives, her training, and her halo.

The first and second give her the ability to defeat the opponents she is pitted against each month. The third frees her from pain and fear. From any kind of emotion at all. Everything is as it should be. Everything is as it should be, until…

Fear… Pain… Anger… Happiness… Desire… Guilt…

Love.

When a newly named Kit escapes the Sanctuary after killing her best friend, the last thing she needs is another knife in her hand. Or Ryka, the damaged, beautiful blond boy, whom she refuses to let save her. The sights and sounds of Freetown are new, yet one thing is familiar: the matches. The only difference? Where the blood in the Sanctuary landed only on the Colosseum floor, Kit will quickly learn that a river of red runs through Freetown’s very streets.

Without her halo, the inhabitants of Kit’s new home consider her saved, but is that really the case? Would she be better off free of the guilt associated with all the blood on her hands, or is the love of one boy worth living through all the pain?

Raksha is the call of the dead. It is the rumbling chant for fresh blood from the other side, the demand for sacrifice. The Colosseum is behind Kit. The fighting pits await.

Review: 
Raksha is like Uglies and Hunger Games combined, with its own little twist. Those two series are some of my favorite books ever, so needless to say I was pretty stoked about this book! This book was pretty amazing. Kit starts out in this book as a fighter who fights in the pits. She doesn't have emotions because of a device she wears around her neck called a halo. Due to a series of unfortunate events, her halo comes off. If she wants to keep it off she must escape town and run for her life. While she is on the run she meets a....can you guess it? A Boy! His name is Ryka. With his help she must learn to live in a new town whose customs are completely different, while living with all these newly discovered emotions.

I don't have anything negative to say about this book. Anytime I was like what or had a problem with something that happened....it was answered later in the book. I feel like everything was thoroughly explained really well. I loved the writing style, it kept it very interesting and fast paced. I was engrossed in this world from the first second I picked up this book.

This story is truly telling her story of self discovery from ground zero. When she loses her halo, she has to learn who she is and what she wants out of life. When she moved in this new town she discovers no place is truly perfect. She has to figure out for herself if there is a lesser of two evils. Now onto....the boy, Ryka, me and him had a love/hate relationship. Sometimes I wanted to slap the boy, and other times I wanted to pat him on the back. Kit was definitely an interesting character, she was very multi-dimensional. She has been a fighter for so long, she doesn't know how to stop. She fights everything including people and her feelings. I loved all the character interactions. The secondary character were very well developed and well rounded. With every character in this book there is more than meets the eye, never assume anything about anyone. This book made me experience all range of emotions. I really hope you guys check this book out! Raksha is one the best books I have read so far in 2013. I definitely can't wait until the next book in this series!!


EXCERPT:
I mmm doubtfully, scratching Jada behind her ears. She seems to like that. Cai’s face is gone now, although who knows how long the reprieve will be. When I look up, Ryka is watching me pet Jada.

“She likes you,” he says.

“You sound surprised.”

“I’m not. My sister’s a good judge of character. If Liv likes you that pretty much means everyone else will. Including my fickle dog.” He whistles softly and Jada pricks her ears at the sound.

“And you?” I ask.

He smiles. “Seriously?”

I nod, and Ryka’s mouth pulls up to one side in a way that makes my heart race. He looks wicked.

“Well, we’re friends. In that weird way where you’re eternally mad at me, and I’m eternally imagining what you look like naked.”

“What!” I go to slap his arm but he ducks out of reach, grinning. From the way my insides react to his words, it feels like I’ve swallowed something entirely too hot. Is this normal? Is this what liking someone feels like? It’s confusing and frustrating and frankly—okay, I’ll admit it—kind of wonderful. But what the hell am I supposed to do with that? How do I change who I am, sixteen years of fighting, a life of blood? How do I trade in all that confrontation for something a little sweeter? I think it’s probably too late.

“I really didn’t do myself any favours when I met you, did I? You still don’t trust me?” Ryka tips his head forward, smiling ruefully at his feet when I shake my head. “In that case I suppose it’s pointless asking if you’ve fallen in love with me yet?”

The boy is determined to make me die a death this evening. It’s all I can do not to choke as I shake my head. “Sadly, no. I don’t think I want to kill you anymore, though. So there’s that.”

In the moonlight, Ryka’s eyes bow as he smiles broadly. “There is that. We’ll have to see what we can do to change your mind, though. I’ve never been very good at waiting for anything I want.” He shoves me gently with his shoulder and my heart stumbles.

“You want me?”

Ryka’s smile is devastatingly sharp. “You own me, remember. And now, after the other night…well, I guess I kinda own you, too.”

BIO:
Frankie Rose is a British expat, who is currently enjoying the perks of living in Australia- her awesome husband, sunshine, and vitamin D. She spends her time creating fictional universes in which the guy sometimes gets the girl, the heroes occasionally die, and the endings aren't always happy. But they usually are.

PURCHASE LINKS:
Amazon

SITE LINKS:
Website: www.frankierosewrites.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Frankie-Rose/149657735200116
Twitter: @byfrankierose
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/frankierose101/


No comments:

Post a Comment