Review – Oppression by Jessica Therrien

Title: Oppression
Series: Children of the Gods, #1
Author: Jessica Therrien
Publisher: Zova Books
Publication year: 2012
Number of pages: 339
Source: Received from the author in exchange of an honest review
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Synopsis:

Elyse has been on her own for as long as she can remember. Or, at least, ever since her parents died in a terrible car accident. They warned her that she can’t expose her secret – that the ages five times slower than the average person and that she has the power to heal.

But then she meets William, sweet and intriguing, they immediately take an interest in each other. But Elyse knows that she has to keep her distance, that she can’t get involved, until William tells her that he is like her and that there is a whole community of people like them, called the Descendants. Elyse soon finds out that she is a key person in the Descendants community, having to fulfill a prophecy that can change everything.

More trouble arises when Elyse decides to use her powers for another cause. Between exams, fights, myths and gods, will Elyse manage to save herself – and her kind?

My thoughts:

*I’d like to thank Jessica Therrien for sending me this book in exchange of an honest review!*

Premise:

• New and original, there’s nothing like this on the book market.
• Intriguing, draws the reader’s attention.
• It’s inspired by Greek mythology, so it’s bound to be something interesting!

Storyline and narrative:

• There are no ‘gaps’ in the story, it’s dense, there isn’t that feeling of emptiness that some books have.
• It was a bit boring at times, I stopped reading Oppression twice until I got to finishing it.
• The author skips from a scene to another, it’s almost movie-like, which contributes to the modern feel of the book.
• I liked Elyse’s voice, though I always felt like she was a bit ‘depressed’ or very bored, there was no emotion in it; most of the time, words were just words, didn’t express any real feelings that Elyse had.
• I didn’t like the fact that the dialogue contained a lot of clichés and there were a lot of short lines, made up of only one or two words, and then there were lines that I had to read twice to fully comprehend. So, yeah, I would’ve liked some more coherent dialogue.
• We are only given some vague details about The Council, I would like to find out more about it, I hope that we will in the second book.
• It’s a cryptic story, it’s not just about The Council, I also have a question about the Oracle: What will happen to the present Oracle when the new one is born?
• Therrien carefully constructed the Descendants’ world, that’s a plus.

Characters:

• Elyse is independent, but also caring and loving. Even though she’s about eighty years old, she still thinks like a twenty-something and that makes her more relatable. She can fight on her own, but sometimes she also plays the role of the damsel in distress.
• William seems like the almost-perfect book boyfriend. Handsome and a bit funny, he really cares about Elyse and that’s why sometimes doesn’t let her do dangerous things, but I sometimes felt annoyed by his persistency on keeping Elyse away from danger. Let the girl do her own thing, let her follow her path! :))
• I liked William’s friends and their constant friendly bickering animated the story a little.
• Ryder felt like the perfect villain, really violent and fighting for his (bad)’cause’.
• The Professor and Helen were also among my favorites, along with William’s parents.
• The author manages to change the ‘insta-love’ game a bit, by making it not so much about love at first sight, but about admiring and being intrigued at first sight, which is more plausible. What I didn’t lie, though, was that Elyse immediately trusted William, even though she didn’t know him that well and he told her so many things that she didn’t know. I think that trust should come over the time, you can’t gain it instantly.
• Overall, most of the characters seemed really put together, like they have a solid backstory, they seem credible.

Ending:

• The book ended on a cliffhanger and quite strangely. (I’m not giving any additional details about this, I’ll let you find out on your own ;))
• It left me wanting to read the next book, I’m curious what will happen next!

Overall, I liked Oppression, but not as much as I thought I would, but it was enough to make me want to read the next book in the series.

Rating:

Oppression quotes:

“All we have is now, this moment. If you live in the future, you’ll miss things, right here, right now, and you’ll regret it later.”

“’Here.’ William said, taking a kitchen knife from off my bedside table. He cut the pad of his tumb as he’d done before and waited for it to bleed.
‘I’m starting to make this a habit, aren’t I?’
‘Yeah, knock it off, will ya?’ he teased.
He dabbed the blood from his thumb with another finger and applied it to my left eyebrow, easing only a fraction of the pain.
‘Why are you doing it like that?’ I asked. Your thumb won’t heal.’
‘Left is poison,’ he reminded me, and then he placed his cut thumb over another gash on the right side of my lip, healing us both.
Our eyes locked for a moment as his hand lingered, and he moved his face closer to mine. His kiss was its own kind of relief. Everything would be all right. His soft mouth was hard to pull away from after such an ordeal, and I let myself get carried away.
‘Gross,’ Sam moaned.
‘Nothing to see here,’ William said using his hand as a privacy screen. ‘Just stay unconscious a little longer.’
‘Sure,’ Sam groaned, ‘don’t mind me.’”