Review: Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Book: Wicked
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: A Wicked Saga #1
Genre: NA paranormal
Pages: December 8th, 2014
Release: 375

Things are about to get Wicked in New Orleans.

Twenty-two year old Ivy Morgan isn’t your average college student. She, and others like her, know humans aren’t the only thing trolling the French Quarter for fun… and for food. Her duty to the Order is her life. After all, four years ago, she lost everything at the hands of the creatures she’d sworn to hunt, tearing her world and her heart apart.

Ren Owens is the last person Ivy expected to enter her rigidly controlled life. He’s six feet and three inches of temptation and swoon-inducing charm. With forest-green eyes and a smile that’s surely left a stream of broken hearts in its wake, he has an uncanny, almost unnatural ability to make her yearn for everything he has to offer. But letting him in is as dangerous as hunting the cold-blooded killers stalking the streets. Losing the boy she loved once before had nearly destroyed her, but the sparking tension that grows between them becomes impossible for Ivy to deny. Deep down, she wants… she needs more than what her duty demands of her, what her past has shaped for her.

But as Ivy grows closer to Ren, she realizes she’s not the only one carrying secrets that could shatter the frail bond between them. There’s something he’s not telling her, and one thing is for certain. She’s no longer sure what is more dangerous to her—the ancient beings threatening to take over the town or the man demanding to lay claim to her heart and her soul.

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I was both expecting and not expecting this book to be so good! I mean, it's Jennifer L. Armentrout, so of course it will be good, but I didn't know how her take on the fae would fare against all the other books on fae. Needless to say, I was not disappointed!

The book takes place in New Orleans, where our protagonist, Ivy Morgan lives. She's a college student, but is also part of a secret order that knows about and fights the fae on a nightly business. But after a near-fatal encounter with a fae possessing deadly abilities like none other, everything begins to change. It's clear the fae are getting ready for something big, and it's going to be up to the Order to stop them. But things get even more complicated when no one really believes Ivy except for the newcomer, Ren...

Armentrout has written numerous kinds of protagonists. Of them all, my favourite has to be her badass characters, like Ivy. Right from the bat, Ivy was not afraid to attack first, ask questions later. She was a true force to be reckoned with. But we also got to see that it wasn't just her victories that made her strong, but her defeats as well. Ivy never let any setbacks have too much hold over her, always springing back up, finding ways to get things done. She was extremely loyal to the Order and everything they stood for, not afraid to go out of her way to fulfill her duty, with or without anyone else's knowledge. What really made her character stand out was how her character grew throughout the entire book, and with the addition to her backstory and the revelation at the end, her character is only going to get more complex in the next books!

Ren was definitely something special. He checked off all the boxes: secretive, dangerous, and so very caring. He never gave up on Ivy, but let her have her own space when need be. Rather than just straight-up calling bull when Ivy pushed him away, he tried his best to understand what was wrong, to try to get Ivy to let him in. Ren's backstory was one that rang similar to Ivy's, in the sense they both feel responsible for what happened in the past. I'm definitely interested in what will become of Ren, especially since it seems like history is on repeat for him!

Tink had me weirded out in the beginning in an odd but hilarious way. But I suspected there was something more to his appearance, and right I was. His presence itself brought another element to the novel, raising one critical question: are all fae bad? The Order was founded on the principles to eradicate all fae before they take over the human world, but with Tink and his explanation of how high fae were slaughtering lesser fae species like his own, is there a chance fae and humans could work together? That definitely would be a really cool thing to see in the future, and is a definite possibility! 

The concept and explanation of the Order was done excellently. It was so easy to understand the basic foundations the Order was built upon, but it also remained mysterious and in the shadow by not being forthcoming with information or how it fully operates. Not once were there any of the dreaded information dumps; everything you needed to know about the Order was integrated nicely with the plot, with room to leave you questioning what's going on, and whether everyone in the Order is a good guy. 

The climax had three twists. Three! I had suspected one of them at the beginning of the book, but had dismissed it very quickly. But everything has now changed, and all in the worst ways. Ivy and Ren have their work cut out for them, and I'm positive everything is going to continue to spiral downhill in the next book before slowly climbing back up. No doubt there will be equally as much action and romance in the next one. I absolutely cannot wait to read the next book, and really hope there won't be any more dramatic plot twists. If you're a fan of awesome characters, good-verses-evil, stealth, high-stake missions, or just Jennifer L. Armentout in general, I promise you that this book will not leave you disappointed!