Book Review: Wreckleaf

The Book

Book One of the Wreckleaf Series.The very thing that keeps me alive… could easily kill you. Seventeen-year-old Nerissa John isn’t supposed to exist. Designed as a disposable novelty, her kind were eliminated years ago. But after a fatal act of self-defense exposes her, Nerissa and her outlawed family are captured. Under false identities, they are enslaved in the most exclusive place on Earth—the island of Panacea, the lap of luxury for the world’s elite traveler. In exchange for their unique, but perilous service to the island’s governing authorities, Nerissa and her family are allowed to live.

With the opening of the tourist Season and the launch of another island-made product promising health and vitality, Nerissa makes a disturbing discovery. She and her family have become unwitting accomplices in a deadly experiment of unimaginable magnitude. She vows to redeem her past by exposing the corrupt, power-hungry officials who control both her family and the pure-humans she has somehow grown to love. It is their only hope for true freedom. But what will her blind determination cost? Will she once again do more harm than good? “A real page-turner, Wreckleaf is a fast-paced, emotional rollercoaster that celebrates both our differences and our equality—a hauntingly relatable, beautifully moody YA debut that will leave you calling for FREEDOM!”

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Wreckleaf-1-JD-Steiner/dp/0692104526

My Review

As is often the case, the cover is what first drew me to this book. But little did I know about the fantasy journey JD Steiner with Wreckleaf.

Nerissa and her kind are hybrids, who require a special leaf, found only under the ocean on ship wrecks, to survive. When Nerissa unwittingly uncovers a well hidden secret about experiments being done on her own kind, as well as those being performed on unsuspecting tourist, who visit the lavish vacation spot of Panacea, she becomes a target for those who don’t wish their secrets revealed. But the more she learns, the more determined she becomes to expose the truth, before she loses any more of those she loves.

An exciting and fast-paced YA fantasy that keeps readers guessing until the very last page. I give Wreckleaf five quills.

_______________________________________________________

Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review here.