Birthright is the first book in the Legacy series by Jessica Ruddick. I only have one complaint, so I'll get it over with first, since I hate this part about reviewing. I felt like political agendas were getting thrown at me through Ava's character. Regardless of where you stand on things, these digs were unnecessary. I understand authors want to express their views through their writing. That's a big part of why some people write to begin with, but the repetition of these occurrences made them hard to overlook. It probably wasn't even intentional, because I think the last thing any author would want to do was alienate large portions of their audience. I've had enough of politics, and the whole war between conservatives and liberals. I'm done with it. So, I felt put off after it started feeling like a political agenda was being pushed on me, and honestly, that put a big damper on what I thought was a pretty great story otherwise.
With all that being said, I want to give Ava the benefit of the doubt... sooo let's get to the good stuff.
Ava has some tremendous inner strength to her, but she has a lot of maturing to do too, and maybe that's why she feels the way she does about certain issues and groups of people. I mean let's face it, life has made her pretty jaded since she found out the truth of what she is. I think Cole helped her along quite a bit. Not just by keeping her safe, but emotionally too. She needs him. I think he needs her too. The author did a fantastic job of immersing me into their lives. I could feel their chemistry and heat through the pages, even when they were in denial about their feelings.
The plot itself was imaginative. I feel like there's some kind of corruption going on regarding Xavier and possibly the Reapers, but I'm not sure yet. Xavier is brutal. I really disliked the dude, but I love that his character brought out such strong emotion. I seriously wanted to throttle him. I want to know why they would want to end the lives of good people on only the
chance they could be turned into Angels though. It seems like they are trying to destroy all the good people. Is that Xavier's evil plan? Or maybe the plan of someone above(or '
below') him? What I also liked, was even the people who didn't have perfect white auras could still be darn good people. Nobody's perfect right? How do they ever find totally white auras anyway? Everyone is flawed, and this book captured that.
I think we've got some crazy and exciting things in store for us within this series.
The ARC of Birthright by Jessica Ruddick was kindly provided to me by the author for review. The opinions are my own.
As soon as I opened the front door, the hair on the back of my neck stood up and a tingle ran down my spine. The scent of cinnamon filled my nostrils. It was like having those little candy Red Hots shoved up my nose. Dread in the form of a knot settled in the base of my stomach.
Xavier.
Xavier was…I wasn’t sure what he was. Was he the descendant of a fallen angel like me? Was he an angel himself? Or was he something else, something more sinister?
He certainly looked it. He certainly acted it. He exuded evil.
He was lounging on our couch, his arms spread out over the back of it and his right ankle propped on his left knee. His black hair was slicked back, and he’d grown a goatee since the last time I’d seen him. As usual, he was dressed in a black suit with a red tie, what I mentally referred to as his “villain suit.”
I couldn’t believe he was the same man who used to read me bedtime stories and tuck me in when my mom had to work nights.
A smile stretched across his face and his black beady eyes watched me enter the room. The only thing that could possibly make him more snakelike was if a thin red forked tongue flitted out of his mouth.
I’d be less surprised than if a hippo flounced around my living room in a pink tutu in true Fantasia style.
My mom sat stiffly on a chair across from him. It was our home, but Xavier was in control here. Her eyes met mine, and she shrugged her shoulders slightly. She had no idea why he was here either. We hadn’t expected him for at least a couple more months.
“Welcome home, Ava,” Xavier said. “Why don’t you have a seat?”
“No, thanks. I’ll stand.”
He chuckled. “Suit yourself.”
Xavier took a moment to inspect his cuticles, as if he weren’t in the middle of our living room, as if we weren’t waiting for him to say whatever it was he came to say so he would leave again. I’d say he was oblivious to the effect he had on us, but that wouldn’t be true. He knew, and he relished it.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “What do you want?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Is that any way to treat a guest in your home?” He looked at my mother. “You should really teach her better manners.”
I laughed bitterly. “Calling yourself a guest implies that you’re wanted here.”
“Ava,” my mom said, her tone sharp.
Xavier just threw his head back and laughed. “No, Mary, let the little vixen spew her venom. I like it. It’s honest. Honesty is underrated in society today, don’t you agree?”
I glared at him.
“I have your next assignment.”
My glare faltered as I fought to keep the air moving in and out of my lungs. An assignment from Xavier meant the blood of an innocent would be on my hands again.
When I said I worked for the Grim Reaper, that was oversimplifying it a bit. There’s actually more than one. Think about it—with all the people who die every day in the world, how could there possibly be just one?
The particular Grim Reaper I worked for was special, though. He collected souls that were worthy of being angels. It was my job as a seeker to find those souls.
How’s that for an after school job?
“Forgive me, Xavier, but isn’t it a little soon?” my mom said quietly. “She hasn’t even had a chance to get settled in her new school.”
He glanced at her before returning his attention to me. “She can handle it. Besides, it’s time.”
“But her last assignment was just last month!” my mom protested. “Are you sure—”
“I’m very sure.”
I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. The knot of dread in my stomach exploded, seeping into the rest of my body. I breathed deeply, desperately trying to keep control. The last thing I wanted was to lose it in front of Xavier.
“How long do I have?”
“Two weeks.”
Two weeks. I had two weeks to put a plan into motion that would change lives irrevocably.
My classmates’ faces popped into my mind. I hadn’t bothered getting to know anyone or even learning names. I told myself it was easier that way, easier being a relative term.
But did any of them have a white aura? When I was at school, I always blocked them out. Otherwise, the barrage of auras became a colorful assault on my senses. School was difficult enough as it was. I didn’t need the added distraction. Moving around so much had left gaps in my education, so even though I was pretty smart, I perpetually struggled to maintain decent grades. Why I even bothered anymore was a mystery, though. I would probably end up a waitress just like my mother. It was hard to develop a career or even think about college with our transient lifestyle.
I squared my shoulders and looked Xavier in the eye, faking the bravado I lacked. “I guess I’ll see you in two weeks.”
Jessica Ruddick is a 2014 Golden Heart finalist for her new adult novel, Letting Go, which was inspired by her own college experiences. She lives in Virginia and is married to her college sweetheart—their first date was a fraternity toga party (and nothing inspires love like a toga, right?). When she doesn’t have her nose in a book or her hands on a keyboard, she can be found wrangling her two rambunctious sons, taming two rowdy but lovable rescue dogs, and battling the herd of dust bunnies that have taken up residence in her home.
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Kristen has always had a love of novels, with a special place in her heart for historical romance. After reading enough of them to fill a rather impressive library, she decided to write her own. Now she has the pleasure of writing at home, tucked away in a forest with her husband, two children and her cat. Her husband is loving and impressively patient, her two beautiful children strive to embarrass and exhaust her, and her cat hates everyone, but tolerates—well, she tolerates whoever will feed her. Check out my interview with the author!
