REVIEW: REDEEMED by H.L. Burke!

Hey everyone! Today I have a review for the fantastic and newly-released Redeemed, book 2 of the Supervillain Rehabilitation Project series by H. L. Burke. This was a really gripping and entertaining book to read, so I'm excited to share my review with you!  But first, a bit of info about the book and its author...

BLURB

An idealistic heroine. A reformed villain. A troubled teen.

Can the Supervillain Rehabilitation Project form a family out of this mess?

Still working out her team's dynamic as well as her own fledgling romance with former villain Fade, Prism is blindsided when her superiors order her to take on another rehabilitation subject or risk having her team broken apart. Then her best friend and fellow superhero, Tanvi, foils a robbery but injures a super-powered teen in the process. Guilt stricken, she begs Prism to let the young girl, Alma, AKA Soulbird, be their next project.

Alma fills a gap in the team and works her way into the group's hearts. However, her past stalks her, as the villain who forced her into a life of crime in the first place doesn't want to let her escape into hero life without a fight.

Can Prism and her team redeem Alma from her past, or will the villain life drag the girl out of the SVR and out of their reach forever?

Buy it from AMAZON.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in a small town in north central Oregon, H. L. Burke spent most of her childhood around trees and farm animals and was always accompanied by a book. Growing up with epic heroes from Middle Earth and Narnia keeping her company, she also became an incurable romantic.

An addictive personality, she jumped from one fandom to another, being at times completely obsessed with various books, movies, or television series (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Star Trek all took their turns), but she has grown to be what she considers a well-rounded connoisseur of geek culture.

Married to her high school crush who is now a US Marine, she has moved multiple times in her adult life but believes that home is wherever her husband, two daughters, and pets are.

She is the author of a four part fantasy/romance series entitled "The Dragon and the Scholar," the Award Winning (2016 Realm Award for Young Adult Fiction) Nyssa Glass Steampunk series, and MG/Fantasy "Cora and the Nurse Dragon," among others .

Sign up for her monthly newsletter at www.hlburkeauthor.com

MY REVIEW

I hadn't read the first book in the series, but jumped at the opportunity to review Redeemed, the second book in the Supervillain Rehabilitation series.  I'm a huge fan of Marvel and DC, but this was my first time reading an original story about supers and the concept fascinated me.  This was a very quick read for me, and the events from book 1 were explained clearly enough that I wasn't totally lost.  The characters were jump-out-at-you realistic, the storyline was original, and the writing overall was spectacular.  The characters and their struggles are so very human and they're easy to empathize with; their powers are very unique and interesting to learn about (I love Yui, okay), and the themes of trust were wonderful within the book. The scenes were written so clearly that I could practically see them as they happened -- pretty awesome writing, since characters that literally disappear are involved!  I absolutely loved it. I definitely look forward to reading more about the gang -- and the teaser for book 3 was jaw-dropping to say the least...  

Now if you need me, I'll be reading book one, in true "me" fashion (I think this is at least the 4th series that I've read the second book before the first...)

Since I know a lot of my readers would appreciate this, I'll also add a bit of a content warning.  There is light language use (think PG-13 movie) and a paragraph or so at the end that vaguely mentions two characters' wedding night -- but those characters also had several discussions about waiting for marriage throughout the book, so I kind of took the scene as a celebration that they did, in fact, wait.  In the ARC signups, H.L. Burke mentioned the content as typical for Marvel movies, and that's spot-on.  I wasn't deterred by the content enough to dock any stars (plus I was forewarned, which I deeply appreciate) but wanted to make sure others were aware as well.  

Do you plan on reading Redeemed?  Who's your favorite superhero (or supervillain?)