Book Review
Title: Sting
Author: Cindy R. Wilson
Genre: YA/Sci-Fi/Dystopian
Rating: ****
Review: I didn’t know anything about Sting going into it but the synopsis gave me Robin Hood vibes and I though this might be a retelling of sorts. I couldn’t wait to get into Sting and the opening chapter was interesting and I was right about the Robin Hood vibes. We are introduced to Tessa also known as the Scorpion, who lives in the Dark District, this world seems to be divided between the Light and Dark districts with one being wealthy and the other extremely poor. Tessa group numbers only six included River, Cass and Elle. Elle is the odd one out as her family is from the Light District but she feeds information to the Tessa, however, there is some tension between her and Tessa as it seems they are both interested in River but he only has eyes for Tessa.
We learn what life is like in the Dark District and it has been this way for a while. Despite being injured in a previous mission Tessa wants to go ahead with other one they have planned for that night but River is against especially since no one has seen Cass in hours. It turns out that Cass has been taken by the Enforcers and they are planning to kill her unless the Scorpion reveals herself. In order to save her friend Tessa give herself up to the Enforcers but she realises almost too late that she has been betrayed by Elle, probably in an effort to get closer to River but I doubt he will bend to her will and won’t stop fighting until Tessa is free again. I didn’t like the fact this betrayal came so early on as it didn’t hold any emotional weight at all. I think that if this twist had come about the 40% mark when we had time to develop bonds to these characters and actually care about what happens to them, it would have been more impactful. I also didn’t enjoy the fact that Elle’s only shown motivate at this point in her supposed feelings for River but we have absolutely no confirmation of this. While this did put me off I did power through.
After her capture Tessa is thrown into a prison known as Decay which doesn’t bode well for her but here she meets Pike, a former Light enforcer who has been locked up there for over a year and while Tessa doesn’t like him, he does have skills she can use to get back to her friends. Pike, I found to be a very likeable character and one of my favourite by far next to River, and he has his own reasons for wanting to escape Decay. While Tessa is working in the factory she has to avoid the enforcers and keep her identity as the Scorpion a secret as they have already been told that she is dead. However, it isn’t long before Tessa and Pike gain another ally who helps them escape into the Light district and even reveal a huge secret about their joint enemy, Campbell. At this point things were getting more interesting purely because I really liked Pike as a character and wanted to see what happened when he and Tessa had to team up in order to survive and escape. After their escape into the Light District, Tessa feels really out of place and yearns to return home but she can’t risk it just yet because that is where they expect her to be, not hiding under their noses. With the help of Pike’s sister, Jane, Tessa is hiding in plain sight as she and Pike plan their revenge against Campbell, who happens to be the very same man who left the distinctive scar of Tessa’s cheek.
As time goes on we can see Pike and Tessa getting closer especially over their desired revenge against Campbell and the romance blossoming between them way lovely. In terms of romance, I much prefer Pike as Tessa’s main love interest but I understand Elle needed a reason to betray Tessa and making them both in love with River was the obvious way to do it but I felt there were many different ways the author could have achieved the same goal without resorting to the love triangle cliché. Pike eventually admits that the Scorpion aka Tessa directly influenced what he was trying to do in exposing Campbell who also happens to be the father of the friend who betrayed her which deepens their bond even further. Together with Jane as some other allies they have picked up along the way, the pair put their plan into motion, for one final act of rebellion before Tessa can put revenge behind her for good and move on with her life. Honestly, I didn’t really like the first section of the novel which detailed Tessa’s experience in the Dark District and the betrayal but after she gets throw into Decay and meets Pike I really enjoyed the novel.
Overall, I think Sting had lots of potential but didn’t quite reach it for me. The second half of the novel really raised my rating of Sting up after the slightly disappointing first half. I really loved Pike as a character and he made a perfect love interest for Tessa, I also really enjoyed Tessa’s character arc over the novel especially when she started evolving and emerging from the shadow of the Scorpion. I have since learn that Cindy Wilson has written another book Paper Girl which I will definitely be picking up in the future but Sting wasn’t completely to my taste. A solid 4 star read.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
I received this copy for review consideration from YA Bound Blog Tours
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