Review--Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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.

Jennifer L. Armentrout continues to amaze me with every book she writes! This woman is sooooooo unbelievably talented, I am just left in awe of her! Wicked is the first in her new Paranormal New Adult trilogy and it was naturally, amazing!

I love the characters Jennifer writes. She doesn't have the willowy heroines or ones who are overly fierce, we have heroines who are strong, intelligent, yet still having flaws. Ivy for instance has a tragic past to her, where she has lost her family and her first/only true love, so she's got some issues and damages to work through in order to move forward and that she does in this story. She's a character that grows as the story moves along and I loved it! Granted, there were times when I wanted to shake her a bit and ask her why she was doing what she was doing, but by the end, you totally love her. 

And then there's Ren of course! He kind of reminds me of an older Daemon! He's got some snark to him, but he's got a good heart! He's especially lovable too! Naturally, when Ivy and him first meet, it's not an insta-love situation at all. In fact, Ivy kind of dislikes the guy because he kind of invades her space a bit and makes presumptions. Never once did I hate this guy! He's quite funny too!

Ivy is a member of the Order, a secret organization that protects society from the fae, for here, the fae are pretty much evil beings that drain the lifeforce from humans in order to keep themselves eternally youthful. Ivy is pretty hardcore in this sense. And when she stumbles upon an Ancient one night and is left severely wounded, she knows the Order has to up their game to prepare for the worst. There are two things wrong with that though; 1. She has no idea what the worst is just yet, and 2. No one believes she really encountered an Ancient.

Ren is another Order member, but from a different sect, he transfers in for reasons unknown at the time and it's Ivy's job to show him around while she heals from her injury. Naturally, chaos ensues between them. Ivy is the total independent woman kind of gal and Ren is...well, Ren. Ren has the sense of humor that could be annoying if you're on the receiving end, but he's still, oh so lovable! And I absolutely LOVED that his first impression of Ivy is that she reminds him of Merida from Brave! Being a total Disney fan girl myself that made me all sorts of giddy! Took Ivy a bit to appreciate that nickname over Ariel or one of the other princesses instead!

Ivy also has a Brownie living with her, here, the Brownies are small, fairy-like creatures and sometime ago, Ivy found one and couldn't bring herself to kill him like she been trained to do with all things fae. She calls him Tink, mostly because it annoys him. Tink is hysterical! He enjoys a LOT of movies like Harry Potter and has quite the collection of Troll dolls, though you don't want to know why! And he has an obsession with Amazon! I loved this little guy! He brought some much needed humor to the scene when things were tense and Ren wasn't around quite yet!

Besides gushing over the characters, I also have to commend Jennifer on writing an awesome storyline! Ivy and Ren are basically trying to track down the clues to figure out what the Ancients is up to and what they uncover is a plan far more nefarious than they expected!

As of any JLA novel, the romance is totally swoonworthy! No insta-love with Jennifer's books! Ivy and Ren are forced to work together, but a deeper relationship is formed and I swear, I practically melted at the kindness Ren continued to show to Ivy. She's got her issues that have left her a bit damaged and Ren was so gentle and kind, never forcing her into anything she wasn't ready for. I seriously have found my new book boyfriend and his name is Ren, short for Renald Owens!

Getting ready for a cheesy cliche, but is still oh-so VERY TRUE...Wicked was a wickedly awesome read! Jennifer has pretty much set the bar for extraordinary reads and I have yet to read a book that I did not totally and explicitly loved from this woman! Her characters are amazing, the storyline is always engaging and there's plenty of action, laughs, and romance, what more could you want from a read?! If you haven't read any of her books yet, I highly urge you to! She writes pretty much everything and as always, I look forward to her next book!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars