In the ruins of a war-stricken city lives Scarlett Mayhem, a common thief with the uncommon ability to see people’s fears.
In the high towers of his father’s workplace lives Cole Black, a government prodigy who will stop at nothing to get his revenge.
Majors are humans who have the ability to read into people’s psyches, gathering what they feel, the pain they’re in, what they love, and what they fear. Each is gifted—or cursed—with their own unique power. After years of hunting, Cole Black has finally found the fourth and final one. He’s completed his father’s collection with the dreaded fear Major—Scarlett Mayhem—who has vowed to never stop resenting him for it.
When twisted secrets are uncovered and worlds are flipped upside down, Cole helps the Majors escape their prisons, and he escapes his own along with them.
With their captors chasing them, danger lurks at every turn, and the heated rivalry raging between Scarlett and Cole threatens to make their capture a reality. As the odds continue to stack against them, they begin to wonder if they will ever truly escape.
Five runaways. Four Majors. One chance at freedom.
In her authorial debut, Stewart harkens the reader back to the 2010 dystopian craze with a dystopian/science fiction tale of found family, teens with powers, and twists at every turn. What Stewart does well is the dynamics of our teenage protagonists with an authentic voice and the development of the relationship between Scarlet and Cole.
They act and speak like teenagers, emotionally stunted from years on the run with limited chances to be around kids their age/interact in a standard capacity. Even with the moments that were frustrating and showcased stunted communication, the characters acted like most teens in a situation would.
The worldbuilding did feel delayed with how late in the novel pivotal information was relayed to the reader. The flow had moments where it stagnated hard and stumbled to rev back up. Those things slowed my pace down.
Fans of dystopia will like this book. I was never much for dystopia, with some notable exceptions, but Stewart gives an excellent story for those who don't love the genre or struggle to get into it.
I read this book after it was given to me as a Christmas gift. It is extremely well written, is very entertaining, and has good character development. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys dystopian novels, such as The Hunger Games. Also if you just love a great story and want to support a young and very talented author, this is the book for you.
Absolutely fantastic debut novel!! The relationships between the characters are fleshed out and the development of their individual arcs were realistic and had me invested. The author did a beautiful job with the imagery for the characters powers, and I won’t spoil it, but the scene at the end with the dresses?? Wonderful wonderful writing! I absolutely cannot wait for the second book!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.