If I could add that “it’s so over/we’re so back” meme into this review I would! Reading this has been a rollercoaster of emotions. The training scenes were enjoyable, the action was fast paced, and that climax was so tense! As someone who used to read exclusively dystopian and fantasy back in high school this story has brought me back to those times. I especially love that the main character has two found families; his adoptive one and his military one.
However, as much as I loved the plot, the writing could have been better. It improves as you read, but there are multiple (sometimes obvious) mistakes in the first and last 100 pages. And no. It’s not because I’m an American and the characters are from the UK (though the “mum” and “arse” did jump-scare me lol). The first chapter is repetitive and clunky to read despite only being 2 pages. The second chapter is clearly there as a world building info-dump that is done much better throughout the book than it is here. Then we finally meet our main character in the third chapter! That is odd. Finally I think the term “hydra” is explained way too often in the first 100 pages.
Other than that I enjoyed reading and cannot wait for the second book to be released!