review; kin

Kin
by Lili St. Crow

Full moon. Glowing eyes. Red lips. And such sharp, sharp teeth…

In the kin world, girls Ruby de Varre’s age are expected to play nice, get betrothed, and start a family – especially if they’re rootkin, and the fate of the clan is riding on them. But after a childhood of running wild in the woods, it’s hard to turn completely around and be demure. Even if your Gran is expecting it.

Then Conrad, handsome and charming, from a clan across the Waste, comes to New Haven to seal alliance between their two families. The sparks fly immediately. Conrad is smart, dominant, and downright gorgeous. Yet as Ruby gets to know him more, she starts to realize something’s… off.

Then, the murders start. A killer stalks the city streets, and just when Ruby starts to suspect the unimaginable, she becomes the next target. Now Ruby’s about to find out that Conrad’s secrets go deeper than she ever could have guessed – and it’s up to Ruby to save her Gran, her clan, and maybe even herself…

Review:

This was a really powerful story? Like, it was a little less fairytale-ish at times than the other two – but it was wonderful to see that each girl has their insecurities but ultimately at the end, they will come together for each other. Their love for one another is true, their friendship can survive and has survived so much? But this was also really terrifying because Ruby’s vitality, her fierceness is slowly ebbed away until she snaps.

One of the most frightening things about this story is perhaps that Conrad could be any guy you meet, any “bad boy” with an air of danger you ignore because he seems so interested in you, seems so charming – and then you ignore all the flashes of things that seem out of place, like the snide insults and the emotional manipulation and start making excuses for the bruises. Except of course, the whole wolf thing, but god, that was frightening.

But the mystery of it all is pretty obvious if you look at it carefully. Like, the story pretty much unfolds easily, and your only worry is for Ruby to realise who the true villain is and to keep herself safe, and to take help where it is offered. That makes the stress of it all the more real – the reader can sense what is coming, but Ruby is blind to it all.

It is also less of a love story than the other two, but still the undertones of Thorne/Ruby and their fierce feelings and faith in one another is just amazing. I wouldn’t mind a novella of them finally ending up together. (Or a novella of a triple date. Hoo boy that would be hilarious.)

I’m glad I managed to finish this novel rather quickly, it was a great read. I don’t know if I’ll be reading any of her other books, but I definitely am thrilled I picked this series up.