Review: Mortal Danger by Ann Aguirre

Title: Mortal Danger
Author: Ann Aguirre
Series: Immortal Game, book #1
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: August 5, 2014
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

In Ann Aguirre's Mortal Danger, Edie Kramer has a score to settle with the beautiful people at Blackbriar Academy. Their cruelty drove her to the brink of despair, and four months ago, she couldn’t imagine being strong enough to face her senior year. But thanks to a Faustian compact with the enigmatic Kian, she has the power to make the bullies pay. She’s not supposed to think about Kian once the deal is done, but devastating pain burns behind his unearthly beauty, and he’s impossible to forget.

In one short summer, her entire life changes and she sweeps through Blackbriar, prepped to take the beautiful people down from the inside. A whisper here, a look there, and suddenly . . . bad things are happening. It’s a head rush, seeing her tormentors get what they deserve, but things that seem too good to be true usually are, and soon, the pranks and payback turns from delicious to deadly. Edie is alone in a world teeming with secrets and fiends lurking in the shadows. In this murky morass of devil’s bargains, she isn’t sure who—or what—she can trust. Not even her own mind.

I've never read any of Ann Aguirre's adult novels, but I absolutely loved her YA zombie series. The Razorland trilogy was strong from start to finish, so it saddens me to no end that this new series is off to a rocky start. In fact, I almost DNF'd this book, wondering how it could possibly have been written by the same author who wrote Enclave. But since it was written by Aguirre, I kept hoping that the story would turn around and redeem itself.

Unfortunately, that never happened for me. Mortal Danger was very slow to start and very slow to reveal anything of a paranormal nature. But once it did -- sometime after the halfway mark -- I think it was just too much for one book. It's not that there were too many paranormal elements; I just think the author tried to include too many baddies, too many nightmarish creatures to keep track of.  I knew some of them from folklore, but others I had little knowledge of, and I don't think the author explained their purpose or intent as fully as she might have done. Also, the "game" aspect between the two immortal companies wasn't fully developed, or at least not to my liking, and though I'm sure it will be expanded upon in future books, I just felt too ill-informed at this point. And it made me wonder how Edie could just jump at this opportunity, asking little of her benefactors, especially as to what their motives might entail and what that would mean to her.

The romance in this novel was overwhelming, too. It felt very rushed and very unrealistic. And it was not at all what I was hoping for. The summary makes Kian sound mysterious and dangerous, and he is those things. But he quickly becomes the object of Edie's infatuation, despite the fact that she shouldn't trust him. I would have much preferred Edie to continue to question Kian's trustworthiness and have him remain an enigma. And not have him so easily reciprocate Edie's affections. It would have been one thing for this to be completely one-sided, but this was full-blown insta-love and it almost completely wrecked this story for me.

The bullying aspect -- and consequently the vengeance scheme -- were well-intentioned, but I think they had the opposite of the intended effect on me. I empathized with Edie's situation, that she had suffered in silence, and I understood her desire for revenge. Where this path all went wrong for me was when Edie all but gave up on her plan. Basically, she got this awesome magical makeover, turned into a completely vain wretch, and forgot everything that led up to her almost attempting suicide and the subsequent transformation. She does infiltrate the clique that made her life hell, and she finds herself becoming friends with them. And then what does she do? She starts sympathizing with them. I get it. She's not a terrible person and no longer wants to exact the revenge she'd been hell-bent on before. But considering that's what the book's synopsis all but promises, I feel a little cheated.

If you can't tell, I was really disappointed with Mortal Danger. It wasn't creepy. There wasn't nearly enough revenge. And the paranormal bits needed to be expanded upon for me to fully appreciate them. I wanted to love this one. I've been anticipating this book since I first knew of its existence. I'm crestfallen that it didn't live up to my expectations. I hate to say it, but I'm not even sure I'll continue with this series.

GIF it to me straight:

About the author:

Ann Aguirre is a USA Today bestselling author with a degree in English Literature; before she began writing full time, she was a clown, a clerk, a voice actress, and a savior of stray kittens, not necessarily in that order. She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but now she lives in sunny Mexico with her husband, children, and various pets. She likes books, emo music, and action movies. She writes all kinds of genre fiction for adults and teens.

Find Ann:

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