Review of Pretty Fierce by Kieran Scott
Pretty Fierce by Kieran Scott
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on April 4, 2017
Source: eARC from publisher
Plot Summary for Pretty Fierce by Kieran Scott
Kaia has been on the run her whole life. The daughter of professional assassins, she knows true danger—and she’ll do anything to survive. After her parents vanished during a job gone bad, Kaia’s spent the last year in hiding, trying to blend in as an ordinary teenager, and there’s no one who makes her feel more normal or more special than her boyfriend, Oliver. But when she’s jumped by a hit man, and Oliver catches her fighting back, Kaia’s secret is exposed. In a split-second decision, she flees the small town, taking Oliver with her. With professional killers stalking their every move, can Oliver and Kaia protect each other long enough to uncover the mysteries of her past?
Review of Pretty Fierce by Kieran Scott
First off, this e-ARC had a lot of weird formatting, which made reading it a challenge at times. Nonetheless, Pretty Fierce started out strong for me. Main character Kaia has been living in hiding since the disappearance of her assassin parents. When she’s suddenly attacked, she goes on the run with her confused boyfriend, Oliver, in tow.
The story was told in alternating first person, and my favorite part of this book was the relationship between Kaia and Oliver. His life is suddenly turned upside-down when his formerly normal girlfriend is suddenly a badass on the run. I liked the way that she assumed the stronger, more dominant role, and I thought his backstory was interesting.
The main problem I had with the book was that, once I learned who was chasing Kaia and why, it just all started seeming completely flimsy and wildly improbable. I wished that the story had been more about an ordinary girl who suddenly finds herself on the run — like Roger Thornhill in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, a movie I was reminded of when reading Alex, Approximately — but then I guess maybe that would have created a new improbability — that Kaia wouldn’t have had the skills to survive.
tl;tr: If you can snag a hardcopy and get past some improbable stuff, this book did have a lot of action and suspense and an appealing couple.
Sounds good. Sorry the experience wasn't optimal due to formatting issues, though. Worried about that flimsy plot device.
It's less a plot device than a big part of the premise, which is revealed later into the book.
Eh, I am sorry that this one kind of fell flat after the plot twist was given away, and that the reasoning wasn't quite realistic enough to pull this one off :/ I hadn't heard of it before, but I don't really think this is one for me…
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It had its moments, but I wished it felt less improbable…
I love that your referenced a movie that was referenced in a book. All the worlds are colliding! Yes, wonky eARC formatting can be frustrating, and make the reading quite tedious.
Sam @ WLABB
Why thank you 🙂
Yes, the ARC formatting madesentencesruntogetherlikethis. Which gave the book a nicely urgent feel, but started to get on my nerves!
I have such a problem with books that get way too improbable. Sometimes I can look past it if the rest works but sometimes it just kills a book and I feel disappointed. I am a little curious about this one though. I don't think I have heard of it til now.
On a scale of 1 to 10 how improbable is it? I can handle a lot of improbable if the story is fun and/or cute.
It's always a bummer when the formatting is funky. Depending on how off it is it can be a real distraction.
I always get sucked into the on the run premise! and then hate it. lol
It seems like it will be non stop fun but then just ends up implausible.
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