#Saturday Review - Relentless by Tera Lynn Childs/Tracey Deebs (YA, Science Fiction)

Series: The Hero Agenda # 2
Format: E-Galley, 288 pages
Release Date: June 7, 2016
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

Revenge is easy, but justice is worth fighting for…

Kenna is tired of being lied to—and hunted by the very allies she once trusted. Unearthing the dark secrets of the superhero world has not only endangered her life, now her boyfriend faces execution for crimes he didn’t commit and her mother is being held captive in a secret governmental prison.

Kenna is determined to stand up for what’s right and save those she loves from unspeakable fates. It’s time for the betrayal to end. It’s time for the real criminals to face justice.

But the truth is even more terrifying than Kenna could imagine. A conspiracy threatens the fate of heroes, villains, and all of humanity. If Kenna’s going to survive, she must draw on her deepest strength: her resilience. Because when Kenna’s pushed to the limit, she doesn’t break down. She fights back.

Relentless is the second and final novel in The Hero Agenda duology by co-authors Tera Lynn Childs, and Tracey Deebs. Kenna Swift grew up believing that she was powerless; ordinary in a world of super-heroes and villains. But, by the end of Powerless, we discovered that Kenna's reality is a place where black and white are blurred. Where heroes are not always the good guys. Where villains are not always the bad guys.

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

On top of Kenna's awakening to this new reality, came with the fact that her boyfriend and fellow villain Draven Cole was captured by Rex Malone along with Kenna's own mother Dr. Jeanine Swift. Dr. Swift is something of an urban legend when it comes to developing cool new weapons and technology. Kenna has since learned that those in power can easily be corrupted, while her new villain friends are only trying to survive to see another day. She has also found herself with powers of her own; the ability to affect electromagnetic forces. 

Kenna has come a very long way in a very short period of time. She takes charge of the villains mixed with sympathetic heroes group to rescue Draven and her mother. She cobbled together an assortment of both villains and heroes to fight against Rex Malone. They include Riley, Deacon, Dante, Jeremy, V, and Nitro. Over the course of this story, Kenna really is the ultimate leader of the Hero/Villains team that tries to take down a megalomaniac who has done a whole lot of bad things to villains and heroes alike, including his own daughter Rebel.

Relentless is a fantastic story with fun action scenes, romance, intrigue, and surprises. I am on V's bandwagon like others I respect. I liked that she took her babysitting duties seriously. I loved her call signs for each of the villains and heroes. HB1, HB2, etc. I loved that she has a sense of attitude, honor, and humor. I loved that she became one of Kenna's team and even played a not so small part in bringing the story to it's conclusion.

I would have liked more of Anton, the supposed leader of the villains. He plays a bit part, and then totally and absolutely disappears without any hints of returning to help Kenna and her gang against Rex. I was happy with the way things are wrapped up, but was devastated by a heart breaking loss. I could see another book in the future since there is more than enough possibilities for Kenna and her new family and friends.     

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#Saturday Review - Powerless by Tera Lynn Childs/Tracy Deebs (YA Science Fiction)

Series: The Hero Agenda # 1
Format: Hardcover, 308 pages
Release Date: June 2, 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Source: Library
Genre: YA, Science Fiction

Kenna is tired of being "normal". 

The only thing special about her is that she isn't special at all. Which is frustrating in a world of absolutes. Villains, like the one who killed her father, are bad. Heroes, like her mother and best friend, are good. And Kenna, unlike everyone else around her, is completely ordinary— which she hates.

She’s secretly working on an experiment that will land her a place among the Heroes, but when a Villain saves her life during a break-in at her lab, Kenna discovers there’s a whole lot of gray area when it comes to good and evil and who she can trust.. After all…not all strength comes from superpowers.

Powerless, by authors Tera Lynn Childs (Fins, Medusa Girls) and Tracy Deebs (Tempest), is the first installment in The Hero Agenda duology. The story is narrated by Kenna Swift, a teenager who has grown up among villains and superheroes. In fact, her own mother Jeanine is a famous scientist who has developed a slew of toys for superheroes, and her father was once one of the best superheroes around before being killed. 

"Three days ago, I was an ordinary girl in a superhero world. It wasn't ideal, but it was tolerable. It was normal. It made sense. Black was Black and white was white. Good was good, and bad was...bad. Villains were bad. Now, everything is Topsy turvy. Nothing makes sense."

If that weren't enough, her best friend Rebel Malone (Telekinesis) and ex-boyfriend Jeremy (Technopath) have incredible powers as well. Kenna isn't necessarily powerless thanks to her own mothers secret formula that has made her impervious to all superpowers. Even so, Kenna secretly decides that she will design her own formula that will make her more than normal and thus able to fight her own battles when the time comes.  

But, after encountering three villains searching her mother's lab for one of their own, and they don't kill her, in fact one just happens to save her life twice, Kenna begins to question her prejudices towards the bad guys. With her best friend Rebel dating a villain, and her mother vanishing without a trace, Kenna begins the treacherous journey of discovering that things aren't always greener on the other side of the highway. It will take a combination of both villains and so called heroes to join together and discover what the Superhero Collective is really up to.

Let's talk about the secondary characters. I loved Jeremy even though he is clearly a geek with major conspiracy theories which, after you take a moment to think about, don't seem all that far fetched. Rebel is the best friend who has known about Kenna's secret for almost as long as they've known each other. With her dating Dante, the so called villain, Kenna begins to doubt everything she's told.

The romance between Draven, a so called villain, and Kenna is a bit on the predictable side. It was fun watching them hatch out their differences. It was fun watching Kenna stand up for herself and not have rely on anyone to help her. But, almost from the moment they met, you knew they would end up together. There is a bit of a comic relief to the book as well. That comedy comes from Nitro, who is also supposed to be a villain.

Yes, this book is action packed and filled with questions that any good conspiracy theorist would love to acknowledge. Yes, there is a cliffhanger ending that just grabs you by the neck, and forces you not to look away. Yes, readers will love Kenna because she proves that you don't need special abilities to save yourself from those who are much more powerful than you are. Yes, there are plenty of secrets that I will not spill since it's a major point in the story where Kenna gets a major wake up call.  

I do have the second book called Relentless ready to go on my Kindle, but will wait closer to the actual release date before posting my review. 

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