Book Review: Hover - Melissa West

Title: Hover (The Taking #2)

Author: Melissa West

Release Date: August 13th 2013

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: ecopy from publisher

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On Earth, seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander was taught to never peek, but if she hopes to survive life on her new planet, Loge, her eyes must never shut. Because Zeus will do anything to save the Ancients from their dying planet, and he has a plan.

Thousands of humans crossed over to Loge after a poisonous neurotoxin released into Earth's atmosphere, nearly killing them. They sought refuge in hopes of finding a new life, but what they became were slaves, built to wage war against their home planet. That is, unless Ari and Jackson can stop them. But on Loge, nothing is as it seems...and no one can be trusted.

Hover picks up a few weeks after the events in Gravity. Ari is in Loge, home planet of the Ancients, and the only person she knows, Jackson, she can't trust. She is held a little better than a prisoner and kept in the dark as to what's happening on Earth. To sum it up, this girl is not pleased at all.

I'd planned to re-read Gravity before picking up this book but, due to time constraints, I was unable to do that, so I was nervous that I wouldn't understand what's happening. Thankfully, West did a good job of jogging up her readers' memories. No time was wasted, throwing us straight back into action, and I was never bored.

Ari was still her no-nonsense, badass self, and I still loved her. She knew how to read between the lines and how to prioritize, so there was no facepalm moment for this heroine. Being in another planet, she was curious of everything and wary of everyone—as she should be because like in Gravity, enemies hid everywhere, especially amongst friends. 

The romance between Ari and Jackson was subdued, and I know I'm not the only sad shipper here, but that was inevitable due to the nature of their hostile situation. It actually worked really well for the story—I'd have hated to find them kissing while guns were pointed to their heads. And we love anticipation, yes?

As in Gravity, the world-building was impeccable. It wasn't at all hard to envision Loge, its light purple sky (yep, that one on the cover), its two moons, and how the planet was slowly shriveling to death. Also, I'd forgotten just how scientifically-probable this series is. I'm an alien-believer so that's not a far stretch, but even the technology is something I can easily imagine having in the future.

Incredibly fast-paced and action-packed, Hover certainly outdid its predecessor. It's a book that's hard to put down, what with all the conspiracies and secret missions. The ending was a cliffhanger, but one that I loved, and I'm just desperate for Collide!

MY FAVORITE PART is, uh, shall I call it the shower scene? The moment that shower was mentioned, I knew shenanigans would ensue in it.

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