Gravity by
Melissa West Series: The Taking #1 Published by Entangled on December 18, 2012
Pages: 284
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In the future, only one rule will matter:
Don' t. Ever. Peek.
Seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander just broke that rule and saw the last person she expected hovering above her bed — arrogant Jackson Locke, the most popular boy in her school. She expects instant execution or some kind of freak alien punishment, but instead, Jackson issues a challenge: help him, or everyone on Earth will die.
Ari knows she should report him, but everything about Jackson makes her question what she' s been taught about his kind. And against her instincts, she' s falling for him. But Ari isn' t just any girl, and Jackson wants more than her attention. She' s a military legacy who' s been trained by her father and exposed to war strategies and societal information no one can know — especially an alien spy, like Jackson. Giving Jackson the information he needs will betray her father and her country, but keeping silent will start a war.
I was sucked in by the Gravitational pull of this awesome book cover.
Humans are no longer alone in the universe. Aliens, known as the Ancients, helped Earth recover from near extinction decades ago, and the Ancients only needed one thing in return: To use humans as their own personal batteries. Humans are each assigned their own Ancient, and are visited every night by these beings. The Ancients absorb vital nutrients without compromising their human’s health. This transaction is known as The Taking. These visits are regulated, and every human wears a high-tech eye mask that keeps them from seeing their symbiants. Sounds creepy, right?
Ari Alexander is 17-years-old, human, and has been trained her whole life to be a weapon. Her combat skills are unparalleled, her discipline is unwavering, and she has a clear view of the world: everything is black and white. That is, until she breaks the one rule that matters most. Ari can’t find her mask, and she opens her eyes during The Taking. Life as she knows it has changed forever. She never expected to see the boy she has known her whole life as Jackson Locke, her main rival in training, to be hovering above her and sharing her life force.
The world in Gravity is a futuristic dystopian-like setting that is reminiscent of the film Gattaca, starring Ethan Hawke. Everything is planned to precision and laid out in clean, straight lines, including Ari’s future. Since sneaking a peek during The Taking, shades of grey have seeped into Ari’s black and white world. She is questioning everything she sees and has been programmed to believe since she was a child. Jackson isn’t the boy she thought he was, and the revelations and rapport that transpires between them is the catalyst for this romantic, action-packed read.
Something sinister is brewing under the surface, and Ari is faced with decisions that will impact everyone and everything she cares about. The lifelong training Ari has had, prepares her to be a heroic vigilante for the other team, and we follow her on this adventure of espionage and Exodus.
If you are a fan of the Divergent series or Under The Never Sky, than you will enjoy Gravity. This story was fast-paced and made my heart pound in more ways than one. Melissa’s writing is friendly and down-to-earth.
I enjoyed Ari’s strong, yet compassionate character.
Jackson’s self-preservation imposed arrogant facade juxtaposed with flashes of inner turmoil made for an attractive and sympathetic male lead.
Melissa West has put a new spin on human/alien relations, and I can’t wait to read the rest of Ari and Jackson’s story.
Hover, the second book in this series, is coming out soon! If you haven’t read Gravity yet, here’s your chance to enter to win a digital copy:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
About Melissa West
Melissa West writes young adult and new adult novels for Entangled Teen and Embrace and Penguin/Intermix. She lives outside of Atlanta, GA with her husband and two daughters and spends most of her time writing, reading, or fueling her coffee addiction.
She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and a M.S. in Graphic Communication, both from Clemson University. Yeah, her blood runs orange.
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