Review: Courage by Carrie Butler

by 10/22/2013 0 comments
Paperback449 pages
Published October 15th 2013


Making a deal with the bad guys wasn’t the highlight of Rena Collins’ semester, but hey, it saved her boyfriend. Now, in order to appease the human-altering organization known as ERA, she’ll crawl under their microscope while they study the Mark of Nexus and plot their eye-glazed version of the future--until she realizes that’s not all they’re plotting.

Wallace Blake has always known his girlfriend is unlike most girls. But now that information has surfaced regarding the two bloodlines that balance his supernatural race, he finally understands why. Rena belongs to one of them. She’s been augmenting his power, all along...

Enter: Corynn Catley. Brought into the country under the guise of an internship, she’s intended to become ERA’s secret weapon. Kind of. Her abilities cancel out Wallace’s, rendering him powerless, but that’s exactly what he’s always wanted. Too bad it only works when his girlfriend’s not around.

All the while, Rena fails to notice the crush her geeky best friend, Aiden Ross, is nursing. He’d give anything for her to see him in a new light--even reinvent himself through questionable means--but there’s a reason people are told to be careful what they wish for. Finding the courage to tell her could put everyone’s lives in danger.


My Thoughts

I absolutely loved the first novel in this series, Strength and have been eagerly anticipating this read for some time. I wanted more of Rena and Wallace. Both are such awesome characters after all, that I couldn't help but want to know more of their story. Courage proved to be a slightly different sort of read than the first novel, using a multi viewpoint so that we hear the story told in the first person from four different characters: Rena, Wallace, Aiden and Corryn. 

Rena: I was mad at her for a bit for acting unexpectedly. At least, I thought it was unexpected of her. Luckily, her selfless act towards Wallace doesn't last long, and she soon realizes what a foolish mistake she made. I was glad that Rena and Wallace didn't suffer the loss of their love too long. Despite this moment of madness on Rena's part, I still thought she was kick ass--brave, fiesty and the sort of girl you'd want on your side when the going gets tough. 

Wallace: Still a sweetheart. I could probably sum it up there, but can I add he's a romantic too? And patient? Kind? Caring? He's all of those things. For a big, strong guy who can bend a steel pipe like a pipe cleaner, he's developed into the best book boyfriend ever. I love that about him--his compassion and patience were really needed in this book. I also liked that he's brave--and I don't mean just in handling the whole situation, but with how he handles Rena and their increasingly hot feelings for one another. 

Corryn: Honestly, I wanted to like her more. I guess I didn't because Corryn isn't exactly trustworthy in this novel--it's not her fault, not of her doing that I found I couldn't trust her. I saw she was a good person in bad circumstances but I just felt like it took her too long to step up to the plate and stand up for herself. Because of her I believe people are going to get hurt. 

Aiden: Wow. Just wow. I was not expecting this development from this character. I'm very sad for him, but I have to question how a smart young man could have done that. I just hope that the story develops more happily for Aiden eventually. 

Overall, I thought the novel has a strong story line and certain scenes were just le sigh. But I think having so many characters narrate the story detracted from the overall feel of the novel for me. It wasn't that it read choppy so much that I think I got to understand the characters more when the viewpoint wasn't jumping around so much because it took a long time to get a feel for everyone's different perceptives and feelings about others in the novel, but it was still an enjoyable read and I will be continuing with the series. I would like to thank the author for providing me with a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 glittering stars

Jewels E

Author

I'm a thirty something girl who loves to read, write and dream. Because I'm so addicted to the written word in all its forms, I created this blog to share the books that devastate me with you.

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