3.5 stars

CW: human experimentation, torture, racism, genocide

This has been on my tbr for like two years and honestly, it wasn’t what I expected at all. It was good and definitely unique, but not as good as I’d hoped.

I really liked the skin-shifting aspect; it was very interesting without being gross. I liked Yael as well – she was an ambitious, cunning protagonist that pulled through her uncertainty. I was rooting for her. The wolf tattoos were a nice addition to her character, and I liked the backstory chapters weaved into the story.

However, despite the thrilling premise, the story wasn’t thrilling. All of the riding chapters tended to be monotonous, with a few unexpected sabotages. I would’ve liked to see more of the other racers and the real Adele’s life and previous Axis Tour. After Adele is kidnapped, she’s never physically present again. I think that could’ve been handled better and increased the intrigue.

I didn’t see the end twist coming, though unfortunately I also didn’t care either. It was a great way to set up for the sequel, but personally, I’m not interested in reading it.

This novel was good, although arguably not worth the hype it used to get. I enjoyed it in some ways, not so much in others, but Invictus is definitely the better of Ryan’s books that I’ve read thus far.