Book Review: The Reader by M.K. Harkins

The Reader 

by 

Published August 25th 2016 

By Author Self Pub

Summary

Hunted, shot, and without her memory, eighteen-year-old Ann Baker wakes in shallow water on a deserted Pacific Northwest island. She is soon approached by two young men claiming to be her friends. Something isn’t right, but when gunshots sound, Ann is left with little choice but to allow Devon and Archer to help her escape. Soon she finds herself in their North Bend mountain compound, where the higher evolved humans claim to be mind-readers. While Ann heals, she realizes they believe her to be one of the last and most powerful of all – The Lost One.

She’s welcomed by most with opened arms, but not everyone is happy about her arrival. A jealous adversary has plans for Ann, which spirals the entire Reader community into chaos.

As lies, murder, and betrayal threaten to rip apart the once harmonious mountain dwellers, Ann is thrust into making a decision that could save or devastate not only The Readers, but all of mankind. But there’s just one glitch: by doing so it may require her to make the ultimate sacrifice.

The Missing Piece

What a fun read that was! The Reader by M.K. Harkins was a very entertaining quick read! I gobbled this book up in two sittings I didn’t want to put it down there is a lot of mystery surrounding Ann our lovely protagonist. This story is presented to us in Ann’s point of view sitting at around 250 pages if you don’t have a lot of time this would be the perfect read for you! There were some magical elements but not enough to put it in “Magical” category I would say this is a young adult book with paranormal elements (People with extraordinary abilities).
The Story, Ann turns up with no memory but everyone around her seems to know who she is. Immediately we are thrust into a situation where she has no choice but to accept the help of two strangers. However, as we come to find out they know much more than they are willing to share. Ann comes to make some wonderful friendships and learning about who she is was very enjoyable. I would have loved for the book to have had more world building and maybe some more back story. 

The Characters, we are first introduced to Ann, Asher, and Devon. I won’t tell you who I picked for Ann but I was happy to see I picked the right guy. I’m notorious for falling for Mr. Not going to happen Ria but it was a nice try. The connection of the characters and their interactions were great! Like I said a quick and enjoyable read! There were so many characters that I really enjoyed….I take that back, I really enjoyed every character! I would have loved to get more from them, more of who they are, what makes them tick, and more time with Ann. These characters become her whole world I would have loved spending more time with their budding relationships. 

The End, finally coming to terms with what Ann must do she is thrown into another predicament that may cost her everything. Even the things she thought were already lost to her. The book has a great ending I really enjoyed the epilogue…all throughout there is an aura of mystery and this remains through to the very end. There was some deus ex machina going on which is not bad, I just would have loved to have seen so much more fleshed out. Regardless of things feeling quite sudden in this book it kept my interest all throughout to the very end. 


Rating

3.0 Fun and I wish there was more filled stars!

Purchase

Amazon | B&N

About the Author

M.K. Harkins MK has always been a voracious reader. After hitting a dry spell of reading material, she decided to write the kind of book she'd like to read. This resulted in the creation of her debut novel, Intentional. (Award for Best Sweet Romance - eFestival of Words- August 2014) Unintentional, her second book, is based on the life of one of the characters in Intentional. Unintentional was written as a stand-alone book.

When she's not writing novels, she likes to spend her free time traveling the world, splashing in mud puddles (She lives in Seattle, what can she say?), watching movies and reading (!)


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