Revenge is Poison – Sting by Cindy R Wilson @CindyRWilson #Sting #NetGalley

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I would like to thank Net Galley and Entangled Teen for the opportunity to read and review Sting by Cindy R Wilson. Just looking at the gorgeous cover, I felt this would be a good one.

Sting

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I was scrolling through the books on Net Galley one day, and stopped when I saw this great cover. The tag line: Revenge is poison, also did it’s job. It leapt off the page, and, when I read the blurb, I knew I had to have it.

Tessa. The Scorpion. Robin Hood of the Dark District.

She robs from the rich who live in the Light District and give to the poor in the Dark District.

Climate change has wreaked havoc on the world, making once was habitable, inhabitable. Their country is the place of last resort, and, of course, the privileged claim it as their own.

Tessa had started out the apocalypse on her own, but quickly added to her ‘family’. She does have a love interest in River, a best friend from the wrong side of the district, Elle, and Cass, a child, who she has taken in as if she were her very own. She feels now is not the time for love and romance and fights her attraction to River.

Tessa is a tinkerer, creating bots that she calls Scorpions. She sends them out ahead of the search party, scouting for danger. They scavenge for what little they have, on the verge of starvation, even setting traps for rats.

Everyone needs a champion in desperate times and Scorpion, a humble, young girl, rose to the challenge, believing that someone has to do something. She never saw herself as a leader and questions how that even became possible.

She is betrayed, ending up in prison, where she finds an unlikely ally. I saw the betrayal coming very quickly.

I love the inventory she takes at the beginning of each chapter.

I love the dystopian world Cindy R Wilson created. I felt the need, the desperation, the urgency for the characters. At times it unrolled like a movie playing in my mind, the writing making it so easy to visualize them skulking through the streets, patrolling, battling for survival.

This may be an ARC, but it read as if it could be the final product.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of Sting by Cindy R Wilson.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars
Sting
by Cindy R. Wilson
Genre: YA Dystopian
Release date: March 3rd 2020
Entangled Teen

Summary:


They call me the Scorpion because they don’t know who I really am. All they know is that someone is stealing from people with excess to help people with nothing survive another day.
But then a trusted friend reveals who I am―“just” Tessa, “just” a girl―and sends me straight into the arms of the law. All those people I helped…couldn’t help me when I needed it.
In prison, I find an unlikely ally in Pike, who would have been my enemy on the outside. He represents everything I’m against. Luxury. Excess. The world immediately falling for his gorgeous smile. How he ended up in the dirty cell next to mine is a mystery, but he wants out as much as I do. Together, we have a real chance at escape.
With the sting of betrayal still fresh, Pike and I will seek revenge on those who wronged us. But uncovering all their secrets might turn deadly…

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Excerpt 
“Don’t take another step.”
My breath catches. My fingers curl around the handle of my knife, but my feet are glued to the ground three steps outside the door. There’s only one Enforcer, but the others can’t be far away. His gun is aimed at my heart, and a dark smile plays on his lips.
“Are you the only one here?” he asks, voice deep.
“Just me.” I hope River and Elle are already hiding. Or maybe they left through the back. I resist the urge to look at Atticus’s and Magellan’s transmissions on my watch.
He narrows his eyes. “Out here all alone. What is it you’re doing at an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the night?”
“Delivering a pizza.” I give him an easy smile, but my voice isn’t as steady as I want it to be. When he glares, I shrug. “I saw the warehouse and got curious.” But I’ve heard pizza is really good.
“In the middle of the night,” he says. “Hmm. And what’s in the satchel?”
It’s not my satchel he should be worried about. It’s the throwing knife in my hand.
“Nothing special.”
“I’ve been hearing stories about a girl they call the Scorpion,” he says.
My heart stops. The Scorpion. How do they know? I pinch the blade of the knife between my fingers.
He smiles. “Is that you?”
My throat is too dry to answer.
There’s movement behind him. He whips around as River appears near the dumpsters, hands up. Crap! With a flick of my wrist, I fling the knife at the Enforcer. It lodges in his thigh, and he howls in pain. Before he can recover, River yanks the gun from his grasp. Elle is right behind him, eyes wide.
“Out of here. Now,” I growl, racing away from the warehouse. River and Elle are close by my side as we rush through the streets, dodging dumpsters and bags of trash. The slow burn of asphalt from the heat of the day reaches my nose. Lanterns shine in some windows, but it’s late, and, for the most part, we can only see our path by the glow of the moon. From here, the Light District is countless blocks away, a firefly of light buzzing with energy.
“Are you hurt?” River asks, glancing over.
“Not as bad as the Enforcer.” I brush off his concern even though my leg throbs and blood rolls down my calf. I shut down my receiver to save power. I’ll summon Atticus and Magellan later. “Lost my favorite knife, though.” One of the few mementos I have from my dad.
He lifts his arm. “Got a gun.”
“I told you this was a bad idea,” Elle says, breath short. “I heard what he said. The Enforcer.”
I slow down after we’ve put some distance between us and the warehouse. My heart still races, and my mind whirls. The Enforcers know about me.
“So did I,” River says. “That’s why they were there tonight. They were looking for the Scorpion.”

About the Author

Cindy lives at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and loves using Colorado towns and cities as inspiration for settings in her stories. She’s the mother of three girls, who provide plenty of fodder for her YA novels. Cindy writes speculative fiction and YA fiction, filled with a healthy dose of romance. You’ll often find her hiking or listening to any number of playlists while she comes up with her next story idea.



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