Review : Feuds by Avery Hastings

Summary (from Goodreads) 

Title : Feuds
Author : Avery Hastings
Publication Date : September 2nd 2014
Publisher : St Martin's Griffin
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble 

In this breathless story of impossible love, perfection comes at a deadly cost.

For Davis Morrow, perfection is a daily reality. Like all Priors, Davis has spent her whole life primed to be smarter, stronger, and more graceful than the lowly Imperfects, or “Imps.” A fiercely ambitious ballerina, Davis is only a few weeks away from qualifying for the Olympiads and finally living up to her mother’s legacy when she meets Cole, a mysterious boy who leaves her with more questions each time he disappears.

Davis has no idea that Cole has his own agenda, or that he’s a rising star in the FEUDS, an underground fighting ring where Priors gamble on Imps. Cole has every reason to hate Davis—her father’s campaign hinges on the total segregation of the Imps and Priors—but despite his best efforts, Cole finds himself as drawn to Davis as she is to him.

Then Narxis, a deadly virus, takes its hold--and Davis’s friends start dying. When the Priors refuse to acknowledge the epidemic, Davis has no one to turn to but Cole. Falling in love was never part of their plan, but their love may be the only thing that can save her world...in Avery Hastings's Feuds.

 Personal Thoughts

Although I'm currently burned on dystopians at the moment, I wanted to read Feuds because it seemed to have a relatively new and original concept. I was also attracted to a main character who was passionate about dancing. Feuds wasn't the perfect book, by any means, but I do think this series has a lot of potential.

The world in Feuds was quite intriguing. There were the Priors, who were genetically engineered to be smart and physically strong and the Imps (or Imperfects), who were a lower caste. I thought the idea of exploring genetically engineered human beings was interesting because this could quite well be a possibility some time in the future what with the rapid advancement of science. However, I thought the world building in Feuds was very much skeletal. It was basic, for lack of better words, and I personally wanted to know more about the history and background that Hastings has created. It needed a little more meat to its bones. By the end of the book, I was left with too many unanswered questions. Now, because this is a series, I'm willing to momentarily forget my frustrations towards the paltry foundations of the world building. The plot in Feuds, also, felt like much of an introduction to what's to come next in the book. A deadly virus, Narxis, was spreading rapidly and only the Priors seemed to be afflicted with it and no one knew why. For most of the book, the book was simply building up to the fact that there was a virus spreading that was being hidden by the government, so there wasn't much development. Feuds was also on the short side, which explains this rather lacking plot. I personally thought that a stronger plot and a few more pages would have helped this book excel.

I know it seems like I was more on the disappointed side with Feuds, but that wasn't entirely the case. I actually found myself being unable to put the book down and I attribute that to the characters. Feuds is told in the POV of both Davis and Cole. Davis, especially, I liked. She was a naive character who eventually grew to become a little more stronger over the course of the novel. While I appreciated her growth, her passion for dancing was what really struck me. I've danced for a few years of my life, but I can't say that I was in love with it as most people typically are. I loved how much she loved dancing and her fears of failing that came along with this passion. Cole, on the other hand, I had reservations about. At the start of the book, we get to know that he participates in this underground fights to earn money for his family, but he also made a deal with a corrupt political candidate in order to deceive Davis by beginning a relationship with her, so you can imagine how much I wanted to figuratively strangle Cole. As he opened up to Davis and began to know her better, his heart towards Davis and my feelings towards him softened. The focus in Feuds was on the romance and while the L-word came out a bit too early for my tastes, I thought their relationship was sweet. The secondary characters left much to be desired though and I would have liked to know them on a deeper level.

Despite my issues with Feuds, I found myself enjoying the book and I will most likely be picking up the next book. I'm looking forward to seeing where things go for Cole and Davis and how they will resolve their issues.

Rating

Cover : 3/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 3/5

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Griffin for the e-ARC of Feuds.