YA Review: Feuds by Avery Hastings

Title: Feuds
Author: Avery Hastings
Series: Feuds (???)
Book #: 1
Pages: 272
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 3.35
Published: September 2nd, 2014

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.

Taschima's POV:

At the beginning everything was going great for this title. We were introduced to a fairly new developed world and a couple of characters that seemed super interesting. A ballerina and a cage fighter. The beginning of the romance came hard and fast, both characters seemed really into each other and the attraction was instantaneous. If it had just been attraction and curiosity I would have dug their relationship, but when you only meet someone twice and all you basically do is make out, or think about making out, and then you suddenly profess your love for each other? Ugh, that turned me off. They only meet twice and suddenly they are in love. What is worse is that each character is only in love with the idea of each other, not even the real person. If this was a case study on how teenagers sometimes can misinterpret feelings of high attractions for actual romance, or even a connection, then it nailed it. But I don't think it is a case study at all, I think they think this is serious and that is why after the characters declared their ever lasting love for each other my interest in the book dwindled and dwindled until I could barely pick it up to finish it. It is sad, maybe harsh, but it is true. Shame since the novel had such potential for more.

"Davis's father had told her horror stories of what the city had been like back when the Imps were fully integrated. Crime--rapes, shootings, theft--it was through the roof until Kensington started pushing segregation."

And with this lonely paragraph we have to infer that the genetically perfect beings have no crime. I think, I am pretty sure. Who knows, she never outright says so.

"If it weren't for Kensington, the city of Columbus might never have survived and endured all the instability that caused dozens of major cities--Chicago, Los Angeles, portions of New York that still existed after the floods-- to crumble, leaving most of the country uninhabitable. Every aspect of her life--the city she called home--was safer and better."

This is as far as we get about what happened to America. Floods, and I guess crimes by the IMPS, brought down major cities. So segregation is a thing again.

I am going to try to come up with a summary that makes sense. Davis is a PRIOR, which means she was breed from another PRIOR (Prior are genetically perfect beings-- how they are created? Some language lessons in utero plus classical music! We could possibly pull this off now... NOT). Priors dont get sick, Priors are physically perfect, Priors are superior. Then the GENS, or the IMPS as they are called by the superior PRIORS, are the rest of the population. How they are still around who knows, you would think they would have been killed by now or something (what year is this novel set on again?). Anyways, a Prior and an IMP fall in love but it is against the law for them to be together. Add in a little made up disease that is not explained at all, a pinch of corruption, and a dose of teenage hormones and you got yourself a book right? Well, not really...

Davis is an exhausting character. I felt like on paper she was represented to be something, the heroine we are supposed to root for, but all her actions just make her be something else entirely. She cares about the IMPS, but she doesn't. She wants to turn Cole in, but she loves him. She wants to be a serious ballerina, but when a guy rocks her world she forgets her name. As to her family, well I don't think the father has much of a personality. He is whatever Davis needs him to be at that time. He is rich, he is running for mayor, and he is protective. Other than that who is he? What does he like to do on his time off? Who did he use to be before trying to be mayor? Who is he? Davis' little sister and godmother are a bit better described but I don't even know if Davis actually likes her step-mother or not. I know her step-mother is nice, but I don't think they have much of a relationship and I don't know why since Davis' mother "died" during childbirth, or so she thinks? I mean, this is the oldest trick in the book. At one point the father is just never heard from again in the story, nor the rest of the family to be quite honest. Davis is not an inherently bad or self absorbed person, she is just naïve and oblivious. So I didn't hate her, I was just severely confused by her thoughts and then her actions.

"Kissing a Prior was illegal. Even getting close to one could get Cole arrested."

And Cole, oh you misguided child. You only like Davis cause she is hot, admit it. All those thoughts you had about her? Completely made up.  Who is this family you keep trying to get off the place you live in? Is it just your brother? Where is your mother? Why don't we ever meet her, like ever? She is extremely sick and yet you spend NO time with her. What the hell? Also, where does your brother work at? What does he do with his life other than being a rebel? I guess rent needs to be payed, and since I see no mother or father in the picture I am guessing he contributes? Maybe? Does rent need to be paid? What do you eat? Do you ever eat or feel hunger? Do either of you? At one point the novel just becomes all about the romance really and a LOT of details are just either never addressed or forgotten about entirely.

Details make up a world and you can't expect me to connect to the characters lives, to feel for their plight, when I am still confused about their every day lives. At one point the main important "bad guy" of the story disappears and is never heard from again. Or wait, is he supposed to be the main bad guy? I think so, but so little effort is put into his evil plans that really who cares. Also this "disease" that is running rampant through the Prior world, oh yeah part of the plot is that prior's are dropping like flies and only Davis' seems to notice, how can NOBODY notice that dozens of people are disappearing from their every day lives? Makes no sense! How can they really cover so many deaths that are happening at random, to people who aren't supposed to get sick?

Have I mention how irritating the romance is? Davis has no idea WHAT she is feeling. At one point she thinks she is going to turn the IMP guy in because well, he deceived her but then she doesn't because it would ruin her father's career but then a couple of pages later she is all "I LOVE HIM, THIS IS HOW LOVE FEELS LIKE". Yeeeah, right. And Cole at one point thinks t himself all these wonderful things about Davis' personality... which aren't true.

"She had a million different smiles that betrayed all of her complex thoughts, and he felt like every single one was exciting to discover."

How do you even know this Cole? You just met the girl!

"...but he wouldn't have fallen in love with anyone. For that, Davis was entirely responsible. It wasn't just her beauty and the attraction he felt for her. It was her way of looking at the world, her ability to see a different future, to question everything that has been fed to her all her life" 

This is inaccurate. Just a little while back she was ready to turn you in to make herself feel better. SHE IS NOT THIS PERSON, SHE HAS NEVER BEHAVED LIKE THIS PERSON. She is not one to look further than your classification, until she met you they could have hanged all the IMPS and she wouldn't have given a damn. Not that she is a bad person at her core, she is just unaware and uncaring about what is really happening in the world around her. She was too occupied with her small little bubble of a world to care about anything or anyone else. So yeah Cole, you like her cause she is pretty (flawless, if I remember correctly) and you feel the hots for her.

Anyways, not for me. Romance was atrocious and the world building was weak at best. All my best wishes for the sequel, that is something I will not be picking up.