Book Review: Oppression, by Jessica Therrien

Elyse knows what it means to keep a secret. She's been keeping secrets her whole life. Two, actually. First, that she ages five times slower than the average person, so that while she looks eighteen years old, she's closer to eighty. Second, that her blood has a mysterious power to heal. 

For Elyse, these things don't make her special. They make life dangerous. After the death of her parents, she's been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability.

Or so she thinks.

Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her for a long time.

Among so many of her kind, she should not be very remarkable--except for the prophecy. Some believe she will put an end to traditions, safeguarded by violence, which have oppressed her people for centuries. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that. But for Elyse, the game is just beginning--and she's not entirely willing to play by their rules.

Don't you love it when a book wastes no time getting to the action? By action I mean Something Important Happens. Well, you don't have to wait long for Something To Happen in OPPRESSION. Barely three pages in and the opening scene ends in a chilling moment that, I swear, I could almost hear ringing in my ears! And the Somethings just kept coming!

OPPRESSION involves a unique take on Greek mythology. Confesssion #1: I've always been fascinated by mythology. Confession #2: I love the idea of supernatural abilties! Seriously. I was a major fan of the TV show Heroes. So give me a book full of characters with superhuman talents--like OPPRESSION's descendants of the gods--and I'm happy!

As well as mythology, there's also action, intrigue, humour, aaaaand (one of my faves) romance! And what a refreshing romance it was. In a literary world full of brooding bad boys who spend at least half the novel pushing the heroine away, OPPRESSION stands out with a love story where the guy is honest from the beginning about the fact that he likes the girl. Yay William! *swoon*

I am hooked. And I'm super keen to read the next book!

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As a special treat, here's a short excerpt from a really sweet scene between Elyse and William, soon after they meet each other:

“If you could sum up your whole life into a single flavor, what would it be? What do you think your life would taste like?”
I laughed. “I don’t know. That’s a strange question.” I thought about it though. It would have to be something bitter, but still sweet in a way, something that looked better than it tasted.
“Maybe . . . semi-sweet chocolate?”
“Only semi-sweet?” he observed.
“I have my reasons,” I defended. “What about you? Something sugary and delicious?”
“Hmm, I have to rethink it. It’s definitely changed since I met you.”
He smiled at me, and I recoiled a little into the cushion seat of the booth, throwing my eyes immediately in a different direction—away from his.
“Peanut butter,” he decided.
“Why peanut butter?”
“I have my reasons,” he mocked.
“It’s not very sweet.”
“No, but it goes well with chocolate.”

Is he not totally swoon-worthy?!

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