Compulsively readable, though definitely a YA book. Sixteen-year-old me would've loved it. Current me found it entertaining, but also saw the flaws.

Also was a little confused by the romance. Jesse's character seemed like an eighteen year old girl (which she was), but Lukas came across like he was in his thirties. Weird vibe. Still liked it, though.

An amazing new world full of creatures new and old. An extraordinary new heroine who is strong, loyal, and a force to be reckoned with. This is definitely a story to remember.

I have had the pleasure of experiencing this author’s other series before having read this new series of hers, and she has certainly outdone herself this time! The world-building is exceptional, the characters are so well developed, and the creativity shown in the formation of new breeds of fae speaks to her incredible skills as an author.

Jesse is a fearsome 18-year-old bounty hunter with a mission: Find the people who abducted her parents and bring them back by any means necessary. But in order to gain the information and street-skills she needs to successfully recover them, she will need to become a hunter just like her parents and take up the family business. She will also need to accept the help of some unexpected allies. But can they be trusted to help her, or will she pay the price of trusting too easily? One thing is for certain: Things will never be the same for Jesse James.

Love this story! Need book 2.

I devoured this in like a day and I now have an emotional void in my heart that needs to be filled by the sequel immediately.

My friend sent me this one to read and it is an excellent quick dessert read about a very smart, sassy daughter fae bounty hunter up against institutional idiocy and incompetence to find her kidnapped parents. And also hot faeries, like you do.

The author did a good job having the MC make decisions that actually made sense. She knows when she's in over her head and takes practical steps to mitigate danger, but she's also brave and loyal and good-hearted and does what needs to be done. The cast of characters around her was very fun and I'm excited to see more of everyone. There's also a very irritating old classmate/bounty hunter colleague that you love to hate, and a large black cat, which is very important. The book's internal arc concludes but there are a lot of loose threads and the ending is not exactly emotionally satisfying, since she is clearly setting up some long-term arcs.

And I need them right now.

03/2022: reread now that all three are out. Feel the same. Looking forward to groveling.

Since the Relentless series, I've been waiting forever for Karen Lynch to write another awesome series and was so thrilled when I heard about this.

Pawn is everything a Relentless fan can appreciate: a bad-ass female, a cold and scowling male, a bunch of hot guards as supporting characters, and, of course, enough actions and magic and mysteries to move the plot along. My only objection is that it felt a little like déjà vu. Jesse could be Sarah, Lukas could be Nicholas, Colan is Chris, Ian and Kerr are the Irish twins, and even Violet and Jordan are pretty similar.

To my relief, the plots are totally different. After a somewhat slow start, the pace picked up, and I was absorbed in the world where modern technology meshes with Faes and magic. By the end of the book, I haven't understood everything about how this world really works, but I prefer to be introduced to it slowly like this than having a huge info dumped on my head on the first chapters (House of Earth and Blood, anyone?). And here's to hoping Karen Lynch will release the next books soon.

This was such a fun, fast read that just flew by. A wonderful cast of characters, a MC who makes smart decisions and calls for backup when she’s in over her head. I really can’t wait to read the rest of he trilogy.

I really enjoyed this book. I went in with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it! The plot was interesting and had enough twists and turns to make me want to keep listening! I knew Lukas was the prince long long before it was revealed. But I really enjoyed his character. I loved that Jesse and him had a connection but they were realistic with how they approached it. I often find books with Fae/Human love that it's full steam ahead from the very beginning. My only qualm with the book was I felt like Jesse didn't worry enough about her parents. She had random moments but there didn't seem to be a ton of urgency after a couple days.