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urlphantomhive's review
3.0
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
Heir Ascendent was one weird book. Following Maya, the 9(!) year old daughter of the CEO of the only pharmaceutical company that provides an antidote towards the poisons in the atmosphere, as she gets kidnapped, decides she likes her kidnappers better than her mother and quickly turns into a rebel leader. All of this at the tender age of 9!
At times I thought it was difficult to follow. The world building was rather sparse, which was in line with Maya's limited knowledge of the world. However, it made her quick and young transformation in a leader of the rebels rather unbalanced. It was a quick read, but I was never completely buying the story. I haven't decided yet whether I will continue the series.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Heir Ascendent was one weird book. Following Maya, the 9(!) year old daughter of the CEO of the only pharmaceutical company that provides an antidote towards the poisons in the atmosphere, as she gets kidnapped, decides she likes her kidnappers better than her mother and quickly turns into a rebel leader. All of this at the tender age of 9!
At times I thought it was difficult to follow. The world building was rather sparse, which was in line with Maya's limited knowledge of the world. However, it made her quick and young transformation in a leader of the rebels rather unbalanced. It was a quick read, but I was never completely buying the story. I haven't decided yet whether I will continue the series.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
thelostshoe's review against another edition
4.0
Summary: Maya is a nine year old Rapunzel who is trapped inside her tower by her evil biological mother. Which is very original Grimm Fairy tale of this story before parents complained and everyone acquired evil stepparents.
Spoiler
Instead of hair and a prince she's abducted by a rough group who intend on using her to acquire a ransom or medication for the killer illness called Fade. Through her wits and determination she rescues herself while obtaining a replacement mother and causes a revolt.Spoiler
She's a genetically engineered child created by a woman who has no motherly instincts. She's a prop for her mother's pharmaceutical company.
Topics in this book: Sexualizing a child to advertise medication, pedophilia, the threat of assault or sexual assault, PTSD and poverty. I'm sure there is more but this is what I can remember.
Advertisements: She wears clothes that are more for adult than child
Pedophilia is discussed after the fact due to Sarah who something happened with her and the landlord. Maya & Sarah take him down under the assumption he's the one who called the blueberries on her and got Genna taken away.
“You tell me everything that happened, okay? It’s not your fault." in regards to her encounter with the guy. Every book and people need this in their stuff until we're no longer having to deal with people blaming victims.
Recommend? If you don't mind a patchwork of a story with the protagonist being a genetically modified nine-year old then yes. In the acknowledgement talks about how this was originally a short story and when you're reading you can tell it's been stretched. But the acknowledgement seems to help confirm this.
Spoiler
It feels like maybe three main things were wanting to be addressed with this and used journeying across places to fill in the gaps between them. Which isn't bad in itself but the story works and flows well when Maya & Genna are together.Rest of review here
lisaeliza's review against another edition
1.0
This book was all over the place and really choppy. I couldn’t finish it.
nietzschesghost's review
5.0
This was my first book I read by Matthew S. Cox and is the one that started my love of his stories. I plan to work my way through the rest of his series' and if they turn out to be as compelling and imaginative as "Heir Ascendant" was, I will be a very happy (reading) bunny! I hope people begin to pay more attention to indie authors and publishers as there are some truly spectacular titles out there just waiting to be discovered. I always remind myself that some of my favourite books of the last year were from small, indie publisher and there are countless times when I can say I was truly blown away by an indie author's work. I do hope people consider reading them more and find out for themselves that indie books have the same potential as conventionally published ones to absolutely blow you away. "Heir Ascendant" is a perfect example of this!
Maya Oman is a fantastic protagonist - she is smart, sassy, wise beyond her nine years and you really root for her in the dire situations that she finds herself in. She helps to balance out the dark dystopian setting by being positive and a force of nature. It would be difficult for even the most hard-nosed person not to admire her with what she endures and all at such a young age. Despite only being nine, she has a deep inbuilt sense of morality and this leads to her having a large problem with her biological mother who is both ruthless and useless. The author does use some of those dreaded tropes but this didn't have an impact on my reading experience as the book is so damn good, it would have taken some real deep flaws to put me off. Cox has an accessible and easy writing style which whisks you into the story and grips you quickly. He also knows how to hold your interest with an unpredictable and thrilling plot. Basically, everything just worked and came together in a magical way. Cox has created an intriguing and dangerous dystopia that is a difficult place in which to live for anyone let alone a younster who is more or less looking after herself owing to her mother's neglect and narcissism.
All in all, this is a book that I will remember for a long time to come, this is partly thanks to the wonderful Maya - I couldn't have loved her more if i'd tried! I look forward to the third book in the series and will be checking out which of the author's other series' to try out next. I am optimistic that I will appreciate them as much if not more than the wonderful "Faded Skies" series. If you are wondering whether to give this a go then what you waiting for? You're in for a treat let me tell you!
Many thanks to Curiosity Quills Press for an ARC. I was not required to post a review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Maya Oman is a fantastic protagonist - she is smart, sassy, wise beyond her nine years and you really root for her in the dire situations that she finds herself in. She helps to balance out the dark dystopian setting by being positive and a force of nature. It would be difficult for even the most hard-nosed person not to admire her with what she endures and all at such a young age. Despite only being nine, she has a deep inbuilt sense of morality and this leads to her having a large problem with her biological mother who is both ruthless and useless. The author does use some of those dreaded tropes but this didn't have an impact on my reading experience as the book is so damn good, it would have taken some real deep flaws to put me off. Cox has an accessible and easy writing style which whisks you into the story and grips you quickly. He also knows how to hold your interest with an unpredictable and thrilling plot. Basically, everything just worked and came together in a magical way. Cox has created an intriguing and dangerous dystopia that is a difficult place in which to live for anyone let alone a younster who is more or less looking after herself owing to her mother's neglect and narcissism.
All in all, this is a book that I will remember for a long time to come, this is partly thanks to the wonderful Maya - I couldn't have loved her more if i'd tried! I look forward to the third book in the series and will be checking out which of the author's other series' to try out next. I am optimistic that I will appreciate them as much if not more than the wonderful "Faded Skies" series. If you are wondering whether to give this a go then what you waiting for? You're in for a treat let me tell you!
Many thanks to Curiosity Quills Press for an ARC. I was not required to post a review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
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