Feuds by Avery Hastings

Feuds

by Avery Hastings

Hardcover, 272 pages

Expected publication: September 2nd 2014

Rating:

Synopsis:

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

Review:

Received a free ebook copy, courtesy of NetGalley.
Feuds is a great start to what is sure to be a wonderful series. I was hooked right away by the idea of a dystopian world were people were classified as "Priors", who are genetically modified humans, and "Imps", those who were not modified. It was such an outrageous and slightly terrifying concept, that people are modified genes this way, but it caught my interest immediately. 

Davis and Cole are the protagonists of this novel. Davis, is a Prior, and Cole, an Imp. Obviously, this is a set up already for a forbidden romance. And alas, it was love at first sight for these two. This is pretty much the only part of the story that bothered me. I am all for a good romance; I am definitely a romantic. However, I am not a huge fan of "insta-love". It is one thing to see someone and feel a sort of attraction for them, but another to see someone and fall hopelessly in love with them in just one second. Basically what we have here is a dystopian Romeo & Juliet, which is a problem since I am not a big fan of that story either...

There is character development, especially in Davis. Priors do not normally pay much mind to anything around them it seems. In my opinion, they seem vain and full of themselves. Davis, though she kind of starts off seeming that way, drifts away from that idea. She starts noticing things that other Priors do not. She also begins to question what has been so familiar to her her entire life. It was nice to see Davis grow, if she had stayed like all the other Priors, I do not believe I would have enjoyed this novel and probably would have hated her. 

This novel has a great story-line, romance and action as well. The FEUDS sounded horrifying, but were also an integral part of the story. To briefly explain the FEUDS, it is basically two guys in a cage beating each other to a pulp for money. 

I am looking forward to more from this series and Avery Hastings.