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Sanctuary (Sanctuary #1), by Caryn Lix ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Horror, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

480 Pages

Synopsis: Kenzie holds one truth above all else: the company is everything.

As a citizen of Omnistellar Concepts, the most powerful corporation in the solar system. Kenzie has trained her entire life for one goal: to become an elite guard on Sanctuary, Omnistellar’s space prison for superpowered teens too dangerous for Earth. As a junior guard, she’s excited to prove herself to her company—and that means sacrificing anything that won’t propel her forward.

But then a routine drill goes sideways and Kenzie is taken hostage by rioting prisoners. 

At first, she’s confident that her commanding officer—who also happens to be her mother—will stop at nothing to secure her freedom. Yet it soon becomes clear that her mother is more concerned with sticking to Omnistellar protocol than she is with getting Kenzie out safely.

As Kenzie forms her own plan to escape, she doesn’t realize there’s a more sinister threat looming, something ancient and evil that has clawed its way into Sanctuary from the vacuum of space. And Kenzie might have to team up with her captors to survive—all while beginning to suspect there’s a darker side to the Omnistellar she knows.

I know it’s only July, but without a doubt, Sanctuary is going to be one of my favorite books of 2018! I started this yesterday afternoon, and finished it about 11:30 p.m. I swear, I was so stressed out that by the end of the book I almost started biting my fingernails, a bad habit I only recently stopped.

The reason why I didn’t give this a full 5 stars is because there’s insta-love between Kenzie and Cage (a personal pet peeve of mine), the leader of the superpowered teens and, except for Kenzie, I would have liked to see a little more character development. However, with all the action taking place I found I didn’t mind these two issues as much as I usually would. I really emphasized Kenzie as she struggled to accept that the world she grew up in isn’t as benevolent and protective as she thought, and that people with powers aren’t the monsters that she’s been led to believe. The story is filled with tension as the teens discover they’re facing an unimaginable horror, and that they’ll have to work together if they’re to survive. The fight scenes are bloody and gory and left me on the edge of my seat. The ending left me with some questions, but I didn’t mind as there is going to be a sequel.

Overall, Sanctuary is a spectacular debut by Caryn Lix. I think because of the violence, I’d recommend this to ages 13 and up. The book is chock full of action, horror and suspense, and it most definitely lives up to its exciting premise. I’m eagerly anticipating the sequel!