This is a spoiler-free review! Lured by Lies should be read prior to reading Taken by Lies.
Enzo is seventeen and Kai is sixteen in this prequel novella, where Enzo is living in luxury as he prepares to take over the family business and Kai is struggling to get her next meal without owing another debt. We are giving a little bit of background on our main characters in this novella that will hopefully be beneficial as the series continues.
The way that these teenagers talk to each other... why do they think that they are in some action movie where there will be dramatic pauses and people with cower when they speak? If a seventeen-year-old boy talked to a sixteen-year-old me the way that Enzo speaks to Kai, I would literally laugh in his face. I understand that they both live in a different circumstance -- Enzo, being raised as a killer, and Kai, being raised just to survive -- but it was getting truly annoying by the end of the novella.
Am I supposed to be shaking in my boots when Enzo acts like he is a certified killer? Yes, he has actually killed people, but almost every word out of his mouth feels embarrassing rather than intimidating, as if he is playing a character in a high school play rather than on the hunt to kill someone. And with Kai -- the way she acts just seems completely inaccurate to how anyone would act if they found out that they were in danger, especially from the boy she has had two interactions with in the past twenty four hours.
Enzo is always one step ahead when it comes to Kai's plans. She thinks that she can outsmart him with all of her actions, but he is able to anticipate nearly every single one of her next moves. Which is to be expected, because she is literally a sixteen-year-old girl and he is this "villain" that men twice his age will listen to. Honestly, Kai's survival instincts are minimal at best, and I was more concerned about the fact that she cannot keep her mouth shut when necessary than the fact that Enzo is walking around town guns blazing.
I have to say that this novella did not leave me as excited as I thought I would be to continue with the series. The writing seems a little out of touch for teenagers, but the first book in the series takes place three years later, so I have hope they grow into their character traits and get a better dialogue between them. Lured by Lies is a very quick read -- it took be less than thirty minutes in total to read -- and definitely touches on some more dark topics, which the author does mention that trigger warnings should be checked before proceeding with the series.
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