Week 51 Reviews: Rival, Feuds

From Goodreads:

RIVAL is a stunning e-original prequel to The Feuds series by Avery Hastings, which opens a window into Davis's early life ...

Davis Morrow has always been a little bit afraid to fall in love, to lose her focus, to be anything other than perfect. But while relaxing in an elite spa after another grueling rehearsal for a ballet showcase, Davis meets Seth, a trainer with intense eyes and a chiseled face to match his athletic build...and everything changes.

Unlike the other guys she's dated, Seth seems to get her—he understands how difficult her routine is, how hard she must work. Their first kiss leaves her mind spinning like an endless pirouette. Dating trainers is forbidden—but, like her best friend Vera insists, forbidden love is the best kind.

Then a threatening message from her dance rival, Gabrielle, brings her world tumbling down. Will Seth be the secret she needs to succeed, heart open for the first time? Or will this heated romance become her greatest rival yet?

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

My Review:
I really enjoyed reading these stories! The idea of a society that has the ability to modify humanity, and that those that are Priors are held above those who aren't who are Imperfects, is scarily plausible, and I really enjoyed this romance between Davis and Cole!

I was apprehensive of the relationship in Rival. After all, it's not with the main guy mentioned in the synopsis of the first book. So either things went wrong because of what her rival was doing, or he wasn't as good a guy as she thought, and I was anxious about which one it was!

The first half of Feuds was mainly Davis and Cole, and their relationship. It's very much a Romeo and Juliet sort of situation, but instead of families, it's sides of whether or not you've been genetically enhanced. And they don't know who the other is at first, and when they find out, that was a pretty dramatic time for them! 

The second half was more the epidemic, and how they were dealing with it, since Davis's friends are dying, and there's a good chance that she could, too. And oh, that ending was fantastic, and I need to know what's going to happen next! 

I had a great time reading these, and I need to read the conclusion to the series! 

Author: Avery Hastings
Series: The Feuds #0.5, 1
Read: December 24th, 24th, 2021
Source: Ebook.bike, NetGalley/Own
Reason Why: Sounded good, and they're 2021 Dystopia Book and Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2021 Book, and Feuds is a DAC Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Published: April 7th 2015, September 2nd 2014

Rival:

5/5 Hearts

4/5 Books

4/5 Stars

Feuds:

5/5 Hearts

4/5 Books

4/5 Stars