Review: Branded by Abi Ketner & Missy Kalicicki

Branded
by Abi Ketner & Missy Kalicicki
ebook, 252 pages
Published June 28th 2013

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Fifty years ago the Commander came into power and murdered all who opposed him. In his warped mind, the seven deadly sins were the downfall of society. He created the Hole where sinners are branded according to their sins and might survive a few years. At best. Now LUST wraps around my neck like blue fingers strangling me. I’ve been accused of a crime I didn’t commit and now the Hole is my new home.

Darkness. Death. Violence. Pain.

Now every day is a fight for survival. But I won’t die. I won’t let them win.

The Hole can’t keep me. The Hole can’t break me. I am more than my brand. I’m a fighter. My name is Lexi Hamilton, and this is my story.

Branded is exactly why I love reading indie books. There are no limits and the authors can cross the line on everything.

It’s a dystopian story that sticks out from all the rest. I read a lot of dystopian novels that eventually they all start to read the same. When I got asked to read Branded and review it I did not expect it to be as extreme and raw as it is. With all the brutal things the main character experiences and witnesses left me with my heart pounding. Imagining a world like hers made the hairs on my arm stand up.

Lexi is thrown into the HOLE and branded with LUST. She is assigned a guard to help protect her who also becomes one of her closest friend in the HOLE. Wearing LUST around your neck is probably one of the worse things that any female in the HOLE can be branded with. She quickly becomes a target.

This story is emotional and scary. This book literally brought the saying on the edge of my seat to life. My heart was pounding with almost every chapter. I loved that feeling! I haven’t read a book in a long time that left me feeling nervous and twitchy. I was dying to know how things would go for Lexi in the HOLE. And the ending was O-M-G.

This was a great book! I loved it!