Hover by Melissa West – a Review

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Description:
On Earth, seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander was taught to never peek, but if she hopes to survive life on her new planet, Loge, her eyes must never shut. Because Zeus will do anything to save the Ancients from their dying planet, and he has a plan.

Thousands of humans crossed over to Loge after a poisonous neurotoxin released into Earth’s atmosphere, nearly killing them. They sought refuge in hopes of finding a new life, but what they became were slaves, built to wage war against their home planet. That is, unless Ari and Jackson can stop them. But on Loge, nothing is as it seems…and no one can be trusted

Review:

Hover by Melissa West is the 2^nd book in her The Taking series.  When we last left off in Gravity; Ari, our heroine was taken (with many other humans effected) to the planet Loge for healing from poison released by the human leaders of Earth.  Jackson, our hero, was the one who rescued Ari, but at the end of Gravity we learned he is an Ancient from Loge.  Hover picks up with Ari almost fully healed, and learning more about Zeus, the leader of Loge, as well as her new surroundings. 

Ari is still with Jackson, but she doesn’t totally trust him, since he betrayed her by not telling her about Zeus being his grandfather.  Ari absorbs everything around her, the city surroundings, the healers ability, and the powers she has.  Ari was already a tough kick-ass heroine, but being on this planet, she finds she must learn to control her anger, hide her mind (they can hear her thoughts), and try not to show her antagonism, especially towards Zeus.  Zeus, as the leader of Loge, is truly the villain in this story.  He tortures anyone to make them do what he wants, including his grandson Jackson, and wife Mami;  and will not hesitate to take any lives. What was nice about this story is that we got another side to the story, as in Gravity it was mostly about Earth and their battle against Zeus.  In Hover, the focus is on Loge and Zeus, allowing us a look into this planet, and into their leader’s unstable sanity.

Ari is determined to go back to Earth, and allow the Loge residents to join her, as the planet is dying.  But she is torn between strange vibes she gets from her friends and leaders on Earth.  They want her to kill Zeus, and do it fast.  Zeus wants to come to earth and totally take over.  But whatever those messages are from earth, Ari only sees the evil in Zeus, and uses her strength to fight his mind torture. 

This is an action packed story, with Ari finally allowing herself to trust Jackson, and they make a wonderful couple, despite all the horrors they must endure.  Together they work to find a way to rescue the citizens of Loge, and create a rebellion to fight Zeus.  Other then them rebuilding their romance, the majority of the story was about finding a way to stop and kill Zeus. West creates some wonderful characters in Hover, such as Vill, Mami, Emmy, just to name a few.  Other then brief appearances, we did not see too much of the characters we met in Gravity (whom are still on earth), except Cybil who was great to see.  As much as I liked Jackson, Ari was the lead all the way, and she was even stronger in Hover.  There were many surprises and twists during the last third of the book, and another open ending, leaving us anxiously awaiting the next book, Collide.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher