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Hit #1
Hit
In order to save her mother, a teen is forced to become an indentured assassin in this sizzling “movie ready� (Kirkus Reviews) dystopian thriller.
No one reads the fine print.
The good news is that the USA is finally out of debt. The bad news is that it was bought out by Valor National Bank, and debtors are the new big game, thanks to a tricky little clause hidden deep in the fine print of a credit card application. Now, after a swift and silent takeover that leaves 9-1-1 calls going through to Valor voicemail, they’re unleashing a wave of anarchy across the country.
Patsy didn’t have much of a choice. When the suits showed up at her house threatening to kill her mother then and there for outstanding debt unless Patsy agreed to be an indentured assassin, what was she supposed to do? Let her own mother die?
Patsy is forced to take on a five-day mission to complete a hit list of ten names. Each name on Patsy’s list has only three choices: pay the debt on the spot, agree to work as a bounty hunter, or die. And Patsy has to kill them personally, or else her mom takes a bullet of her own. Since yarn bombing is the only anarchy in Patsy’s past, she’s horrified and overwhelmed, especially as she realizes that most of the ten people on her list aren’t strangers. Things get even more complicated when a moment of mercy lands her with a sidekick: a hot rich kid named Wyatt whose brother is the last name on Patsy’s list. The two share an intense chemistry even as every tick of the clock draws them closer to an impossible choice.
An absorbing, frightening glimpse at a reality that is eerily just steps away from ours�Hit is a taut, suspenseful thriller that absolutely mesmerizes from start to finish.
No one reads the fine print.
The good news is that the USA is finally out of debt. The bad news is that it was bought out by Valor National Bank, and debtors are the new big game, thanks to a tricky little clause hidden deep in the fine print of a credit card application. Now, after a swift and silent takeover that leaves 9-1-1 calls going through to Valor voicemail, they’re unleashing a wave of anarchy across the country.
Patsy didn’t have much of a choice. When the suits showed up at her house threatening to kill her mother then and there for outstanding debt unless Patsy agreed to be an indentured assassin, what was she supposed to do? Let her own mother die?
Patsy is forced to take on a five-day mission to complete a hit list of ten names. Each name on Patsy’s list has only three choices: pay the debt on the spot, agree to work as a bounty hunter, or die. And Patsy has to kill them personally, or else her mom takes a bullet of her own. Since yarn bombing is the only anarchy in Patsy’s past, she’s horrified and overwhelmed, especially as she realizes that most of the ten people on her list aren’t strangers. Things get even more complicated when a moment of mercy lands her with a sidekick: a hot rich kid named Wyatt whose brother is the last name on Patsy’s list. The two share an intense chemistry even as every tick of the clock draws them closer to an impossible choice.
An absorbing, frightening glimpse at a reality that is eerily just steps away from ours�Hit is a taut, suspenseful thriller that absolutely mesmerizes from start to finish.
288 pages, Audiobook
First published April 14, 2015
33 people are currently reading
3,489 people want to read
About the author
Delilah S. Dawson
162books2,457followersDelilah S. Dawson is the New York Times-bestselling author of Star Wars: Phasma, Black Spire: Galaxy's Edge, and The Perfect Weapon. With Kevin Hearne, she writes the Tales of Pell. As Lila Bowen, she writes the Shadow series, beginning with Wake of Vultures. Her other books include the Blud series, the Hit series, and Servants of the Storm.
She's written comics in the worlds of Marvel Action: Spider-Man, Lore's Wellington, Star Wars Adventures, Star Wars Forces of Destiny, The X-Files Case Files, Adventure Time, Rick and Morty, and her creator-owned comics include Star Pig, Ladycastle, and Sparrowhawk.
Find out more at .
She's written comics in the worlds of Marvel Action: Spider-Man, Lore's Wellington, Star Wars Adventures, Star Wars Forces of Destiny, The X-Files Case Files, Adventure Time, Rick and Morty, and her creator-owned comics include Star Pig, Ladycastle, and Sparrowhawk.
Find out more at .
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 312 reviews
September 18, 2016
Goddamn it. I just wrote a good review of this book and then the computer just ate it.
Long story short? It's good. You should give it a try.
Long story short? It's good. You should give it a try.
December 27, 2020
Hit by Delilah S Dawson
Hit #1. Dystopian YA thriller. Cliffhanger.
Fast paced and tightly written. Engrossing and electrifying.
Do you read every line in those contracts or software agreements? Imagine if in the small print it includes a kill or die condition. Scary thought what may be in those 20 pages of legalese.
The banks have taken over for the government. There are no more police. Teenagers have been tested with a hidden agenda.
The bank: Pay your debt or become a mercenary. Or die.
I like Patsy’s commitment to help her mother. I don’t trust Wyatt. I can’t wait to read the next in the series.
Hit #1. Dystopian YA thriller. Cliffhanger.
Fast paced and tightly written. Engrossing and electrifying.
Do you read every line in those contracts or software agreements? Imagine if in the small print it includes a kill or die condition. Scary thought what may be in those 20 pages of legalese.
The banks have taken over for the government. There are no more police. Teenagers have been tested with a hidden agenda.
The bank: Pay your debt or become a mercenary. Or die.
I like Patsy’s commitment to help her mother. I don’t trust Wyatt. I can’t wait to read the next in the series.
April 28, 2015
I'd never heard of this book or author until I seen it on Pulse It. I thought the cover was awesome and different plus the synopsis sounded pretty interesting. I started reading it right away without looking at any reviews. I liked this book at first but around 20% in, so many things started popping up that I found to be concerning. After that, everything just started to fall apart.
Okay, first thing that I hated, is the main character is named Patsy Klein. I've never wanted to throw a book at the wall so hard as I did in the moment that the character was introduced as Patsy Klein. Either the author was trying to be funny or she has no knowledge of female music icons. All she would have to do is Google her own character's name.
I wasn't a massive fan of Pasty but I could have gotten on board with her. She had a ton of potential. But all that potential went down the drain when that dumb boy came into the picture. One thing I hate so much is when fictional girls throw their brains out the window when a boy comes around. It's not cool, it doesn't set a good example for young readers, and it's not empowering to female readers. As soon as that boy (I can't even remember his name) showed up and starting help her kill people (hours after she killed his dad, by the way), Pasty just lost her head. Nothing was making sense and everything was just one big "what the heck?".
The whole concept of this book is makes very little sense. Why would a bank kill people who can't pay? They would never get their money. That doesn't solve any problems. I get what the author was going for but I just couldn't get past how illogical the plot was.
Overall, this book has a ton of potential but it just wasn't for me. As a critical reader, this book drove me crazy. I couldn't get on broad with the characters or the plot. I wouldn't say that I hate this book and it's not one of the worst books that I've read. I did like the writing style. If I come across a hardcover of this book for a really good price on BookOutlet or something, I'll probably get it and try rereading it but as of right now, I'm just not digging it.
Okay, first thing that I hated, is the main character is named Patsy Klein. I've never wanted to throw a book at the wall so hard as I did in the moment that the character was introduced as Patsy Klein. Either the author was trying to be funny or she has no knowledge of female music icons. All she would have to do is Google her own character's name.
I wasn't a massive fan of Pasty but I could have gotten on board with her. She had a ton of potential. But all that potential went down the drain when that dumb boy came into the picture. One thing I hate so much is when fictional girls throw their brains out the window when a boy comes around. It's not cool, it doesn't set a good example for young readers, and it's not empowering to female readers. As soon as that boy (I can't even remember his name) showed up and starting help her kill people (hours after she killed his dad, by the way), Pasty just lost her head. Nothing was making sense and everything was just one big "what the heck?".
The whole concept of this book is makes very little sense. Why would a bank kill people who can't pay? They would never get their money. That doesn't solve any problems. I get what the author was going for but I just couldn't get past how illogical the plot was.
Overall, this book has a ton of potential but it just wasn't for me. As a critical reader, this book drove me crazy. I couldn't get on broad with the characters or the plot. I wouldn't say that I hate this book and it's not one of the worst books that I've read. I did like the writing style. If I come across a hardcover of this book for a really good price on BookOutlet or something, I'll probably get it and try rereading it but as of right now, I'm just not digging it.
March 31, 2016
A finished copy was provided by the publisher for review.
A teenager who has to kill ten people in five days or Valor Savings will murder her mother. This is the gist of Hit. It sounds crazy right?? Well I thought so too. It started off all right at the beginning where Patsy is at the first kill and she flashes back to the past as to how it all started...But then it went down hill...
I thought it was going to be some sort of take-down with Valor Savings because who would take this offer?! Surviving by killing? Um what? And is this really a dystopian society when only these teenagers are under the company's thumb?? I thought dystopian is how the book's society is set in. Then she meets a cute boy and he just starts helping her? And if you read it, you'll know this is worrisome. I thought it was a little crazy having this strange boy come in and be your friend after what you did. Also the way they met? I couldn't stop giggling at how pervy it was..You're murdering all these people and this is what happens? *shakes my head* I get that she's struggling with her mom's sickness and if only Patsy was more inclined to worry about her mother, then this would be better executed.
I liked the little clues that were left. That was easy to pick up at the end, but the puzzle still remains and a book with MORE questions by the end of it, makes me even more wary to read the sequel. I don't like long dragged out plots..The great thing about Hit is the writing..It's fast and fluid, and I just wanted to know if she'll ever finish her list..I knew that ending would just leave me hanging because nothing really develops until the end.
There's two things that came out of this..Debt is obviously a real issue and it makes me more cautious every time I use credit cards. Also, I feel apprehensive to open the door for couriers now. Especially because it happens weekly. *peers out the window*
RATING 2/5
QUOTES
"I prefer creation to destruction." (22)
"I don't want to be the kind of girl who kills a guy with a pajama boner." (47)
"No matter what we think or what we say or what we hope to become, at the root of everything, we're only animals." (48)
"Even if I have to do horrible things, I'm not going to be a horrible person." (104)
"Sometimes good things come from horrible situations. Sometimes when the worst thing happens, the only way to go is up." (116)
"You can't change the past, so you might as well live in the present. And if you don't like the present, make a different future." (126)
A teenager who has to kill ten people in five days or Valor Savings will murder her mother. This is the gist of Hit. It sounds crazy right?? Well I thought so too. It started off all right at the beginning where Patsy is at the first kill and she flashes back to the past as to how it all started...But then it went down hill...
I thought it was going to be some sort of take-down with Valor Savings because who would take this offer?! Surviving by killing? Um what? And is this really a dystopian society when only these teenagers are under the company's thumb?? I thought dystopian is how the book's society is set in. Then she meets a cute boy and he just starts helping her? And if you read it, you'll know this is worrisome. I thought it was a little crazy having this strange boy come in and be your friend after what you did. Also the way they met? I couldn't stop giggling at how pervy it was..You're murdering all these people and this is what happens? *shakes my head* I get that she's struggling with her mom's sickness and if only Patsy was more inclined to worry about her mother, then this would be better executed.
I liked the little clues that were left. That was easy to pick up at the end, but the puzzle still remains and a book with MORE questions by the end of it, makes me even more wary to read the sequel. I don't like long dragged out plots..The great thing about Hit is the writing..It's fast and fluid, and I just wanted to know if she'll ever finish her list..I knew that ending would just leave me hanging because nothing really develops until the end.
There's two things that came out of this..Debt is obviously a real issue and it makes me more cautious every time I use credit cards. Also, I feel apprehensive to open the door for couriers now. Especially because it happens weekly. *peers out the window*
RATING 2/5
QUOTES
"I prefer creation to destruction." (22)
"I don't want to be the kind of girl who kills a guy with a pajama boner." (47)
"No matter what we think or what we say or what we hope to become, at the root of everything, we're only animals." (48)
"Even if I have to do horrible things, I'm not going to be a horrible person." (104)
"Sometimes good things come from horrible situations. Sometimes when the worst thing happens, the only way to go is up." (116)
"You can't change the past, so you might as well live in the present. And if you don't like the present, make a different future." (126)
March 20, 2015
For more reviews, gifs, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.
Before I get into this, I want to be totally clear about the fact that it wasn’t Hit‘s blurb that made me curious; it was Delilah S. Dawson. I follow her on Twitter and love reading her blog posts. She’s incredible funny, laugh until tears are leaking from my eyes and can’t breathe funny. With how much I love all of the things I’ve read by her online, I figured that Hit couldn’t possibly miss, but, once again, I’ve been proven wrong.
The concept of Hit is a fun and compelling one. Dawson draws on some of the most troublesome aspects of American society: credit card debt, the economy, and the omnipresent terms and conditions no one ever reads. The premise is that Valor National, a bank, becomes influential and wealthy enough to pay off the national debt and become the government. Valor National then takes advantage of some scary agreements they hid in the terms and conditions of their credit card contracts: if the card owners default on their payments, Valor National can call the debt in, requiring the card holder to either pay the debt in full, become a bounty hunter for them for a few days, or die. Teen Patsy has to present ten people with these options, killing them if they don’t pay up or volunteer to do what she’s doing, or both she and her mom will be killed. The whole thing is absurd but also ridiculously possible; the concept ought to be the foundation for a delicious satire.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get satiric vibes from Hit. Everything’s told in a very realistic, gritty way. It’s more action/thriller/conspiracy/romance than commentary on the American way of life. There are elements of social commentary, of course, but I feel like that message gets muddied along the way. A satire should have a dark comedy underlying it that I really did not find here. There are some attempts at comedy, but they fell almost entirely flat for me, perhaps because so much of it consisted of odd southernisms. In fact, though most of her writing was descriptive and no-nonsense, but sometimes the metaphors and phrases didn’t make any sense to me.
Is this a thing? Hit is set in Georgia, which is where I live, and I’ve never heard this. Admittedly, I’m in Atlanta, which isn’t much like the rest of Georgia, but, based on my googling, it doesn’t seem like the most common phrase.
Her heart is a tea bag? Before she gets rid of her mom’s credit card debt by killing ten of Valor National’s creditors, maybe she should consult a physician, because that’s not healthy.
Ew. Also, I have no idea how tight turtle butts are, so this means nothing to me. Nor do I want to know. Nope nope nopeity nope.
You’re already swearing, Patsy. No need to try to make it cutesy, bless your heart.
Hit‘s incredibly long chapters, one per debtor, also slowed me down. Some were fifty plus pages long, and it’s really hard for me to sustain my mental interest for that long a duration. I do think that Dawson does a great job with the realism aspects. Patsy’s not model beautiful; she has zits and awkward clothing. There’s a fantastic awkward boner scene at the most inopportune of moments. When Patsy has to kill people, it’s not pretty; it’s bloody and gross, mentioning bodily fluids leaking from the corpse.
The romance proved quite frustrating. Patsy’s first kill is Wyatt’s father. He confronts her and, because of reasons, they end up working as a team of sorts for the rest of the kills. They’re attracted to each other despite the circumstances and somewhat because of the increased tension and fear. Their connection’s pretty superficial, based mostly upon the fact that they’re willing to kill people and have similar musical taste, but I sort of get that. However, they only spend a couple of days together and they met when she KILLED HIS FATHER. Some ill-advised action, I can understand, but lovey feelings? FUCK NO. They keep getting mad at one another for not being trusting enough, but why the fuck would they trust each other? FUCKING WHY? Not to mention the bomb dropped by Amber:
Then, after all of that, I’m incredibly curious to find out how Hit will wrap up, hoping that the conclusion will bring everything together and make the novel make some sort of sense to me. I was getting worried, because some pretty serious plot threads were not wrapping up, like, say, her parentage. BAM. Plot threads dangling because this is a fucking surprise series starter. I was able to confirm book two by looking at the author’s twitter feed, so that’s definitely happening. Be warned: SERIES.
I will not be back to find out what happens next in Patsy Klein’s life. Hit very much missed the mark with me, lacking the humor I hoped for and just leaving me puzzled and unsettled.
Before I get into this, I want to be totally clear about the fact that it wasn’t Hit‘s blurb that made me curious; it was Delilah S. Dawson. I follow her on Twitter and love reading her blog posts. She’s incredible funny, laugh until tears are leaking from my eyes and can’t breathe funny. With how much I love all of the things I’ve read by her online, I figured that Hit couldn’t possibly miss, but, once again, I’ve been proven wrong.
The concept of Hit is a fun and compelling one. Dawson draws on some of the most troublesome aspects of American society: credit card debt, the economy, and the omnipresent terms and conditions no one ever reads. The premise is that Valor National, a bank, becomes influential and wealthy enough to pay off the national debt and become the government. Valor National then takes advantage of some scary agreements they hid in the terms and conditions of their credit card contracts: if the card owners default on their payments, Valor National can call the debt in, requiring the card holder to either pay the debt in full, become a bounty hunter for them for a few days, or die. Teen Patsy has to present ten people with these options, killing them if they don’t pay up or volunteer to do what she’s doing, or both she and her mom will be killed. The whole thing is absurd but also ridiculously possible; the concept ought to be the foundation for a delicious satire.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get satiric vibes from Hit. Everything’s told in a very realistic, gritty way. It’s more action/thriller/conspiracy/romance than commentary on the American way of life. There are elements of social commentary, of course, but I feel like that message gets muddied along the way. A satire should have a dark comedy underlying it that I really did not find here. There are some attempts at comedy, but they fell almost entirely flat for me, perhaps because so much of it consisted of odd southernisms. In fact, though most of her writing was descriptive and no-nonsense, but sometimes the metaphors and phrases didn’t make any sense to me.
It’s like when they say a goose walked over your grave, but this was one big effing goose.
Is this a thing? Hit is set in Georgia, which is where I live, and I’ve never heard this. Admittedly, I’m in Atlanta, which isn’t much like the rest of Georgia, but, based on my googling, it doesn’t seem like the most common phrase.
Somewhere, deep behind my ribs, in a place I didn’t know existed, my heart opens up like one of those blooming tea bags, the ones that start out tiny and dark and then blossom like a flower.
Her heart is a tea bag? Before she gets rid of her mom’s credit card debt by killing ten of Valor National’s creditors, maybe she should consult a physician, because that’s not healthy.
“That thing’s tech is tighter than a turtle’s butt.�
Ew. Also, I have no idea how tight turtle butts are, so this means nothing to me. Nor do I want to know. Nope nope nopeity nope.
“Shit on a biscuit.�
You’re already swearing, Patsy. No need to try to make it cutesy, bless your heart.
Hit‘s incredibly long chapters, one per debtor, also slowed me down. Some were fifty plus pages long, and it’s really hard for me to sustain my mental interest for that long a duration. I do think that Dawson does a great job with the realism aspects. Patsy’s not model beautiful; she has zits and awkward clothing. There’s a fantastic awkward boner scene at the most inopportune of moments. When Patsy has to kill people, it’s not pretty; it’s bloody and gross, mentioning bodily fluids leaking from the corpse.
The romance proved quite frustrating. Patsy’s first kill is Wyatt’s father. He confronts her and, because of reasons, they end up working as a team of sorts for the rest of the kills. They’re attracted to each other despite the circumstances and somewhat because of the increased tension and fear. Their connection’s pretty superficial, based mostly upon the fact that they’re willing to kill people and have similar musical taste, but I sort of get that. However, they only spend a couple of days together and they met when she KILLED HIS FATHER. Some ill-advised action, I can understand, but lovey feelings? FUCK NO. They keep getting mad at one another for not being trusting enough, but why the fuck would they trust each other? FUCKING WHY? Not to mention the bomb dropped by Amber:
Then, after all of that, I’m incredibly curious to find out how Hit will wrap up, hoping that the conclusion will bring everything together and make the novel make some sort of sense to me. I was getting worried, because some pretty serious plot threads were not wrapping up, like, say, her parentage. BAM. Plot threads dangling because this is a fucking surprise series starter. I was able to confirm book two by looking at the author’s twitter feed, so that’s definitely happening. Be warned: SERIES.
I will not be back to find out what happens next in Patsy Klein’s life. Hit very much missed the mark with me, lacking the humor I hoped for and just leaving me puzzled and unsettled.
March 21, 2016
My original audiobook review and many others can be found at .
Rather than start with a dystopia already in progress, Delilah S. Dawson starts right at the beginning on Day One of the apocalypse. Valor Savings has secretly just bought up all of America’s debt and now controls the nation. Congress has cashed out on their biggest-ever payday and the police have the day off while Valor hit-men go after debtors failing to properly contribute to society. Have a student loan, or a home mortgage? Still owe some money of your car? Then your name is on a list, all because you couldn’t be bothered to read the fine print. Now you have three options � pay your debt in full immediately, work for Valor Savings as a bounty hunter for five days, or die.
Seventeen-year-old Patsy is a Valor hit-man, coerced into taking the deal after her mother’s debt comes to light. Her mother has a number of outstanding bills and, already poor to begin with, cannot afford the medical care required to treat her cancer (as Patsy wryly notes, it costs more money to seek medical treatment than to become a doctor). Patsy is given the incentive to work as a hired gun in order to get her mom treatment courtesy of Valor, or else they both die. It’s not much of a deal, really, and there are no other options. She’s given a gun, a postal truck and a mail worker’s shirt to stay innocuous, and a list of ten names to deal with over the next five days.
Thankfully, Dawson takes the run-and-gun premise and imbues it with a nice bit of snark and charm, as well as a burgeoning romance between Patsy and Wyatt, whose father and brother both are on the Valor hit list. They make for an interesting couple, the very nature of their relationship underscored by a healthy amount of already built-in conflict, and while I at first felt their relationship somewhat strained credibility Dawson eventually won me over and I found myself rooting for them to succeed.
While Hit is labeled a Young Adult book, it’s certainly on the more mature end of the spectrum and the narrative is suitably dark with its violent plot and the beginning of the end for American society. Hit is also the first book in a series, and thus the narrative here provides a lot more questions than it can comfortably answer. Not everything is resolved neatly, and the ending perfectly sets up the sequel, Strike, due out April 2016.
On the narration side of things, Rebekkah Ross absolutely nails it. She has a lovely voice that carried the not-quite 8-hour listening time brilliantly, and I never doubted her as Patsy for a moment. There are a few times where an audiobook narrator instantly becomes the voice of a work or a series, and Ross is it for this work. Hit is a first-person POV narration, and right from the start Ross is Patsy. She slips into this role comfortably and pulls off the emotional range effortlessly, capturing Patsy’s angst, anger, and humor ridiculously well. The production is crisp and clean, with nary a hiccup to be found. All around, this is a very accomplished and professional effort and a wonderful audiobook.
After recently listening to Dawson describe Hit on the Three Guys With Beards podcast (hosted by authors Jonathan Maberry, Christopher Golden, and James A. Moore), I knew I had to check it out. And it was every bit as good as I had hoped it would be, even if I would have appreciated more in the way of resolution. But, hey, that’s what sequels are for, and if Strike is even half as good as Hit, I’ll be a very happy reader/listener.
[Audiobook provided for review by the audiobookreviewer.com]
Rather than start with a dystopia already in progress, Delilah S. Dawson starts right at the beginning on Day One of the apocalypse. Valor Savings has secretly just bought up all of America’s debt and now controls the nation. Congress has cashed out on their biggest-ever payday and the police have the day off while Valor hit-men go after debtors failing to properly contribute to society. Have a student loan, or a home mortgage? Still owe some money of your car? Then your name is on a list, all because you couldn’t be bothered to read the fine print. Now you have three options � pay your debt in full immediately, work for Valor Savings as a bounty hunter for five days, or die.
Seventeen-year-old Patsy is a Valor hit-man, coerced into taking the deal after her mother’s debt comes to light. Her mother has a number of outstanding bills and, already poor to begin with, cannot afford the medical care required to treat her cancer (as Patsy wryly notes, it costs more money to seek medical treatment than to become a doctor). Patsy is given the incentive to work as a hired gun in order to get her mom treatment courtesy of Valor, or else they both die. It’s not much of a deal, really, and there are no other options. She’s given a gun, a postal truck and a mail worker’s shirt to stay innocuous, and a list of ten names to deal with over the next five days.
Thankfully, Dawson takes the run-and-gun premise and imbues it with a nice bit of snark and charm, as well as a burgeoning romance between Patsy and Wyatt, whose father and brother both are on the Valor hit list. They make for an interesting couple, the very nature of their relationship underscored by a healthy amount of already built-in conflict, and while I at first felt their relationship somewhat strained credibility Dawson eventually won me over and I found myself rooting for them to succeed.
While Hit is labeled a Young Adult book, it’s certainly on the more mature end of the spectrum and the narrative is suitably dark with its violent plot and the beginning of the end for American society. Hit is also the first book in a series, and thus the narrative here provides a lot more questions than it can comfortably answer. Not everything is resolved neatly, and the ending perfectly sets up the sequel, Strike, due out April 2016.
On the narration side of things, Rebekkah Ross absolutely nails it. She has a lovely voice that carried the not-quite 8-hour listening time brilliantly, and I never doubted her as Patsy for a moment. There are a few times where an audiobook narrator instantly becomes the voice of a work or a series, and Ross is it for this work. Hit is a first-person POV narration, and right from the start Ross is Patsy. She slips into this role comfortably and pulls off the emotional range effortlessly, capturing Patsy’s angst, anger, and humor ridiculously well. The production is crisp and clean, with nary a hiccup to be found. All around, this is a very accomplished and professional effort and a wonderful audiobook.
After recently listening to Dawson describe Hit on the Three Guys With Beards podcast (hosted by authors Jonathan Maberry, Christopher Golden, and James A. Moore), I knew I had to check it out. And it was every bit as good as I had hoped it would be, even if I would have appreciated more in the way of resolution. But, hey, that’s what sequels are for, and if Strike is even half as good as Hit, I’ll be a very happy reader/listener.
[Audiobook provided for review by the audiobookreviewer.com]
May 30, 2015
Delilah S. Dawson is an author whose previous work I thoroughly enjoyed. Her adult paranormal romance series fought through my PNR allergies thanks to Ann Aguirre’s wholehearted recommendation, so when Delilah started writing in a genre I actually enjoy, I was over the moon. Her first YA book, Servants of the Storm, certainly had its problems, but it was delightfully creepy overall and I really enjoyed the tone. Hit is a very different book, with a very different dynamic, although no less spine-chilling.
Hit takes us to a near future, the very beginnings of a dystopian society, with most citizens still blissfully unaware. What was formerly known as Valor Savings bank (and now just Valor Savings) bought out the government and all institutions and is now, quite legally, the owner of America. They don’t actually need more money, but they want the debt reduced, so they send out collections agents free to kill people who can’t instantly return what they owe.
Each able-bodied person gets a choice: either work for Valor Savings as their agent for five days (which of course means becoming a cold-blooded killer), or forfeit your life to the bank. The fine print on people’s credit card contracts makes the blackmail and murder entirely legal � not that there’s anyone left to enforce the laws. Presented with the same choice due to her mother’s debt, Patsy makes the decision to spend five days working for Valor Savings. She gets a gun, a mail truck, and a list of ten names.
Patsy is the protagonist of this story, but she is by no means a heroine. She is a killer, and while she might be shaped by her circumstances, her constant claims that Valor Savings left her with no choice sounded like empty excuses. She chose to kill ten people in order to saver herself and her alcoholic mother, she chose to do what they told her to work off her mother’s debt. It was hard to follow her sometimes, seeing how she neatly convinced herself that things were completely out of her hands.
Rebekkah Ross is a fabulous narrator and she saved this book for me at times, especially when it became too hard to sympathize with Patsy. Her voice is well suited for a young character, and her characterization is excellent, even for male voices.
Although it poses many questions, Hit gives us very few answers. We still don’t know the true nature of Valor Savings or their plan, we know nothing of Patsy’s mother and especially her father, and we don’t know whether her plan actually worked. The answers will hopefully be revealed in Strike, but we’ll have to wait until March 2016 to get them.
Hit takes us to a near future, the very beginnings of a dystopian society, with most citizens still blissfully unaware. What was formerly known as Valor Savings bank (and now just Valor Savings) bought out the government and all institutions and is now, quite legally, the owner of America. They don’t actually need more money, but they want the debt reduced, so they send out collections agents free to kill people who can’t instantly return what they owe.
Each able-bodied person gets a choice: either work for Valor Savings as their agent for five days (which of course means becoming a cold-blooded killer), or forfeit your life to the bank. The fine print on people’s credit card contracts makes the blackmail and murder entirely legal � not that there’s anyone left to enforce the laws. Presented with the same choice due to her mother’s debt, Patsy makes the decision to spend five days working for Valor Savings. She gets a gun, a mail truck, and a list of ten names.
Patsy is the protagonist of this story, but she is by no means a heroine. She is a killer, and while she might be shaped by her circumstances, her constant claims that Valor Savings left her with no choice sounded like empty excuses. She chose to kill ten people in order to saver herself and her alcoholic mother, she chose to do what they told her to work off her mother’s debt. It was hard to follow her sometimes, seeing how she neatly convinced herself that things were completely out of her hands.
Rebekkah Ross is a fabulous narrator and she saved this book for me at times, especially when it became too hard to sympathize with Patsy. Her voice is well suited for a young character, and her characterization is excellent, even for male voices.
Although it poses many questions, Hit gives us very few answers. We still don’t know the true nature of Valor Savings or their plan, we know nothing of Patsy’s mother and especially her father, and we don’t know whether her plan actually worked. The answers will hopefully be revealed in Strike, but we’ll have to wait until March 2016 to get them.
March 31, 2016
I am indecisive about how to feel about the plot. It makes sense, but at the same time, it's not a believable pre-dystopia world for me. Not that I'm saying the possibility can't be real because I do love how this book is like a slap to the materialistic society in America.
The events fucked up the heroine. She wasn't some kid that the author forced to possess a bravado just so nothing could tear the heroine down. She had to make hard and reckless choices, and she acted and reacted realistically. She broke down, but she kept going too. However, I got too easily bored with her narration and the attempts at humor. She makes so many metaphors/similes throughout the story that reading it was like swallowing sand. Dry and mundane.
How fucking interesting. Now can you move on.
Other than that, I liked her portrayal as a struggling teenager.
It's funny how I warmed up to the romance right away, even though it was illogical. Someone kills your dad (even if you don't like your dad) in cold blood and you're going to go and risk your life for her? Wtf? That's just twisted. Still, it was a bit funny how it played out. My favorite scene: the boner scene. It was wonderfully awkward ;)
Back to the plot: I thought Hit was a standalone when I first started reading. Seeing how there were only more questions, it was frustrating. I'm not intrigued and I won't read the sequel.
The events fucked up the heroine. She wasn't some kid that the author forced to possess a bravado just so nothing could tear the heroine down. She had to make hard and reckless choices, and she acted and reacted realistically. She broke down, but she kept going too. However, I got too easily bored with her narration and the attempts at humor. She makes so many metaphors/similes throughout the story that reading it was like swallowing sand. Dry and mundane.
How fucking interesting. Now can you move on.
Other than that, I liked her portrayal as a struggling teenager.
It's funny how I warmed up to the romance right away, even though it was illogical. Someone kills your dad (even if you don't like your dad) in cold blood and you're going to go and risk your life for her? Wtf? That's just twisted. Still, it was a bit funny how it played out. My favorite scene: the boner scene. It was wonderfully awkward ;)
Back to the plot: I thought Hit was a standalone when I first started reading. Seeing how there were only more questions, it was frustrating. I'm not intrigued and I won't read the sequel.
April 27, 2015
*Genre* Young Adult, Science Fiction
*Rating* 3.0
*My Thoughts*
Delilah S. Dawson's Hit is a story that isn't far out of the realm of possibilities for a country, like the US, who has borrowed trillions dollars and continues to have unfunded liabilities that they can't pay back. Imagine, however, that instead of allowing the US government to continue it's spending and borrowing ways, a rather large bank (Valor Savings) steps in and buys the countries entire debt back.
*Full Review posted @ Gizmos Reviews 04/27/2015*
*Reading via Pulsit* Published April 14th 2015 by Simon Pulse
*Rating* 3.0
*My Thoughts*
Delilah S. Dawson's Hit is a story that isn't far out of the realm of possibilities for a country, like the US, who has borrowed trillions dollars and continues to have unfunded liabilities that they can't pay back. Imagine, however, that instead of allowing the US government to continue it's spending and borrowing ways, a rather large bank (Valor Savings) steps in and buys the countries entire debt back.
*Full Review posted @ Gizmos Reviews 04/27/2015*
*Reading via Pulsit* Published April 14th 2015 by Simon Pulse
February 28, 2015
*Review copy provided by publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!*
This book was like one of those 911 calls that this book's world couldn't take—breathtaking, heart-pounding, and certainly life changing. Coming from being my first Delilah S. Dawson book, I’m all but disappointed and this is definitely going to make it onto my top 10 favourite books that were released in 2015.
I feel so mega-fortunate to have been given a copy of this way early before the real release date. I was captivated from the first second, and I really need to go and read Servants of the Storm as soon as possible. I’m still left so breathless and speechless. Gear with me here, as I blow through my fangirlized review.
Hit really did hit me hard, right in the heart. Dawson has truly brought a new subject of dystopia into the world. Right from the first “victim,� I thought of this sort of like a mix of The Purge, one of those crazy thriller movies that really scared the beep out of me. It’s very difficult to find those touching dystopias out there, as the world is mostly revolved to read those rebellion-testing types of books. Not that I have a problem with those, it just seems like the world is getting too hooked on Divergent and Matched. This was like a breath of fresh air, and YOU ALL NEED TO PICK THIS BOOK UP AS SOON AS YOU CAN. I feel so blessed to have gotten this out of Edelweiss early, haha.
As you read this, you’ll be thinking about how such a powerful and moving story can come out of a simple idea. The plot was so magnificent and moving, and I was unable to do anything else except reading. I felt like I was there, right in the book. Be ready to become Sherlock Holmes, as theories will be smashing into your head every page, people!
For something that was 336 pages, it felt like there was all of the depth in the world and for a standalone (which I’m surely hoping it’s 100% not), so much was happening all the time. There really wasn’t a page that passed where there wasn’t some sort of event that changed the storyline. And everything all began when we met the most kickass protagonist, Patsy Klein. In the beginning, her role with the whole bank (Valor) and the government was unclear, but the author got us knowing right away.
She’s basically a bounty hunter for the government. She’s living alone with her mother who is depressed, once was in the hospital, and is keeping many secrets from her—including one that gets Patsy this “job� and she’s forced to or else her and her mother are killed. Yeah, there’s no more “America.� Valor is now owning everything and everyone, and they seem to think that they can do whatever the hell they’d like to. Patsy is now an assassin, and she’s assigned to go after 10 people—people who haven’t paid their debts to Valor. Patsy has to go up to each and every one of them, one by one, and give them three choices: pay the debt in cash on the spot, get killed, or become an assassin. It’s basically as simple as that, but once Patsy begins, she’s not sure if she’s able to handle 10 deaths, if possible. She has five days to get all 10 to make their decision, and as she meets the “victims,� she finds that there’s something about them that’s familiar. Of course, the Valor has done their homeowrk and knows everything about Patsy and her family. And then, she falls in love so easily. What else is there to take a stand against her and winning?
Patsy Klein is probably my most favourite protagonist, ever.
EVER, PEOPLE. Now, you’re probably thinking I’m crazy, but I’m so fucking obsessed with this book. After reading, it’s all I can think about and I feel forced to write a super long review to get all of my thoughts together. Patsy was the most kickass and badass character to have hit my shelves. At the same time, she’s sweet and caring and independent, and she doesn’t let people change her way of thinking, no matter what they have for her. She’s willing to risk and sacrifice herself to make people in her life happy. God, she’s also a genius, by the way. Who’d plan that whole ending out so well as she did? Albert Einstein has competition from the looks of it.
Shh� Don’t tell anyone, but�I’d sure love to be a bounty hunter if I had her smarts and ways, hehe. I HAVE A WOMAN CRUSH ON PATSY! *apologizes to the bookgods for my behaviour*
Old men were afraid of her, every single victim that she had got the shivers when she pointed that gun up at them. I SQUEAL WHEN SHE DOES HER ACTION SCENES. And really——she doesn’t need a man to cover her up and help her. Wyatt must have been so proud when she’d just walk out of those crappy homes like a boss with a dead body lying on the floor.
From the other reviews I’ve read on ŷ, people have noted that they don’t seem to understand why Wyatt trusted Patsy so easily. It’s complicated. But I guess that every book needs a little impossible in it, and their true love and realism just fit together like peanut butter and jelly. For me, their love wasn’t something to question or think hard about. It just happened, slowly, and they had such a bond and friendship that it was meant to be. AND THEN THAT ENDING?
The ending wasn’t really happy� It was agonizing, but obvious. I didn’t even think that it would happen, and that was the greatest ending to such a heart-pounding read. The best thing was that the characters were happy (I’m totally am not going to spoil this at all) and there were no complaints throughout the whole book whatsoever.
I have this huge scientific theory about what was the meaning behind this whole book, by the way:
So the government took over the world, eventually. But there were rebels, just as Wyatt and Patsy became to be, but they were the good kind. They probably joined that group that Patsy found out about when she was at Adelaine’s house, and probably contacted Patsy’s mother later if things got okay and all was calm.
Okay, it wasn’t that scientific, but I do hope that happiness occurred. We can all hope, right?
One of the best things about this book was the fact that there was such a tight connection between the main protagonists, Wyatt and Patsy. They didn’t feel like they had to kill in order to survive—mainly Patsy in this situation, but they did it for others. And nothing was intense and it wasn’t one of those heavy romances where it all focused on that. The meaning behind this book was so far in the lines, so you’ll probably be sitting there after trying to figure it all out.
We really need a sequel HERE, people. If it’s a standalone, then the ending was really cliffhang-y, but I don’t mind—since this book was so amazing. Delilah S. Dawson is going to impress every single one of you, just wait. I still can’t enough, and this is totally listed as 2015’s best dystopias; I know it’ll be.
From PATSY (THE MOST KICKASS PROTAGONIST EVER) TO HOT WYATT, TO THE GORGEOUS STORY AND ADDICTING PLOT, to the romance and the meaning, there’s no complaints here, not even a 0.0000001% chance of any. Hit was calm, sweet, and pounding to the heart, banging to the head, and most of all, memorable to a crazy reader. I NEED MORE, I really don’t know how life is going to go on without this.
This book was like one of those 911 calls that this book's world couldn't take—breathtaking, heart-pounding, and certainly life changing. Coming from being my first Delilah S. Dawson book, I’m all but disappointed and this is definitely going to make it onto my top 10 favourite books that were released in 2015.
I feel so mega-fortunate to have been given a copy of this way early before the real release date. I was captivated from the first second, and I really need to go and read Servants of the Storm as soon as possible. I’m still left so breathless and speechless. Gear with me here, as I blow through my fangirlized review.
Hit really did hit me hard, right in the heart. Dawson has truly brought a new subject of dystopia into the world. Right from the first “victim,� I thought of this sort of like a mix of The Purge, one of those crazy thriller movies that really scared the beep out of me. It’s very difficult to find those touching dystopias out there, as the world is mostly revolved to read those rebellion-testing types of books. Not that I have a problem with those, it just seems like the world is getting too hooked on Divergent and Matched. This was like a breath of fresh air, and YOU ALL NEED TO PICK THIS BOOK UP AS SOON AS YOU CAN. I feel so blessed to have gotten this out of Edelweiss early, haha.
As you read this, you’ll be thinking about how such a powerful and moving story can come out of a simple idea. The plot was so magnificent and moving, and I was unable to do anything else except reading. I felt like I was there, right in the book. Be ready to become Sherlock Holmes, as theories will be smashing into your head every page, people!
For something that was 336 pages, it felt like there was all of the depth in the world and for a standalone (which I’m surely hoping it’s 100% not), so much was happening all the time. There really wasn’t a page that passed where there wasn’t some sort of event that changed the storyline. And everything all began when we met the most kickass protagonist, Patsy Klein. In the beginning, her role with the whole bank (Valor) and the government was unclear, but the author got us knowing right away.
She’s basically a bounty hunter for the government. She’s living alone with her mother who is depressed, once was in the hospital, and is keeping many secrets from her—including one that gets Patsy this “job� and she’s forced to or else her and her mother are killed. Yeah, there’s no more “America.� Valor is now owning everything and everyone, and they seem to think that they can do whatever the hell they’d like to. Patsy is now an assassin, and she’s assigned to go after 10 people—people who haven’t paid their debts to Valor. Patsy has to go up to each and every one of them, one by one, and give them three choices: pay the debt in cash on the spot, get killed, or become an assassin. It’s basically as simple as that, but once Patsy begins, she’s not sure if she’s able to handle 10 deaths, if possible. She has five days to get all 10 to make their decision, and as she meets the “victims,� she finds that there’s something about them that’s familiar. Of course, the Valor has done their homeowrk and knows everything about Patsy and her family. And then, she falls in love so easily. What else is there to take a stand against her and winning?
Patsy Klein is probably my most favourite protagonist, ever.
EVER, PEOPLE. Now, you’re probably thinking I’m crazy, but I’m so fucking obsessed with this book. After reading, it’s all I can think about and I feel forced to write a super long review to get all of my thoughts together. Patsy was the most kickass and badass character to have hit my shelves. At the same time, she’s sweet and caring and independent, and she doesn’t let people change her way of thinking, no matter what they have for her. She’s willing to risk and sacrifice herself to make people in her life happy. God, she’s also a genius, by the way. Who’d plan that whole ending out so well as she did? Albert Einstein has competition from the looks of it.
Shh� Don’t tell anyone, but�I’d sure love to be a bounty hunter if I had her smarts and ways, hehe. I HAVE A WOMAN CRUSH ON PATSY! *apologizes to the bookgods for my behaviour*
Old men were afraid of her, every single victim that she had got the shivers when she pointed that gun up at them. I SQUEAL WHEN SHE DOES HER ACTION SCENES. And really——she doesn’t need a man to cover her up and help her. Wyatt must have been so proud when she’d just walk out of those crappy homes like a boss with a dead body lying on the floor.
From the other reviews I’ve read on ŷ, people have noted that they don’t seem to understand why Wyatt trusted Patsy so easily. It’s complicated. But I guess that every book needs a little impossible in it, and their true love and realism just fit together like peanut butter and jelly. For me, their love wasn’t something to question or think hard about. It just happened, slowly, and they had such a bond and friendship that it was meant to be. AND THEN THAT ENDING?
The ending wasn’t really happy� It was agonizing, but obvious. I didn’t even think that it would happen, and that was the greatest ending to such a heart-pounding read. The best thing was that the characters were happy (I’m totally am not going to spoil this at all) and there were no complaints throughout the whole book whatsoever.
I have this huge scientific theory about what was the meaning behind this whole book, by the way:
So the government took over the world, eventually. But there were rebels, just as Wyatt and Patsy became to be, but they were the good kind. They probably joined that group that Patsy found out about when she was at Adelaine’s house, and probably contacted Patsy’s mother later if things got okay and all was calm.
Okay, it wasn’t that scientific, but I do hope that happiness occurred. We can all hope, right?
One of the best things about this book was the fact that there was such a tight connection between the main protagonists, Wyatt and Patsy. They didn’t feel like they had to kill in order to survive—mainly Patsy in this situation, but they did it for others. And nothing was intense and it wasn’t one of those heavy romances where it all focused on that. The meaning behind this book was so far in the lines, so you’ll probably be sitting there after trying to figure it all out.
We really need a sequel HERE, people. If it’s a standalone, then the ending was really cliffhang-y, but I don’t mind—since this book was so amazing. Delilah S. Dawson is going to impress every single one of you, just wait. I still can’t enough, and this is totally listed as 2015’s best dystopias; I know it’ll be.
From PATSY (THE MOST KICKASS PROTAGONIST EVER) TO HOT WYATT, TO THE GORGEOUS STORY AND ADDICTING PLOT, to the romance and the meaning, there’s no complaints here, not even a 0.0000001% chance of any. Hit was calm, sweet, and pounding to the heart, banging to the head, and most of all, memorable to a crazy reader. I NEED MORE, I really don’t know how life is going to go on without this.
April 21, 2015
I appreciate the novels by Delilah S. Dawson and when I saw the release of this one, I was immediately intrigued. The author is unparalleled to create different and dark atmospheres and she really managed to do something very interesting here.
The world has changed and the United States have discovered the perfect solution to get rid of the debt they have accumulated over the years: Valor National Bank. This company has just bought everything, emergency numbers, police and other important institutions in the eyes of people. That’s where the « suits » enter, the people who work for the bank and now take in account the small characters of the credit card applications contracts to demand all the money that the customers asked them. Our heroine, Patsy finds herself embarked on a crazy story in which she would not have liked to fall. Her mother with debts, she receives the same choice that she must offer the people on her list: to pay the amount borrowed at once, to work for 5 days for the bank as a hitman or to be killed instantly. A very difficult choice� But Patsy wants to live, she wants her mother to live, and she is desperate to keep it that way. Yet she would never have expected to see the persons of her list related to her in one way or another. How is this possible? But in addition to that, she will work with Wyatt, an initially unwanted sidekick but who will eventually become a rock and a pillar in her life. But now, Wyatt also has an interest in this story, and while he works with Patsy, his brother is the last name on the list and he is determined to prevent her from killing him.
We find ourselves embedded in a story where Patricia is trying to become someone she hates and must finally face her past, her desires, her friends and her family. Surprisingly, she will also learn a little more about her father disappeared since her 4 years old. It was interesting to see how people will eventually be manipulated without trying to really rebel. This is one of the things I had a problem with, the inconsistencies about certain subjects. This can range from a lack of data on the past of the characters, the Patsy’s father or even about the actions of the protagonists. We’re even left with a little feeling of incomplete that is quite disturbing because we have many issues in the history and ultimately we really get no response. Maybe is it the goal and we’ll have all that in a second volume but I think it lacked a little something more here.
Patsy is a girl who will do anything to survive and she shows it precisely here even if it is really not easy. I loved that Wyatt was also present for her when she needed it, and yet it’s hard to really trust him because we feel that he’s hiding something without really understanding what it is exactly.
In any case I still had a good time and I’m curious to read more to have all the answers to my questions that I look forward to! Many things that I want to understand!
April 18, 2016
This and other reviews can be found on
MY THOUGHTS
A dystopian book with a plot based on how no one reads the fine print, and now they either die or become assassins. Who reads the fine print, right? No one does, I don't, so a dystopian based on this is very interesting.
Thanks to some fine print with their credit cards, Valor Savings Bank has full permission to kill their customers or force them to become assassins. When Patsy's mom becomes in debt, they come to her house and threaten to kill her mother and burn their house down if Patsy doesn't kill people for them. She now has to kill ten people in less than a week and she quickly realizes that all ten of these people are somehow connected to her.
This book was very fast-paced and a lot happens in a short amount of time. This book spans in less than a week if that gives you any idea. I already mentioned how I find the premise very interesting and so unique and I do think that, at most parts it was done well. It was horrible what Patsy was going through, obviously, and with each person she changed and was affected deeply. As time goes on, she also grows more hatred towards Valor.
One thing that we get a hint of, but I wish there was more, was Valor's takeover. Valor took over the emergency numbers and who knows what else. I really want to know fully how Valor took over and how much control it has. Also, there is a hint of another company trying to similarly take control. This isn't really a big deal, neither of these are, since they both are most likely coming to play in the sequel.
A bigger issue that I tried to ignore was the romance. There's a bit of a teamwork/romance that Patsy gets with Wyatt. What I can't ignore is that Patsy not only killed his father, but is also supposed to kill his brother. I just think that this was just way too unbelievable and no one can forgive someone for that so quickly, no matter the circumstances.
IN CONCLUSION
Overall, this was a very original, fast-paced dystopian thriller. It kept my interest all the way through. I have issues with the romance in the time span, but that's the only major issue. I would like to know more about Valor and this horrible new world and I hope to get more answers in the sequel!
MY THOUGHTS
A dystopian book with a plot based on how no one reads the fine print, and now they either die or become assassins. Who reads the fine print, right? No one does, I don't, so a dystopian based on this is very interesting.
Thanks to some fine print with their credit cards, Valor Savings Bank has full permission to kill their customers or force them to become assassins. When Patsy's mom becomes in debt, they come to her house and threaten to kill her mother and burn their house down if Patsy doesn't kill people for them. She now has to kill ten people in less than a week and she quickly realizes that all ten of these people are somehow connected to her.
This book was very fast-paced and a lot happens in a short amount of time. This book spans in less than a week if that gives you any idea. I already mentioned how I find the premise very interesting and so unique and I do think that, at most parts it was done well. It was horrible what Patsy was going through, obviously, and with each person she changed and was affected deeply. As time goes on, she also grows more hatred towards Valor.
One thing that we get a hint of, but I wish there was more, was Valor's takeover. Valor took over the emergency numbers and who knows what else. I really want to know fully how Valor took over and how much control it has. Also, there is a hint of another company trying to similarly take control. This isn't really a big deal, neither of these are, since they both are most likely coming to play in the sequel.
A bigger issue that I tried to ignore was the romance. There's a bit of a teamwork/romance that Patsy gets with Wyatt. What I can't ignore is that Patsy not only killed his father, but is also supposed to kill his brother. I just think that this was just way too unbelievable and no one can forgive someone for that so quickly, no matter the circumstances.
IN CONCLUSION
Overall, this was a very original, fast-paced dystopian thriller. It kept my interest all the way through. I have issues with the romance in the time span, but that's the only major issue. I would like to know more about Valor and this horrible new world and I hope to get more answers in the sequel!
November 14, 2015
This beautiful little piece of book mail arrived a while ago and got bumped to the top of my to-read pile, because I have a bit of a crush on Dawson and her work. Her last book, Servants of the Storm, blew my mind with her writing and the WTF twist at the end. (I’m still hanging out for a sequel, BTW!)
Hit didn’t disappoint.
The genre is dystopian, but it’s the kind of dystopian we don’t often see except in zombie fiction � the kind where the world is just starting to collapse. The government has been taken over by an Evil Corporation (TM) and no one has realised yet. No one except Patsy, the main character � and presumably a bunch of other indentured assassins, although we don’t really get to see them.
Patsy is given five days to confront ten people who have defaulted on their debts with Valor Savings Bank. They have the choice between paying their debts (which they can’t), agreeing to be indentured assassins themselves, or being executed. The book has one chapter per victim, with the chapter title being their name. (I loved that touch so much.)
Of course, there’s even more going on than a seventeen-year-old girl being forced to shoot people and having a nervous breakdown, and the sense that there was a greater, overarching scheme takes this from The Hunger Games in small town USA to “can I guess the conspiracy theory�. (For the record, I guessed some of it.)
Like Servants of the Storm, Hit is a book in dire need of a sequel. I loved how it ended, but I need to know what happens next. NEED TO, I SAY.
Hit didn’t disappoint.
The genre is dystopian, but it’s the kind of dystopian we don’t often see except in zombie fiction � the kind where the world is just starting to collapse. The government has been taken over by an Evil Corporation (TM) and no one has realised yet. No one except Patsy, the main character � and presumably a bunch of other indentured assassins, although we don’t really get to see them.
Patsy is given five days to confront ten people who have defaulted on their debts with Valor Savings Bank. They have the choice between paying their debts (which they can’t), agreeing to be indentured assassins themselves, or being executed. The book has one chapter per victim, with the chapter title being their name. (I loved that touch so much.)
Of course, there’s even more going on than a seventeen-year-old girl being forced to shoot people and having a nervous breakdown, and the sense that there was a greater, overarching scheme takes this from The Hunger Games in small town USA to “can I guess the conspiracy theory�. (For the record, I guessed some of it.)
Like Servants of the Storm, Hit is a book in dire need of a sequel. I loved how it ended, but I need to know what happens next. NEED TO, I SAY.
September 9, 2020
I read this for the first time almost 5 years ago 😳
And it definitely held up! I very much enjoyed it the second time around and am excited to finish off the duology 👏🏻
~~~
I genuinely enjoyed this book. I thought the premise sounded interesting and reminded me very much for some reason of Repo! The Genetic Opera which I love. I was a big fan of Patsy as a character and the way she reacted to being in such an impossibly horrifying situation. I loved Wyatt and I very much enjoyed the little bits and pieces we learned about Patsy's father throughout the story, as well as the twist of every victim bring somehow connected to Patsy. I was very satisfied with how this book ended and cannot wait to pick up the next installment.
And it definitely held up! I very much enjoyed it the second time around and am excited to finish off the duology 👏🏻
~~~
I genuinely enjoyed this book. I thought the premise sounded interesting and reminded me very much for some reason of Repo! The Genetic Opera which I love. I was a big fan of Patsy as a character and the way she reacted to being in such an impossibly horrifying situation. I loved Wyatt and I very much enjoyed the little bits and pieces we learned about Patsy's father throughout the story, as well as the twist of every victim bring somehow connected to Patsy. I was very satisfied with how this book ended and cannot wait to pick up the next installment.
April 15, 2015
Hit was not the best book I’ve read this year, which is a shame because Ms. Dawson is lovely and I was really intrigued by the concept. I mean, hitmen?! YES PLEASE. Give me alllll the hitmen. Unfortunately, I ended up having quite a few issues with this book and I didn’t really enjoy it after the first fifty or so pages.
Hit starts off well, as do a lot of books that I end up not enjoying, as it introduces Patsy, the main character, and a world where a bank has pretty much taken over the American government and is turning people into hitmen and killing many others. Like I said, the concept is awesome. I’m totally behind the evil bank/government/hitmen idea. But the execution was off.
First thing’s first [I’m the realest], I thought the timeline was silly. Patsy has five days to kill ten people, and Hit begins on her first day. She is not a hardened assassin, but nor is she particularly affecting by the way she kills people. For a book about hitmen, there was very little action, and Hit just follows Patsy as she goes from one house to another. It’s not very interesting, and I didn’t get either the badass scenes or the emotional attachment that I was expecting from this book and its main character.
Then there’s the ship. Oh my god, the ship. It’s not even a ship for me, it’s a couple of characters with little to no chemistry and a guy with tonnes of Edward Cullen vibes. First of all, Wyatt and Patsy made no sense at all as a couple. Patsy killed his father and was going to kill his brother, and all of a sudden Wyatt is travelling around with her as she goes to kill people. A) Did he not have a problem with this? B) Why didn’t he have a problem with this? C) Why? And then there’s the scene where they’re making out in the back of the van and Wyatt flings himself off of Patsy, Edward Cullen/Stefan Salvatore style, like NO I MUSTN’T TOUCH YOU. I got some violent flashbacks with that scene, let me tell you. Wyatt also calls Patsy “girl� and I really hate that pet name. *shudders*
My third and probably final problem with this book was the use of the term “spastic�. I’ve done a bit of Googling and apparently “spastic� doesn’t have such negative connotations in the US, but here in the UK it’s a derogatory term used to refer to disabled people. And I fucking hate it. Dawson is from the US so I don’t hold this against her at all, but Patsy using that word really riled me up. So. Yeah. That was fun.
In case you can’t tell, I won’t be recommending Hit to anybody. Much like Twilight, Hit is a terrible romance story thinly veiled as action-packed genre fiction. I’m disappointed, to say the least.
Hit starts off well, as do a lot of books that I end up not enjoying, as it introduces Patsy, the main character, and a world where a bank has pretty much taken over the American government and is turning people into hitmen and killing many others. Like I said, the concept is awesome. I’m totally behind the evil bank/government/hitmen idea. But the execution was off.
First thing’s first [I’m the realest], I thought the timeline was silly. Patsy has five days to kill ten people, and Hit begins on her first day. She is not a hardened assassin, but nor is she particularly affecting by the way she kills people. For a book about hitmen, there was very little action, and Hit just follows Patsy as she goes from one house to another. It’s not very interesting, and I didn’t get either the badass scenes or the emotional attachment that I was expecting from this book and its main character.
Then there’s the ship. Oh my god, the ship. It’s not even a ship for me, it’s a couple of characters with little to no chemistry and a guy with tonnes of Edward Cullen vibes. First of all, Wyatt and Patsy made no sense at all as a couple. Patsy killed his father and was going to kill his brother, and all of a sudden Wyatt is travelling around with her as she goes to kill people. A) Did he not have a problem with this? B) Why didn’t he have a problem with this? C) Why? And then there’s the scene where they’re making out in the back of the van and Wyatt flings himself off of Patsy, Edward Cullen/Stefan Salvatore style, like NO I MUSTN’T TOUCH YOU. I got some violent flashbacks with that scene, let me tell you. Wyatt also calls Patsy “girl� and I really hate that pet name. *shudders*
My third and probably final problem with this book was the use of the term “spastic�. I’ve done a bit of Googling and apparently “spastic� doesn’t have such negative connotations in the US, but here in the UK it’s a derogatory term used to refer to disabled people. And I fucking hate it. Dawson is from the US so I don’t hold this against her at all, but Patsy using that word really riled me up. So. Yeah. That was fun.
In case you can’t tell, I won’t be recommending Hit to anybody. Much like Twilight, Hit is a terrible romance story thinly veiled as action-packed genre fiction. I’m disappointed, to say the least.
September 18, 2015
3.5 stars
Hit asks more questions than it is prepared to answer.
Plot: The United States has sold its debt to the banks, and because no one cares about what they're signing, the banks have legally been killing the "weakest links" of society. What I liked the most about this concept is that it made me think, a lot. As a society, we no longer even consider documents without scribbling our John Hancock, so what's stopping anyone from abusing that power? While it started off as Patsy knocking off 10 people from a list of "deadbeats," she begins becoming more introspected and seeing her victims more as people instead of names on a page.
I bought this one on a complete whim with no research so I had no idea that Hit was the first installment in a series. Be preared to be scratching your head in confusion for a good chunk of this book. I found myself desperate for the bread crumbs of information that Dawson would throw the reader every now and then.
Characters: Patsy has not known an easy life which explains how she can judge others for living in excess. While she felt completely devoid of emotion for the first half of the book, she did begin to open herself up to the reader eventually and speculate more about the human condition and society. I enjoyed her commentary on her situation and the tidbits of her past explaining how she came to be the person she is today.
There is a boy-situation in this one which seems a bit unrealistic. When you're knocking off johns, I feel like your least concern should be some boy. They do fall victim to insta-love, but I do believe that Wyatt was a good addition to the team and aided in humanizing Patsy.
World Building: Hit is scary because, like most dystopians, there is a grain of truth. It's not too hard to imagine a bank laying claim to a country and doing with it as it will. Patsy's inner critique and the narrator helped illustrate the struggle between the town's social classes.
Audiobook Performance: Rebekkeh Ross gives a 5-star performance in this audiobook! Her male voices are believable and none of her accents sound offensive or too far out. She captured Patsy's tortured voice well which made the reading experience even more enjoyable.
Short N Sweet: Hit is a non-stop thriller that paints a dark future that doesn't seem so out-there. I personally recommend the auiodbook edition, because I believe the narrator delivers a level of humanity that can't be read on the pages.
Hit asks more questions than it is prepared to answer.
Plot: The United States has sold its debt to the banks, and because no one cares about what they're signing, the banks have legally been killing the "weakest links" of society. What I liked the most about this concept is that it made me think, a lot. As a society, we no longer even consider documents without scribbling our John Hancock, so what's stopping anyone from abusing that power? While it started off as Patsy knocking off 10 people from a list of "deadbeats," she begins becoming more introspected and seeing her victims more as people instead of names on a page.
I bought this one on a complete whim with no research so I had no idea that Hit was the first installment in a series. Be preared to be scratching your head in confusion for a good chunk of this book. I found myself desperate for the bread crumbs of information that Dawson would throw the reader every now and then.
Characters: Patsy has not known an easy life which explains how she can judge others for living in excess. While she felt completely devoid of emotion for the first half of the book, she did begin to open herself up to the reader eventually and speculate more about the human condition and society. I enjoyed her commentary on her situation and the tidbits of her past explaining how she came to be the person she is today.
There is a boy-situation in this one which seems a bit unrealistic. When you're knocking off johns, I feel like your least concern should be some boy. They do fall victim to insta-love, but I do believe that Wyatt was a good addition to the team and aided in humanizing Patsy.
World Building: Hit is scary because, like most dystopians, there is a grain of truth. It's not too hard to imagine a bank laying claim to a country and doing with it as it will. Patsy's inner critique and the narrator helped illustrate the struggle between the town's social classes.
Audiobook Performance: Rebekkeh Ross gives a 5-star performance in this audiobook! Her male voices are believable and none of her accents sound offensive or too far out. She captured Patsy's tortured voice well which made the reading experience even more enjoyable.
Short N Sweet: Hit is a non-stop thriller that paints a dark future that doesn't seem so out-there. I personally recommend the auiodbook edition, because I believe the narrator delivers a level of humanity that can't be read on the pages.
May 10, 2015
This is the third review I have written for this book. The first one was brief and basically just said I didn't like it. The second one slightly elaborated the first one. Each time I thought I could move on from this, I found myself contemplating it further. Now that I've had some time to think about what I liked and didn't like about Hit, I might be able to put it to rest.
I did enjoy this story. I really loved Patsy, she was well written and I connected to her. Plus, she's a knitter! She knits throughout the book which, OMG, I just wanted to become her bff. She has such a great personality and super charming. There was some things she did that I didn't understand and left me baffled. That was the little seed that left doubt spreading through each page I turned.
Then there is the love interest, Wyatt (who does crossword puzzles). He's exactly who you'd wish for to have your back. I especially love the mystery behind him as well. There's nothing like a hero dressed like a gorgeous guy who's sweet, charming, sensitive(maybe a bit too much) and somewhat smart.
Delilah also gives us Matty as a bonus, a beautiful black lab you can't help but fall in love with.
So, the biggest issue I had with this story was not the characters but the plot and theme itself. A bank that takes over the United States and blackmails people into either working for them (as a cold blooded murderer) or you die. There you have it. It was just so out there and unbelievable I just couldn't wrap my brain around it. Every page I just became more and more disappointed because of how great everything else was but the story itself was just plain stupid and sad and frustrating and disturbing. With all the shootings in the news and the mass killings in schools, I had a really hard time liking what the story was about. As I said before I loved the characters Patsy, Wyatt and Matty and wished they had been written into a different storyline.
There you have it. My (hopefully) final review.
I did enjoy this story. I really loved Patsy, she was well written and I connected to her. Plus, she's a knitter! She knits throughout the book which, OMG, I just wanted to become her bff. She has such a great personality and super charming. There was some things she did that I didn't understand and left me baffled. That was the little seed that left doubt spreading through each page I turned.
Then there is the love interest, Wyatt (who does crossword puzzles). He's exactly who you'd wish for to have your back. I especially love the mystery behind him as well. There's nothing like a hero dressed like a gorgeous guy who's sweet, charming, sensitive(maybe a bit too much) and somewhat smart.
Delilah also gives us Matty as a bonus, a beautiful black lab you can't help but fall in love with.
So, the biggest issue I had with this story was not the characters but the plot and theme itself. A bank that takes over the United States and blackmails people into either working for them (as a cold blooded murderer) or you die. There you have it. It was just so out there and unbelievable I just couldn't wrap my brain around it. Every page I just became more and more disappointed because of how great everything else was but the story itself was just plain stupid and sad and frustrating and disturbing. With all the shootings in the news and the mass killings in schools, I had a really hard time liking what the story was about. As I said before I loved the characters Patsy, Wyatt and Matty and wished they had been written into a different storyline.
There you have it. My (hopefully) final review.
February 22, 2015
In the not distant future, America gets out of debt because corporate America, Valor Bank, pays it all off. That somehow equates to Valor owning America. Constitution is null and void, laws are gone, and Valor calls all the shots. Valor also calls in loans to be paid in full. Pay it now, pledge to be an indentured servant for five days to be a bounty hunter, or die via the teenager delivering your choices and holding a gun.
That was the choice Patsy Klein (really) heard given to her mother. Except the bounty hunter job was given to 17 year old Patsy because her mom has cancer and no insurance. But Valor will care for her mother if Patsy becomes an assassin. Very unfair since Patsy's mother is a single parent and gave her a strong moral fiber. Oh, well. Throw out that moral fiber and take the deal. So she does.
Five days, ten kills. Or maybe they'll join her in this anarchist justice. First kill a man who is bad. Bad because Patsy recognizes him and realizes the part he played in her life. Her lack of remorse along with the mostly single dimensional characters was off. Sure, she throws up once but she just keeps going. Even when the victims finally seem to have something interesting to Patsy. Then she feels remorse for not getting answers before she kills them.
Adding another layer of weirdness, the first man she kills has a hot son about her age. He's mad that Patsy killed his dad. Then he's sad. Then he gets over it because his dad was a jerk, anyway. What the heck? He'll just join her and help her save her mom. And his brother is on the list, too? Let's make out.
There were a couple of interesting twists that could have been resolved in this book but weren't because Patsy killed all of the interesting fountains of information. Apparently she forgot her ADHD medicine and lost all her impulse control. And conscience. But she has a hot boyfriend.
That was the choice Patsy Klein (really) heard given to her mother. Except the bounty hunter job was given to 17 year old Patsy because her mom has cancer and no insurance. But Valor will care for her mother if Patsy becomes an assassin. Very unfair since Patsy's mother is a single parent and gave her a strong moral fiber. Oh, well. Throw out that moral fiber and take the deal. So she does.
Five days, ten kills. Or maybe they'll join her in this anarchist justice. First kill a man who is bad. Bad because Patsy recognizes him and realizes the part he played in her life. Her lack of remorse along with the mostly single dimensional characters was off. Sure, she throws up once but she just keeps going. Even when the victims finally seem to have something interesting to Patsy. Then she feels remorse for not getting answers before she kills them.
Adding another layer of weirdness, the first man she kills has a hot son about her age. He's mad that Patsy killed his dad. Then he's sad. Then he gets over it because his dad was a jerk, anyway. What the heck? He'll just join her and help her save her mom. And his brother is on the list, too? Let's make out.
There were a couple of interesting twists that could have been resolved in this book but weren't because Patsy killed all of the interesting fountains of information. Apparently she forgot her ADHD medicine and lost all her impulse control. And conscience. But she has a hot boyfriend.
August 19, 2015
I borrowed Hit by Delilah S. Dawson from work and this is my honest review.
In Hit, we meet teen Patsy who is tasked with the scary job of offering people two choices; to die because of their debt or to be a bounty hunter like her, all because her mom is underneath her own pile of debt. Throughout the novel we follow Carly on her journey of ruining the lives of many.
After reading the description of this book I knew it was for me. Ever since I started getting back into teen I have loved roadtrip books. This might not be a traditional road trip story but it is close enough and I loved it to pieces. The plot was my favorite parts, growing up I used to watch Dog the Bounty Hunter so much so any reference to bounty hunting makes me want to pick up a book right away.
One of the first stops she makes a visit to the father of Wyatt. He decides not to take the deal, and because of this Patsy is forced to shoot him. Fortunate enough for her this leads her to her road companion Wyatt. He turns out to be the sweetest boy ever and Patsy is very lucky. The two have their ups and downs; I mean she shot his father for goodness sake but the two are still cute together. I ship them wholeheartedly.
As I neared the end of the book the people she had to offer the deals to were getting more and more interesting. I won’t spoil who the last few are, but I promise you are in for the ride of your life with this story. I love the whole book, and loved the ending even more even if I did have a few questions.
In Hit, we meet teen Patsy who is tasked with the scary job of offering people two choices; to die because of their debt or to be a bounty hunter like her, all because her mom is underneath her own pile of debt. Throughout the novel we follow Carly on her journey of ruining the lives of many.
After reading the description of this book I knew it was for me. Ever since I started getting back into teen I have loved roadtrip books. This might not be a traditional road trip story but it is close enough and I loved it to pieces. The plot was my favorite parts, growing up I used to watch Dog the Bounty Hunter so much so any reference to bounty hunting makes me want to pick up a book right away.
One of the first stops she makes a visit to the father of Wyatt. He decides not to take the deal, and because of this Patsy is forced to shoot him. Fortunate enough for her this leads her to her road companion Wyatt. He turns out to be the sweetest boy ever and Patsy is very lucky. The two have their ups and downs; I mean she shot his father for goodness sake but the two are still cute together. I ship them wholeheartedly.
As I neared the end of the book the people she had to offer the deals to were getting more and more interesting. I won’t spoil who the last few are, but I promise you are in for the ride of your life with this story. I love the whole book, and loved the ending even more even if I did have a few questions.
June 1, 2015
They weren't kidding about not being able to put it down...I thought I'd just read a bit before bed, next thing I know it's 3 A.M. and I had finished the book. I do hope there will be sequels because I am dying to know what's happening in the world and what will happen with the characters...the conspiracy seems so perfectly targeted, what with the selection of targets for the main character, that I've got soooo many burning questions.
July 10, 2015
This book is amazing. Like, substantive addition to the canon of dystopian literature amazing. Low-tech cyberpunk late capitalist debt-and-credit-based toxic consumerist corporatist society amazing.
When I first heard about the idea I was excited, but the way HIT fleshed out the emotional journey and personalized the abstract is truly impressive. One of my favorite books of the last few years.
When I first heard about the idea I was excited, but the way HIT fleshed out the emotional journey and personalized the abstract is truly impressive. One of my favorite books of the last few years.
November 14, 2015
In accordance to FTC guidelines, I must state that an ARC of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Hit, the first book in the Hit series, is the first book that I've read by YA author, Delilah S. Dawson, and I'll admit that I was a little worried about how I would like this one when it showed up on my doorstep. Hit is not a book that I would pick for myself, but there have been times when I've been known to really enjoy a book outside of my comfort zone and even pick up similar titles. Unfortunately, the execution of the concept and plot was not enough to warrant a pleasurable read for me, but I am still glad that I read it because it took me to a different world in YA. I just never found anything mesmerizing about it.
Hit evokes memories of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games series because minors are being forced to murder, but in this novel, they are murdering people who have outstanding credit card debt instead of murdering for a game. Seventeen-year-old Patsy Klein (I kid you not) is given an ultimatum to kill others save her mother or watch Valor National kill her mother and then kill her. She agrees to become an indentured assassin, and is given a list of ten names.
The chapters in this book are about Patsy's journey to find and present each name on her list their three choices:
� Pay off their debt in cash immediately
� Become an assassin for Valor National
� Be killed immediately
I felt like each chapter (save for a few) followed very similar plotting patterns, and because of that, the book started to become extremely boring. Many of the chapters are long... and I mean long. Some of them are about forty to fifty pages! I usually don't mind that, but when a book is boring, long chapters are bad. I didn't want to read when I had the time, and when I was reading, I wanted to put the book down because the long chapters really slowed the progress of the plot. The few chapters that were different when it comes to plotting and execution brought new life to the book, but it wasn't really enough to save the book for me. If it weren't for the totally expected game-changer at the end of the novel, I probably would have given this book a one-star rating.
I know I read an uncorrected proof, but I found numerous inconsistencies while reading, and it really aggravated me. I can only hope that these errors and inconsistencies are found and corrected in the final printing because quite a few of them are very noticeable, and they had me questioning what happened beforehand many times. I even had to flip back to make sure that I actually understood what I had already read.
I definitely don't think that Hit is a terrible book, but it could use some refining. I'm sure that many people will love this new novel and will devour it for its new and strange concept, but it just wasn't for me. I can even forgive the inconsistencies (at this point), but I really can't look past the lack of thrill and on-the-edge-of-my-seat excitement that I was expecting for a book about a teenage assassin. I probably won't be continuing this series to see how things develop and change for Patsy.
Hit, the first book in the Hit series, is the first book that I've read by YA author, Delilah S. Dawson, and I'll admit that I was a little worried about how I would like this one when it showed up on my doorstep. Hit is not a book that I would pick for myself, but there have been times when I've been known to really enjoy a book outside of my comfort zone and even pick up similar titles. Unfortunately, the execution of the concept and plot was not enough to warrant a pleasurable read for me, but I am still glad that I read it because it took me to a different world in YA. I just never found anything mesmerizing about it.
Hit evokes memories of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games series because minors are being forced to murder, but in this novel, they are murdering people who have outstanding credit card debt instead of murdering for a game. Seventeen-year-old Patsy Klein (I kid you not) is given an ultimatum to kill others save her mother or watch Valor National kill her mother and then kill her. She agrees to become an indentured assassin, and is given a list of ten names.
The chapters in this book are about Patsy's journey to find and present each name on her list their three choices:
� Pay off their debt in cash immediately
� Become an assassin for Valor National
� Be killed immediately
I felt like each chapter (save for a few) followed very similar plotting patterns, and because of that, the book started to become extremely boring. Many of the chapters are long... and I mean long. Some of them are about forty to fifty pages! I usually don't mind that, but when a book is boring, long chapters are bad. I didn't want to read when I had the time, and when I was reading, I wanted to put the book down because the long chapters really slowed the progress of the plot. The few chapters that were different when it comes to plotting and execution brought new life to the book, but it wasn't really enough to save the book for me. If it weren't for the totally expected game-changer at the end of the novel, I probably would have given this book a one-star rating.
I know I read an uncorrected proof, but I found numerous inconsistencies while reading, and it really aggravated me. I can only hope that these errors and inconsistencies are found and corrected in the final printing because quite a few of them are very noticeable, and they had me questioning what happened beforehand many times. I even had to flip back to make sure that I actually understood what I had already read.
I definitely don't think that Hit is a terrible book, but it could use some refining. I'm sure that many people will love this new novel and will devour it for its new and strange concept, but it just wasn't for me. I can even forgive the inconsistencies (at this point), but I really can't look past the lack of thrill and on-the-edge-of-my-seat excitement that I was expecting for a book about a teenage assassin. I probably won't be continuing this series to see how things develop and change for Patsy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2017
There is a lot wrong with this book. And so much that could have gone right, but managed to miss the mark.
But, I admit this may have been partly my fault. I didn't know this was about a teenage girl. Had i known, I would have predicted the predictable. A tough as nails girl turned into pile of mush when a boy came on the scene.
The story premise, our country gone all wrong and people bring forced to become government assassins in order to pay off their debts and save their lives, it...intriguing, if difficult to believe. But, I am always willing to suspend disbelief is the author is able to spin an entertaining story.
Patsy's (the MC) first mark is a man she knows by reputation only. She kills him. And then the man's son proceeds to fall in love with her and join her (and help her) on the rest of her government forced murderous binge. This girl vacillates between regret and "Oh well, it was me or them." and rolling around and melting in her new and first boyfriend' arms, when they NEVER have a chance to shower and she admits her butt crack is slippery with sweat. (Ack) So... the second most annoying thing is this love affair she's having with the son of the man she killed. Really?
Really?
REALLY?
The first and absolute most annoying thing is the use of this word, THUG.
It is lazy. It is used to describe any "bad guy" she has to come up against, who threatens her life but is undeserving of even the slightest description.
Here, let's try.
"The tall guy with the red bandanna." OR "The thug."
"The guy with the poc-marked face and the lazy eye." OR "The thug."
"The fat guy with the limp." OR ...
You get the drift.
Well, I bought this book and it's sequel at the same time, and for that reason, I will go on and finish the series. Let me suggest something though, for all my writer type folks out there. Never use the word, THUG. Not only is it racially charged, but it is also a really lazy descriptor.
But, I admit this may have been partly my fault. I didn't know this was about a teenage girl. Had i known, I would have predicted the predictable. A tough as nails girl turned into pile of mush when a boy came on the scene.
The story premise, our country gone all wrong and people bring forced to become government assassins in order to pay off their debts and save their lives, it...intriguing, if difficult to believe. But, I am always willing to suspend disbelief is the author is able to spin an entertaining story.
Patsy's (the MC) first mark is a man she knows by reputation only. She kills him. And then the man's son proceeds to fall in love with her and join her (and help her) on the rest of her government forced murderous binge. This girl vacillates between regret and "Oh well, it was me or them." and rolling around and melting in her new and first boyfriend' arms, when they NEVER have a chance to shower and she admits her butt crack is slippery with sweat. (Ack) So... the second most annoying thing is this love affair she's having with the son of the man she killed. Really?
Really?
REALLY?
The first and absolute most annoying thing is the use of this word, THUG.
It is lazy. It is used to describe any "bad guy" she has to come up against, who threatens her life but is undeserving of even the slightest description.
Here, let's try.
"The tall guy with the red bandanna." OR "The thug."
"The guy with the poc-marked face and the lazy eye." OR "The thug."
"The fat guy with the limp." OR ...
You get the drift.
Well, I bought this book and it's sequel at the same time, and for that reason, I will go on and finish the series. Let me suggest something though, for all my writer type folks out there. Never use the word, THUG. Not only is it racially charged, but it is also a really lazy descriptor.
March 24, 2022
I love this novel. I dove in, hoping it would be good, and boy does it deliver! It’s really fast paced and tightly written. The conspiracy seems so perfectly targeted, and plausible to me. The characters are likable, except for that insta-like thing that happened between the two main characters, which is always annoying. (Luckily they didn’t make out that much, and the gooshy stuff was pretty low key). And the reviews that said you couldn’t put it down were correct; I just sped through the entire audiobook with nary a break. And I am SO GLAD that Scribd has the sequel, because that is *ALL* I want to do right now - find out what happens next!
Be warned that the first novel ends on a cliffhanger, and makes way for the second novel immediately.
Rebekkah Ross is the narrator for the audiobook version of this novel, and she was perfect for this job. Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for using this particular narrator. I’d never heard Ross� narration before, but luckily my library has tons of her work available for me to find, later on.
If you haven’t read or listened to this novel before, please give it a try soon. Hopefully you will like it as much as I did/do.
4 stars
Be warned that the first novel ends on a cliffhanger, and makes way for the second novel immediately.
Rebekkah Ross is the narrator for the audiobook version of this novel, and she was perfect for this job. Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for using this particular narrator. I’d never heard Ross� narration before, but luckily my library has tons of her work available for me to find, later on.
If you haven’t read or listened to this novel before, please give it a try soon. Hopefully you will like it as much as I did/do.
4 stars
November 24, 2015
� � � 1/2
This originally appeared at . If you like this, you may enjoy other things on the blog.
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When I heard Dawson talk about this on this past Spring, I knew I had to read it. But like with about half the things I say that about when I listen to that podcast, I never got around to it. I'm so glad I finally remembered to grab it. This was a great read -- a heckuva gut punch. A great immersive experience.
Sure, we've all read dystopian fictions that take place decades (at least) after the fall of whatever society preceded it. But have you ever wondered what it's like to live in the opening minutes of a dystopia? Panem before the Capital City was wretched hive of scum and vanity? Well, that's exactly what Patsy Klein is going through.
Yeah, Patsy Klein -- some parents, right?
So Patsy is given a task: work as an indentured servant/debt collector for 5 days and collect from these 10 people. To collect, get their signature and record one of three choices: pay up everything you owe to the bank, now; become an indentured servant yourself for 5 days; or be killed, and here's a 17-year-old with a 9mm to take care of that. Take your pick.
How can anyone get away with that? Well, Valor Bank (and a couple of smaller entities) has bought -- lock, stock and barrel -- the debt of the U.S. and every individual in it. Which is a lot of debt when you stop and think about it (all that's required, really is, something like a California Rolling Stop to reach that conclusion). Valor Banks wants that debt taken care of pronto -- and thanks to a subclause in that credit card application that no one ever reads, and some greased wheels in Congress, they can present these choices to pretty much every citizen. Patsy's part of the first wave of these collectors, moving out before the majority of Americans have figured out what's happening.
Killer concept, right? Utterly horrific -- and yet almost utterly believable. Like I said before, when you plunge in and read this in a sitting or two it works great. If you take the time to think about some of the elements, I'm not sure it'd hold up nearly as well. But man, it was a fun read, even when it made you uneasy about what Patsy was doing.
And before I go any further, I just have to add that this is one of the best cover designs (front and back) I've seen this year. I hope someone got a promotion/bonus/raise out of this.
Again, I'm not sure how well this would hold up to examining various aspects of the world. It's clear that there's a pretty well-developed world supporting this, but the more we see of it, the more we understand the machinations that Valor Bank went through on both the macro and micro level -- which it seems clear is where the sequel is going -- the less I'm going to like it. A vague, nebulous Other doing horrible things is frequently better than seeing the Man Behind the Curtain. Right now, this is great -- grabs the imagination, taps in to zeitgeist-y resentments towards banks/financial entities, and adds a deadly teenage girl. You explain everything, let us see what's going on and I'm afraid we'll end up with something like Allegiant (I'm convinced that was the biggest problem with the end of the trilogy, Roth explained too much).
A great read with some real weaknesses that easy enough to overlook if you want to. This'll grab you, make you feel every hit, every shot and every regret.
This originally appeared at . If you like this, you may enjoy other things on the blog.
---
When I heard Dawson talk about this on this past Spring, I knew I had to read it. But like with about half the things I say that about when I listen to that podcast, I never got around to it. I'm so glad I finally remembered to grab it. This was a great read -- a heckuva gut punch. A great immersive experience.
Sure, we've all read dystopian fictions that take place decades (at least) after the fall of whatever society preceded it. But have you ever wondered what it's like to live in the opening minutes of a dystopia? Panem before the Capital City was wretched hive of scum and vanity? Well, that's exactly what Patsy Klein is going through.
Yeah, Patsy Klein -- some parents, right?
So Patsy is given a task: work as an indentured servant/debt collector for 5 days and collect from these 10 people. To collect, get their signature and record one of three choices: pay up everything you owe to the bank, now; become an indentured servant yourself for 5 days; or be killed, and here's a 17-year-old with a 9mm to take care of that. Take your pick.
How can anyone get away with that? Well, Valor Bank (and a couple of smaller entities) has bought -- lock, stock and barrel -- the debt of the U.S. and every individual in it. Which is a lot of debt when you stop and think about it (all that's required, really is, something like a California Rolling Stop to reach that conclusion). Valor Banks wants that debt taken care of pronto -- and thanks to a subclause in that credit card application that no one ever reads, and some greased wheels in Congress, they can present these choices to pretty much every citizen. Patsy's part of the first wave of these collectors, moving out before the majority of Americans have figured out what's happening.
Killer concept, right? Utterly horrific -- and yet almost utterly believable. Like I said before, when you plunge in and read this in a sitting or two it works great. If you take the time to think about some of the elements, I'm not sure it'd hold up nearly as well. But man, it was a fun read, even when it made you uneasy about what Patsy was doing.
And before I go any further, I just have to add that this is one of the best cover designs (front and back) I've seen this year. I hope someone got a promotion/bonus/raise out of this.
Again, I'm not sure how well this would hold up to examining various aspects of the world. It's clear that there's a pretty well-developed world supporting this, but the more we see of it, the more we understand the machinations that Valor Bank went through on both the macro and micro level -- which it seems clear is where the sequel is going -- the less I'm going to like it. A vague, nebulous Other doing horrible things is frequently better than seeing the Man Behind the Curtain. Right now, this is great -- grabs the imagination, taps in to zeitgeist-y resentments towards banks/financial entities, and adds a deadly teenage girl. You explain everything, let us see what's going on and I'm afraid we'll end up with something like Allegiant (I'm convinced that was the biggest problem with the end of the trilogy, Roth explained too much).
A great read with some real weaknesses that easy enough to overlook if you want to. This'll grab you, make you feel every hit, every shot and every regret.
April 27, 2015
Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC.
This is a dystopian satire of the United States of America (now owned by a bank) with too much romance for my taste.
Everyone knows that I don't read too much young adult or paranormal romance, but I met Delilah Dawson by Servants of the Storm, a paranormal story. It surprised me very much because it had gruesome elements that paranormal romances usually don't have and the romance was not the centre of the plot. So, when I requested Hit on Edelweiss and got approved, I jumped all around my house screaming.
Hit has Delilah's touch of weird, and that's what I liked the most. She takes a few ideas of common things people do, for example: no one reads the fine print; takes the economy of the United States and the relationship between banks and the US and writes a satire.
Oh, yes! I love ironies and satires so much! So, by saying all of this I'm telling you that this book is quite extravagant. It tells the story of Patsy, a teenage girl that one day is confronted by the managers of a bank called Valor National. They tell her that Valor owns the United States of America now and that, thanks to a tricky clause hidden in the fine print of a credit card application, she has two options: to see how they kill her mother (because she can't pay their debts) or to take on a five-day mission to complete a hit list of ten names. To those on the hit list, she must offer three choices: pay the debt, agree to work as a bounty hunter like her, or die.
Everything was alright until a romance was spotted. I don't want to give away too much information about it because it would be spoilery, but believe me when I say that a love story in that context and with those two persons was unbelievable. And I hate when romance is introduced incoherently and seems forced.
So that killed the book for me. I was going to give Hit 2 stars but the ending is mindblowing. I thought I knew where the story was going but it turned out not to be something expected, which I'm glad. I really think the sequel would be great because the characters that fell in love in this book are no longer on the same situation and the ending of this novel is the ignition for a big explosion on the second one.
"(...)Most of the time, I prefer creation to destruction..."
I liked how death is not shown partially, there is blood and other body fluids everywhere... this book has that gruesome touch that made me enjoy Servants of the Storm so much.
Also, the decisions Patsy must make are not treated lightly and she thinks a lot about what she needs to do to survive. Another positive thing is that she is not hypocritical neither mediocre just to be more likeable.
"(...)Killing a person -it was both a million times easier and a million times harder than I'd thought it would be..."
"(...)I had some level of sorrow for everyone on my list so far. Not so much for Robert Beard or Dr. Ken Belcher, maybe, but everyone was a victim of one kind or another, even if they were just victims of their own failures or addictions or dreams..."
So, I'll definitely read the sequel just to see if the story improves, because I liked the plot and the resolution of it very much. It's a shame the romance was mediocre.
April 27, 2015
I read this book in two nights, and would have finished it in one except that I had a client deadline the following morning which required me getting some sleep. HIT is a superbly-written page-turner of the first order. Patsy's voice is funny and moving in all the right places, and her reactions to her predicament are realistic and on-point. Delilah Dawson's writing is smooth and vivid--never once did the words pull me out of the story with awkward phrasing or out-of-character speech.
The post-Valor Savings world is sharp and clever; Dawson thought through the world-building issues in great detail. The characters are diverse and realistic, and the plot flies along with the speed of the bullets from Patsy's Valor Savings-issue pistol.
Best of all, I thought I had the major plot twist figured out in advance...and I was wrong. That doesn't happen very often, and I was delighted to discover that not only had I guessed incorrectly, but the real answer was even more clever, and better executed, than I anticipated.
Five stars. Highly recommended.* If you enjoy thrillers, dystopian novels, YA, or simply a well-written read, this should be next on your list. (Note: even if you're not usually a fan of YA, you still might want to give this a try - it's a strong contender for the adult thriller shelf, just told from the POV of a teenage protagonist.)
*Note: some readers don't like books that use "all the words" - specifically, those of the four-letter variety. Teenagers use expletives (shocking, I know) and the characters in this book are teens. Teens dealing with major-league difficult issues. Ergo, they cuss on occasion. I didn't find the language either gratuitous or distracting, and I doubt most others will either, but if you're absolutely, positively, against reading books with other than squeaky-clean verbiage, you're missing out here but this one probably isn't for you.
Disclaimer: I know Delilah Dawson through Facebook and Twitter. I consider her a friend. However, that fact did not influence this review. I bought this book myself and did not receive a free copy, or anything else, in return for this review. I review only books that I like, do not take review requests, and recommend only books that I truly find worth reviewing. Even then, I don't review all of the books I like. This one simply made the cut, and then some.
The post-Valor Savings world is sharp and clever; Dawson thought through the world-building issues in great detail. The characters are diverse and realistic, and the plot flies along with the speed of the bullets from Patsy's Valor Savings-issue pistol.
Best of all, I thought I had the major plot twist figured out in advance...and I was wrong. That doesn't happen very often, and I was delighted to discover that not only had I guessed incorrectly, but the real answer was even more clever, and better executed, than I anticipated.
Five stars. Highly recommended.* If you enjoy thrillers, dystopian novels, YA, or simply a well-written read, this should be next on your list. (Note: even if you're not usually a fan of YA, you still might want to give this a try - it's a strong contender for the adult thriller shelf, just told from the POV of a teenage protagonist.)
*Note: some readers don't like books that use "all the words" - specifically, those of the four-letter variety. Teenagers use expletives (shocking, I know) and the characters in this book are teens. Teens dealing with major-league difficult issues. Ergo, they cuss on occasion. I didn't find the language either gratuitous or distracting, and I doubt most others will either, but if you're absolutely, positively, against reading books with other than squeaky-clean verbiage, you're missing out here but this one probably isn't for you.
Disclaimer: I know Delilah Dawson through Facebook and Twitter. I consider her a friend. However, that fact did not influence this review. I bought this book myself and did not receive a free copy, or anything else, in return for this review. I review only books that I like, do not take review requests, and recommend only books that I truly find worth reviewing. Even then, I don't review all of the books I like. This one simply made the cut, and then some.
July 8, 2015
Plot:
No one reads the fine prints.
The Valor National Bank buys the USA out of their debts and takes them over and anarchy starts to break out.
Our protagonist Patsy gets 3 choices, because her mother signed a debit card contract with Valor National including a special hidden fine print clause.
Now three choices are left:
1. pay the whole debt immediatly
2. let her mother get murdered/they'll shoot her
3. or go on a five day mission to kill others
Obviously Patsy is forced to take choice number three and work as a killer. She get's a killing list with 10 people on it. Now they have the choice. But things aren't so easy, somehow the 10 are connected to her and there's also this hot rich boy.
My opinion:
The idea for this book was really cool, this Purge-a-like-scenario left me scenewise breathless (if you know the film 'The Purge', it somehow reminds me of it because of the anarchy topic) and I also really liked the division into chapters with the name of the new 'victim'.
Let's be honest who reads every fine print except all of the South Park guys�?! There was once an episode where all citizen where shocked because Kyle didn't read the fine prints and all the others did it - allways - sure�. Hillarios, but let's switch back to the book.
So the start was cool, I had a film running before my eyes. I totally see this as a movie, but horror thriller genre please. This book is besides the killing more an YA book. There was a little bit of YA-love story in it, which I didn't really needed and it wasn't so believeable for me.
The book was entertaining and I read it in 2 parts, but I had to start the new Kate Daniels book inbetween, so it took some days.
Such a scenario, where some corrupt firm, in this case a bank, tries to rule and make their own rules or lay laws out to their benefit isn't so unrealistic for me. I'm only a bit disappointed that the bank stayed a bit pale besides the black suit guys. You didn't really get to know about their motives, their leader, anything. You can only guess.
But I hope to find out more about that in book 2! And also about the other incident with Jeremy. How does that fit into the whole picture?
Besides all that the cover is also very original, I immediatly grabbed my attention.
3.75 stars
No one reads the fine prints.
The Valor National Bank buys the USA out of their debts and takes them over and anarchy starts to break out.
Our protagonist Patsy gets 3 choices, because her mother signed a debit card contract with Valor National including a special hidden fine print clause.
Now three choices are left:
1. pay the whole debt immediatly
2. let her mother get murdered/they'll shoot her
3. or go on a five day mission to kill others
Obviously Patsy is forced to take choice number three and work as a killer. She get's a killing list with 10 people on it. Now they have the choice. But things aren't so easy, somehow the 10 are connected to her and there's also this hot rich boy.
My opinion:
The idea for this book was really cool, this Purge-a-like-scenario left me scenewise breathless (if you know the film 'The Purge', it somehow reminds me of it because of the anarchy topic) and I also really liked the division into chapters with the name of the new 'victim'.
Let's be honest who reads every fine print except all of the South Park guys�?! There was once an episode where all citizen where shocked because Kyle didn't read the fine prints and all the others did it - allways - sure�. Hillarios, but let's switch back to the book.
So the start was cool, I had a film running before my eyes. I totally see this as a movie, but horror thriller genre please. This book is besides the killing more an YA book. There was a little bit of YA-love story in it, which I didn't really needed and it wasn't so believeable for me.
The book was entertaining and I read it in 2 parts, but I had to start the new Kate Daniels book inbetween, so it took some days.
Such a scenario, where some corrupt firm, in this case a bank, tries to rule and make their own rules or lay laws out to their benefit isn't so unrealistic for me. I'm only a bit disappointed that the bank stayed a bit pale besides the black suit guys. You didn't really get to know about their motives, their leader, anything. You can only guess.
But I hope to find out more about that in book 2! And also about the other incident with Jeremy. How does that fit into the whole picture?
Besides all that the cover is also very original, I immediatly grabbed my attention.
3.75 stars
December 11, 2014
I received a copy of this book in exchanged for a honest review. In no way did the author or publishing company influence my review. For all my reviews, see my blog fashion-by-the-book.tumblr.com
First of all, this book marks a huge honor for me, and Fashion by the Book. I was asked to do the cover reveal! (the post you can see here.) Thank you so much, SimonTeen!
No one reads the fine print, and everyone uses Credit Cards. While Valor National Bank saved the US, they are also the reason why Patsy is now forced to be a hitman (er, hitgirl?) in order to save her mother. The only rebellion Patsy has ever done is yard bombing, and she struggles with the moral side of her acts. Things get harder as the handsome son of a hit joins here, and as she begins to connect the dots between hits.
Patsy was such a great character! She was very realistic, like real, normal girl. I liked that she was a knitter. Knitting isn't mentioned very much in YA as a hobby! I also like Wyatt a lot, he seemed like a really cool character, but he was a little too trusting, it seemed. I liked how he stood up for his brother.
I really love Dawson's writing. It's really fast paced, and action filled. I also liked how this books is a dystopian, but it's totally realistic and scary. Who does read the fine print after all? (beside me after reading this book....) It's like a modern day horror novel, if you will.
It ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, so I really hope a sequel is in the works!
I recommend this book to fans of Dystopia novels and Dawson's other works.
First of all, this book marks a huge honor for me, and Fashion by the Book. I was asked to do the cover reveal! (the post you can see here.) Thank you so much, SimonTeen!
No one reads the fine print, and everyone uses Credit Cards. While Valor National Bank saved the US, they are also the reason why Patsy is now forced to be a hitman (er, hitgirl?) in order to save her mother. The only rebellion Patsy has ever done is yard bombing, and she struggles with the moral side of her acts. Things get harder as the handsome son of a hit joins here, and as she begins to connect the dots between hits.
Patsy was such a great character! She was very realistic, like real, normal girl. I liked that she was a knitter. Knitting isn't mentioned very much in YA as a hobby! I also like Wyatt a lot, he seemed like a really cool character, but he was a little too trusting, it seemed. I liked how he stood up for his brother.
I really love Dawson's writing. It's really fast paced, and action filled. I also liked how this books is a dystopian, but it's totally realistic and scary. Who does read the fine print after all? (beside me after reading this book....) It's like a modern day horror novel, if you will.
It ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, so I really hope a sequel is in the works!
I recommend this book to fans of Dystopia novels and Dawson's other works.
September 5, 2014
**Note:This book has very violent and adult situations. I recommend this for older teens only.
Ms. Dawson, you have created a hit (pun absolutely 100% intended). The writing was gorgeous and descriptive, the action was non-stop, and the romance was pretty swoony. Hit made me VERY grateful for my life and for my freedom, and had me honestly asking myself: “What would I do if I were in Patsy’s situation?� The only thing I disliked was Patsy’s morals and the fact that all of the killing didn’t seem to have any emotional effects on Patsy’s character till the ending.
My Rating: 4 stars.
Full review to come.
Read more of my reviews here: realradreads.wordpress.com
Ms. Dawson, you have created a hit (pun absolutely 100% intended). The writing was gorgeous and descriptive, the action was non-stop, and the romance was pretty swoony. Hit made me VERY grateful for my life and for my freedom, and had me honestly asking myself: “What would I do if I were in Patsy’s situation?� The only thing I disliked was Patsy’s morals and the fact that all of the killing didn’t seem to have any emotional effects on Patsy’s character till the ending.
My Rating: 4 stars.
Full review to come.
Read more of my reviews here: realradreads.wordpress.com
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