REVIEW: The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

An action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birthrate. For fans of Moira Young’s Dust Lands series, La Femme Nikita, and the movie Hanna.

Meadow Woodson, a fifteen-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, to kill, and to survive in any situation, lives with her family on a houseboat in Florida. The state is controlled by The Murder Complex, an organization that tracks the population with precision.

The plot starts to thicken when Meadow meets Zephyr James, who is—although he doesn’t know it—one of the MC’s programmed assassins. Is their meeting a coincidence? Destiny? Or part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family?

Action-packed, blood-soaked, and chilling, this is a dark and compelling debut novel by Lindsay Cummings.

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MY THOUGHTS
This book wasn't quite as I expected. I was expecting a bloody dystopian full of non-stop action, which I got, but I was also expecting a book that would knock my socks off and gain a spot on my favorites list, which I did not get. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book, but my socks stayed firmly on my feet.

For the first 100 pages, maybe even 200, I was really enjoying this book! I could easily imagine what was going on in the book, the characters were brave and badass (which makes sense for this world), and I was in awe at how much creativity and imagination it took to create this unique world. I was also very curious and intrigued by the world! I wanted, no, I needed to know more! And I speed through those pages!

And then I begun to get confused as to what was going on.
And I began to realize that while the author is an amazing writer (really amazing!), but I noticed that she doesn't really elaborate. For example: There's one scene where Meadow is forced to face the Dark Time (which is basically where all the murders occur) outside by her Dad on her own. But we never see her do this. In fact, it is never mentioned, but it seemed important. There are other cases where characters may say something that seems important or needs further explanation but the comment never receives any acknowledgment. And there are other scenes that I honestly felt as if they needed more explaining, to ease the confusion. It wasn't that bad though. Sure, I was a bit confused, but I could understand a basis of what was going on. I just kind of wish things for further explained.

That is my only major issue with this book. Although, I did have a minor issue with the romance. There's inst-love and I really hate insta-love. There, I said it. So, yeah, the romance annoyed the stars out of me (You see what I did there? I used Zephyr's swear word!) , but it wasn't too bad because there was 1. a period of no romance whatsoever and 2. the focus of the book was heavily placed on the plot! So it was very easy to ignore.

IN CONCLUSION
This wasn't as awesome as I expected it to be, but I did enjoy it overall! Sure, things were not elaborated very well and there was a bit of insta-love, but the book was unique, original, and exciting! And while this was a very bloody book, I was not bothered by it at all (I was expecting that after all). Let's not forget the fact that the intriguing plot took the front seat, unlike so many YA books! So, this was a very interesting and bloody dystopian that just needs a bit more work. I do recommend this book if you wish to give it a try. Unless, of course, you have a problem with lots of blood and death in books because, this should come as no surprise, there's a lot!

I hereby give this book

3.5 Wheels

Meaning: I liked it, but it wasn't quite amazing.