A futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birthrate.
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?

REVIEW

Here’s another book I decided to pick up after seeing it being raved by many. Touted as a “action packed”, “blood-soaked” and “compelling”, I can tell you that it’s only one of three and that is that it is in its own right action packed. However after wading through sub-par writing and a dull plot, I didn’t care too much for the action scenes for they weren’t that exciting.

Jim from The Office accurately displaying how I felt reading this novel. SO BORED.

Honestly, I didn’t want to go in hating it. The Murder Complex had so much potential, but it was just a half-assed excuse of a book. I hate to rip into a book that I know is so beloved by loads of people, but how? Like, did we read the same book?

This book felt like one long side eye into a camera like I was on The Office. For example, “My father tells me there was a war that tore the country apart…” How original, do tell me more. The split POV’s between Meadow and Zephyr got increasingly irritating and, in my case, added to the intense dislike I already had for the novel. Sometimes different POV’s can work when written well. But in some instances, like with The Murder Complex, it made me feel like I was back in the days of reading poorly produced fanfiction.

It’s like every dystopian stereotype rolled into one. War that left the world in tatters? Check. People getting sick? Check. Young kids forced to kill? Check. The government is evil and wants to murder us poor and lowly citizens? Check. A revolution set out to stop said evil government? Check. Doomed romance? Check.

But don’t fret guys, these are wholesome characters. Meadow and Zephyr can murder dudes all day, but they don’t swear. They have manners like that. Zephyr instantly lost any cool points when he uttered the words ‘Holy skitz’.

What a whirlwind romance this is. By Chapter 22, they’re in love. Despite the fact Zephyr is a laboratory experiment to kill people in order to decrease the population and he did indeed try to end her life, Meadow is head over heels. Because nothing says “I love you” than a guy who tries to murder you! Aww cuties! Seriously, if I brought home a boy whose brain was programmed to murder me, I don’t imagine that family dinner going very well.

The characterisation was poor. The writing was bad. It felt like there was very little thought put into Meadow and Co and there was very little substance to almost everything featured in the novel. I almost gave up. It’s only getting two stars from me because I liked the cover, but the story itself is a poor mans version of The Hunger Games. Just with names that are even more ridiculous.

I am sorry Lindsay Cummings. I desperately wanted to like your novel. I gave it the fairest chance I could, but it definitely didn’t meet expectations.

RATING
★★