Book Review: Escape by Annabelle Jacobs

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Escape
Author: Annabelle Jacobs
Series: Rebellion #1
Heroes: Cole & Logan
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 319 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 20, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: This isn’t the life Cole dreamt of, but what choice does he have?

With his twenty-third birthday behind him, Cole Moreton now faces the shifter compatibility test which will decide his future. Testing positive means joining a pack and eventually taking the bite. Unfortunately, with enviable skills in self-defence and hand-to-hand combat, the kind of packs interested in him aren’t any he’d want to join.

Logan has been a member of the McKillan pack for most of his life. Pack is family and loyalty is everything, but when the shifter government turns out to be no better than the oppressive humans before them, he questions everything.

Right from their first meeting, Logan knows that a life with the McKillan pack isn’t right for Cole, but with his alpha taking a keen interest in Cole’s skills, Logan’s hands are tied. Mutual attraction builds between them, but acting on it is futile—helping Cole will put their lives at risk and an end to any future they could’ve had.

Review:

I’ve been a fan of this author for years now so it was no brainer to give this one a go. Especially since she has such a way of writing shifters so they always feel unique, IMO. I love that she doesn’t always stick with the traditional shifter tale or shifter characteristics but makes them her own. It’s a real treat discovering what new thing she has to give to her shifters and this one was no different.

I loved that this was a world ruled by shifters and that everyone had to be tested to see if they would be susceptible to the bite. I liked that Cole went through so much angst in finding out he was ‘positive’ and that he had skills that would be coveted by some of the ‘rougher’ packs. It was interesting to see him struggle with that and seeing how Logan, the shifter who oversees this transition, deals with it as well. Logan was definitely my favorite character. I loved that he was such a good person at heart and tried to do what he could to help people. I liked that he could tell who struggled with belonging to a pack and tried to understand them. And I absolutely adored the sexual tension between Logan and Cole. I loved seeing them fight the pull and the struggle of that attraction mixed with Cole not wanting to belong to a pack.

While I was really enamored with this story, I had two little issues. For one, I wasn’t a big fan of Cole as a character. I get his life wasn’t going the way he wanted but instead of trying to find a way to make things work or trying to come to terms with everything, he just kind of whined about it but just when I started to think he was going to accept things… everything changed. Add to that, I wasn’t a fan of the ending. I felt like the last half of the book was all for nothing because of the way things ended. I mean, I liked how things ended because I know there will be a sequel but I just felt like things could have been handled differently so that it didn’t feel like people died for no reason. Also, I was a little confused with the prologue. It felt a little out of place and the timeline kept tricking me up. I couldn’t see how only ten years had passed and yet the shifters had gone so far. With how long everything takes to get done in government, I feel like a lot more time should have passed between the prologue and chapter one.

All in all, I really loved this book. I loved that this one is a little different than a traditional shifter story and I liked the angsty aspect to it. I adored Logan as a character and I’m interested to see where things go for Cole and how they’ll be able to get passed the next portion of their journey. Definitely give this a go if you’re looking for an intriguing shifter story that’s bound to leave you on the edge of your seat.

Overall Impression: I really liked it

*I received a copy of this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review.*