Review: Winter Halo

Tiger is pulled back in, even if she doesn't want to be. Things just got worse  #bookreview @kezarthur
Winter Halo by Keri Arthur
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Winter Halo starts up right where the last book, City of Light, ended.  Tiger is on her own again and she wants to be left alone. Her conscience fights her to do the right thing - save the captured children.  Even though Tiger slayed the other last remaining déchet she is aware of, it doesn't seem to be enough for the shifters and witches.  Even if they do not approve of her and hold an unwarranted hatred towards her, they still want to use her as a pawn.

This second story took a bit longer for me to get into.  The first quarter of the book was difficult to read because much of it was basically people dumping on Tiger for what she is instead of who she is.  This blatant racism hits me hard and I do not like it.  I really want Tig to just tell them to take a flying leap. Oh wait, she does and what do they do instead?  They keep pulling her in and putting her in more danger, to the extent that her safe haven of a century becomes breached.  Now her beloved children, Cat and Bear could be threatened and that is not acceptable.

Twenty-five percent into the book, the story picks up the pace and I'm pulled back into the story.  Tig learns more and more about both the resistance group and the pharmaceutical company, Winter Halo.  What she learns is her worst nightmare.  It seems as if humans are doomed to repeat their mistakes over and over in the quest to create their version of perfections.  Ms. Arthur's world of genetically manipulated beings is a reoccurring theme in her stories.  It seems this series is the culmination of her experimentation.  What is proposed in this story is a refinement of how have superpowers.  It makes me speculate that this world of the Outcast series is actually the future version of Riley's in the Guardian series.  If this is the case, the world has seriously taken a downward turn.

What I enjoyed about this series is the attention to detail with each subplot.  The different threads of the story are pulled together and at the last moment, when clarity is imminent, all hell breaks loose.  Tig may be designed to be a stealthy assassin.  Unfortunately, her ability to blend in and move undetected is seriously challenged in this book.  She leaves a wake of chaos and destruction behind and she struggles to complete her self-appointed mission.  The last fourth of this book accelerates the speed as big reveals occur and Tig finally realizes she is outgunned and outplayed.  It shall be interesting to see how Ms. Arthur pulls off the next book.  Then again, Ms. Arthur is one of my favourite authors because she doesn't write happily ever afters.  Her stories are gritty with happily for now or bittersweet endings.  This dystopian fantasy is recommended to readers who enjoy a bleak futuristic world where humans are at the bottom predator.

*provided by NetGalley