*I received a free copy of Rogue from Harlequin Teen via Netgalley. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *

Ember Hill left the dragon organization Talon to take her chances with rebel dragon Cobalt and his crew of rogues. But Ember can't forget the sacrifice made for her by the human boy who could have killed her—Garret Xavier Sebastian, a soldier of the dragonslaying Order of St. George, the boy who saved her from a Talon assassin, knowing that by doing so, he'd signed his own death warrant.

Determined to save Garret from execution, Ember must convince Cobalt to help her break into the Order's headquarters. With assassins after them and Ember's own brother helping Talon with the hunt, the rogues find an unexpected ally in Garret and a new perspective on the underground battle between Talon and St. George.

A reckoning is brewing and the secrets hidden by both sides are shocking and deadly. Soon Ember must decide: Should she retreat to fight another day…or start an all-out war?

Rogue was filled with action, fights and deep betrayal. Following four characters, it was fast paced and a quite quick read.

My Rogue review:

The tension in Rogue was very different form that in Talon, because Ember knew she was being chased, both by the Order of St. George and Talon. At the same time, Ember stayed true to her character, wanting to do what was best for everybody, not just herself – to the point where she disregarded personal danger to save someone else. I loved how strongly she held on to her beliefs, and how devastated she was when she had to use ultimate force in order to save her own life in a battle.

Because of the different points of views in Rogue, I got to see both what Dante, still a part of Talon, thought and how he was sure he would be saving Ember by bringing her back into the fold, and how Ember thought she would be able to make him see that things would be better for him if he went rogue. Opposing the siblings in this deadly race made the plot and the story very tense, and while I was not too hopeful they would be able to see eye to eye, it was great to see that they weren’t ready to give up on each other just yet.

Cobalt had more time in Rogue as well, and I loved seeing the glimpses into his past where his reasons for leaving Talon behind were explained through flashbacks. Extremely organized, and always ready to save a hatchling or two, Cobalt showed that he was not about bringing anything to light for himself, he truly did what he thought was best in order to save as many young dragons as possible. Seeing how both factions were following old doctrines, and doing so almost blindly is something that has happened in a lot of wars in the real world as well – where opposing sides are both sure they are correct, and that they have some higher being or meaning on their side.

The overall storyline made a lot of sense, and I loved seeing how both St. George and Talon may be wrong in their suppositions about the other faction. Kagawa’s writing is flawless, and she managed the different voices for each character in such a way that I didn’t even need to see their name at the top of the chapter to know whose thoughts I was following. Needless to say, I’m already impatiently waiting for Soldier.

Some of my favorite Rogue quotes:

A murmur went through the room. From the very first day the Order had been founded, soldiers of St. George had known what we fought for, what we protected, what was at stake. Our war, our holy mission, hadn’t changed in hundreds of years.

Overhead, the moon peered down like a sleepy, half-lidded eye, surrounded by a billion stars that stretched on forever. Out here in the desert, many miles from cities or lights or civilizations, the sky called to me. I thought of Shifting, of leaping off the bike, changing forms midair and soaring through the empty sky.

A couple Hell’s Angels eyed me as I made my way across the floor, and I hoped my boots and leather jacket wouldn’t offend them enough to pick a fight. I wasn’t here to toss bikers through windows, amusing as that sounded.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 2015 New Release Challenge

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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