Book Review: Are You Ready Yet?

 

'Are You Ready Yet?' is J. Gray's debut novel and the first book in the Imperial Series. It is told in duel POV between the FMC and her stalker.

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Ryker-

Emily didn’t even bat an eye at me as she walked past my desk… She’s too focused on the stack of papers she’s carrying to the copier- who knows what for. Probably some reports that she doesn’t have clearance to read… She doesn’t even know what organization she works for or what we do behind those doors that she’s not allowed to cross the threshold of. Clueless little worker bee that she is, she doesn’t ask questions about the women that enter through those doors and don’t come out for days at a time.

Why would she though? She thinks she’s just a receptionist at a private care company who caters to pregnant women… She’s not wrong, really… Our organization absolutely provides care to those women- in exchange for the experiments they let our scientists run on their unborn.

They’re quiet about it- silencing the women who don’t willing give up their gifted children once they’re born… if they don’t die during birth like my mother did. I’m the only one of those ‘gifted children’ who didn’t come with a gift… Which means I’m of no use to them as anything more than a paper pusher.

But that’s fine.

Being a paper-pusher is what led me to Emily all the way back in Orlando. Not that she noticed I followed her here to Saint Louis when she requested a transfer to be with him… Jessie… ‘The love of her life’ as she calls him… I’ve seen the texts.

Cute little thing doesn’t even realize I laid claim to her long ago… She doesn’t realize that she’s mine… But that’ll all be changing soon enough.

My Review

For a debut novel, J. Gray does a great job with this book. I am very excited to see where the author goes as I know they can only go higher. I am going to need book two in this series sooner, rather than later. The only thing I will say is that in the beginning, I had a bit of trouble connecting to the story and characters, but this only lasted for a few chapters. After this, the story went from zero to hundred real fast. 

Can I say how much I did not like Ryker. Yet at the same time I was intrigued by him. When I experience feelings about characters, this means that I am invested in them. On the other hand, I loved Emily. She kept up her fighting spirit through everything that Ryker put her through. I was cheering for her. 

This book could be triggering for some readers, so please read the trigger warning before jumping into this book for your own mental health. 

Trigger Warnings for this dark romance tragedy include;

Rape of FMC, body dismemberment, sexual assault with dismembered body part, murder, mental and physical abuse, urine (for one scene), blood, graphic torture scenes, death, MC suicide, sexual assault, kidnapping and abduction, drugs (and fmc being drugged), degradation, praise, condescending praise, and stalking (please take this one seriously- if you have a limit of being stalked, DO NOT read this).


The MMC of 'Are You Ready Yet?' is far from morally grey- his soul is pitch black and he has no problem reminding the reader of that. This is not a love story- this is a story of obsession and possession.