Blog Tour: Iniquity

 

About the Book:
Title: Iniquity (Ascent, #1)
Author: Melody Winter
Publication date: October 25th 2016
Genres: Fantasy, New Adult, Romance

Synopsis: 

Athena Harrow is about to turn twenty-one, but there will be no celebration. What is there to celebrate when the world is ruled by demons?
She hates the darkness the demons brought with them and longs for the light to return to the world—a world she only vaguely remembers. The people in her forest village blindly accept the life the demons forced upon them, even tolerating the yearly ascension ceremony where all the girls who have turned twenty-one are either sent away to serve the Master Demon or left in the village and forced to procreate.
But Paymon, the assigned village demon, selects a different role for Athena, a role that pits her against the village. While she adapts to her new life, Erebus, a younger, more powerful demon, arrives, and Athena must play a dangerous game with his emotions in return for information about the demon’s reign of darkness.
As Athena’s dreams of restoring the light begin to fade, her life with Erebus takes an unexpected turn, and this time it’s her life being put to the test.
Set in the forest around Buttercrambe in North Yorkshire, England, INIQUITY explores the frightening, darker side of romance and the uncontrolled emotions it can unleash.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Author Bio:

Growing up, Melody showed a natural ability in art, a head for maths, and a tendency to write too long English essays. Difficult to place in the world when she graduated, she pursued a career in teaching, but ended up working in finance. Melody is convinced the methodical times she spends working with numbers fuel her desire to drift into dream worlds and write about the illusory characters in her head.
Melody Winter lives in York, North Yorkshire, England with her husband and two sons. When not dealing with football, rugby, and a whole plethora of ‘boy’ activities, she will be found scribbling notes for her stories, or preparing for another trip to the nearby beaches at Scarborough and Whitby. With an obsession for anything mythical, Melody revels in reading and writing about such creatures.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Review:

I am so blown away by this new book by Melody Winter! This book has it all, and is a must-read for any fantasy lover. With impressive world-building, suspense, and a unique twist on fantasy romance...I devoured this book in one sitting and I can't wait for the sequel! You definitely need to check this book out as soon as you can.

Every aspect of this book was perfect, and I was incredibly impressed for a start to a series. This novel sets up everything so well, and I never wanted to stop reading. The characters, the world, and the fantasy elements were all so well done, I can't even begin to do the book justice. The world-building is phenomenal and is so fascinating that I am looking forward to learning more in the subsequent novels. I feel as if we have only scratched the surface in this book, and I can't wait to see what Ms. Winter comes up with next. However, for this novel, every element of the world is laid out very well, and you are never confused. The one thing I appreciated was the fact that there was never just an info-dump (which is always something I hate). Sure we don't know everything at the start, but we do know the basic facts to get us by until we (and the main character, Athena, can learn more). I loved the way the world was revealed to the us, and Ms. Winter did it expertly. 

The fantasy/supernatural element to the story is also incredibly unique and something I didn't expect. I thought this was going to be your run-of-the-mill demons, but boy was I wrong! I loved the twist she put on the demon mythology, and it made the entire story so refreshing to read. In some ways I felt like this was reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast but with demons...and doesn't that just sound amazing?! Who can resist that?? The entire story is extremely creative, and I loved every single second of it!

Athena, our main character, is very relatable and intriguing. When we first meet her, I could already tell that she was going to be a strong female lead that had courage and heart. Plus, she was going to be tough as nails, which got her into some trouble, but made her even more lovable. I also loved the two demons in her life, Paymon and Erebus. Ms. Winter definitely threw in a major twist with these two...one I didn't see coming (I was expecting a love triangle, but slight spoiler...that is definitely not what we got). Even though I didn't like Erebus at first, by about the halfway point I was in love with him and suffice to say, he's definitely a new book boyfriend. I like Ms. Winter didn't drag things out since this would have taken the book in an entirely different direction and probably wouldn't have gotten such a high rating. I loved that she explored the different sides of the characters, especially Erebus, and throughout the course of the story, we witness some major twists in regards to their background that set up the next story perfectly and will send our characters on new, exciting adventures.

I highly recommend checking out this book as soon as it comes out!! I can't even tell you how great this book is, and it starts the series off perfectly. I am eagerly anticipating the next in the series, and I know for a fact that I will be reading more from Melody Winters in the future! Don't miss out on this new fantasy that's sure to be a hit!

Happy reading :) 

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

~Cassie