The Progeny by Tosca Lee

"My name is Emily Porter. I'm 21 years old and I am renting a tiny cabin in the north woods of Maine for reasons I know longer remember."

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC(Advanced Reading Copy) from NetGalley provided by Howard Books for an honest book review.

After I read the description of this book I was unsure whether I would like it but my curiosity was tweaked. I peaked at an excerpt featured on NetGalley and after reading the first paragraph it slipped on my To-Read list faster than you can say "Just take my money!".

The plot:

Emily wakes up in a remote cabin with no real memories of her past or who she is. She remembers sounds, places but not the names of the places or when she was there. The reason? She had willingly undergone a procedure to erase her memories. 

Emily is on the run from an ancient order that will stop at nothing to find the memories that she had buried. But with no memories, she has no idea whom to trust and from whom she must run. The only person she can trust is herself, even though she can't exactly remember who that is.

Follow Emily in an action-packed mystery novel that will have you on the edge of your seat yelling at anybody who dares to interrupt your reading.

My Experience:

From the first chapter, I was ravenous and very eager for more. I wanted to know everything I could about the character. What could possibly have been in Emily's past to make her erase her own memories? 

The pace of the story started slow and steady and all of a sudden you are on the run for your life trying to keep up with everything happening around you. Car chases, underground orders and forbidden love for more I could not have asked.

The way the author wrote this book is beautiful. Graceful like a subtle dancer making you experience the creaks and atmosphere of living in a cabin and  looking into the eyes of a stranger that had turned "grey like drifting clouds". 

Quotes:

"Emily it's me, You"

"I didn't come to start over. I came to hide"

Themes:

God

History

Love VS Evil

Power VS Hope

What I liked:

I was fascinated about how the author wrote about Emily before her memories were erased and after her memories were erased. Usually, when I read a book about missing memories it feels like you are reading about two different characters. However with The Progeny, it was masterfully implemented the character was carefully sewn together so you can see every carefully stitched detail no matter the knowledge she has or does not have of her past.

What I did not like:

In one paragraph the characters joke about running away to South Africa and living in a rain forest. I am from South Africa we do not have rain forests just normal forests.

Recommendations:

I would recommend this for teenagers and up and for anybody who loves action/mystery novels.

Rating out of 5:

I give this book 4 stars out of 5. 

* * * * / 5