Neon Redemption

The Words of Power Series, Book 2

By: VK Fox

Narrated by: Chelsea Stephens

Length: 8 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

A desperate traitor. A demon prince’s bloodlust. Can a disgraced hero thwart his own sabotage in time to save the man he loves?

Everest Lovecraft is going to be murdered. After joining forces with a devil to destroy a tyrannical shadow corporation, Everest is furious when he foresees a massacre at the hands of the other-worldly prince. But preventing the demon’s rise to power comes with an unthinkable price: saving the world will kill his partner.

Setting a trap to force the demon’s hand, Everest hopes to slay the would-be overlord and change the flow of fate. But with cutthroat traitors stalking his every move and his honor stained with treason, Everest knows he cannot face the apocalypse alone.

With the future of the world and the love of his life on the line, can Everest rally the heroes he once betrayed and strike before it’s too late?

Neon Redemption is the second book in Words of Power, an engrossing dark urban fantasy quartet. Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets the Umbrella Academy with a morally gray ensemble cast full of found family, wild brawls, and spicy m/f and m/m love stories.

Buy Neon Redemption and plunge into the addictive hidden world today!

©2021 VK Fox (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

Confusing Storyline

I struggled keeping track where, what and why the characters were doing what they were doing. The time shifts made the story confusing to me.

I'll say it again: Neon Redemption rocks my world

This book is so good, paying off so much of what was teased in Indie Saint, and setting up so many tantalizing hints for the rest of the series. My favorite part is going deeper with Olive, who sounded so cool when she was basically just mentioned in the first book. She turns out to be so much more than I even guessed! The chaotic action sequences I loved return, but now they’re taking place in already chaotic settings instead of creepy abandoned ones. You know how a sequel movie will all of a sudden have so much more budget to have a thousand extras running around doing stunts in the background and it amps up the whole experience and makes it infinity times as awesome? That’s Neon Redemption. Thanks VK Fox!!

Interesting

I found this book to be strangely captivating. Not my normal read but I’m interested enough to try the last one however…. The story was very confusing as presented and hard to follow. It took dedication to finish and will not appeal to everyone. I hope the next book is better organized

An interesting twist.

First off, it's hinted at in the first book, but if you're homophobic this series isn't for you. There is a healthy amount of bi/pan representation in this series, and while it's not super graphic... well just throwing it out there.

Now, for those that don't mind that, this was a really good next part of this story. There were some nice foreshadowing elements which left me satisfied picking out parts that would happen in the climax. There were some things that felt... a little more rough.

The jumping back and forth left things a little muddy. There were parts where something would be mentioned in the present and I was left thinking, "Did that come up in a flashback/ the past? I don't recall." Sometimes it would come up later, other times not. It wasn't terrible, just a little jarring and makes it feel more 3.5 stars, but still overall solid.

There were some things that I felt were dumb moves, but when information has to be compartmentalized I can see certain characters doing them because they just wouldn't know any better.

Overall, Very excited to read more.

Pay Close Attention!

I enjoyed the continuation of the story, but could not track the jumping timeline. It was a bit distracting. As soon as I dismissed that and just listened it was okay.

Scene 1: MC in control, rescues herself; Scene 2:

Scene 2:

After being separated from her guy for a month, there's probably lots of ways the reunion can go well.
Personally, I don't think anything on that list includes being told that she's not healthy (as if it was a secret no one else could tell by looking at her), and then basically having this gem of a conversation (paraphrased):

I - Here's your phone back.

J - You borrowed it?

I - Just needed to enter in the meal plan you'll be on from now on, and an exercise schedule you'll be following, and I added reminders for all this stuff with alarms you can't turn off.
Also, the magic you can do that helps you feel like your life has a definite purpose? Well, you won't be doing that anymore. I'll let you know if I think you will do it again.
First -- it's probably dangerous to use it. Well, actually, we have no real idea if it is, since we don't have any data on how the rules work with a Saintly healer, but here's the real reason you won't be using your magic...
Second -- I'm here now, and it's okay for me to risk my life and put myself in danger, but I'm a man, and you're, well, a sweet girl. You like it when I refer to you as an "adorable, sweet girl", yes?
But, the point is, it is simply not acceptable for you to do something that would put yourself in danger.

J - Okay, so, no danger except the mortal peril I put myself in by simply dating you?

I - Exactly. Yes, dating me is a sure fire way to put yourself in the cross-hairs of my organization, which may very well be a death sentence or they might force you to become indentured servant.
But, see, I get something from you taking that risk. The important thing to take away from this is something you already know.

J - That you belong to an organization that controls its people rigidly, and that you never gave this fact a second thought until I pointed it out? And, when I did, you just sort of nodded, because it's what you think a good relationship is - controlling me?

I - And?

J - Hold on. Crap. I'm supposed to have a protein shake, now.

2 Timelines - 1 conclusion

This story follows 2 groups of main characters progressing through 2 different timelines and everything collides at the end. The spice goes up in this book (there is on page sex: 2 scenes that are 2-3 paragraphs - Song of Achilles or True Blood level, not erotica but somewhat descriptive) however both are at the end of chapters so those who prefer to skip can hit to forward button and not miss a ton of plot. Action and dialogue land really well even though the narrator has a full cast to juggle. Super enjoyable listen with urban fantasy featuring not-your-run-of-the-mill story line including living books, golems, nuns with guns, and reality bending magic.

Pronunciation

The pronunciation of Cuchulain is wrong. Surprising lapse for Blackstone., which is a quality outfit. Otherwise reader was fine

Let down

The beginning was strong. As you continued there were lots of twists and turns but you were left without endings. Not enough details. Performance of the audio was great.

good, but pay attention.

I got a little confuse with the characters in this book, but it's still a good continuation of the story, just pay close attention.