Review: Uncontrollable

Author: S.R. Johannes
Pages: 300
Publisher: Coleman & Stott
Source: Review copy (Thank you!)
Sequel to: Untraceable (The Nature of Grace #1)
Synopsis: As Grace recovers from tragedy, her science class is chosen by Agent Sweeney at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to help with research on the new "Red Wolf Reintroduction Program". 

While she’s excited about helping with the conservation of the endangered wolves, Grace knows this means being outdoors in the worst winter recorded, in a place she no longer feels comfortable. It also means working closely with Wyn (her ex) and his annoying girlfriend (Skyler), a girl whose idea of getting close to nature is picking silk plants and growing fake plants. 

After a couple of wolves show up dead, Grace almost quits. However, when a fellow project team member goes missing, Grace continues the assignment under a renewed suspicion that someone might be sabotaging the conservation program. She quietly begins to hunt for clues. 

Little does she know, she is being hunted too. 

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Untraceable took me two weeks to read. Uncontrollable was finished in less than a day. Since I knew what to expect in this series everything in the sequel flowed very well and I liked the story even more.

The thing I was so impressed with was how everything was not tidy. Asheville was shaken by the events at the end of Untraceable and there was grief and anger. Grace did what she thought was right and there were severe consequences for her decisions. Seeing the hurt she caused others, the pain she kept within herself, and everyone's struggles to let go and move on gave this book some real depth. There were two scenes in particular that stood out for me; one with Skyler, one with Tommy.

Grace herself grew into a character that I liked a lot. She's been through a lot by now and it's obviously she's crumbling at times. She isn't broken. Grace has this incredible fighting spirit. She's someone that just plain cares about the world and although she still does have a tendency to make completely irrational, impulsive decisions it's more endearing now that she sometimes thinks her plans through.

I enjoyed the side characters a lot. I said this story has great depth- the side characters helped with that. Although Uncontrollable is another mystery, it's also the story of people trying to heal. I loved some of the quirky characters like Birdee. One thing I didn't like was the love triangle. I feel like someone might get hurt and the would make me sad because I liked both love interests.

I also developed a real appreciation for nature. I'm a city girl but I've always been fascinated by forests and conservation. There's a pretty big national park near where I live and I even saw a black bear there once so I could easily picture what Grace was seeing. I love that Johannes is using her books to inform people about animals like red wolves. I know a lot of people would care about these types of issues but there isn't enough coverage for the average person to hear about unless they specifically went looking for it.

Overall, I enjoyed Uncontrollable a lot. Although I ended up guessing who the villain was beforehand, I liked the direction of the story. This book felt much more compact and action packed than it's predecessor. It kept me into the story and I'm excited to read more! 4 stars,

****

Review: Untraceable by S.R. Johannes

Author: S.R. Johannes
Pages: 315
Publisher: Kindle
Source: Review Copy (thank you!)
Synopsis: 16-year-old Grace has lived in the Smokies all her life, patrolling with her forest ranger father who taught her about wildlife, tracking, and wilderness survival. 

When her dad goes missing on a routine patrol, Grace refuses to believe he’s dead and fights the town authorities, tribal officials, and nature to find him.

One day, while out tracking clues, Grace is rescued from danger by Mo, a hot guy with an intoxicating accent and a secret. As her feelings between him and her ex-boyfriend get muddled, Grace travels deep into the wilderness to escape and find her father. 

Along the way, Grace learns terrible secrets that sever relationships and lives. Soon she’s enmeshed in a web of conspiracy, deception, and murder. And it’s going to take a lot more than a compass and a motorcycle (named Lucifer) for this kick-butting heroine to save everything she loves.

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It took me forever to read Untraceable. That shouldn't say much about the quality of the book though since I was actually very interested in the plot. Untraceable is a very unique book and it's very well done. I enjoyed reading about all the Survival Skills and that part was fun.

I'll start this review with a confession. I somewhat stupidly thought this book would be a paranormal mystery. I didn't read any reviews beforehand and the synopsis gives none of the twists away. I kept expecting something to happen and it took over a hundred pages for me to realize that, no, this was no paranormal. The author wrote a contemporary mystery.

After I realized that, the story flowed much more smoothly. There is an incredible amount of suspense in Untraceable. There are clues and suggestions everywhere that lead to a surprising ending. I honestly had no idea what to expect. Johannes writes a very unique plot twist and revelation that was probably the last thing I was expecting. I love that this story was unexpected. There was so much tension but I felt at times the story was slow. I was so confused- I had no idea what was happening and how to solve the mystery. For someone like me, some more hints would have been welcome. That being said I was impressed with the mystery.

The characters were a diverse group. I liked that a lot. Grace herself was independent and had this very admirable strength. There were many moments that I found I could relate to Grace, especially when she was vulnerable. She wasn't a bland character; she had personality. The side characters were well done too. I ended up being very upset with the actions of one specific character which was surprising because I never knew I cared that much about them.

Overall, Untraceable wasn't my usual type of read. That had its benefits but I would have liked to find the story more gripping. I know that other readers didn't have the same issue so take this with a grain of salt. If you enjoy a suspenseful mystery consider Untraceable. 3 stars,

***