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When I got The Murder Complex, I had great expectations for it and it was sad to have been disappointed.
BAMF (n.)
To say that Meadow was a strong and fearless protagonist would be an understatement. She's goal oriented and straightforward and I love that about her. And even though she's tough as nails, Meadow wasn't heartless and unreasonably cruel. Her family takes a huge place in her heart and I appreciated that.
All of those qualities suddenly disappeared however when Zephyr - alive and kicking - came into the picture.
Zephyr. Zephyr. Zephyr.
In all honesty, it was Zephyr that hooked me in just from the second chapter. There's so much of the "surviving-in-a-corner-of-the-fucked-up-society-while-learning-badass-fighting" that was Meadow's life, I've read before. I instantly found Zephyr's life as a ward and you-know-what, way more interesting. His thoughts were honest and slightly mysterious. Complex, even. (Ha.) He was trying to figure out what's wrong with him at the same with the reader and it was pulling to read.
Head Over Heels - On The FIRST Date
One of the things that totally ruined The Murder Complex for me was the insta-love that was faster than me even saying the word "insta-love". (If you read my Top Ten Bookish Turn offs, you'll know just how much that annoys me.)
Meadow and Zephyr's "romance" has no basis whatsoever. It was greatly predictable, bordering on cliche. Because I mean really, "the moonlit girl in my dreams". Especially, as we move further with the book and find out why Zephyr dreams about Meadow in the first place, how is it even possible and logical to call that love, much less in a day?
I can't even begin with Meadow. "I am in love with you. I know I saw you only twice ever and the second time you weren't even awake, and I am in love with you." Basically.
The "romance" was hands down forced and completely out of place. I felt like it was just used to make a connection between Meadow and Zephyr. A simple friendship (with the proper build into something more) would've worked better.
Blood and Gore
I, however, cannot deny how fast-paced and action-packed The Murder Complex is. It's one of the few reasons, I pushed through until the very end. Both protagonists aren't the most innocent of people and the world they lived in was the epitome of death and destruction and Cummings did a fantastic job highlighting that. Even just thinking of the dead bodies openly rotting on the streets and the depthless poverty makes me cringe in pity. The world building was perfect and the action sequenced were dutifully shown across the pages.
The Murder Complex
The concept of the actual Murder Complex, I found very interesting and appealing. It was an original idea and if you really think about it, you'll actually see the logic behind its creation despite it being morbid and immoral.
"We're all good until we're not strong enough to be anymore."
The predictability and comparison [to other dystopians] factors in this debut book are high and the last few chapters grew sloppy and hurried, suddenly breezing through major events that deserved more reaction. Meadow and Zephyr's points of view were actually quite similar as I go through the book but it can still be easily distinguished who's who. Overall, even if it seems like I have a huge hatred towards this book, I don't. I merely only had some issues and nonetheless, I still managed to enjoy The Murder Complex. Quite.
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