Risuko by David Kudler | Rating: ★★★★★

As a note, an e-galley of this novel was sent to me via Net Galley by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.

I have to start my review with a little disclaimer--this won't be up on the blog for a few weeks. Mainly for two reasons: one, I'm a dumb-ass which leads us to two, I coughed up hot coffee on my laptop two weeks ago, therefore I have no laptop. I basically fried by keyboard. But, onto the main event! This review is something I've been looking forward to because I found myself enjoying this novel far more than I have the last dozen or so books I read. My review will remain spoiler free from anything that isn't in its blurb, because this is something readers must find out for themselves.

Clear your to-read shelves and piles, grab yourself a nice ice cold drink and have a night in with this one. Impossible to put down, fast paced and--well--INCREDIBLE. I liked how there were some missing details and pieces to the story--I wasn't sure how old the characters were, for example--but found this to be utterly appealing. Another thing readers should note is that there isn't any forced romantic interactions in this one, so if you're reading this thinking "ugh, young adult!" then you should, you know, shove that comment up your ass mostly. Oops. I meant to keep this clean. In my defense, I'm really hyped from the novel so.

Back on track, Jessica. Back. On. Track.
 
Risuko is one of the most engaging young adult novels of the year and is the perfect start to what is sure to be a can't miss series. Let's take a moment to talk about the author. David Kudler's writing? Phenomenal. Not only is the prose excellent, the plot is promising and thoroughly solid to read. Admittedly, my first thought when I saw Risuko up for grabs on Net Galley was "holy shit, that's a beautiful cover" and then fell head over heels for the summary/blurb. But, I can say with 100% certainty that even if you pick this novel up purely because of the cover, you're going to want to stick around for the story itself.

In obscenely flawed and over crowded genre, Risuko could have been the worlds biggest miss but it wasn't and here's why. The characters are incredible--they're fascinating, they're well rounded and well written; if any other author had approached this, I don't think there would have been half as much spark and development. It's easy to like Risuko because of this and young readers are sure to adore her. She's certainly the sort of character young girls can look up to and what's refreshing about this is that she feels so real. Not to harp on male authors, because clearly that isn't the case, but sometimes I find the tone in which men write women to be flaky at best and miss out on a lot of great qualities and what could have been. Kudler isn't one of those authors.

The best part about Risuko is how vivid the writing is and how easy it is to follow, without being dumbed down in any means. Excellent world building and history; with a storyline that just gets better as the pages turn. I would be lying if I said I hesitated and had some concerns when it came to this novel, but it's a real gem. You're not going to want to miss this one and despite how campy the genre can be, this isn't your average young adult book and that's what makes it such a blast. David Kudler, I've got my eye on you!

There's something about Risuko. Welcome to your new YA obsession. A world of war, excellent characters, delicious prose--what more could you want?