Review: Unwanted by Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #14.5)

Unwanted (Elemental Assassin #14.5)
Jennifer Estep
Published: July 18, 2016 (Pocket Books)
Purchase: Amazon
Review Source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Amy

Rating (out of 5): 4 stars

Note: While this review will be spoiler free, it will reference previous books. If you haven’t started this series yet, check out VBC’s review of book 1, Spider’s Bite.

I love when Jennifer Estep takes a departure from Gin’s point of view and gives readers a chance to see things from another character’s perspective. Obviously in Unwanted that character is Finn, Gin’s foster brother.

Unwanted is definitely best read as a companion to Bitter Bite as the events that happen in this novella are a direct result of how things went down when Finn’s mother Deirdre blew into Ashland quite unexpectedly looking to reconnect with her son.

Of course Deirdre’s true motivations weren’t realized in time by Finn and a lot of good people lost their lives because of it, not to mention the destruction done to the bank where Finn works. Now, Finn is faced with being persona non grata by everyone who thinks he should have known better. Honestly, Finn is pretty full of self-loathing too.

While attending a funeral for one of the guards, Finn learns that his widow is facing some steep trouble. Finn sees this as his opportunity to offer help and make amends.

I appreciated the fact that Jennifer Estep decided to write this novella from Finn’s point of view mainly because I felt like Bitter Bite was more Finn’s story anyway, you know, with his until-recently-thought-deceased mother returning and all.

I’m happy we have this novella because I feel like we’re not skirting around the obvious issues that Finn is going to face emotionally after being dealt such a blow by a figure who is supposed to be a pillar of love and support in your life.

In Unwanted, my heart broke for Finn. You’re aware of just how disappointed, sad, guilty, etc. he is over everything. More, I believed how Finn could have blinders on where Deirdre was concerned, whereas in Bitter Bite I struggled with understanding that because from Gin’s perspective the lies are so obvious.

Don’t worry, the entire story doesn’t just read gloomy. It’s a meditation, on Finn’s part, of feeling lost and taking steps to getting back to normal (or as normal as can be). Of picking up the pieces and moving forward.

Unwanted is a good compliment to Bitter Bite. Jennifer Estep pulls some pleasant, albeit not too surprising, things out of her hat. By the end, I was definitely excited for the next book Unraveled (out Aug. 30, 2016, pre-order here). Fans of the series will enjoy this one.

Sexual content: none