Review: Wilde Child by Jenn Stark (Immortal Vegas #7)

Wilde Child (Immortal Vegas #7)
Jenn Stark
Published: May 17, 2017 (Elewyn Publishing)
Purchase: Amazon
Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Amy

Rating (out of 5): 4.5 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 book1, Getting Wilde.

Sara Wilde has been progressing quite well in her role as head of the House of Swords. So when the mysterious Gamon reenters the picture targeting a select group of Connecteds and then the technoceutical market is in an uproar over a new drug, Sara knows it’s no coincidence. In order to avoid more deaths, namely the deaths of more children, Sara will be forced to break one of her cardinal rules by relying on a child to lead her into the path of danger.

Forever Wilde, in my opinion, was a big game changer in the series. While Wilde Child didn’t feel to me as “epic” as its predecessor, it definitely doesn’t hold back on the revelations or moving the story arc forward exponentially.

Sara felt more mature in this book. She’s settling into her job as Head of a House and the understanding that she can’t be frivolous with her life by running head-first into trouble. Though trouble will seem to find her wherever she goes, Sara at least makes the effort to work with her team. This includes taking her general Ma-Singh’s advice by learning to hone her natural Connected abilities.

Here enters my favorite new character, who I hope we’ll see more of in books to come, Sensei Chichiro. Chichiro immediately represents an alternative to The Magician. She’s less mysterious with the information she imparts upon Sara. Her presence immediately made me think she could be a more calming influence upon Sara’s abilities, and as of now she seems to want to help Sara for Sara’s sake as opposed to some ulterior motive. I think it’s important for Sara to get out from under the thumb of the Council and Wilde Child sees her heading in that direction, the first steps being when Sara visits Sensei Chichiro.

This leads into the fact that Wilde Child doesn’t have the heat and the tension between Sara and The Magician that we’ve come to expect from previous books, and I for one, liked the departure. I want to see Sara come into her own, on her own terms, and not as dictated by The Magician, for all that I ship them like crazy. I think the only way to do this is to show Sara finding other means of learning her powers. Even though I say there’s not as much heat and tension, there’s a more familiarity around their interactions and I enjoyed the more comfortable repartee they show one another. It can be likened to more of a partnership, working together on equal footing, than one person having all the power on their side. Which is apt because Sara’s power have grown exponentially since the beginning of the series, and I’m guessing The Magician knows he can no longer hold her inexperience over her.

Wilde Child delves further into Sara’s own mysterious past, and with this comes the revelation of where Sara comes from. The repercussions of this discovery will more than likely be something explored in the next book and I can’t wait to see where it all leads.

Sexual content: none