Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:
Supremacy Series
Synopsis for Supremacy (from Goodreads):
Kate Parker, is a 17 year old senior living in Texas. She’s on the swim team, has two incredible best friends, and a passion for saving animals. She falls hard when she meets a mysterious and fascinating guy named Lucas. He has a sexy accent and a killer smile. However, she sees unexplained pain and anger in his dark brown eyes. He claims he’s a foreign exchange student from Spain who is attending the local University—Kate knows there’s more to his story than that. She works hard to discover who he is—what he is.
Series: Supremacy
Author: Christin Lee
# of Books: 1+ (Supremacy)
Book Order: Chronological
Complete?: No, Book 2, has yet to be published
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Urban Fantasy
Heat Rating: cool
Point of View: Third Person, Alternating
Publication Date: June 3, 2016 – ongoing
Source & Format: Author–eARC
**This post was originally posted as a Fresh Friday review of the first book of the series. It has now been updated to reflect my conclusion to DNF this series. It will not be further updated.**
Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:
When Christin contacted me about reviewing her book, I was willing to give it a shot. It has been a LONG time since I read an urban fantasy novel where everyday human meets some “unknown”. I’m a sucker for a good twist and while I had my ideas (before I even read the novel) about what Lucas’ hidden nature was, I was eager to see what the big secret was.
What I Liked:
–Lucas’ Secret–
Honestly, I never saw this twist coming! I thought it was a cool and unique premise; definitely something I had never encountered before. It gave this story an edge that separates it from your typical YA Urban Fantasy Romance.
–Kate’s (Lack of) Angst–
Kate seems to be pretty perfect when it comes to family life and school. She also seems to have a good heart and genuinely care for people (and animals)–you’re all-round American Sweetheart. I was worried that she would become unnecessarily angsty thanks to her overprotective family and their views on her relationship with Lucas, but she never did. Instead, she kept a level head about her and didn’t create a whole lot of “rebellious” teenage angst. I really liked that, because “forbidden” relationships can often make the heroine an unbearable character to read about **coughcoughBellaSwancoughcough**
What I Didn’t Like:
–Slow Start–
According to my Kindle, nothing really happened for the first 30% of the book or so besides Kate meeting Lucas. And even then, that wasn’t overly thrilling. It was your standard normal girl meets mysterious stranger; girl’s BFF encourages her to date him while others tell her to stay away; girl does research to find out boy’s secret. It’s your typical script for anyone who has encountered this premise before and I found it to be dull.
While it does a good job establishing the characters and building the basis for Lucas and Kate’s relationship–I wanted something exciting to happen. Once the “big reveal” happens, things get more intriguing but it was a slow start.
–Lucas’ Alpha Tendencies–
Lucas, Lucas, Lucas…sigh–and not in a good way.
I’m really torn on this to be honest. Thanks to the character development, I understand why Lucas has the personality and tendencies that he does. But they are rather violent, very anger-filled tendencies and they are more than a little terrifying. It makes the relationship between Kate and Lucas seem very unhealthy but almost in a glorified way. Like it is normal to be fearful of your partner because of their anger. While it was never that extreme, I felt like it was leading there at times. Though by the very end of the novel, thanks to the reveals and twists, I kinda got where this all stems from.
Perhaps I’m over analyzing or making a mountain out of a molehill but as I get older, sometimes I really wonder about the relationships that are presented in YA fiction and how young girls read them. The relationship here is definitely not the worst I’ve seen but it did make me concerned at times, even if I did understand the source.
My Expectations for the Rest of the Series:
Supremacy ended in an interesting way that has me curious to know what the future holds. But those twists were a little too late I think, and I’ve opted not to pick up the rest of the series.
My Rating: 2.5/5
Supremacy 2.5/5
As the years between my high school graduation grow, I find myself not enjoying certain YA tropes as much as I used to. I think if I read this 6 years ago, I would have enjoyed it more. I think it is a great introductory novel for the Urban Fantasy world for those who are looking for something new. But unfortunately for me, it was a little too slow with the plot and I just didn’t bond with the characters.
Read if You Like: slower stories, urban fantasy, unique world
Avoid if You: dislike slow stories, want more excitement, dislike insta-connections
- Falling Under by Gwen Hayes (Falling Under Series #1)
- Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (Twilight Saga #1)
- A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies (A Beautiful Dark Trilogy #1)
I had the same thought as well, their relationship and Lucas’s anger issues reaaaally bothered me. Nonetheless great review!
Yes! I read your review on Goodreads after I finished the book and had to agree with a lot of your points!
You are not making mountains!
There is so much unhealthy crap going on in so many YA relationships. It makes me crazy. And annoyed. And UNCOMFORTABLE. Should we really be representing this to teenage girls as romantic? A guy who is so angry ‘he just can’t help himself’? Ugh.
I’m so with you! I’ve found myself moving away from YA romances and into New Adult romances where the more unhealthy relationships get a platform (though they often romanticize certain unhealthy elements as well).
Sometimes I just worry that the English Literature student in me reads too much between the lines and sees things that aren’t really there haha but I get the sense that I was on point with this observation 🙂
Haha. I know. That is a problem. It makes you look at everything like THIS MUST BE ANALYSED.