~ Review & Give Away ~ Tick by Allison Rose

Friday 20 March 2015

Tick by Allison Rose My rating: 4 of 5 stars (4.5 stars)


Tick is the debut novel of Allison Rose. It is classed as a YA/Dystopian however in my opinion this book crosses more genres and can also be classify as a contemporary, psy or thriller.

The main character is Jo, who has an incredible artistic talent but also a dark secret. She has visions of brutally killing people. And there is no pick as to who it will be. She is trying to avoid getting noticed and 'adjusted' by drones patrolling an unstable America, whilst trying to find her direction in the world.


Slowly, her life starts falling apart and when one of her visions sends her over the edge, she is thrown from a bad into an outright disastrous situation.



The country then comes under siege and an all out war is starting to break out.

~ The woman gabber on, the crazy lady shouts to herself, and the clown-faced girl breathes in my face. I cover my ears and shut my eyes and hope with all my might that I'll wake up and this will have been some horrible dream

When all hell breaks loose, Jo gets help from an operative called Felix (who has his own motives). Jo has to come to terms with her actions, herself and her new identity and then, whilst on the run, she finds another unlikely ally in a young girl named Evie.

~ I have to believe him. How, I don't know. But I can't go out like this. I can't live out the rest of my life engraved with an identity that does not define me. I am not a monster.

I can not give to much detail to avoid spoilers, but please do not be fooled by the first part. It will make you believe it is a completely different story. To me, it was not as strong as the rest of the book and felt a little disjointed. That is mainly due to the lack of pace and direction. However, the story in fact goes much deeper. Half way through, I couldn't put it down and was attached like a magnet.


Jo is not the easiest character. She is mistrusting, has no qualms about leaving people behind and slightly reckless. She has a rock-solid shield and yet she is likeable and engaging. I had quite a few times where I wished to smack her on the head, but she also gives a deeper message about survival and strength.

Felix, on the other hand, I adored straight away. He is an insistent smart mouth. You can not help but wonder about him. Even though we get a glimpse into his motives, there are still quite a few questions left to be unravelled. Whilst the two have a nice chemistry going on, it is not forced and done in a smooth way.

~ He grabs my arms and the blood from my wrist dribbles to the floor. "You didn't have to. it came from your heart. You didn't just draw with chalk. You drew with your blood. You've shared pain, and sharing your suffering has lifted the weight from your shoulders.

It's magical to have a book reverberate through your head, even when you are not reading. Tick most definitely did that for me. Not only do the characters grow, so does the writing and plot. The author shows great potential in multiple areas. I also believe that Allison's background in screenwriting has had a definite impact on this book. The scenes would be magnificent on screen.


The last ending of Tick had me in tears. Allison managed to capture a great deal of emotion there. I am definitely putting the next instalment (currently titled ‘Vice’) on my radar.

Would I recommend it?

Yes, I would. It’s a great read. A note of warning needs to be given though, there are some scenes in this book that may not be that suitable for a younger audience, or people with a weak stomach.



a Rafflecopter giveaway


All you have to do is enter our Tick Giveaway
and leave a comment or question on this Blog post for Allison who will answer any questions on the 30th and announce our winners!

*open to International entries.

You can purchase Tick here, and sign up to Allison's Blog here



16 comments :

  1. How do you feel about the rise of kickass women in literature and being a part of that?

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  2. Sounds like a good read, just need to find a place to hide the kids so I can have peace & quiet :-)

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  3. Ooh can't wait to read this! :)
    QUESTION: What draws you to writing about this genre (of books) than say a traditional romance or drama/crime novel?

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  4. Hi Allison (and Sam ;-) ),
    sounds like an interesting twist to well-known themes and I'm looking foreward to reading the whole series. Yes, that's right. Once I'm in a story and I know there are several parts I always prefer to reading them in one go. Firstly, I HATE waiting for a sequel and secondly, reading it as a whole shows not only the progression of the story and the characters but also of the author. Part 1 could still be a bit 'wobbly' where part 3 is really good. Anyhow, I digress.
    My question for you is: how do you prevent the course of a story become predictable and therfore stand above the crowd?
    My comment to my sis: thanks, you just put another book/series on my to-read list :-D

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    1. I sure hope you don't have to wait long for the series to be completed... for both our sakes! ;)

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  5. Yay! This sounds like such a good read!

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  6. This book sounds so exciting! It seems like Jo will be a very interesting character to follow!

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  7. This sounds great! I look forward to reading this :D

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  8. Sounds intriguing. Keen to have a read :)

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  9. Looks fantastic, I would love to read this to break my fiction reading drought of 12 years lol

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  10. This is definitely on my to read list. Sounds AWESOME!!

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  11. Congrats on the giveaway, Sam, and congrats to Allison on the release! :)

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  12. This book sounds awesome! Look forward to reading it. This blog and Sam has inspired me to get back into reading. Thank you!

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  13. Book sounds really good :)

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  14. I'd like to thank all of you for entering the giveaway, and thanks for the questions!

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