Five (Mister, #6)

by J.A. Huss

[Berls]

Gah! So good! And yet so frustrating, because I totally have read these series so out of order. I need to go back and do it over I think. So I thought I was safe picking up FIVE because it's technically part of the Mister Series, but what I had been realizing in the latter books of the Misters is that the Misters are KIND OF a Rook and Ronin spin off. And I've read Rook and Ronin... but I haven't read all their spinoffs yet. And Five is the book that kind of brings all those spin offs together (at least, that's the impression I got having not read them yet). So if you haven't read the spin offs yet (Fords books, Spencers books, Wasted Lust) - stop and read them first, IMO. I think you'll enjoy Five that much more.

That being said, I hadn't read them and still loved this book. Because it's a clear prequel to the Misters. Yes, you see characters from the Rook and Ronin Universe that are grown up and at these new stages of their life and I do wish I knew these characters as well as I was supposed to. But Huss does a good job filling in the blanks if you, like me, don't really know them. Because it's not really about them. It's about Five and Rori. From reading the Misters series, you know that something major is going to go down, because this is all YEARS BEFORE the series. And man, it's kind of awesome seeing how it went down. And coming to the conclusion and knowing something that the rest of the Misters don't know, years later, is also very cool.

I'm being very vague because I don't want to spoil - I could spoil the heck out of several books with just this one! - but it's definitely a game changer kind of book. And just because it's a prequel doesn't mean it's short. You're getting a full story here. I haven't talked much about the sexiness, which is a given in a Huss book, because while it was (of course) good, it's not the centerpiece of this book for me at all.

I did this book on audio - because that's how I've done the rest of the Misters series - and it continues to be FANTASTIC. Julie is great at picking narrators. This one is narrated by Anna Riordan and Teddy Hamilton. Even though you feel the narration change when POV changes, it always flows together really well. Julie has moved around on narrators a lot for this series, which is normally like a HUGE no-no for me, but she's done it so smartly, really picking narrators to express the characters that are front and center, but still somehow (how? I have no idea!) are able to hold on to general voice quality that other narrators have used for characters throughout. A great series to do on audio. And I'm super excited to read Mr. and Mrs now! Just waiting for the audio (update: it wasn't out when I finished this book, but it's out now!! Yay!)