STRANGE BUT MORE COMPLEX:
Pros
The artistic look of the cover: Similar to the first book Doom Absolute, the author used his own illustration as the cover which works to give a crack at the happenings within.
Lots of action: There is plenty of conflict to go around as Simone/Alma attempts to live a normal life at the college she is attending. From dealing with her inner demons to trying to be there for her new friends, there’s no room for any downtime here.
Characters that address real life issues: In Heretic, besides Alma’s predicament, she and her group of friends (Kaisa, Grigory, and Donna) did experience their share of bullying from Imogen and Dooley. Each person reflected the end result of what could occur with the greatest travesty happening with Grigory–which angered me and brought me to tears. Yet it is a very real thing that can happen if it’s not acted upon fast enough.
Great Maturity in the Main Character: I really love the pace of Alma’s development. It matched with her growing responsibilities.
Cons
Tidying in POV and scene shifts: In Heretic, there were a lot of different shifts in POV as well as between flashbacks and settings. The way that it was constructed, at moments, proved to be very confusing and at moments I did have to re-read what I just read. There was not enough clear separation to keep things from meshing together.
Side Story Threatened to take over Main Story: Although I appreciated the extra layer of conflict provided as it pertained to the college, it almost (and at many points) succeeded in eclipsing the main story. I was involved in the Donna/Dooley saga, who Grigory was receiving love letters from, why Imogen was just a horrible person–while all that is fantastic, I tended to forget the rest of it was buffer for Alma.
Not enough description of various locations: Heretic is definitely more action centered, to the point where little to no emphasis was given to some of the locations. For the spots where there was description, it was staccato as if the author couldn’t wait to return back to the action. More balance in this area could have definitely been beneficial and served for a more filling read.
Overall, I am a fan of the concept and am interested to see the full development of Alma as she continues her adventures.
Verdict: 3.5, strong enough to bump to a 4.