Fifty years ago The Commander came into power and murdered all who opposed him. In his warped mind, the seven deadly sins were the downfall of society. To punish the guilty, he created the Hole, a place where sinners are branded according to their sins. Sinners are forced to live a less than human existence in deplorable conditions, under the watchful eye of guards who are ready to kill anyone … who steps out of line.Now, LUST wraps around my neck like thick, blue fingers, threatening to choke the life out of me. I’ve been accused of a crime I didn’t commit, and the Hole is my new home. Constant darkness. Brutal and savage violence. Excruciating pain. Every day is a fight for survival. But I won’t let them win. I will not die in the Hole. I am more than my brand. I’m a fighter. My name is Lexi Hamilton, and this is my story.
“The writing was strong, I fell in love with the characters and was totally wrapped up in the world. There was a swoon-worthy hero, a strong heroine, a forbidden romance (and I mean REALLY forbidden) and a super evil bad guy. Now, I don’t normally read Dystopians but this one had me HOOKED!!!” “Aestas, Blogger at Aesta’s Book Blog
“Dark, intense, dangerous. We fell head over heels with the forbidden romance between brave heroines and swoon-worthy hero Cole. And Zeus? Best dog EVER. A must-read for fans of the adrenaline intensity or Shatter me and totally hot guys of Jennifer Armentrout.” – Justine Magazine
“A riveting and exciting dystopian read that will have you at the edge of your seat. I could not put it down and was entranced by this dark and unique world!” –Ben Alderson, Booktuber at BenjaminofTomes
“The concept of this book was amazing. From the very first page, I was one edge. I read this book in one day, it just wouldn’t stop being exciting.” – Amy Real, Blogger at Reading Teen
“Branded is a face paced, heart pounding, and swoon-worthy read that will make you fall in love with this dark and twisted world.” –Sasha Alsberg, BookTuber at ABookUtopia, Author of NYT #1 Best Seller of Zenith.
“Fast-paced and fun, Branded has something everyone will love. Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki have created a unique dystopian romance that’s sure to stand out in today’s market!” –Lindsay Cummings, Author of NYT #1 Best Seller of Zenith.
“It was page-turning, intense, emotional, and so much more! This is one dystopian filled with so much you just want and need in a book! I loved that Ketner & Kaliciki had me hooked from the start making me climb more and more into this book with each page. I really felt like I was taken to a whole other world and sometimes got lost in what was going on around me!” –Bella, Blogger at Paranormal Book Club
“I just can’t stress how much I love this book! Branded will DEFINITELY go into my TOP FAVORITE BOOKS OF ALL TIMES!!! If you haven’t read Branded, the stop what you’re doing NOW and READ IT!!!” – Alicia, Blogger at Addicted Readers
“Wow! What a story! What a set of characters! What an ending! Now I’m ready for the next book!” – Lisa, Blogger at A Life Bound By Books
“WOW! I want more. And I want it now. There are several revelations at the end of the store that leaves the reader hungry for more. Take it from me, you will enjoy this book so much, that you won’t be able to it out of your head. It’s just an amazing store that will blow you away.” –Savannah, Blogger at Books With Bite
“This store is emotional and scary. This book literally brought the saying ‘on the edge of my’ seat to life. My heart was pounding with almost every chapter. I loved that feeling! I haven’t read a book in a long time that left me feeling nervous and twitchy. I was dying to know how things would go for Lexi in the HOLE. And the ending was O-M-G! –Damaris, Blogger at Good Choice Reading
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This was a page turner and I enjoyed the action in it and the twists of the plot.
Couldn’t put it down.
Highly recommend! I went into this series with no expectation and came out loving it. I shed a few tears in the book and loved that good could persevere.
This is one of my all time favorite books. It’s a long one, but wow do you fall for these characters. Be prepared with a box of tissues and don’t plan on sleeping because you’re going to want to get through this in one sitting. I may or may not have devoured the sequel to this the day it came out…before I left for work that morning. I have no idea how this hasn’t been made into a movie yet—it ranks right up there with Divergent and Hunger Games. Don’t miss out on this one!
It’s like one author wrote the first half of the book and someone else with a different vision wrote the second half. Loved the first half, hated the second half. There was a huge disconnect and it felt very inconsistent with the character building which took place in the first half.
Lots of spelling/grammatical errors. Too predictable.
I enjoy reading dystopian books. If you haven’t read this series, you should!
A dreadful book
It was okay. Like other reviews said, the romance and timeline felt rushed and unrealistic. The two main characters had feelings for each other and then fell in love soon after the beginning without any events or reasons why. I also felt like there were details, like the color of her eyes or her ring, brought up and were made to sound important, but then weren’t explained why throughout the book. The character development was mild. There’s two more books, but I don’t think I’ll be reading the rest of the series.
This book was just okay compared to the many other Dystopian-genre books I have read. I liked the overall concept and the world-building, if you will, and there was a lot of action to keep things moving along. However, the dialogue often felt stilted and the main character, Lexi, was portrayed as self-pitying and with so much overly dramatic descriptions of her emotions that I couldn’t help rolling my eyes and skimming whole paragraphs. A reader has to deal with a lot of vomiting.
There were some moments that actually made me get a little choked up, so the authors can write some emotion-evoking scenes.
There are some incorrect spellings and other typos, but that’s a minor issue. (ring instead of wring out a shirt, for example)
If you’re looking for another Dystopian fiction to read, go ahead and give this one a try.
Very good.
He characters were entertaining, the story plausible, and it was interesting enough, that I want to find out what happens next. Fleshing our hr wold a little better might make it less confusing.
The initial development was good. Why was one person being protected in a place with no protection? The ending felt a bit forced, but the plot twists were interesting and some were suprising. Book 2 is on my wish list!
Okay
Too much profanity
The character development is totally lacking. I’m having a hard time finishing the 1st book because I genuinely hate the main character and don’t care about her or the love interest. The most interesting character is the dumb dog.
When you make your character’s so STUPID you can’t finish the book. That’s bad!
Awesome read! Not your typical YA. Dark and gritty but I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Awful, awful, awful. Immature 3 year old tantrum – nothing close to a young woman old enough to enter a relationship. Throwing a punch over [anything and everything] using reason or logic or maturity of any kind is the worst thing to show any young person – and that is the audience for this book. Awful.