Recap: Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout

So today is the release of Torn by Jennifer L. Armentrout!!!! *screams profusely* I thought it would be a perfect time to introduce a new feature that I will hopefully write more of! RECAPS!! I’m sure we’ve reread Wicked already through all the wait, but if you haven’t and you’ve forgotten everything that has happened, don’t worry. I got your back 😉

Here’s a detailed recap of what you need to know before reading Torn!

Disclaimer: If you have not read Wicked, you have been warned. A LOT OF SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

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At a Glance:

Written by JLA, you know the writing is gonna be good, the characters, the romance, and the storyline. This is her new NA fantasy series that delves in faeries, fighting, and a hot, swoony guy.

We follow Ivy, our heroine that hunts Faeries. She is part of the Order, which is the organization that hunts and kills them. When a new type of Fae emerges, Ivy investigates with the new transfer, Ren Owens, and together they figure out what the Fae are up to.

World Building

The Order

All members have a tattoo that marks them as their own. They protect themselves from Fae using a four-leaf clover. Their leader is David, and those in this organization is generational. (Secrets and skills passed down by family)

The Elite

An organization within the Order that specifically train members in hunting and killing ancients. Also generational. Not only that, they are specialized in killing halflings. Super Secret Organization. Only members know about it and rarely Order members have heard of it.

Fae

Uses glamour which is a dark magic to veil their appearance. True features are palest of blues eyes and silver skin. They are stronger and faster, and have special abilities like “telekinesis to igniting the most violent of fires”. All can control the minds of humans and use that so they can feed off of them. Fae need humans to slow down their aging. No human to feed = die like human. Evil. Iron harms them.

Ancients

More powerful than Fae. Doesn’t need glamour to disguise themselves. Looks human. Iron doesn’t faze them. A thorn stake made from a thorn tree only found in the Otherworld can kill them. They can recreate anything they have touched before.

Otherworld

The Fae’s realm. When Fae are killed by iron stake, they are sent back to the Otherworld. For ancients, this is not the case. There are gates to the Otherworld that the Order protects. Only sect leaders and the guards know exactly where they are. These gates have been sealed and if they are opened the Fae can finally take over the mortal realm.

Who are the important characters?

Ivy Morgan: 21/22 yrs old. Fire engine red hair. Badass Main Protagonist. Part of the Order. Loves coffee. Great humour. She goes to Loyala College and wants to be a social worker. She’s the halfling that the Prince wants. AKA half human, half fae.

Val: Ivy’s BFF. Part of the Order. Betrays the Order and ultimately, Ivy.

Ren Owens: 24 yrs old. New guy. Part of the Elite. Transferring from Colorado to Ivy’s sect, in New Orleans. HOT. Has swoony green eyes. Uses a lot of sugar in his coffee.

David Faustin: Leader of the Order. 40-60 yrs old. Strict.

Tink: Ivy’s brownie. Troublemaker. Lives in her house. Loves Harry Potter and Lucky Charms. Has gossamer wings, is super tiny but extremely buff. Ivy saved him, but she was supposed to kill him.

Fae Prince: Wants to take over the mortal realm and by doing so he needs to open all the gates to the Otherworld. He needs to fuck a halfling, because the offspring of an ancient and a halfling creates this apocalyptic baby that can open all the gates in the world.

What happened?!

Okay, so the story opens with Ivy and Val at a coffee shop. We are immediately introduced to their tight friendship and Ivy’s bubbly personality. And iced coffee is involved. What better way to grab my attention? These two women seem like normal people but then they spot “this creature [that] was one of the most deadly things known to man and had been since the beginning of time.” Val calls dibs and goes to kill her.

We get to know that Ivy hasn’t had some since her boyfriend died, three years ago. Said boyfriend was also part of the Order. Val wants her back in action.

*time jump*

Ivy is killing fae, and then gets shot by an ancient (but she doesn’t know that at the time). She ends up staggering to headquarters bleeding to death and before passing out she notices this new guy with yummy green eyes who says she looks like Merida from Brave.

Ivy goes back home after talking with her sect leader, David, and is supposed to rest for five days before going out and hunting again. Turns out the new guy with the gorgeous green eyes is named Ren and he is a transfer from Colorado, and Ivy will be the one to show him around. We meet her brownie, Tink, who Ivy found sleeping in a bowl of Lucky Charms…minus the marshmallows. They talk about ancients.

*time jump*

In the morning, Ren goes into Ivy’s apartment and they wrestle around because Ivy is completely annoyed with him entering her apartment without being invited. Tink makes appearances in this hilarious, yet full of sexual tension scene. Straddling and pining down happens. 😉

This is when Ren reveals to Ivy about the Elite and how he is here to hunt down the ancient that shot Ivy. If she’s going to be partnering with him as per her leader’s orders, he’s not going to leave her in the dark. He’s also going to figure out why the ancient was hunting down a member of the Order. Ivy learns more about the Elite and ancients, and ultimately how to kill them. Ren gives her a thorn stake.

Game plan is set. Ivy is going to help Ren find where the gate is and find out what the ancients are up to.

After breakfast, Ren takes Ivy somewhere to watch a car. An ancient steps out and Ivy realizes that they really can hide in the mortal realm. This ancient is living as Marlon St. Cyers, a huge developer in the city.

*time jump*

Ivy and Ren go hunting and hear an scream. They investigate and find a woman biting a man in the neck. They discover that the woman was bitten by a fae, which caused her to act psychotic. Val also comes to the scene. Her veins were blackened which is because of the poisonous bite of the fae. The man she bit died, and Ren abruptly leaves. Val tells Ivy to follow him and she’ll take care of the woman as she is still manic. (Police are coming). Ivy follows Ren and they have a moment. (I have this moment bookmarked. SO SWOOONY!!)

Ivy goes to bed and has an erotic dream. She wakes up and masturbates thinking about Ren. This was the first time in three years since she’s done this, since Shaun. Ivy is now very conflicted, and in complete denial with her attraction to Ren.

Ivy meets up with Val and she tells her about Ren, ancients, and the Elite. In the middle of their girl talk, Val jumps up and says she has to go. Ivy assumes it’s with a hot date. I assume it’s to meet with an ancient.

Ivy walks back home and feels like she’s being watched. She is. CUE THE SUSPENSE. Something is gonna happen people.

Next day, Ren is waiting for her outside of Mama Lousy. Lots of sexual tension oozes from the page. Ren has a motorcycle. ‘Nough said. You guys can figure out what happened. He takes her to a club called Flux that Marlon goes to every night around 730. They see fae enter the club, so Ren and Ivy attack them, and ship them back to the Otherworld.

Then, Ivy gets a Code Red which means an Order member has been killed. (It was Trent).

At this point, the stakes are rising, here’s what has happened thus far through the words of Ren:

“Anything is possible, but everything has to be connected. The fae migrating here, the ancients engaging with the Order, members with experience dying and being tortured, and that club where ancients and human cops are hanging out? Something is going on down there. We need to get into it.”

So, they go to Flux undercover. This is why I love JLA’s seamless ability to mix plot development and romance. Clubs = sexy clothes = sexual tension = very heavy angsty scenes between Ren and Ivy. WHO WAS FANNING THEMSELVES WHEN THEY DANCED WITH EACH OTHER?!? *raises hand* ME.

Ivy and Ren discover in the club that fae and humans are mingling together, and were engaging in sexual acts. Ivy comes face to face with the ancient who shot her, then Marlon enters the club. She follows him and eavesdrop on his conversation.

• Marlon is working for someone.
• They tortured someone who gave them the information they needed
• The information? Where the gate is.
• If the ancients want to open the gate and know where it is, humankind is screwed.
• They have five. Five of what we have no clue.
• Order member and ancients are working together but who is it?

After Ivy gets the information, her and Ren escape the club. They have a little fight about Ivy’s feelings then Ren kisses her.

Next day, Ivy calls Ren to meet her so they can talk to Merle who might know where the gate is. Turns out Merle was actually a guardian, someone who guards the gate. Ivy and Ren learn that there are not one, but two gates in the city of New Orleans. This means the stakes are even higher. Merle tells them that they must find the halfling.

Then, Ivy goes and tells David about everything Ren and her have learned about the ancients, the gates, and the halfling. Some days later, David holds a meeting that all members go to their families but whoever wants to volunteer to fight at the gate please do so. Ivy and Ren both decide to help protect the door.

The tomb opens, the fae flood out and the fighting begins. To open and destroy gates, ancient blood is required to shed outside or inside the Otherworld, respectively. Val goes up to an ancient and slices his throat. The ancient doesn’t even react, allowing her to do this. Ivy is freaking out because why is Val doing the one thing the ancient needs to open the gate?! Then the ancient takes the blood and places a handprint on the door. The prince comes in. Val was helping them all along.

Ivy attacks the prince but at first, he said he would let her go. Ivy isn’t having that and continues to bait him. He snaps and begins to try killing her. They fight until Ivy is almost near death, then the prince stops and smells her blood, tasting it. He panics as he realizes that Ivy is the halfling he is looking for and proceeds in healing her.

How did it end?

Val betrayed the Order, and helped the ancient open the gate. She was ultimately working for the prince.

Ivy finds out she’s the halfling Ren was sent to kill, and that Tink knew all along. How she finds out is by cutting herself with the thorn stake Ren gave her. Her blood begins to boil which indicates she is indeed the halfling. Not only that, that means the Fae Prince is going to hunting Ivy and trying to fuck her so she can birth the apocalyptic baby he needs.

Other details:

• Ren and Ivy have sex
• Ivy admits she in love with him (to herself not to him)
• Brownies are supposed to destroy gates, but Tink didn’t destroy the gate he was supposed to, and that was the New Orleans’ gate
• Not only is there a prince but there is a princess who has the same goals and actions required by the prince.

Questions that must be answered or we will go insane:

• Will the Fae Prince get his way with Ivy?
• How will Ren find out about Ivy?
• Will Ivy go hunt the Prince herself?
• Will Ivy confront Val?
• WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN?!?

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I’m so excited to read this!! It’s been a long two years, let me tell you! I’ve never written a recap before and this took forever!! I felt so professional having the book open and writing notes as I skimmed the novel. My timeline was bumped up because I was supposed to have this done a day before release day. 😦 Note: Prepare for this better.

How helpful was this guide? Recommendations/suggestions for future RECAPS? What should I include/exclude? Was my summary too detailed? HOW EXCITED ARE YOU NOW THAT WE CAN FINALLY READ TORN?!

Keep calm and read on,

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