Mini Review: Hope's Daughter by Melanie Cusick-Jones.

Title: Hope's Daughter
Author: Melanie Cusick-Jones
Series: The ambrosia Sequence #1
Pages: 389
Date Published: December 8th 2011
Publisher: Book Baby
Life should be simple for Cassie. 

For the small population of Earth survivors who live on the Space Station Hope everything they do is planned and scheduled, down to the cyclical food menus, their roles in the station, even how many children they have.

Despite rigid controls directing her life, Cassie feels more out of synch than ever and worries she won’t find a place for herself within the station community. Perhaps that’s because she’s hearing things inside her head that can’t possibly be real. Or maybe it’s the regular elopements of her peers, heading off to a romantic future in the Married Quarter of the space station, whilst she’s never even been attracted to a boy – no matter how hard her best friend Ami pushes them at her. Then there are the odd questions her work placement partner Balik keeps raising. His questions are just as troubling for her as his distracting smiles and eyes that seem to see inside her.

As Cassie draws closer to Balik she finds that everything else in her life begins to shift. He tells her things that call into question the system they live within. She can't believe he is right, but at the same time she finds it hard to deny the sincerity of his ideas. Could there be a connection between Cassie’s problems and Balik’s questions? The truth will drag them both to a terrifying and deadly conclusion beyond anything they could have imagined.
Characters: Cassie was a great lead, I could totally connect with her emotions like her nerves regarding her placement and feelings for Balik, the way the author describes her feelings was amazing and genuine.
Balik caught my interest because Cassie didn't think of him as perfect she could described both the positive and negative aspects of his personality. Another plus for Balik is that he had no problems with teaching Cassie how to fight and knowing she could defend herself.
Pros: The world building is excellent and the romance,although it plays an important part in the plot, isn't the central focus of the book
Cons: It was a bit slow at first.
Overall a great read. Once again thanks to Melanie Cusick-Jones for allowing me to review her book.