After reading the blurb, this book came across as being a mix of the crime and sci-fi genres. I love reading/watching about hacking or the use of cyberspace so I was very excited to start reading Ayden’s Choice.

On the back seat a teenager sat nervously fumbling for his phone in the footwell. His fingertips brushed hard plastic and he strained to inch it closer, fixing his eyes on the driver as he did so that he could plead, “Turn back, please turn back… Sir… Please take me back…”

A terrible crime has been committed that only Ayden can solve with his cyber talents, two innocents without hope are in prison, and the people who should be helping them are blinded by racial prejudice. Will Ayden’s unknown saviours manage to fight the Wall of Blue with their digital powers? Can they prove the truth and give Ayden a new life to unfold his potential?

I feel like this book was more about the crime than about the ‘cyber talents’. Ayden’s Choice focuses mainly on the domestic abuse that he and his Mom have suffered through for many years and proving the abuser to be guilty; very little of the book was about the main choice that Ayden had to make.

This book was fast paced and brilliantly written. I felt so much pain for Ayden and what he has had to go through and I hated the father from the very first page. You see why the father becomes the abuser that he is, but it is in no way an explanation for how he acts. I just feel sorry for Vivi – Frank’s daughter. She’s had to grow up, looking to her father as a role model and witnessing his abusive acts and thinking that it’s ok and that it’s just a joke.

Felix connects the two genres seamlessly and I loved reading about Nele and her world of using cyber-space to help people who are in trouble and to train them to help others alongside her. I thought that the concept was fantastic and showcased how good Felix is as a writer.

“They had a basic protocol for these situations, of course, but details needed to be confirmed, new identities secured and tickets arranged. It was mostly busy work, if she was honest with herself, but she enjoyed it nontheless.”

– Sam Felix, Ayden’s Choice

I can’t wait to carry on reading this series as I think it’s going to be very interesting to see how Ayden uses his talents to help people and how the world of the ‘cyber talents’ grow. Nele is also a very interesting character and I can’t wait to see how she carries on with her work and how she deals with her situation with Tina.

Ayden’s Choice is a superb book that I thoroughly recommend; it’s a type of book that I rarely see in the young adult genre and I think Sam Felix is an author that we all need to keep our eye on as he is showing such amazing promise and I think that he’s an author who’s talents are going to continue to grow.

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the author in exchange for an honest review

Goodreads | Bloglovin | Twitter | Facebook