Book reviews are subjective. I tend to rate books not according to how “perfect” they are, seem to be, or are said to be in general but rather to how perfect they are to me. I received an advance reading copy of this book via NetGalley for an honest review.

Simulated by Nova McBee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It’s devastating for a teenaged mathematics genius to lose her gift for numbers. So, Jo Rivers is going through a simulation process with Prodigy Stealth Solutions in an attempt to recover her gift. But when PSS is hacked and a sensitive file goes missing, Jo heads to Tunisia on a mission where more than PSS’s secrets are at stake in Simulated by author Nova McBee.

Once I plunged into this YA suspense sequel to Calculated with both feet, I had to keep swimming with as few pauses as possible. While the gradual build in Book One wasn’t always the most gripping for me, its solid foundation allowed me to take off and enjoy this second novel more.

Goodness. The danger and all the moving parts to the intrigue. The ingenuity and teen prodigies. The thought-provoking nuggets that add true depth to Jo’s journey. So good!

Now, I did become frustrated with some of Jo’s rash decision-making, which sometimes felt a little contrived for the action’s sake. And I’m not sure if the reader is supposed to share Jo’s unawareness about who the anonymous hacker is, but the hacker’s identity was clear to me quite early on. Also, there are a few reasons why I usually don’t care for love triangles in fiction—but because this book isn’t a romance novel, at least it didn’t have to rush toward a resolution that would’ve left me irritated.

Now, after the exciting time I had racing through this adventure, I can’t wait for Book Three.

Here’s my review of Book One, Calculated.