“The Nine: Origins” is the first in a trilogy of books by Kes Trester. Centered around college student Blake Wilder as she grapples with her unique ability to see the past and future, “The Nine” explores themes of love, betrayal, found family, and power. Initially, I was unsure what to expect when I picked up this book. But since finishing it, I’m excited to read the following two books.
I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s get into it.
“The Nine: Origins” is about a college student named Blake Wilder, a clairvoyant who can see someone’s past or future by coming into contact with them.
One day, she meets a young man named Nicholas Thorne, who reveals that she actually is part of a class of humans called the Nine. A Nine is an individual who is born with magical abilities, ranging from telepathy and elemental magic to the ability to create objects from thin air. Through Nicholas, Blake meets other Nines, including phantomist Jesse McCabe, who wants to take Blake under his wing as her patron, a wealthy industrialist Sutton Sinclair, an elementalist who is in a struggle for power with Nicholas’s father, Henry Thorne, and Khalia Clarke, Sutton’s bodyguard who is as lethal as she is mysterious.
As Blake gets pulled deeper into The Nine’s world, her powers also begin to expand. She learns that when the Nine are in contact with one another, they can augment each others’ abilities. While this happens, Blake also struggles with the political war within The Nine. Sutton Sinclair wants to reveal who The Nine are and create a world where they are in charge. On the other hand, Henry Thorne, the current chancellor of The Nine, wants to keep them a secret.
Overall, “The Nine: Origins” does a great job of introducing you to the world of The Nine.
Blake is a very likable protagonist. She initially rejects Nicholas’s offer to join The Nine, as she has always seen her power as more of a curse since it made her life so much harder growing up. However, as the book goes on, she makes peace with her abilities, wanting to use them to help people. Still, she rejects the archaic methods of The Nine, wanting to change them. By the end of the book, she begins to plan to set her own path. She’s just an overall fun character to follow along with.
The other characters are also incredible. Nicholas is the main love interest and about as generic as your British love interest can get. The conflict between his feelings for Blake and his loyalties to The Nine are set up nicely but don’t go anywhere in this book. Luckily, a lot of other stuff is set up for the next book.
Jesse is another potential love interest. I like the contrast between his flirty demeanor with Blake and his ulterior motive to use her powers for his own purposes. You always get the sense that there’s other stuff at work behind everything he says. Blake’s best friend, Scarlett, is a beneficial ally in providing Blake with a space of normalcy outside of The Nine. She helps keep Blake’s head straight as she navigates this new paranormal world.
This book is short, clocking in at 268 pages, so the plot goes by fairly quickly.
Despite the short length, the author still manages to create a compelling story. The murder mystery angle the book takes allows Kes to use Blake’s powers cleverly. Once the murderer starts targeting Blake, the tension spikes and keeps you hooked.
As much as I like this book, there are some minor issues. The main one is that it suffers from being “part of a series.” A lot of the characters’ plot lines feel incomplete. I have already talked about Nicholas, but Blake also suffers from this. A lot of stuff is set up regarding her joining The Nine in the future, but threads are left unanswered in this book. Hopefully, the second book explores these themes more.
Overall, I really liked “The Nine: Origins.” The universe it establishes is fun and exciting, and the characters are all pretty cool. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series. What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Featured image via Vincenzo Malagoli on Pexels
