Cover Image: Sienna

Sienna

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Sienna wakes in a house where a little gathering of young ladies discloses to her, she is a hostage of The Master. It is muddled why The Master keeps an assortment of young ladies other than to be accompanied by his companions/customers. Sienna needs to get away and is supported by The Master’s child who checks out her for apparently no good excuse. Different young ladies make it extremely obvious to Sienna that her life is in danger if she doesn’t comply, showing her the remorseless discipline, they have endured, yet she stays youthful, snarky, and amazingly foolish. The wide range of various young ladies endure disciplines on account of The Master, however, even in the wake of defying the norms and slighting The Master, Sienna stays safe. She is being held as an escort, but it is clarified Sienna won’t need to kiss somebody. Again and again, there are instances of Sienna being dealt with differently and especially by both The Master and his child, yet with no clarification or advocation for why he is unique.

This book is in an associated universe with the writer’s Eternal Darkness series which I have not read, so I didn’t understand some of the world-building angles. This was an extremely speedy, quick-moving read, yet it was not the story it was publicized to be. The characters and the composing were excessively youthful for the plot. This made the absence of ramifications for the primary person evident. Truly, it wasn’t extraordinary upward until 80% of the book. And keeping in mind that this was certainly a letdown, but afterward, the book has a stunning peek at the end, I loved the decent unexpected development. Also, I truly didn’t see that one coming!

As a lead, Sienna was quite general, she didn’t settle on a ton of choices and had a very lucid personality. This was not an extraordinary story but I don’t regret reading this book. I would profoundly pursue a development to Sienna’s journey in the further books.

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This is my first kinda sci-fi Book. it was quite interesting in the beginning until i noticed the Mc has a crush on one of the girls. 'her sisters' i didn't like how it went on and on, her explaining how she imagined her.i think that clouded her judgment, not to realise that she was a mole. The ending was very sad tbh, all the other girls dying.

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I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sienna seemed like it was going to be a pretty great book. It honestly had so much potential but definitely fell flat in certain areas for me. In it, you will meet Sienna and she is sort of thrown in to this world of confusion once she wakes up. She doesn't know why she is in this strange place or why she has a master all of sudden but she does have one thing on her mind: escaping.

Now I was pretty intrigued by Sienna in the beginning because of the mystery surrounding her and this place. I had endless questions forming in my mind while trying to get through all the chapters. The girls, the place, the family, the hunting, and the freaking world building could get confusing to a girl like me. I was just kind of waiting for things to make sense to me like a little lightbulb kind of moment.

That being said, things sort of got better towards the end of the book but that annoyed me. I like twists and turns but to wait so long for a good one just irks me. The only thing that kept this a page turner was the sister bonding moments because hot damn - these girls needed to escape the master.

In the end, this book had a lot of potential to be a fantastic book and I'm a disappointed that it didn't meet the mark for me.

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The story is set in a world, where the worst thing you could be is a cyborg or someone who loves one. A long time ago people started to hate cyborgs, now the world is divided between them. Being cyborg means being hunted, displayed parts of you like trophies, or being sold into slavery or parts. If you are someone who liked them, you don't fair all that well either.

Sienna wakes up in a palace, as one of Masters daughters. There are many girls, each with different talent, sisters, who lives with her. Each time Master kills one of the cyborgs, he marks them to celebrate the occasion. He makes them perform for his friends and more.

She is determined to escape the nightmare. In the time she spends there, she became close with Masters son, Ero, who is in a way as trapt are they are. They form an alliance and have a plan to escape, but first, they have to survive.

I loved the story! It's very dark, twisty and so very intense. Sure, there are few problems, a few things I didn't like, but I was so drawn into the story, that I barely notice them.

Can't wait to see what happens next. :)

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While there were some things about this book that I liked(mostly the plot and the character drama), this story fell flat for me and I am really struggling with this but, I had to DNF this book at 68%. I was getting really frustrated with this story and the plot holes and I felt like I was missing key pieces of a puzzle that were never going to be found. A kind of square peg, round hole scenario type puzzle maybe? In premise, this book shines. Cyborgs? Are there anything cooler? But I just couldn't stand it anymore. Sienna wasn't working for my reading style--which isn't to say the book is bad, it's just not for me. Maybe I'll come back to it again before publication, but I needed to put this out there.
**Thanks to Net Galley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review**

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I love the cover of this book so decided to read it. I found it confusing to start with as it is part of a bigger world and I had not read the other books.

The premise of the book was really interested, Sienna is trapped in a house where there are other people trapped who refer to each other as sisters.

Overall it was an interesting read, I think I would have liked to read the other books set in the world prior to picking up this book.

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Yeah, so this book was a big nope for me. It was written like something you'd find on wattpad or some other fan fiction site. The characters were terrible, unable to like them so it leaves you unable to get into the story. I definitely didn't enjoy this book one bit.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, really Wow!!

I don't know what to say after just finishing this book, well, I can say that it was different from your usual Sci-fi/Dystopia books. It's sure that this story won't be liked by many readers because it's dark with no mercy or apology to your sensible feelings. I might be a freak because I kind of liked it, why? Well, it wasn't boring, it was new and I like Cyborgs but even so, I still wasn't prepared to this freaking book. There are so many things that you could point out about this story and to criticize, or how you could interpret many things in relation to our actual society.

The female MC, Sienna, was a handful with her need to create problems ( mainly to the other characters) and so much drama, she wants so hard to be a hero for those girls but instead she ends up making things even worse. She is the one who makes us enter this crazy world and we are so curious to know what happened to her, why is she in this position and also what's gonna happen to them all. This book could also be considered as a Sci-fi thriller that got you hooked from the prologue and you can say whatever you want but you will just want to know.

A world were humans hunt Cyborgs, where girls are snatched off the streets or sold to become marked by The Master , a notorious hunter. Sienna is one of these girls and now she is the new daughter of this monster but she can't accept to live trapped in a mansion with six other girls, she has to escape from this evil man even if she has to kill him.

This was an insane story that reminded me of some Japanese tragic Sci-fi mangas with an ending that hurts like a B****. It was disturbing, odd, gore and hard to accept but you can't put it down. If you could stomach stories that hurt like SAGA or Alita, well you might accept Sienna.

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Sienna was one of my first books with a cyborg in the plot, so I was very excited for this read! It was very different to the type of book I would normally read but I loved JF Johns' concept of the book, I had never read anything with this type of plot but it had me utterly absorbed from the beginning. The plot twist had me genuinely shocked and I hadn't expected it (which is the best type of plot twist!)

The MC was so funny and very relatable despite her awful situation, her character was yet another enjoyable aspect of the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading more from J.F.Johns

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I am always reluctant to say anything bad about a book. Someone has spent time and energy and used imagination, determination and created a story start to finish. That along deserves praise. That said I found myself unable to enjoy this title.
The titular character is unbearably dense and in complete lack of self control. Right at the start she flicks between rage and lust and depression in the blink of an eye. Her lack of forethought constantly hurts those around her, then acts as though she was acting heroically and the only reason they got hurt was for not being as brave as she is. She also states how it’s unforgivable to be a hunter of cyborgs regardless of if you had a choice or not, then swoons over another Hunter and even attacks cyborgs herself. The complete and constant lack of common sense and thinking with her crotch makes her completely frustrating and dislike me which made this in turn frustrating to read.
The other issues I had with this book will hopefully be sorted by proof readers and rewrites. Several parts of each chapter could use rephrasing or tweaking to make sense. A few instances of switching between past and current tense need fixing and some characters are little more than names that crop up for Sienna to make noise at.
The story itself is interesting and I did enjoy the ending. I just wish it was either heavier on the story led side and lighter on the frequently bizarre and selfish/arrogant actions of the characters.

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I was disappointed by the simplistic writing style of this novel, it read more like a fanfiction than a fully fleshed out novel. Everything happens really quickly, and considering the opening chapters suggest amnesia as well as trauma, it doesn't really give the audience enough time to empathise with anyone. It had a really interesting concept, but all in all fell a bit flat for me.

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I was provided a free copy of this story on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The premise sounded really fun and exciting. The idea of a cyborg world with a society that allows someone like the Master to thrive, who collects daughters, was pretty cool with lots of potential. I like that each daughter has a specialization or talent that makes them unique. I like the scenes in the market. The Master was the only intriguing character and his backstory was probably my favorite. There were small moments here and there that was nice or actually normal/decent but they were fleeting. I like the intro of the little boy but that was just a tool in the end, I think the author wrote the violent scenes (horror) of girls being bashed or abused by the Master (action scenes) better than the scenes between the ‘sisters’ (characterisation scenes).
The idea of the book cover was pretty nice too but I'd suggest putting a darker-skinned character because almost all characters are of dark skin. The ending was okay, I expected the twist so it wasn't really a twist to me and not surprising. The length and pacing were okay. The plot was okay but needed more depth. For example the start of the novel makes it clear that they are ‘sisters’ but the author never actually explores what sisterly love is or how they are sisters etc. Unfortunately, this is the limit to the positive elements of this novel. This novel needs a lot of work and I was sad that it didn’t achieve my expectations of an adventure into a cyborg world with mystery, murder, and slavery and strong female lead that is capable of becoming a respectable leader, or a group of girls that exhibit bravery, honour and a fight for better morality. It does not achieve any of this.
This novel was definitely not for me, and I found it underwhelming and a struggle to get through. There was a huge lack of world-building and the end result was just a watered-down average society that wasn't very colourful or enriching. I think ultimately many of my problems would be cured if the writing was astronomically better and themes further developed and articulated.
I took this novel very seriously because it deals with some very serious topics. If you are going to write a novel tackling things like: inequality of a minority (cyborgs), people of colour, child slavery or slavery of any kind, sexual content, physical and mental abuse, dealing with sexual identity etc I think how you execute this type of story should be very sensitive and careful to prevent shallow experiences or moral explorations of these issues which I think the current form of this novel has problems with. This led me to question who is this story for or who is your ideal audience? Children <15? Little girls? No considering the content is not appropriate or written in a way that is (i.e you don’t learn anything in this reading experience). The end result feels like the story is not written from a 15-year-old perspective and instead written from an adult pretending to be 15 and executing it badly. Is this for Adults? Its not complicated or extensive enough for an adult / mature audience. I was hoping for something of Stephen King quality or Cyberpunk or Dune tone so maybe my expectations were way too high.
Another question I had was what is your main striking theme that will guide how the novel will be marketed? Because in this state the way its being marketed is very misleading. This is definitely not a convincing cyberpunk/sci fi story, definitely not a fantasy or murder mystery or thriller. It’s main attraction is that it’s a lesbian romance which could have become a harem at any point with the amount of females the 15 YEAR OLD (A CHILD) MC goggled her eyes at (cant even believe a 15 year old would behave in the way Sienna does, and if that’s how children are now or in the future I literally will cry). It just feels like the author was not 100% certain of what this final work would be. If you wanted something with more intrigue, more wit and adventure I’d say that Stalking Jack the Ripper executed something like this much better.
Overall the execution was very poor and the writing was unbearable. I could only handle so much "cocking of head" or "blushing and looking away to feign innocence and purity while she thinks about tits". I could not handle how often the author refers to the skin in unflattering ways. Her character descriptions are just .....
"Her eyes are the deepest and darkest green I've ever seen. My brown eyes match my brown skin and brown hair" ---> language is just 1/5 “brown brown brown brown” “Skin skin skin skin” “beautiful gorgeous beautiful gorgeous” UGH boring
"Her skin is pale so pale" ---> yes pale I get it, very pale pale pale pale pale...
"Pretty in a classical way" ---> WHAT?
"A part of me wants to believe she finds me beautiful and is admiring my brown gorgeous skin" <---- PLEASE WHYYYYY? YUCK. OH PLEASE FIND ME GORGEOUS PLEASE I WANT PEOPLE TO LOVE ME I WNAT PEOPLE TO LOOK AT ME LIKE IM A GODDDDD -__-
"Lifting my chin up high as if I owned the place" ---> WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE???
"I stare at her dark skin against mine. (???????). Our hands clasped together look nice, two pieces of a puzzle that fit and match pefectly ( UM NO S**T THAT IS IMPLIED BY THE PUZZLE) , but I doubt thats why she's holding me" ---> this is just so creepy like she is sexualizing every moment with her female sister. Why does it have to be like that? Why cant we get some normal girl time, bonding time that has no sexual connotations, where is the friendships because I saw none.
I didn't like any of the characters (except the Master and Eros). While reading I felt like the author was hesitant or didn't fully understand how to authentically write males or masculine energy. Eros, the gay or bi or polyamorous male actually acts and is characterised more like the girls in the Masters cult (he has more feminine vibes than masculine). The two straight masculine men in this novel (sienna brother and the master) were represented as toxic, malicious, “abusive”, “not understanding” “racist” “unempathetic” “evil” as revealed countless times by the really silly inner dialogue of Sienna.
With all the female characters I had a huge problem with the characterization; it was not consistent and not logical. Sienna was so annoying, immature, unrealistic and most definitely not smart. Her inner dialogue or attention at times were so irrelevant to her situation or the moment. It felt like she was forcing her sexual attraction onto Clarissa which really turned me off. There wasn’t chemistry or build up; and it really was just all in her head in the end (which made me more annoyed).
Also the way she ended up in the situation is so unconvincing and unthoughtful I wish this was fleshed out more. There were some moments between the girls that were decent but it was quickly overshadowed by the horny incredibly selfish, vain protagonist who is supposed to come from humble beginnings but acts more like a privileged brat. She is constantly told “don’t do that” and she does it because she doesn’t actually care. She never thinks about others. It is just so unrealistic. I've lived through many challenges of life to confidently say that her mind/personality is not an accurate representation of someone who has had it tough in life. She is not relatable. The relationships with her family and brother were shallow and unimportant, not thoroughly explored and explanations provided for her situation not deep enough and immature for me to feel any empathy or learn something. I wanted a story that had really deep and meaningful backstories for each of the girls in this little cult to dictate their actions while in their predicament. There were occasional moments for Helena and Cryssila that were interesting but the others I can hardly remember as they were so bland.

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This book had so many good elements in it that I wanted to love it. The world, the love story, the plot twists were all things that drew me in. Where I had trouble was connecting to the main character. There were moments I loved her and moments I just could not understand her stubborn positioning, which made it hard to root for her.

It was a good enough read, but not one I will be reading over and over.

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I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley!

First off, I need to talk about the marketing problems of this book. There are A TON. If you read the synopsis of Sienna, it sounds like a standalone. And the annoying thing is that it is. But only in plot, not world. And because the author assumes everyone else has read her other books, she doesn't properly explain the world in this one.
I'm not mad at this, it just needs to be made clear for marketing!
Also, why the heck does the front cover have a white girl on it? Within the first chapter it is made clear Sienna has dark skin, so what happened with the cover??

And one more marketing thing, more of a suggestion than a mistake, is why isn't this screaming about the fact it is about SAPHIC CYBORGS!!!!!! Just in the last couple months LGBT sci-fi books like Gearbreakers and Girls at the Edge of the World have done so well and Sienna should jump onto that hype train!!! I gave a whole extra star for Clarissa and Sienna because they had such a wholesome cute relationship and it made my heart happy.


Now onto the actual book. Honestly, it wasn't looking great up until the 80% mark. And while it is a huge pet peeve of mine for books to be boring AF and then have an amazing climax, I love a good plot twist. And I really didn't see that one coming! *mind blowing*
And to give this book credit, it did have a fair amount of action throughout. But is was all a bit safe? Mundane fighting- worlds only true fantasy lovers can relate to.

As a lead Sienna was pretty basic. Didn't make a lot of decisions and had the MC trade marked personality of a wet-cloth. But I can forgive this because of all the sister bond relationships! I will always love close friendships more than relationships (though Clarissa and Sienna were adorable too!) and I love the fact that this book included no 'mean girls'. Btw, I include Ero in the sister bonds too :) I love platonic male-female relationships!

This wasn't a great book, but I'm not mad I read it. Doesn't make me want to read more books in this world, but I would probably read a follow up to Sienna?

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Thank you for the chance to read this arc

While I love dystopian books and really wanted to like this as the blurb sounded like a really good concept, I have to sadly agree with others and say it just wasn't for me at all, nothing really grabbed me and pulled me in not the plot not the character ect and I feel awful, and truly sorry to say this has been my first netgalley dnf I made it to around 56%

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Sienna by J.F. Johns was a very interesting concept.
The first chapter of the novel immediately captured my attention; I was in pursuit of the answers that were hidden within the pages of the book to find out why Sienna woke up in a room surrounded by girls that she had to refer to as "sisters" and wanted to know who this "master" was. Sienna is determined to leave the house that she is trapped in and put an end to the Master's cruelty.

This novel was unlike any other that I've read this year; the emotions that the author attempts to convey regarding the cyborgs being second-class citizens at the beginning of the novel really struck me and I was disappointed to see that this wasn't more fleshed out within the novel. Instead, the plot was driven around a wealthy man who hated the cyborgs, his son, and these girls that he kidnapped to entertain his rich friends and if they displeased him he would punish them.

Regardless, it was a face-paced read and I loved that Sienna wasn't simply a damsel in distress.

*Thank you NetGalley for this ARC*

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This is a YA dystopia book, in a world split between humans and cyborgs, where the cyborgs are hunted and hated and anyone who associates with them are shunned. The Master is 5he biggest and best Hunter of cyborgs and he has talent or been sold "daughters", girls who have fraternised with cyborgs and he intends to teach them the error of their ways - by forcibly tattooing their bodies, physically torturing and abusing them, selling their virginity to the highest bidder and prostituting them to his friends. The main character is the 15 year old newest "daughter" and is told she will be punished if she steps out of line.

This is all quite dark for a YA book. And while this has potential for a good story, being a YA book is what holds it back. It feels like all these grim aspects were set up and then seeing them happen to a 15 year old on the page was rapidly steered away from. So the MC never directly faces any consequences of her actions- other people are tortured and murdered for her acting out (off page), and she just keeps doing it! This makes her come across as awful, she doesn't care about anyone else enough to just not throw a fit for once.

I feel this would have been better as New Adult with a slightly older MC, and if it's going to be dark, then actually delivering what it stated.

Although the is part of a wider universe, I generally felt this worked as a standalone. The only thing that threw me was that the cyborgs were created many years ago and yet somehow there's an 8 year old boy who's a cyborg?

The cover does not work for me, give the book specifically states that the daughters faces aren't tattooed, and they definitely aren't cyborgs, so I don't know who that's supposed to be!

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Thanks to the author for providing me with this ARC and that I can give my honest review!

This was a very different type of book that I would usually read but I really liked the concept of this book. I’ve never read anything with this type of plot in it and it intrigued me from the very beginning! I was shocked at the plot twist and generally did not expect it!!!

I loved the MC, she was very relatable and really funny despite being in such a horrible situation.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading more from J.F.Johns

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This book just was not for me.
Now I will not say this book is not good, but it simply was not my cup of tea. I thought the storyline was interesting, and the book was very fast-paced, but I did not like the characters. The book was a bit frustrating at times with how the main character thought and acted, but it was somewhat enjoyable at other times. I thought the plot was intriguing, and I would recommend this if you are looking for a book involving cyborgs.

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Like others, I kind of struggled with this book and felt that it overall fell flat. I wanted more world building, I wanted more character development. I wanted more clarity in the plot.

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