Ritu Nair
Ferocious is a worthy enough sequel to the psychological mystery that Vicarious was. In the previous book, most of the plot was devoted to Winter trying to solve her sister's murder while giving her mental illness the stink eye and looking very badass while doing all of that. Ferocious shifts the plot slightly into a revenge arc, where Winter, now aware of the circumstances of her sister's death, and starting to realize the breadth of her illness, is out to retrieve the ViSE tech from Kyung, her arch-nemesis. Her story takes us from the aftermath of the events in the climax of Vicarious, to her on the run and finally landing in Seoul, to fight the battle on their turf. The two major components of the plot are action and romance. Action with Winter trying to devise a heist-like strategy to retrieve the stolen tech, and romance with Jesse starting to become a safe place for her. Her arc in the previous book was all about denying herself the chance to be a normal girl, to be with him because she felt sullied by her past. In this book, he supports her constantly and becomes her rock, so that she can learn that her past doesn't define her or make her unfit for love. She also shifts from her fatalistic tendencies and in very cliched terms, learns to live. The story, while slow paced, devotes time to both the action and romance, and while I am not usually a fan of the latter having a majority arc in a story, it worked here because of the dynamics of their relationship. Most of the story takes place in Korea, so it is also peppered with details about Seoul, and the food and the cultural conventions, which seem to be well-researched. As with Vicarious, the mental illness also seems to be well-handled and given it's due importance, as well sending out the message to seek therapy rather than shun it. Overall, I find it a nice conclusion to Winter's story, and a good sequel to Vicarious. Content warning: Mentions of sexual assault, human trafficking, and torture.