Right off the bat, I have to admit that going into reading Beneath, I was very intrigued by Ariel Sullivan’s decision to follow up Conform with the first book in a prequel trilogy for a lot of reasons, the first reason being that Conform is only the first book in the series, and the second reason being that Conform ended on a cliffhanger. That being said, after reading Beneath, it ultimately worked for me in many ways.
First off, it was very interesting to read a book that was written hundreds of years before the Illum existed and before the events that took place in Conform. It was also very interesting to read a war story, and I have to admit that I oftentimes don’t love war stories. Thankfully, this is one that I ultimately did end up loving for many reasons.
Sasha is a really great, well-written protagonist. I honestly enjoyed the whole medic aspect of the character, Sasha. Her backstory and the fact that other characters called Sasha “Death’s Angel” were all very compelling. I also thought that the flashbacks did an excellent job of developing her as a character when it came to fleshing out the details of her past. Tristian also served as a great love interest for Sasha, and was a well-written character as an individual. I felt like Sullivan did an excellent job of developing both the chemistry and the romance between Sasha and Tristan throughout Beneath.
