Hit by Delilah S. Dawson Review

Hit, by Delilah S. Dawson
Published On: April 14, 2015, by Simon Pulse
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Dystopia, Romance, Mystery/Murder/Thriller
Pages: 336
Format: ARC
Source:(Publisher
Rating: 

NO ONE READS THE FINE PRINT.
The good news is that the USA is finally out of debt. The bad news is that we were bought out by Valor National Bank, and debtors are the new big game, thanks to a tricky little clause hidden deep in the fine print of a credit card application. Now, after a swift and silent takeover that leaves 9-1-1 calls going through to Valor voicemail, they’re unleashing a wave of anarchy across the country.
Patsy didn’t have much of a choice. When the suits showed up at her house threatening to kill her mother then and there for outstanding debt unless Patsy agreed to be an indentured assassin, what was she supposed to do? Let her own mother die?
Patsy is forced to take on a five-day mission to complete a hit list of ten names. Each name on Patsy's list has only three choices: pay the debt on the spot, agree to work as a bounty hunter, or die. And Patsy has to kill them personally, or else her mom takes a bullet of her own.
Since yarn bombing is the only rebellion in Patsy's past, she’s horrified and overwhelmed, especially as she realizes that most of the ten people on her list aren't strangers. Things get even more complicated when a moment of mercy lands her with a sidekick: a hot rich kid named Wyatt whose brother is the last name on Patsy's list. The two share an intense chemistry even as every tick of the clock draws them closer to an impossible choice.
Delilah S. Dawson offers an absorbing, frightening glimpse at a reality just steps away from ours—a taut, suspenseful thriller that absolutely mesmerizes from start to finish.

   *Review copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!*

This book was like one of those 911 calls that this book's world couldn't take—breathtaking, heart-pounding, and certainly life changing. Coming from being my first Delilah S. Dawson book, I’m all but disappointed and this is definitely going to make it onto my top 10 favourite books that were released in 2015. 

I feel so mega-fortunate to have been given a copy of this way early before the real release date. I was captivated from the first second, and I really need to go and read Servants of the Storm as soon as possible. I’m still left so breathless and speechless. Gear with me here, as I blow through my fangirlized review.

Hit really did hit me hard, right in the heart. Dawson has truly brought a new subject of dystopia into the world. Right from the first “victim,” I thought of this sort of like a mix of The Purge, one of those crazy thriller movies that really scared the beep out of me. It’s very difficult to find those touching dystopias out there, as the world is mostly revolved to read those rebellion-testing types of books. Not that I have a problem with those, it just seems like the world is getting too hooked on Divergent and Matched. This was like a breath of fresh air, and YOU ALL NEED TO PICK THIS BOOK UP AS SOON AS YOU CAN. I feel so blessed to have gotten this out of Edelweiss early, haha.

As you read this, you’ll be thinking about how such a powerful and moving story can come out of a simple idea. The plot was so magnificent and moving, and I was unable to do anything else except reading. I felt like I was there, right in the book. Be ready to become Sherlock Holmes, as theories will be smashing into your head every page, people!

For something that was 336 pages, it felt like there was all of the depth in the world and for a standalone (which I’m surely hoping it’s 100% not), so much was happening all the time. There really wasn’t a page that passed where there wasn’t some sort of event that changed the storyline. And everything all began when we met the most kickass protagonist, Patsy Klein. In the beginning, her role with the whole bank (Valor) and the government was unclear, but the author got us knowing right away. 

She’s basically a bounty hunter for the government. She’s living alone with her mother who is depressed, once was in the hospital, and is keeping many secrets from her—including one that gets Patsy this “job” and she’s forced to or else her and her mother are killed. Yeah, there’s no more “America.” Valor is now owning everything and everyone, and they seem to think that they can do whatever the hell they’d like to. Patsy is now an assassin, and she’s assigned to go after 10 people—people who haven’t paid their debts to Valor. Patsy has to go up to each and every one of them, one by one, and give them three choices: pay the debt in cash on the spot, get killed, or become an assassin. It’s basically as simple as that, but once Patsy begins, she’s not sure if she’s able to handle 10 deaths, if possible. She has five days to get all 10 to make their decision, and as she meets the “victims,” she finds that there’s something about them that’s familiar. Of course, the Valor has done their homeowrk and knows everything about Patsy and her family. And then, she falls in love so easily. What else is there to take a stand against her and winning?

Patsy Klein is probably my most favourite protagonist, ever. 

EVER, PEOPLE. Now, you’re probably thinking I’m crazy, but I’m so fucking obsessed with this book. After reading, it’s all I can think about and I feel forced to write a super long review to get all of my thoughts together. Patsy was the most kickass and badass character to have hit my shelves. At the same time, she’s sweet and caring and independent, and she doesn’t let people change her way of thinking, no matter what they have for her. She’s willing to risk and sacrifice herself to make people in her life happy. God, she’s also a genius, by the way. Who’d plan that whole ending out so well as she did? Albert Einstein has competition from the looks of it.

Shh… Don’t tell anyone, but—I’d sure love to be a bounty hunter if I had her smarts and ways, hehe. I HAVE A WOMAN CRUSH ON PATSY! *apologizes to the bookgods for my behaviour*

Old men were afraid of her, every single victim that she had got the shivers when she pointed that gun up at them. I SQUEAL WHEN SHE DOES HER ACTION SCENES. And really——she doesn’t need a man to cover her up and help her. Wyatt must have been so proud when she’d just walk out of those crappy homes like a boss with a dead body lying on the floor.

From the other reviews I’ve read on Goodreads, people have noted that they don’t seem to understand why Wyatt trusted Patsy so easily. It’s complicated. But I guess that every book needs a little impossible in it, and their true love and realism just fit together like peanut butter and jelly. For me, their love wasn’t something to question or think hard about. It just happened, slowly, and they had such a bond and friendship that it was meant to be. AND THEN THAT ENDING?

The ending wasn’t really happy… It was agonizing, but obvious. I didn’t even think that it would happen, and that was the greatest ending to such a heart-pounding read. The best thing was that the characters were happy (I’m totally am not going to spoil this at all) and there were no complaints throughout the whole book whatsoever. 

I have this huge scientific theory about what was the meaning behind this whole book, by the way: 

So the government took over the world, eventually. But there were rebels, just as Wyatt and Patsy became to be, but they were the good kind. They probably joined that group that Patsy found out about when she was at Adelaine’s house, and probably contacted Patsy’s mother later if things got okay and all was calm.

Okay, it wasn’t that scientific, but I do hope that happiness occurred. We can all hope, right? 

One of the best things about this book was the fact that there was such a tight connection between the main protagonists, Wyatt and Patsy. They didn’t feel like they had to kill in order to survive—mainly Patsy in this situation, but they did it for others. And nothing was intense and it wasn’t one of those heavy romances where it all focused on that. The meaning behind this book was so far in the lines, so you’ll probably be sitting there after trying to figure it all out. 

We really need a sequel HERE, people. If it’s a standalone, then the ending was really cliffhang-y, but I don’t mind—since this book was so amazing. Delilah S. Dawson is going to impress every single one of you, just wait. I still can’t enough, and this is totally listed as 2015’s best dystopias; I know it’ll be.

From PATSY (THE MOST KICKASS PROTAGONIST EVER) TO HOT WYATT, TO THE GORGEOUS STORY AND ADDICTING PLOT, to the romance and the meaning, there’s no complaints here, not even a 0.0000001% chance of any. Hit was calm, sweet, and pounding to the heart, banging to the head, and most of all, memorable to a crazy reader. I NEED MORE, I really don’t know how life is going to go on without this.