Summary
Josh and Raquel have known each other for years – The Society placing them in the same circles, each watching the other as they grow into someone that sparked their attention.
It was no surprise when The Society paired them together, slating them as a match for the breeding program. But the more Raquel discovers about The Society, the faster she backpedals from them and Josh.
But is Josh content to let go? Can he simply walk away from this spitfire of a woman who challenges him at every turn?
The second installment in The Illuminati files will leave the reader wide eyed in shock and awe as more secrets from The Society are uncovered.
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I want to rage at the world about how unfair this whole situation is. About how something that I know is inherently twisted, has thrust him and I together. I see the fire that burns through him – the rage at it all, and it calls to me. And his burning rage should only fuel mine, but it somehow doesn’t, it blankets and soothes my storm – which only makes this whole situation even more precarious. Because even if I wanted this, I am not the girl for him – because after last summer, I will never be the type of woman that The Society breeds.
And Josh? He isn’t as oblivious as he seems, but if given the choice I don’t think he would choose me, I think he’d choose them, even if he didn’t want to. Because the truth of the matter was that we didn’t have a choice.
Review
She looked like a living, breathing flame. My firefly.
The Firm is a combination of the past and present. It also takes place simultaneously as The Society. Therefore, there are some repeated scenes, but it is not unnecessary since they are shown from a different perspective.
Since the past was marked by how many years it was from the present, I had gotten confused. It’s more me than anything else. I didn’t know how old Raquel and Josh were at the moment because I didn’t do the math, afraid of being wrong. But as you read it, it does tell you how old they were. It’s just later on as you read. There were some repetitions in the beginning, but I believe it was due to their age. It’s not a lot, so it didn’t bother me, just a few times that I noticed it.
Josh and Raquel were first introduced in The Society, where we were given glimpses of them. I love Josh. Raquel and Josh are my favorite couple from the Illuminati Files series so far.
Raquel and Josh knew each other when they were younger before Josh’s family moved away. Then, when Josh’s family moved back, their families reintroduced them. It was then that we see that they were promised to one another.
It was confirmed to me from the glimpses of Aria in The Firm I don’t like her, which is okay for me. I don’t have to love every character. I’m just glad I continued reading the series since I found out that I loved The Firm more than The Society. However, I don’t regret reading The Society because I believe reading The Society before The Firm made the experience better.
I loved the notes and the firefly reference. Was everything I highlighted necessary? No. But I loved/liked/enjoyed every part I did. Although, I felt like the bird references were a bit weird.
My only question is since it is set in the US, shouldn’t the text resemble that? Just a small thing, I wonder. It’s fine when it takes place in other countries, but a few of her books are set in the US. But, it doesn’t make that much of a difference. Erin’s writing is British English, which isn’t wrong. In the end, it’s her decision, and as I read more of her works, it no longer bothers me. I just wanted to point it out so that people are aware. Her work is one of the first works I have read not written in American English. When I first read her books, I wasn’t aware and started marking everything wrong until I realized it wasn’t.
Erin Mc Luckie Moya knows how to make people want to read more—anticipating her next book to devour. It seems to hold true for the series I have read so far. With every book of Erin’s that I read, I love them more and more.
The ending. AHHHH! Thankfully, the third book of the Illuminati Files series, The Agency, is out May 13, 2022. So I don’t have to wait long to see what happens next.
Favorite Quotes:
Choosing a seat was an art in itself. If I sat too close to the front, then I may come across as too eager-too willing to do their bidding. If I sat at the back, I might give away just how much I thought of this whole place. And so, I sat in the middle. Even my outfit had been carefully chosen for today because I needed to come across as willing-eager-happy, even. As if I believed in the whole ethos of this place-as if my lifestyle and all the trappings of a wealthy heiress was somehow worth the cost.
Josh taught me a valuable lesson, the easiest lies to believe are the beautiful ones because as human beings we are so willing to clutch onto the smallest ribbon of hope-of goodness-that we’re often willing to overlook all the red flags and signs.
I mourned the girl I once was. I mourned her innocence, I mourned her naive belief in love. I mourned her willingness to follow this boy to the ends of the earth. I mourned the choices that were stripped from her. I simply mourned.
God save me. This man was going to break me, and I wasn’t sure I would have the tools to put myself back together again-not when I knew how this would end.
These are only a few of my favorite quotes. It was too difficult for me to choose. I already had narrowed them down and couldn’t not include them.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)
