✯Blog Tour Review✯ Branded (Sinners #1) by Abi Ketner & Missy Kalicicki

Branded by Abi Ketner & Missy Kalicicki

A Sinners Series

Fifty years ago the Commander came into power and murdered all who opposed him. In his warped mind, the seven deadly sins were the downfall of society. He created the Hole where sinners are branded according to their sins and might survive a few years. At best. 
Now LUST wraps around my neck like blue fingers strangling me. I’ve been accused of a crime I didn’t commit and now the Hole is my new home. 

Darkness. Death. Violence. Pain. 

Now every day is a fight for survival. But I won’t die. I won’t let them win.

The Hole can’t keep me. The Hole can’t break me. 
I am more than my brand. I’m a fighter. 
My name is Lexi Hamilton, and this is my story.

Excerpt~

I turn on the faucet for a long while only to discover ice-cold water rushing out. The water never warms and I begin to understand. The Commander thinks he can wash away my soul by freezing me to death. He thinks he can destroy me by stripping away my possessions. But he can’t and I won’t let him take my memories, my ambition, and my pride.

He thinks I’m so easily broken.

The Commander doesn’t know anything about me, what I grew up with, what I endured—the father I lost, the mother I hate, the brother who walked out of my life, and the stepfather I was forced to accept. He thinks since I was rich, making me poor will cause me to give up. What he doesn’t understand is that, after my father passed away, I grew up behind walls of hatred. I had nothing, but had everything at the same time. I owned expensive clothes, enjoyed good schooling, and lived in a nice home. But my body was just a shell protecting an empty, desperate heart. My life was a colorful façade.

I had so much time to sit and think. I spent the majority of my life between four walls. I was abandoned, neglected, starved, betrayed, and abused. I’ve already been treated like the scum of the earth, so the Hole is nothing new. He wants to erase every sign of my existence on this earth, but I won’t let that happen. He can strip me naked, but he’ll never reach my soul.

It’s personal, completely personal.

✯✯5 INSANELY  HUGE STARS!!✯✯


"Now LUST wraps around my neck like blue fingers strangling me. I've been accused of a crime I didn't commit and now the Hole is my new home."

I'm going to start off with I am extremely, extremely happy I decided to read this book!! I have been reading  a lot of romance lately and was desperately in need of a change. 'Branded' was totally what I needed and way, way more. My emotions were all over the place while I read this.

The book is post World War V. There is No Judge. There is No Jury. There is NO innocent until proven guilty. There is The Commander and The Hole!! And, you literally have No voice. It's his way or no way. If you say anything against him. You get killed. If you get accused you get Branded with a metal  collar that gets tightened around your neck. It burns you with one of the

7 Accused Sins:
Pride - Purple
Wrath -Red
Greed - Yellow
Gluttony - Orange
Envy - Green
Sloth - Black
Lust - Blue


"To the outside, I'm filth now. I'll never be allowed to return to the life I knew. No one ever does."

Lexi has been falsely accused & branded with lust. She learns quickly her guard will be Cole. As they make their way to her new "home" she can not believe what she is seeing. They are literally driving over dead people. People see the blue mark on her neck and they're trying to yank her out of the Jeep just to get a piece of her. The are starving. Fighting to survive. It is literally unlike anything she has ever seen. 

Lexi gets to her room to find out Cole's room is attached to hers. He will literally be watching everything., She can't go to the bathroom, take a shower without privacy. Lexi finds out she will be working at the hospital. There's too many in The Hole & not enough Doctors, supplies or medicine to help the sinners. So, basically everyone working at the hospital is there to watch the people die.

"You think your brand bothers me? You think I can't see past the person they've labeled you to be?"

Lexi is super, super strong. She literally does not let anything or anyone break her!! I would totally be branded green with envy. Because, I couldn't survive. 

During Lexi time in the hole her and Cole are together almost 24/7. The only time they aren't together is when she's working at the hospital and he's out training. While she's at work she is under Dr. Sutton AKA Sutton. He really takes Lexi under his wing. She also becomes close with a young girl named Alyssa.  Alyssa is dying from a virus that has no cure other then death. Lexi tries to help her anyway she can. Cole see's how much Lexi cares about Alyssa. He even helps her help Alyssa. I'm not going to give it away. I will tell you it was really the 1st time we see Cole's sensitive side. He's not like the rest of the guards.

Over time Cole starts seeing Lexi as a person and not by her brand. He realizes she didn't do what she was accused of. They start a friendship. Which causes other feelings to develop. The problem? If The Commander finds out. They will be brutally murdered in front of everyone in The Hole. They have to find out how to hate in public. 

I love Cole & Lexi!! They care for each other so deeply. Both are totally confused on what to do next. Because, they are forbidden to be together. I love watching their relationship grow.


"I think dying is easier compared to living here.”

While Lexi is at work she gets assaulted pretty bad. Ends up with a lot of stitches in her head & needs to be on strict bed rest. Sutton & Cole get the only person they can trust, Bruno. While Cole goes to training, Bruno is on Lexi duty. I love Bruno. Bruno & Lexi develop a friendly relationship rather quickly. He starts teaching her basic fighting skills on how to defend herself. 

Cole gets called away for a mission that could ruin everything between him & Lexi. There has been a lot of bombings, explosions going on. There is totally a revolt going on. Now, Cole must go find the person behind them. Keegan. Lexi's older brother!! Cole doesn't know what to do. Lexi has made him feel things he never knew was possible. 

"Everything about you sucks me in. No matter how hard I try to hate you or be disgusted, the opposite happens. You're like my magnet. You pull me in, but when I get to close it takes everything I have to remain at a safe distantie."

Then, Sutton tells her he is sending her to Keegan. It totally makes her head spin. How does Sutton know Keegan and her dad before he got killed??Now, Cole & Bruno are on a new more dangerous mission. Get Lexi to Keegan without all of them getting killed in the process!!

You will not be disappointed at all!! Every time I turned around my jaw dropped. You will be on the edge of your seat the whole time you read this!! I can not wait for book 2. Esp since everything you got in this book. From hate, rape, death, starving people, explosions, violence. To friendships from the last place you thought. Love & trust. It was all there!! 

"You can overcome anything...short of death."

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About Abi and Missy 

Abi and Missy met in the summer of 1999 at college orientation and have been best friends ever since. After college, they added jobs, husbands and kids to their lives, but they still found time for their friendship. Instead of hanging out on weekends, they went to dinner once a month and reviewed books. What started out as an enjoyable hobby has now become an incredible adventure.

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