Review: Mortal Obligation

Mortal Obligation - Nichole Chase
Genre - Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Released - July, 2011

Ree will face the darkest form of betrayal before the year is out.


Seventeen year old Ree McKenna has three goals: get through high school, convince her crush she is more than his best friend's little sister, and save money for college. Fate, though, has other plans for her. After the untimely death of her older brother, Ree is haunted by dreadful nightmares and terrifying visions. To make matters worse, Ree has started to suspect that something dangerous is stalking her from the shadows.


A night full of frightening surprises leaves Ree with unsettling news. Gifted by the Gods with unusual powers, she must devote herself to a battle that could very well lead to not only her death, but the demise of everyone she knows and loves. After all, Ree is the only mortal standing between the Earth and utter darkness.

You know one of those books that you read and then go to bed thinking about it? Well, that's what Mortal Obligation was like for me. I read the first few chapters and put it away and could not stop thinking about it. The reason for this was because Nichole Chase weaved such an exciting plot and wonderful characters together to make one hell of a story.

What I love the most about Mortal Obligation is that it's something completely different. Nichole created her own mythology and brought a brand new twist to, well, everything. You spend a lot of time getting to know the characters and watching them grow. The story is paced well and had a cinematic quality to it because you could easily  visualise every thing that was described.

The main character, Ree, and her friends don't become warriors in a day. They train their butts off. Everything seemed realistic, and don't get me started on the training and fight scenes. Honestly, every bit of description was written extremely well and had this great rhythm to it. I actually had to double check that Nichole was a self-published author because Mortal Obligation was that good. For her debut novel, she did a great job!

The twist at the end caught me completely off guard and I didn't even see it coming. Let's just say, the cemetery on the front cover is a very important part of the story. I really look forward to reading more from Nichole Chase. Pick this one up, guys. You won't be disappointed.

Recommended: If you are looking for something different in the YA genre.