The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

457 pages

"After the first wave, only darkness remains. After the second, only the lucky escape. And after the third, only the unlucky survive. After the fourth wave, only one rule applies: Trust no one.

Now it's the dawn of the fifth wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother--or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up." -Dust Jacket

This is an interesting story. The idea of aliens wiping out humans in waves is interesting. The first wave wipes out the electricity, the second is natural disasters, the third is a devastating virus and the fourth is infiltrating humanity. The fifth wave involves indoctrinating children and turning them into soldiers. They're definitely thorough in their takeover of earth. The story shifts point of views between Cassie, Evan, and Ben. It kept me up really late one night as I couldn't put it down until it was finished. I liked the writing style and the sarcasm.

This one comes with a big BUT though. These types of books are mostly for young adult readers and there is a ton of language, including 3 or 4 "F" words. It wasn't just an occasional word, it was pretty in-your-face at times. I hated that. I hate getting sucked into a story and having to wade through language because I want to see how it ends rather than not read it, which would have been the right choice. My kids asked me if it was a good book and I had to give them the answer that I hate because it justifies it: "Yes, but..." It's like a "do as I say, not as I do" thing as I try to encourage them to stop reading books if they have junk in them. So, good book but there is a huge asterisk in recommending it. I will probably read the other two books but reluctantly. The nice thing is that in a month all of the books will be out so I don't have to wait for them.

{Spoilers}
Cassie has survived and lost her parents. Her brother is taken away with other children to a "safe haven" called Camp Haven. Cassie spends the book trying to keep her promise to find her brother, Sammy, who's 5. Her high school crush, Ben Parrish, meanwhile is at Camp Haven where he recovers from the virus and then is trained by who he thinks are human soldiers to fight the enemy. His squad consists of children. The youngest is seven, until Sammy is put in his group. They're given special equipment that helps them determine who is infected and and who is healthy.

Evan helps Cassie recover after being shot in the knee. Turns out, Evan's the one who shot her and is the one who's been hunting her for a long time. He's a Silencer, an alien assassin. The alien was implanted in him when he was a baby and awakened during the first wave. The aliens don't have a physical form but are more like a conscious being. They've all downloaded themselves into the master computer when they left their planet and so Evan's alien was uploaded into his brain when he was in the womb. So, he's human and not human. He has all of Evan's memories of growing up and his family. Evan falls in love with Cassie and can't kill her. He chooses to help her and turn against his own race. Cassie figures out who he is and is torn between the desire to kill him and the fact that she loves him too.

Ben figures out what's going on when he's sent out on his first mission. His squad wears a visor that lights up people with a green or red dot. They're tasked with killing people who are green but the people who are green are actually the ones that haven't been implanted by the aliens. Ben and Ringer, a squad member, cut out their implants. They've realized after finding one of their sergeants shooting at them from the rooftop, that their implants can be used to kill them with the simple push of a button.

Ben decides to go back to Camp Haven and get Sammy ("Nugget") and then escape. Cassie is also on her way to Camp Haven to rescue Sammy. Evan has told her that Camp Haven is the aliens' main base and provides her with a way to get in and out. Of course that plan goes awry. Cassie cuts her hair so she can get away with looking a lot younger and she's picked up by a school bus and processed by the aliens. While being connected to an alien program called Wonderland, which maps a person's brain, she attacks the doctor and goes in search of Sammy. She and Ben find Sammy at about the same time and Evan shows up to help them. He gives them a way out and then tells Cassie that he's going to do something. He promises to find her. That something is blow up Camp Haven with the aliens' own bombs. Ben's team helps them escape the destruction but you don't know if Evan made it out.

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

440 pages

"If there's one thing Mare Barrow knows, it's that she's different. Mare Barrow's blood is red--the color of common folk--but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control.

The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince--the friend--who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: She is not the only one of her kind.

Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors.

But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat.

Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?" -Dust Jacket

This is the second book in the Red Queen series. The ending really saved the whole book for me because for most of the book I found Mare to be annoyingly whiny and selfish. There's a lot of internal dialogue that gets so repetitive and obnoxious. She's got two great guys, three if you count her brother Shade, who do everything they can to help her and save her from herself and yet she keeps pushing them away, blaming them, or dismissing them. I think the author intentionally makes her unlikable so that what she does at the end of the book can redeem her and make you want to read the next book.

Maven is truly evil and yet Mare mourns the boy she thought he was and misses him. Cal misses the brother he once knew and they both want to kill him. There are some new characters introduced in this book and most of them have conveniently helpful powers. There's also a mysterious man who can see the future yet only offers very vague advice. Once Mare and her team start rescuing "newbloods," it reminded me of X-Men and bringing mutants to the school to save them and train them. Cal's like the Professor and Mare's like Magneto. She's out of control a lot of the time. She doesn't think through a lot of her actions and their consequences and then once she acts she spends a ton of time agonizing over the cost of her choices and then it's almost like she can't take responsibility or it will break her so she finds other people to blame. Rinse and repeat.

{Spoilers}

The book starts where Red Queen left off, with the Scarlet Guard rescuing Cal and Mare from execution. Cal is taken prisoner by the Scarlet Guard. They escape back to the ruins of Naercy only to face an aerial assault and Silvers on the ground. Mare's brother Shade, once thought to be dead, is alive and he has the ability to jump long distances and teleport to other places. He helps them escape to the sea where a submarine-type vessel awaits that takes them to the island of Tuck and a Colonel, who it turns out is Farley's dad, but there's no love lost between the two. Mare is reunited with her family who have escaped to Tuck.

Mare realizes that the Colonel is afraid of the newbloods and has locked Cal up in an underground bunker. She and Kilorn attempt to rescue him and it looks like Kilorn betrays her when he locks her in the cell with Cal. He's really helping them and breaks them out later on once they have the list of newbloods. They steal a jet and go off to rescue the people on the list who are Reds with Silver abilities. Maven is also hunting for the newbloods and when he beats Mare there he kills them and leaves notes behind for her telling her that he'll stop killing people if she comes back to him. She vows that she never will. She hides the notes from Cal but he knows that she has them and reads them when she thinks no one is watching. During one of their encounters with Maven, he uses a machine on her called a sounder that turns her own powers against her and leaves her with lightning scars and an "M" branded onto her skin. It nearly kills her and knocks her out for days, during which both Kilorn and Cal worry that she won't wake up.

Mare, Cal, Kilorn, Farley and Shade take the newbloods to a hideout in the mountains where they train them and help them master their abilities. On a mission to rescue more, they meet a man named Jon who can see the future and he tells them that they are facing a trap and that they must go to a lake and protect what they find there. What they find there is a girl named Cameron who can shut down the abilities of newbloods. She almost kills Mare because she doesn't know how to control herself. She's escaped from the prison where Maven and Queen Elara are holding Reds and Silvers who don't support the crown. Mare decides that they have to storm the prison and rescue the prisoners. They have a newblood named Nanny who can turn herself into anyone so she turns into Maven and they go to the prison. Mare loses control of herself and slaughters guards who were begging for mercy which makes Cal keep his distance. She also kills the queen. During their escape, Shade is killed while trying to save Mare. He and Farley are together and it alludes to the fact that Farley is pregnant. She's obviously heartbroken. Mare tells everyone that they're flying back to Tuck where she and the Colonel hatch a plan to save the 5,000 children who are being marched to the front lines and to also start a civil war by showing a video of the dead queen and inciting people to rise up against Maven. Throughout the whole book there's reference to "Command" which are the real people in charge but we never meet them. We do meet twins who come from a faraway republic where they say newbloods can live in peace. They want Mare to come and fight with them and offer the rest of them sanctuary. Mare realizes that there's a catch and that helping them might turn into replacing a Silver king with a newblood one which might not be any better.

Cal doesn't like what Mare's doing, but he also wants to save her from herself so he says he'll go with her. During their flight to the Choke, Maven has magnetrons bring down the jet. It turns into a cage as it falls from the sky. Cameron does her best to stop them but there are too many for her. Mare rushes at the magnetrons and they let her out of the cage where a strongarm is waiting to contain her. The magnetrons manipulate the cage so that everyone is shackled. Cal tries to burn through the bars with his fire but he's knocked unconscious. When Maven shows up, Mare realizes that she has to save Kilorn and Cal at any cost and so she makes a deal with Maven: she'll be his prisoner if he lets the others live. The epilogue is Mare being tortured into unconsciousness by the sounder day after day. Eventually Maven has her brought to the square where people can see her broken and controlled by him. He puts a collar on her that has a leash and forces her to kneel before him. He says that she put his mother on display and he will do the same to her. And that's where it ends!

Mare really doesn't appreciate what she has as far as friends go. Maven was a friend and potential husband to her in the first book and so his betrayal is that much harder for Mare. Cal has also been betrayed by her as well as betrayed her and yet they can't seem to let each other go. They are able to calm each other and they find comfort in each other's arms to chase away the nightmares they each face at night. They love each other but Mare is way too stubborn to admit it and to accept that Cal isn't going anywhere. She keeps thinking that he's going to leave her and that his loyalties will shift. I really like Cal. He's been forced to kill his father by the queen and he's lost his mother as well. He's been broken in so many ways and yet he still maintains his humanity and morality. I also really like Kilorn. Kilorn is her childhood friend who also loves her. He has no special abilities and so she's always trying to protect him which makes him angry. He's the first to forgive her for what she does at the prison and by the end she realizes that he should be able to make his own decisions and risk his own life.

I think Mare is a lot like Katniss. She's a young teenager who's traumatized by what she has to do and go through and so she acts in a way that to the reader seems irrational, but I'm not sure how anyone would cope with all of that and stay sane. She doesn't want to be a leader but she's thrust into that role. I had to remind myself of that throughout the book so that I didn't hate her. But, when she realizes that the only way to save her friends is to do the one thing she has vowed never to do--go back to Maven--she redeems herself big time. And then when you read what he subjects her to you can't help but feel incredibly sorry for her...and anxious for Cal and Kilorn to come and save her and destroy Maven.

Calamity by Brandon Sanderson

417 pages

"When Calamity lit up the sky, the Epics were born. David's fate has been tied to their villainy ever since that historic night. Steelheart killed his father. Firefight stole his heart. And now Regalia has turned his closest ally into a dangerous enemy.

David knew Prof's secret, and kept it even when the Reckoners' leader struggled to control the effects of his Epic powers. But facing Obliteration in Babilar was too much. Prof has now embraced his Epic destiny. He's disappeared into those murky shadows of menace Epics are infamous for the world over, and everyone knows there's no turning back...

But everyone is wrong. Redemption is possible for Epics--Megan proved it. They're not lost. Not completely. And David is just about crazy enough to face down the most powerful High Epic of all to get his friend back. Or die trying." -Dust Jacket

This is the 3rd book in The Reckoners series. Steelheart was a great twist on super heroes or super villains, to be more precise, and one of my favorite things about this series has been David's fascination with and knowledge of the Epics, not to mention their awesome names and abilities. He's like a walking encyclopedia and his knowledge has helped the Reckoners time and time again. The cultural references in this book are funny too. David thinks the word "groovy" is ridiculous yet his word of choice is "sparks." I will say that the ending of this series was a bit out there for me and I didn't really like the reference to a very famous superhero. It didn't ruin the series, but I sort of wish it would have ended differently.

{Spoilers}

The key to bringing down the Epics has always been discovering their fears. David was able to kill Steelheart because he wasn't afraid of him. It's also the key to saving them, by making them face their fears. That's what's helped Megan keep a grip on her humanity. In Firefight, David learned that Calamity is an Epic. Calamity tries to turn David into an Epic and David refuses but he's changed as a result of that encounter.

David and the Reckoners regroup after Babilar and seek out the help of Knighthawk, a man who's created a bunch of tech for the Reckoners using Epic cells. David is intent on saving Prof because he's certain that's what Prof would want him to do. His team isn't so sure because Prof will have to live with the guilt of knowing he's killed some of his friends. They think Prof would want them to kill him. The Reckoners track Prof to Ildithia, a city that is made of salt and constantly changing. Prof is there to carry out Regalia's plan--which turns out to be stealing Larcener's powers so that he can teleport to Calamity, kill him, and replace him.

David faces several Epics in Ildithia and Larcener, an Epic who can steal other Epics powers permanently just by touching them, hides out in their shelter. He turns out to be quite the coward. Megan's powers bring Firefight through to their reality from another reality and that's where things go a bit crazy. She opens up seams to several different realities during some of their fights and it's during one of these that David realizes that his father is alive in another reality and Steelheart is a good Epic there. In the end, they bring Prof back by finally discovering what his true fear is (failure) and David faces Calamity, convincing him that humanity doesn't need to be destroyed because the Epics are capable of being good and it's his presence that is forcing many of them to be bad. David's dad has powers in the other reality and David has revealed that he does too. His father teaches him to fly and they both wear a cape with an "S" on it. Does this mean that this is a Superman story? It's pretty hard to dismiss that reference which for some reason just makes this series end on a bit of a weird note for me. Maybe too, I compare this series to Sanderson's Mistborn series where the writing was so much more interesting. That's an adult fantasy series though where this one is designed for teenagers. This series was a fun read and pretty great for kids, with the exception of the ending which I don't think they'll understand.

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

416 pages

"Newcago is free. They told David it was impossible--that even the Reckoners had never killed a High Epic. Yet Steelheart--invincible, immortal, unconquerable--is dead. And he died by David's hand.

Eliminating Steelheart was supposed to make life simpler. Instead, it only made David realize he has questions. Big ones. And no one in Newcago can give him answers.

Babylon Restored, the city formerly known as the borough of Manhattan, has possibilities, though. Ruled by the mysterious High Epic Regalia, Babylon Restored is flooded and miserable, but David is sure it's the path that will lead him to what he needs to find. Entering a city oppressed by a High Epic despot is risky, but David's willing to take the gamble. Because killing Steelheart left a hole in David's heart. A hole where his thirst for vengeance once lived. Somehow, he filled that hole with another Epic--Firefight. And he's willing to go on a quest darker and even more dangerous than the fight against Steelheart to find her, and to get his answers." -Dust Jacket

This series is like a summer blockbuster movie. You read it knowing it's going to take you on a fun ride but may not be the most moving or deep book you've ever read. Babylon Restored is a much different city than Newcago. Newcago is all steel. Babylon Restored is all water and plants. People live on the rooftops of buildings and an epic creates plants to feed the people. This epic communicates through messages in fortune cookies of all things! Regalia can control the water and learns information by looking through it. Obliteration is a ticking nuclear bomb epic who's already destroyed one city and is set to destroy Babylon Restored. He sits on a rooftop collecting energy. The Reckoners known from the previous city how many days they have before he blows. He's teamed up with Regalia so that they can lure Prof to town.

David has gained quite a reputation as an Epic slayer. He has never left Newcago so he looks forward to the road trip. He can't swim so Babylon Restored is dangerous for him, especially once Regalia finds out where they are. Megan has to save him. They meet the team of Reckoners stationed in Babylon Restored who have a personal vendetta against Firefight because she killed their team leader. David knows that Firefight is Megan. He's in love with her and he wants to exonerate her since he believes she didn't do it. That creates some tension between David and the Reckoners. My favorite part of this series is still the epics' names and their powers.

{Spoiler Alert}
This book has a few twists in it, namely that Calamity (who previously had been referred to as like a giant sun in the sky) is actually an Epic who makes an appearance towards the end of the book as Regalia tries to have Calamity turn David into an Epic. David refuses the powers and stays human. Prof stops Obliteration but using that much of his power turns him bad and he kills some of the Reckoners and tries to kill David. Megan saves his life again. One of her powers is coming back to life after dying. This time when she comes back she's more human than other times. Now that Prof is bad it will be interesting to see how things play out in the next book. David will probably have to rely more on himself and the Reckoners. Book 3 is called Calamity.

Agenda 21: Into the Shadows by Glenn Beck and Harriet Parke

314 pages

"I knew those men were our enemies, but they, like everyone else in the Republic, were nothing more than servants. Rule followers. They had no choice. But I did. I had a choice and I made it. I knew then and there that, no matter what happened, I would never go back. Never.

It was once named America, but now it is just 'the Republic.' Following the worldwide implementation of a UN-led program called Agenda 21, the once-proud people of America have become obedient residents who live in barren, brutal Compounds and serve the autocratic, merciless Authorities.

Citizens mainly keep their heads down and their mouths shut--but Emmeline is different. When the Authorities took her mother away, she started questioning the world around her. What happened to her mom? Why is everyone confined to grim living spaces and made to eat the same food cubes every day? Why was her own baby taken from her to be raised in the Children's Village? And are the rumors that somewhere out beyond the fence live those who got away during the Relocations--the so-called shadow people--really true?

When Emmeline's questions lead to the realization that she will never see her child again, she decides to escape the Compound with her partner, David, and their baby, Elsa. Fleeing the armed enforcers of the Earth Protection Agency, and facing the unknown for the first time in their lives, Emmeline and David run into the shadows in the desperate hope of finding something they'd only heard stories about from those who'd lived before the Relocations: freedom." -Dust Jacket

This is the sequel to Agenda 21 and I think it was better than the first book. It was at least good enough to be one of those books where I'd think "I'll finish this chapter and then put it down" and then I wouldn't be able to put it down. Because Agenda 21 is a real idea, and because you see elements of it being implemented in the world now--protecting wildlife above people, encouraging people to move into large apartment complexes--this book becomes even more relevant, although Agenda 21 is taken to the extreme in this novel. The thing I liked about it is that Emmeline values freedom above all else once she learns what it is. She's willing to risk her life, and the lives of her husband and Micah and Elsa, to find it.

This book takes them out of the Compound and into the unknown where they meet some of the shadow people. They also run into a familiar face from the last book. They're hunted by a ruthless Earth Protection Agent named Steven and his team. You also get to see a little bit more of the Authorities, who live in a white mansion outside of the Compound. They eat fresh food and the children play outside. This is obviously a middle book as the ending left you hanging, so I'll look forward to the next one.

{SPOILER ALERT}
Emmy and David start a fire at the Social Update Square in order to get away through the hole in the fence. They take Elsa and Micah with them. They head downstream, walking at night and hiding during the day. David's parents, John & Joan, decide to leave as well and hopefully provide an escape for their son by going upstream and leaving obvious clues as to their direction. The Authorities get Earth Protection Agents, led by Steven, a ruthless and comfort-hungry man, to hunt them down. They want Steven to bring them back so they can make an example out of them. Steven's team consists of his cronies Adam and Nigel as well as a weak Guy, Winston, and a woman named Julia, who's new to the Earth Protection Agency and has no training.

David falls in the first day of their travels and hurts his arm which continues to get worse as the days go by. Their thin shoes also fall apart. Eventually they wind up under a bridge where they're spotted by two shadow people, Paul and Ingrid, who have lived in a cave for 18 years, having escaped the Relocation by preparing in advance. The cave is near the farm commune where food is produced for the nourishment cubes the people in the Compound eat twice a day. Paul raids the commune at night, collecting food. It's during one of these raids that Emmy is confronted by George, her first husband in the compound and a kind man who tried to save her. Emmy was told that George and her father had been killed in a bus box accident. Emmy's father died protecting George who was then taken to the commune and wears a ball and chain around his ankle. Emmy tells him that they have a daughter and George feels a renewed sense of purpose and life.

Steven tries to have his way with Julia night after night but Julia repels him with ammonia spray and some of the weapons in her backpack. Eventually she sprains her ankle and Steven tells everyone to leave her behind. Winston doesn't want to, but he has to follow orders. Once John & Joan decide to turn around and try to catch up to David, they come across Julia and decide to help her. Julia thinks that John is an Enforcer because of the uniform he took off the man he killed while escaping the Compound. John also has a gun. They are caught in a storm and find refuge in an old school bus. Steven and his team also wind up at the school bus during the storm. John pretends to be an Enforcer, who Steven despises, and keeps them in the bus for a few days, hopefully giving David a few more days. Adam is bitten by a rattlesnake and ends up dying. Steven finally attacks John and throws him into the river. John hits his head on a rock and floats away face down. Steven leaves a few guys behind to guard Joan and Julia while he goes off to find David, taking Winston and Guy with him because he doesn't trust them.

Joan and Julia get away by using Joan's hidden gun. Steven handcuffs Winston to a tree every night but eventually Winston saws through a rotted birch tree and gets away. He goes back to find Julia. Meanwhile, Paul & Ingrid have been teaching David & Emmy how to survive and healing David's arm. Paul was a history teacher so he teaches them about history and what's truly important. Emmy struggles with the decision of whether or not to let George see Elsa before they leave and finally they decide to help free George and let him see his daughter. Paul goes back to the commune and cuts off his ball & chain and brings him back to the cave. Paul tries to convince Emmy to stay there with them where they have food and shelter, but Emmy is determined to walk thousands of miles to Kansas where she was born and where she hopes to be free. She has a map that was her mother's so they make a plan. Since Paul & Ingrid aren't healthy enough to make the trip, George agrees to stay with them to take care of them. He says goodbye to Elsa. A day before, Emmy had discovered an Enforcer's body floating down the river, which made her decide to leave soon. It was bloated and unrecognizable and this is perhaps the most gruesome and shocking part of the book because you knows it's John but Emmy and David don't recognize him. I'd been hoping that he'd survived and Joan would find him.

The book ends with David & Emmy finding a zoo where they have a picnic and scavenge for supplies and food. Steven catches them there and holds them at gunpoint. Joan, Julia and Winston show up just in time to save them. They shoot Guy but leave Steven behind in a cage, saying that that's what he deserves. I hope that doesn't backfire on them, since I have a feeling a cage won't hold Steven for long. Winston and Julia decide that their new mission is protecting this family and helping them get to freedom.

Inhuman by Kat Falls

375 pages

"To fear is human...

In the wake of a devastating biological disaster, the United States east of the Mississippi River has been abandoned. Now called the Feral Zone, a reference to the virus that turned millions of people into bloodthirsty savages, the entire area is off-limits. The punishment for violating the border is death.

Lane McEvoy can't imagine why anyone would risk it. She's grown up in the shadow of the great wall separating east from west, and she's curious about what's on the other side--but she's not that curious. Life in the West is safe, comfortable...just how she likes it.

But Lane gets the shock of her life when she learns that someone close to her has crossed into the Feral Zone. And that she has little choice but to follow. Lane travels east, completely unprepared for what she finds in the ruins of civilization...and afraid to learn whether her humanity will prove her greatest strength or a fatal weakness." -Dust Jacket

I finally bought this one after it'd been on my Amazon wish list for quite awhile. I figured it'd make a good beach read for our summer trip to Oregon. I honestly wasn't expecting that much from it, but felt like dystopia would be the way to go on vacation. I was pleasantly surprised.

This book followed most of the other dystopian novels in terms of love triangle. There's one girl and two guys--the bad boy (Rafe) who's handsome, sarcastic/arrogant (almost as good as Jace's in The Mortal Instruments) yet damaged and the good guy (Everson) who's handsome, strong yet damaged. If there was one thing that bugged me about this book it would be who Lane seems to have fallen for by the end. I felt like they didn't spend enough time together to form any sort of real feelings for or connection to each other. Of course this will be a trilogy or more, so we've got other books to sort through that and the way the book ended it will be interesting to see if/how that can be resolved.

What I liked about this book was the complexity of what the virus does. Once Lane crosses the wall, she finds that there are varying stages of infection. You are infected through being bitten mostly. In the first stage you get a high fever. Then you start to change into a form of whatever animal virus you have. There were over 50 strains and so people can mutate into tigers, lions, monkeys, etc. or even combinations of more than one. The transition to feral can take years and so Lane meets "Manimals" as they're called, who are still quite human living with other humans. The catch is that these people can turn feral at any moment and become dangerous, even killing those they love. It was fun to imagine what the Manimals looked like. One of them proves to be incredibly dangerous to Lane and plays a pivotal role in the end of the book--which left the story on a huge cliffhanger.

{Spoiler Alert} The other thing I liked about this story was how Lane's dad had prepared her for what's beyond the wall through the stories he had told her. It creates a scenario where she seems tough enough to be able to handle what's thrown at her and it was fun to see her figure out how those stories translated to real life. She has no idea that her dad is a Fetch, but once she is blackmailed into finding him, what he's taught her and told her through those stories proves invaluable to her. It also creates a strong connection between her and Rafe because Rafe has also been told stories by Lane's dad. There's a really vulnerable moment for Rafe related to that that I thought was great. Chicago was a crazy, dangerous, entertaining place to read about with a decent twist that led to the whole heartbreaking mess at the end. I hope I don't have to wait too long for the next book.

This author was good enough that sometime I'll check out her other books.

Four: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth

285 pages

"Two years before Beatrice Prior made her choice, the sixteen-year-old son of Abnegation's faction leader did the same. Tobias's transfer to Dauntless is a chance to begin again. Here, he will not be called the name his parents gave him. Here, he will not let fear turn him into a cowering child.

Newly christened 'Four,' he discovers during initiation that he will succeed in Dauntless. Initiation is only the beginning, though; Four must claim his place in the Dauntless hierarchy. His decisions will affect future initiates as well as uncover secrets that could threaten his own future--and the future of the entire faction system.

Two years later, Four is poised to take action, but the course is still unclear. The first new initiate who jumps into the net might change all that. With her, the way to righting their world might become clear. With her, it might become possible to be Tobias once again." -Dust Jacket

This book is basically four novellas that supplement the Divergent world. Two of the stories take place before Four meets Tris and two after. There's a little bit of new information and some scenes retold from Four's perspective, so overall it was sort of like icing on a bittersweet cake since if you've read the series you know how it ends and I'm still not sure how I feel about that. I'm a Tobias fan so I'm sure if Veronica Roth puts out a Four book about the events in Insurgent I'll be a sucker and buy it.

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

384 pages

"Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary people extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics.

Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man, you must crush his will.

Now, in what was once Chicago, an astonishingly powerful Epic named Steelheart has installed himself as emperor. Steelheart possesses the strength of ten men and can control the elements. It is said that no bullet can harm him, no sword can split his skin, and no fire can burn him. He is invincible. Nobody fights back...nobody but the Reckoners.

A shadowy group of ordinary humans, the Reckoners spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them. And David wants in.

When Steelheart came to Chicago, he killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David has been studying, and planning, and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

He has seen Steelheart bleed.
And he wants revenge." -Dust Jacket

I'd seen this book floating around on bestseller lists and read several reviews about how great of an author Brandon Sanderson is, so I decided to give it a go. The book's description sucked me in too.

This is a comic book in novel form where almost all of the superheroes are bad guys. I thought it was a pretty cool idea. I have to admit, Sanderson pretty much had me hooked once I started reading some of their names: Steelheart, Nightwielder, Firefight, Conflux, etc. For ten years David has studied the Epics and their weaknesses, keeping notes on their strengths and weaknesses with the intent of one day getting his revenge on Steelheart. Sanderson gives the Epics pretty cool powers as well as different levels of power so more powerful Epics can rule over lesser ones and use them for their own purposes. Meanwhile the humans barely get by and live in fear.

David is obsessed with joining the Reckoners and so he studies them and starts to predict who they'll hit next so that he can find them. He sort of helps/hinders them when they go after an Epic named Fortuity. One thing that bugged me just a little throughout the book was the constant reference to how inaccurate/unreliable hand guns are and how rifles are better. I just didn't think it was necessary. David's knowledge of Epics and their powers comes in handy on several occasions and I liked that he knew so much about them. It made the story more interesting.

There were some great twists at the end which will of course play into what is inevitably going to be a series. Why can't authors write good stand-alone books of this sort anymore?! It's frustrating to have to wait a year or more but I'll definitely re-read this one before the next one comes out this fall. It was hard to put down so I'm sure I missed some smaller details as I read it fast. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, the biggest one being what caused Calamity and why were only some humans turned into Epics.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

526 pages

"The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered--fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she's known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris's new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature--and of herself--while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love." -Dust Jacket

An Amazon review spoiled the ending for me as soon as this book came out and so I haven't wanted to read it until now. It was definitely worth it. I love books that take you on a gut-wrenching journey and leave you with deep things to think about.



{SPOILER ALERT. Do not keep reading if you don't want pretty much the entire book spoiled.}


The thing that I read on the Amazon review was how upset the person was that Tris died. I think that is what caused the low-star reviews from so many people, but now, having read the book, I think those reviews were a bit unfair. All of us like a happy ending, and when we don't get one we often decide to hate the whole book/series instead of looking at whether or not it was necessary. I was that way when I first read Mockingjay but after reading the series again I felt like it was the only way for it to end. Life doesn't always give you a happily ever after. I think it's one of those things where the author had way more time to think through the story and we, the readers, have an instant gut reaction to it.

When Insurgent ended, I was wary of what would happen in the third book. You find out that the world Tris has lived in is not the "real" world, but an experiment and that now that they know that the Divergents are supposed to go and help it. I wasn't sure what Tris going into the real world would bring and how it would change her. I wasn't sure what time period we would be in, but it's still a dystopian novel and still set hundreds of years in the future. I think that having them go out into a world that is just as broken as the one they'd always known really forced the characters to decide even more who they are and want to be.

I think this series really does boil down to the choices we make and why we make them. In the very beginning, Tris has to decide what faction she wants to join. Does she want to stay in Abnegation, whose virtue is selflessness? Or does she want to join the Dauntless and be brave? I think the author does a beautiful job in the end of showing us that she is both. Even though her brother has betrayed her time and time again, she sacrifices herself for him. Tobias had told her that Abnegation only encourages letting someone die if they are doing it out of love. When Tris asks Caleb why he's willing to die for her to release the memory serum, he tells her it's because he wants her to forgive him. She realizes that it's not the same thing and that she can't let him die for that reason. Yes, it's heartbreaking--I sobbed to the point where I almost couldn't keep reading--but it's courageous and selfless, the ultimate sacrifice.

This book would not have had the same impact had it only been written from Tris's POV like the first two. We would have been deprived the opportunity to see the journey Four (I still love that name more than Tobias) goes on as well and the battle that rages within him, and the complete and total heartbreak and despair he feels when Tris dies. When he discovers that he's "genetically damaged" it makes him make decisions that have serious consequences. It's Tris's love that makes him see that he's still the same person and a good person. I like that he and Tris have the blowup where he tells her that she needs to respect his ability to make his own decisions even when he makes terrible ones. They decide to stay together because they want to, because they are good together. I liked the analogy of Tris comparing herself to a sword and Four being the whetting stone that she continues to throw herself against.

I still love Four the most. I love that there was no love triangle in this series. I love that Four & Tris have a real relationship, with conflicts and challenges. I love that they find their way back to each other before the end so that you feel like they didn't leave anything unsaid or undone before the heartache. I love that Christina develops into such a good friend and saves Four from taking the memory serum to erase all of his painful memories, instead telling him that Tris would hate him for taking it. You get the feeling that he will become the strong person Tris always knew he was and that her memory will guide him. There's still that part of me that wishes they could have lived happily ever after, but like Four says towards the end, "I suppose a fire that burns that bright is not meant to last."

Here's what the author had to say about the ending.

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

308 pages

"Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it's addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?

But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before: he's holding players hostage inside the VirtNet. The effects are horrific--the hostages have all been declared brain-dead. Yet the gamer's motives are a mystery.

The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker.

And they've been watching Michael. They want him on their team. But the risk is enormous. If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid. There are back alleys and corners in the system human eyes have never seen and predators he can't even fathom--and there's the possibility that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever." -Dust Jacket

One of the things I'm learning about James Dashner books is that you will spend the majority of the book not knowing what's going on. The ride will be crazy, but sometimes crazy is good. James Dashner's mind must be one messed up place. :) The conclusion of the The Maze Runner series still puzzles me. That series was like the literary equivalent of Lost. This book is like the literary equivalent of Inception, and just like Inception this book probably takes a few reads to understand. (I was on my 4th or 5th viewing of Inception before I felt like I had a good grasp of what was happening and what level the characters were in.)

I did like the subtle commentary on people living in virtual worlds. The characters in this book hook themselves up to Coffins which let them experience all physical aspects of the virtual world without actually getting hurt or killed. It's an idea we've seen in other movies/books and it doesn't seem too far-fetched. I think virtual living instead of really living is a huge problem. It's so easy to check out of reality with smart phones and other electronics. About three-fourths of the way through this book I got a little bored though. There was just too much weird stuff going on for me. I think The Death Cure kept coming to mind and I kept hoping that the author would explain things at the end in a clearer way than that book did. I was pleasantly surprised by the twist at the end but it also left even more questions that will prompt a re-read before the next book comes out next fall. I'm getting a little tired of trilogies! The twist was good enough though to bring me back for The Rule of Thoughts in 2014. There was no language in this book which was nice, but there were some violent parts so I'd say it's a PG-13 book.

Horde by Ann Aguirre

418 pages

"A horde of freaks has destroyed Salvation and it's up to Deuce, Fade, Stalker, and Tegan to lead the refugees to safety. Deuce decides the only way to fight an army is to raise one. At first, everyone laughs at the idea of a girl leading humanity's forces against the Freaks, but after proving herself in combat, she firmly establishes her qualifications for the role.

Along the way, she works on healing Fade. He's suffering from a severe case of PTSD in an era when diagnosis is impossible. Further complicating his recovery, and their burgeoning romance, is his reluctance to being touched, a consequence of the horrors visited upon him by Freak hands. Deuce refuses to give up on him, however, and their resulting tender moments are all the more moving for being hard won.

When Deuce learns the reason the Freaks are getting smarter, she realizes time is running out for her kind. Can she overcome or render a permanent truce with the enemy? Who will ultimately survive?" -Dust Jacket

I have been waiting anxiously for this book for a year. The first two books (Enclave and Outpost) were non-stop thrill rides. Outpost ended with Deuce, Fade, Stalker and Tegan leaving Salvation in a desperate attempt to get help. Horde picks up right where that one left off. One of the things I've loved about this series is Deuce's character development. Over the course of the three books she's learned how to love and care about people rather than just fight and survive even though those are her basic, natural tendencies. That changes how she makes decisions and occasionally not for the better, but it makes her more vulnerable and relatable.

Fade has always been my favorite. He's an awesome fighter but at heart he's a gentle soul. I like that even though there's a little bit of a love triangle (mostly because Deuce is clueless), Deuce stays true to Fade and doesn't give up on him even when he pushes her away. And once she understands her feelings she is adamant about them. She doesn't understand exactly what's happened to Fade but she knows how she feels about him and that he's worth fighting for. They've been together since the beginning and I love that they stay together. I love how much they love each other. That's sappy, but I'm a sucker for this kind of romance.

There are so many other characters to love in this book. Stalker, though not always a good guy, tries to find redemption. Tegan, brutalized by Stalker and his gang, forgives and becomes a great strength to Deuce. Company D turns into a force to be reckoned with and Deuce finds friends and allies along the way even when it seems impossible.

The tide that turns the war was unexpected and awesome. I love that an act of kindness saves the world. I think that's such a timely message. I love dystopia because there's usually always hope even when there's nothing else and things are at their darkest. Deuce has her moments of self-doubt and discouragement but she has Fade and others to lift her up and keep her going. In turn, she does the same for them. It's a great camaraderie. {Spoiler Alert} This series followed the perfect model for books of this sort. As a reader, you want the main characters to struggle to fight impossible odds but then come out victorious. You can accept other characters dying even when you love them, but the main characters have to survive so there's a happily ever after.

A word of caution: I decided not to let my 14-year-old read this last book. She read the first two and was disappointed about that. The whole series is very violent. It's not graphic or over-the-top violence but there is a lot of killing. The book is called Horde because there are thousands of Freaks and Deuce and her army have to fight them and they do so mostly close up with knives. That's not the main reason I decided not to let her read it however. Deuce and Fade have a few romantic encounters that I didn't think she was old enough to read. They're more than the "sparking" that they did in the first two books and my daughter is pretty innocent. This series is definitely a PG-13 one. The violence is along the lines of The Hunger Games. With all of that justification, I have to admit that this is probably my favorite dystopian series to date. I'm planning on re-reading it during those long, cold winter months.

Agenda 21 by Glenn Beck

277 pages

"'I was just a baby when we were relocated and I don't remember much. Everybody has that black hole at the beginning of their life. That time you can't remember. Your first step. Your first taste of table food. My real memories begin in our assigned living area in Compound 14.'

Just a generation ago, this place was called America. Now, after the worldwide implementation of a UN-led program called Agenda 21, it's simply known as 'the Republic.' There is no president. No Congress. No Supreme Court. No freedom.

There are only the Authorities.

Citizens have two primary goals in the new Republic: to create clean energy and to create new human life. Those who cannot do either are of no use to society.

This bleak and barren existence is all that eighteen-year-old Emmeline has ever known. She dutifully walks her energy board daily and accepts all male pairings assigned to her by the Authorities. Like most citizens, she keeps her head down and her eyes closed.

Until the day they come for her mother.

'You save what you think you're going to lose.'

Woken up to the harsh reality of her life and her family's future inside the Republic, Emmeline begins to search for the truth. Why are all citizens confined to ubiquitous concrete living spaces? Why are Compounds guarded by Gatekeepers who track all movements? Why are food, water and energy rationed so strictly? And, most important, why are babies taken from their mothers at birth?

As Emmeline begins to understand the true objectives of Agenda 21 she realizes that she is up against far more than she ever thought. With the Authorities closing in, and nowhere to run, Emmeline embarks on an audacious plan to save her family and expose the Republic - but is she already too late?" -Dust Jacket

This is the first Glenn Beck book I've read. The chilling aspect of this book is that Agenda 21 is real and you can see how it is infiltrating our lives today if you know what to look for. This book is Agenda 21 taken to the extreme but it's not completely unimaginable in our future. The afterword is worth reading.

Emmeline is likable enough albeit sort of bland. That's not her fault though, considering where she lives and how she's grown up. Can you imagine walking on a treadmill pretty much all day every day and that's about all you do? Your home is a concrete box and the animals outside the fence are fed better and treated better than you are. Babies are taken from their mothers because the Authorities know best how to raise them...and then they wonder why the children aren't thriving. (Speaking of which, I saw an interesting story on the news about how music affects babies in the NICU.) Emmeline's world is changed when she has a baby and it is taken from her to be raised in the Children's Village. Then she's paired with someone she actually cares about and realizes that she has things to lose and things to fight for. Her mother has stashed mementos in her mattress for Emmeline to find that remind her of life before and that will help her in the future. The book ended a bit abruptly for me. I'm sure it's meant to leave the reader with hope for Emmeline and let you imagine what happened next, but sometimes it's nice to know what the author would have written had he kept going!

Human.4 by Mike A. Lancaster

231 pages

"ALERT: Humanity has been upgraded. You are now obsolete.

Kyle Straker volunteered to be hypnotized at the annual community talent show, expecting the same old lame amateur acts. But when he wakes up, his world will never be the same. Televisions and computers no longer work, but a strange language streams across their screens. Everyone's behaving oddly. It's as if Kyle doesn't exist.

Is this nightmare a result of the hypnosis? Will Kyle wake up with a snap of fingers to roars of laughter? Or is this something much more sinister? Narrated on a set of found cassette tapes at an unspecified point in the future, Human.4 is an absolutely chilling look at technology gone too far." -Dust Jacket

This was a really entertaining read. I was honestly sort of surprised by how much I liked it. I think the thing that I liked the most about it was how it was told. Being a "transcript" of cassette tapes was a really interesting way to tell Kyle's story, especially considering who the editor is and why he says he put Kyle's cassette tapes in book form. After a few pages in, it seemed like this story probably takes place in England. There are some references and words that most Americans don't use, yet there are also several references to American TV, so sometimes it's also ambiguous. The editor's commentary is fun and it was a great addition to have him reference research papers and books written about the Straker tapes.

There is a sequel to this book but it is also a great stand-alone book. There is no big cliffhanger at the end and the story could easily end there, letting the reader imagine what happens next.

The Twelve by Justin Cronin

564 pages

"The end of the world was only the beginning.

In the present day, as the man-made apocalypse unfolds, three strangers navigate the chaos. Lila, a doctor and an expectant mother, is so shattered by the spread of violence and infection that she continues to plan for her child's arrival even as society dissolves around her. Kittridge, known to the world as 'Last Stand in Denver,' has been forced to flee his stronghold and is now on the road, dodging the infected, armed but not alone and well aware that a tank of gas will only get him so far. April is a teenager fighting to guide her little brother safely through a landscape of death and ruin. These three will learn that they have not been fully abandoned--and that in connection lies hope, even on the darkest of nights.

One hundred years in the future, Amy and the others fight on for humankind's salvation...unaware that the rules have changed. The enemy has evolved, and a dark new order has arisen with a vision of the future infinitely more horrifying than man's extinction. If the Twelve are to fall, one of those united to vanquish them will have to pay the ultimate price." (Dust Jacket)

First the cons--

Language. This book is R-rated due to language and that really disappointed me. It's worse than the first book. I can't recommend this series, even though the story is great, because of it.

Adult Themes. This book is violent and most of the violence doesn't come from the virals. The Homeland is like a concentration camp, where humans are subjected to violence and other horrors at the hands of Guilder and his cronies, who have lived for over a hundred years off the blood of the viral Lawrence Grey, who is a prisoner in the basement of the Dome. The Redeyes and Cols (collaborators) are truly despicable.

Lots of Characters. I had to go online to remember some of the characters from the first book and what happened since it's been a year and I didn't want to re-read the 1,000 pages of The Passage. This book introduced even more characters as it jumped back and forth in time. The author did give a bit of a summary in the beginning of this book which helped a little, but there were some details--like where certain characters died, etc.--that were a little fuzzy.

The pros--

The jumps back in time. I liked how this book went back in time and gave you more details on the beginnings of the infection and the world right after the Twelve escaped. That's about a third of the book. This book also jumps back a decade into the past to the Field, where Vorhees loses his family to a viral attack on a day with a rare solar eclipse. That's an important event in the story because characters introduced there play an important role for the rest of the book.

The Characters. The introduction of Lila, Kittridge, and April connects the dots between other characters from the first book. Kittridge and April are Alicia Donadio's ancestors. Lila is a complicated character who, despite all the bad she does, is really just a woman so traumatized by her circumstances that she lives in an alternate reality until the very end. She is Brad Wolgast's ex-wife. They got divorced after the death of their daughter Eva. Amy goes through some changes in this book that I don't think I totally understood and which made me sort of sad for her! As much as I don't want to read the final book (in 2014), I want to find out what happens to her and her relationship with Peter. Alicia also has transformed into something that will be interesting in the next book. I felt bad for her and Peter, that they were always saying goodbye and knowing that their relationship of the past is gone. Basically, the virus always wins in the end, but some, like Carter, are able to maintain some of their humanity.

The Set-Up for the final book. {SPOILER ALERT} Now that eleven of the Twelve have been destroyed (Wolgast posed as Carter and set off the bomb in the stadium at The Homeland), the final book sets up a showdown between Zero and everyone else, particularly Amy, Alicia and Carter. He's heard in this book but never seen and it's hinted that he's more powerful than the others combined.

Reached by Ally Condie

512 pages

"All will be sorted.

Cassia's journey began with an error, a momentary glitch in the otherwise perfect facade of the Society. After crossing canyons to break free, she waits, silk and paper smuggled against her skin, ready for the final chapter.

The wait is over.

One young woman has raged against those who threaten to keep away what matters most--family, love, choice. Her quiet revolution is about to explode into full-scale rebellion." -Dust Jacket

I was going to hold off reading this final book for awhile because I felt like Crossed was a little slow. But then a friend, who I talk books with a lot, told me I needed to read it. I'm glad I did.

I spent a portion of this book feeling like I was reading The Giver. The Giver is a great book but there is a lot of symbolism in it and you read it trying to understand the deeper meaning of the story and wondering if you really get it. I felt like I needed to be doing that with this one. The Pilot is both literal and figurative and by the end has changed identities and meanings more than once.

I was kind of hard on Xander in my review of Crossed but in this book he was my favorite character. Cassia kind of took a backseat to Xander and Ky. As with all dystopian novels, the characters go on a journey that changes them and leaves them both scarred and hopeful. I was surprised that this book was really moving in that way. I shed tears over Ky and especially over Xander. Ky is such a strong-willed character. He's been through a lot. When he goes through something beyond his control in the middle of the book, you can't help but feel for him. Xander is just selfless. He gives and gives until there's almost nothing left.

I loved how the author wrapped up the loose ends. Cassia spends a lot of the book trying to remember a day with her grandfather that he said on his microcard was his favorite day with her and that she knows is important. She gets back bits and pieces and then the whole thing by the end and it makes you see how the story connects from beginning to end. I liked the intertwining of the Society and the Rising and the twist on how the Rising and the Plague began.

I'm really impressed with this third book and the things that it declared as valuable: choice, art and love. When I recommend dystopian novels/series to people this one is usually towards the bottom of that list but that's going to change. It's been over a year since I read Crossed and I was bummed that I couldn't remember a lot details about some of the minor characters - Vick, Eli, Hunter & Indie from Crossed. I had hoped that some of them would play a bigger role in Reached and then I wished I remembered them better when they did. I think this will be my summer read so I can read them all in a row like I did with The Hunger Games.

Outpost by Ann Aguirre (Again. Because that's how I roll.)

317 pages

I had to read this again. I tend to fly through these types of books the first time but then I like to go back and let them simmer. I liked it even more the second time. Dystopian novels are always full of great action, but they are also usually full of a lot of heart and character too. That is the case with this series as well. I really like Deuce. I really like Fade. I really like Stalker. Book 3 should be good!

Endurance by Ann Aguirre

73 pages (as estimated by Amazon)

I found this e-book as I was searching other things on Amazon. It takes place in between Enclave and Outpost and tells what happened to the College Enclave where Deuce grew up right after she was exiled. It was worth the $0.99, despite the multiple typos. Obviously it was rushed through editing, or not edited at all. Still, it adds another element to this dystopian world that hopefully will get explored in more e-books or in the final book of the series. 

{SPOILERS}

I was really glad to read that Stone and Thimble survived! I like how they ended up in a bunker. Hopefully Thimble will learn some more things about what happened during the apocalypse. Then I hope that they reunite with Deuce and Fade eventually. I'd love to see Stone & Thimble, Deuce & Fade, and Stalker and Tegan get to live in peace at the end.  

Outpost by Ann Aguirre

317 pages

"Deuce's whole world has changed since reader's first met her in Enclave. Now living topside in a community called Salvation, she has a new set of problems. Down below, she was considered an adult and she contributed to the enclave. Now above ground, she's viewed as a brat in need of training by the people of Salvation. She doesn't fit in with the other girls: She hates cooking, sewing, and school. Deuce only knows how to fight.

To make matters worse, her Hunter partner Fade, keeps Deuce at a distance. Her feelings for Fade haven't changed, but he seems not to want her around anymore. Confused and lonely, she starts looking for a way out.

Deuce pursues a chance to serve in the summer patrols--those responsible for making sure the growers and planters can work the fields without danger of Freak attack. It should be routine, but things have been changing on the surface, just as they did below ground. The Freaks are smarter. They're watching. Waiting. Planning. The monsters don't intend to let Salvation survive, and it may take a girl like Deuce to turn the tide." -Dust Jacket

I loved how Deuce's world gets turned upside down once she's topside and she has to learn how the new world works. I thought it was so smart to have her go from being considered an adult in the enclave, sure of her purpose and skills, to a child in Salvation who is forced to learn menial tasks and go to school. It created an interesting dynamic throughout the first part of the story. Deuce knows her place in Salvation isn't secure. She has to adapt to the new rules or risk being cast out. But she knows who she is: She's a Huntress who's survived and done more than most of the adults in Salvation. I loved how Deuce learned about love and emotional connection in this sequel. Edmund and Mamma Oakes are great foster parents. They take her in and care about her, showing her what it's like to have a family. Longshot, the man who rescued Deuce and her friends in the forest, also becomes like a father to her. He respects her skills and values her opinion. Deuce has never known what it feels like to have so many people love and care about her and she has to explore those new feelings. She also has to explore her new feelings for Fade. She learns that she's more than just a Huntress, she's also a girl, and she has to figure out how those two sides of her fit together. She is no longer the same girl she was in Enclave and I was glad for that. I like seeing her with more compassion, feeling, and more reason to fight than just an obligation to. She has people to fight for and she learns that love makes you stronger not weaker.

I love the Freaks in this book. In Enclave they had gotten smarter, but it's nothing compared with what Salvation faces topside. The Freaks are not zombies, they are mutants, and they prove that they are capable of thought and planning. That is disastrous on more than one occasion for Salvation.  Deuce's skills become invaluable to Salvation, but at the same time create problems for her. The town was founded on some religious tenants, one of which includes the idea that women should do women's work and if they don't the town will face punishment from heaven. Deuce is not a typical woman obviously. She fights better than most of the men and does so over and over. Some of the more superstitious townspeople blame her for the town's problems.

There was so much more character development in this novel. In the first book you don't like Stalker much. He doesn't have many redeeming qualities but that is just a result of his life to that point. He's had to be tough in order to survive. He's capable of a lot more and his true character comes out in this book. It creates an interesting love triangle. You can't hate someone who is willing to change and be better.

{SPOILERS}

A love triangle plus a trilogy equals conflict and no real resolution until the end. The romantic reader keeps reading when there's the "will they?" or "won't they?"/"who will she choose?" reason to keep reading. I like Stalker. He's in love with Deuce because she's unlike any girl he's ever met, she's strong. That love makes him dependable. He's hoping that Deuce will choose him and being available whenever she needs him. He even tells Deuce that Fade is "soft in ways that you and I aren't. Ultimately, you're going to break him." Of course when something like that is said/written it's a foreshadowing of things to come.

I like Fade better. He has a goodness about him that not even Deuce has...yet. (I think she'll get there by the end.) Stalker and Deuce are very similar in terms of doing whatever it takes to survive. Their experience has taught them to kill or be killed basically. Fade is tough and will fight and kill when he needs to, but that's not all life is for him. You can tell that his life with his parents before the enclave made him who he is and not what he has to become in order to survive. He loves Deuce and he sacrifices a lot for her. It's a lot like the Gale-Katniss-Peeta love triangle. Ann Aguirre gives us a few moments of respite for Deuce and Fade before totally pulling the rug out from under us. What happens was completely unexpected (for me anyway) and heartbreaking. I think she's set things up for a great ending to the series. It will be interesting to see how the group that has set out for help will fare with their physical and mental injuries. Dang that year-long wait.

This series reminds me a lot of a PG-13 version of The Passage by Justin Cronin. The worlds are very similar, only instead of vampires this series has mutants and no language.*


*This is a PG-13 series. There is quite a bit of blood and gore but it's not in your face or tasteless. It's just enough to get the point across as to how violent this world is and what the Freaks are capable of. There are also some references to sex and rape. Underground and in the ruins of the city, women are used mostly as breeders. Underground it is their job, topside it's forced upon them. Younger readers might miss these references. The author does an appropriate job of not being graphic with it, but this is not a series for younger readers. It's more for older teenagers and young adults.

Enclave by Ann Aguirre

259 pages

"In Deuce's world, an enclave deep underground, people earn the right to a name only if they survive their first fifteen years. By that point, each unnamed 'brat' has trained to join one of three groups--Breeders, Builders, or Hunters, identifiable by the number of scars they bear on their arms. Deuce has wanted to be a Huntress for as long as she can remember.

As a Huntress, her purpose is clear--to brave the dangerous tunnels outside the enclave and bring back meat to feed the group while evading the ferocious monsters known as Freaks. She's worked toward this goal her whole life, and nothing's going to stop her, not even a brooding Hunter named Fade. When the mysterious boy becomes her partner, Deuce's troubles are just beginning.

Fade doesn't like following orders. Deuce has never known a boy like him before, someone as likely to touch her gently as use his knives with feral grace. As Deuce's perception shifts, so does the balance in the battle for survival. The mindless Freaks, once considered a threat due to their sheer numbers, now show signs of cunning and even strategy...but the elders refuse to heed any warnings. No matter how hard she tries, Deuce cannot stem the dark tide that carries her far from the only world she's ever known." -Dust Jacket

I used to not re-read previous books in a series when a sequel came out, but I've found that the sequels are so much more enjoyable when I do. You tend to forget things in a year. Plus, with these kinds of books you tend to rush through them the firs time because there's so much action that you can't put it down, but in reading that way you miss a lot of the more subtler parts of the story. That was exactly the case with this book. Deuce is a great character. She's strong and brave. She's trained her whole life for one purpose and she's been taught that being emotional is weak. To protect her enclave, she has to be able to kill without thinking and do what she's told. Fade, on the other hand, has not grown up in the enclave and has been conscripted into the Hunters. His choice: fight or die. The enclave is not compassionate; they do what must be done in order to survive. The elders (men in their 20's) make decisions that they feel is best for the enclave, but Deuce begins to see that their decisions are not always just or right.

I have three favorite dystopian series that are all pretty-much tied for top spot: The Hunger Games, Divergent, and this, the Razorland series. Ann Aguirre has created a great dystopian world that's both horrifying and hopeful at the same time.

{SPOILERS}

After being praised by the enclave for acts of bravery, Deuce stands up for a friend who she feels is being framed for something he didn't do and gets herself exiled in his place. Not realizing what she's done for him, Stone shuns her along with the rest of the enclave. She is forced to leave the only home she's ever known, but she doesn't go alone. Fade leaves with her. Together they brave Topside where Fade spent the first nine years of his life. Deuce has been told stories about life Topside and made to fear it. Slowly she comes to realize that not everything she has taught is true. But life Topside is just as brutal as life underground. Topside there are gangs that are violent and territorial and that don't treat girls kindly. Fade and Deuce try to sneak through the city without being noticed, but eventually they are caught by Stalker and his gang of wolves, as they call themselves. Deuce is taken as a breeder and hunting Fade becomes the sport of the day. They cut him and then release him. Deuce escapes with the help of another girl named Tegan. Tegan has been abused by the gang and wants to go with Deuce. Together they find Fade and take out a bunch of Stalker's gang.

They find an old friend of Fade's who shows them maps that lead to the library. Deuce wants answers and Fade has said he thinks she can find them there. Unbeknownst to them, Stalker has been tracking them. At the library, they are ambushed by Freaks. Stalker and his gang have not encountered them before and Stalker loses all the guys he's brought with him in the fight. Tegan is wounded and so is Deuce. Fade, Deuce, Tegan and Stalker head north, following a story of Fade's father that people escaped north. Things get bad for them in the forest. Tegan can't walk and Deuce's injuries (which she hides) are in need of treatment. While suffering from fever and infection, Deuce has a dream in which Silk (her old Hunter trainer) appears to her and tells her that the enclave has been overrun by Freaks and she's the last Huntress. Silk tells her to keep the campfire alive no matter what. The fire eventually leads a man named Longshot to them who then takes them to the safe haven of Salvation.

The Alliance by Gerald Lund

 329 pages

"It's 18 years after the nuclear holocaust and the end of civilization, as we know it. Survivors are being relocated to a new society known as the Alliance. It seems like a dream come true for many of the new citizens. Crime, as well as harmful emotions, such as anger and prejudice have been eliminated, because the Alliance has computerized control over it's citizens from a computer chip that has been implanted in everyone. Eric Lloyd discovers the Alliance's corrupt power structure and vows to destroy it. But can one person change the world?" -Amazon Description

I'm glad to see this book is back in print. For awhile it wasn't, and I was so excited when my mom found a copy at the local thrift store for me a few years ago. I don't know what it is with me and When You Reach Me. I keep listing it as my current read and then don't read it. Maybe it's just not time yet. It felt like time to re-read The Alliance again though. It's been over 20 years. I remember really liking it but couldn't remember specifics.

This book was written in the 80's and it's just as good 30 years later. It doesn't feel dated at all--sometimes I worry about books that refer to modern (at the time) technology and wonder how those books will read when those things are outdated. This doesn't mention any technology that labels this as an 80's book, which I like. I also like the main characters, particularly Eric. He's got an innate sense of what is right and good. He knows that what makes man good is his ability to choose to be good. In this book the majority of the population has lost the ability to choose their behavior, being punished for anger or violence with electric shock sent from the computer chip embedded in their necks. They are conditioned to goodness out of fear of pain if they act otherwise. This creates a false illusion of peace and serenity. Those in charge are free from implants and free to choose. The Major is definitely a villain, intent on maintaining what he has created at the expense of all else.

Eric is held prisoner when he first arrives because of his potential to become a Guardian, but he proves to be difficult to control. When he loses control after seeing his family implanted, he is then implanted himself. He fights against that, showing remarkable endurance to pain. While he feigns obedience and being the model trainee, he is carefully planning his escape. He is a man meant to be free. His friend Cliff helps him see that merely freeing himself and his family isn't enough; he must free the entire population. Nicole is Eric's Monitor, the person in charge of evaluating his behavior. She has grown up in the Alliance and hasn't really known any other way of life but she slowly begins to see that everything is not ideal in the city, cue romance. The Major, Travis and the Guardians try to outwit Eric, Cliff and those that are with them and vice versa in this story. It's fast-paced and action-packed, one of the great reads of its genre.