Monday, June 23, 2014

Mini-Reviews: Dystopian Sequels

One of my goals this year is to finish off some series because I'm in the middle of too many. Here are three series enders I've read so far.



IN THE AGE OF LOVE AND CHOCOLATE by Gabrielle Zevin is the third book in the series that began with ALL THESE THINGS I HAVE DONE (my review) and continued with BECAUSE IT IS MY BLOOD (my review).

I've mentioned in past reviews that Anya feels like an old friend, and I genuinely enjoyed catching up with her life. This is quite a dramatic end to the series too, with an arranged wedding, a near assassination, some well-deserved revenge, and the sweetest/most romantic scene yet between Anya and Win. One of my favorite reads of the year!

IN THE AGE OF LOVE AND CHOCOLATE is available now.

FTC disclosure: Bought




REBEL by Amy Tintera. Sequel to REBOOT (my review)

REBOOT is an action novel with a intriguing character arc involving Wren attempting to reboot her humanity. That process continues in REBEL, a sequel even more action packed than its predecessor. The stand-out moments for me, though, were the quiet ones of reflection where Wren has to consider what it means to be human in a post-human world.

The driver of the plot is book two is Micah, the (superbad) leader of reboot reservation, a stronghold for the reboots that's successfully managed to repel HARC. Wren feels safe and understood for the first time since her violent death, but Callum senses trouble. This leads them into territory well worn by other books in the dystopian genre and though I didn't find it as engaging as book one, it's getting rave reviews from goodreads users.

REBEL is available now. 

FTC disclosure: Review copy via Edelweiss



DIVIDED by Elsie Chapman is the sequel to DUALED (my discussion review part 1 / part 2).

Despite its comparisons to THE HUNGER GAMES, DUALED turned out to be one of the more unique dystopians I've read, and DIVIDED continues in that vein. The world Chapman creates is very brutal, a place where kids killing kids is commonplace and accepted, and our heroine, West, would do anything to survive. In the sequel, West is thriving, and she's offered a chance to secure her future with Chord as well.

In the first book, West struggled with her own self worth, and in the second, she's questioning the society more. We get answers to many of the world building questions that lingered as well as quite a few very well executed major twists. We see how cunning a fighter West is via clever action set pieces (I especially loved the hall of mirrors), and some smoking hot scenes with Chord. Don't pass this one up!

DIVIDED is available now. 

FTC disclosure: Review copy via Netgalley

See index of all dystopian reviews on Presenting Lenore

1 comment:

Carina Olsen said...

Great reviews Lenore :D Sounds like awesome books. <3 I did love Rebel. I'm sorry you didn't fully love it, but hope you still enjoyed it :)