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nuin_giliath's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
*Mild spoilers for the series are present throughout the review*
Let me start off by saying that I absolutely tore through the first books in this series. They were exciting and devastating and I couldn't get enough. Then I began Champion and before too long, I found that my interest was starting to wane. Don't get me wrong: I didn't hate this book, but it felt like more of a chore in comparison to its predecessors. After taking some time to mull over the causes for the disconnect, I identified three areas that just didn't work for me.
My first issue was that once again our protagonists were frequently apart from each other. Every so often they would reunite and make sure the other is okay before separating again. Considering how quickly their friendship/romance developed in the previous books, I had hoped they would be given some extra time to explore their relationship instead of just rehashing old drama and angst. But no.
Second, the pacing - especially around the middle - felt slow and repetitive at times. On two different occasions, Day goes off with the Patriots on sabotaging missions while June follows Anden on political assignments. This was reminiscent of events from the previous book and therefore a bit boring. Then there were the multiple visits to the hospital which just seemed to result in the same information being given in different ways. It also didn't help that in one chapter, June discovers that she has unfiltered access to the Internet and she spends time searching the history of the United States. I felt like at that point we already knew what we needed to know about how the Republic and Colonies came to be and her search was a waste of time.
Finally, I was a bit disappointed with how the overarching conflicts (the virus and the Colony invasion) played out. Despite what we were told at the start of this book about the deadly virus, that subplot never felt all that threatening. We're told it's spreading, but are never shown how it is impacting the people living in either country. Then after all the build up, the resolution was rather anticlimactic. In the same way, the Chancellor of the Colonies showed up toward the end acting all menacing, but I didn't buy it. By that point, I didn't doubt what the final outcome would be so the tension wasn't there. In some ways, it felt like we were just going through the motions. The finale needed a big bad guy and he was it. Perhaps if he had been more established as a villain from the start, his role here wouldn't have seemed so unimportant.
Gripes aside, I still enjoyed several aspects including:
• Any of the moments that Day and June were able to be together
• June realizing her true strengths and refusing to stay in politics just because Anden wanted her with him
• The tension related to Day's health
• Eden standing up for himself and expressing his desire to help others
• Getting to explore the culture of Antarctica. That was exactly the type of futuristic and technology-advanced society I was hoping to get at some point in this series. The concepts presented were both creative and fascinating.
• The ending - despite being absolutely heartbreaking. I also liked how the epilogue offered a more hopeful future for these characters.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this series. My lower rating for this final book does not take away from the immense enjoyment I had while reading the first two. I still really enjoyed these characters and following them through these adventures. This was a solid YA dystopian series and I'm glad I gave it a chance.
Let me start off by saying that I absolutely tore through the first books in this series. They were exciting and devastating and I couldn't get enough. Then I began Champion and before too long, I found that my interest was starting to wane. Don't get me wrong: I didn't hate this book, but it felt like more of a chore in comparison to its predecessors. After taking some time to mull over the causes for the disconnect, I identified three areas that just didn't work for me.
My first issue was that once again our protagonists were frequently apart from each other. Every so often they would reunite and make sure the other is okay before separating again. Considering how quickly their friendship/romance developed in the previous books, I had hoped they would be given some extra time to explore their relationship instead of just rehashing old drama and angst. But no.
Second, the pacing - especially around the middle - felt slow and repetitive at times. On two different occasions, Day goes off with the Patriots on sabotaging missions while June follows Anden on political assignments. This was reminiscent of events from the previous book and therefore a bit boring. Then there were the multiple visits to the hospital which just seemed to result in the same information being given in different ways. It also didn't help that in one chapter, June discovers that she has unfiltered access to the Internet and she spends time searching the history of the United States. I felt like at that point we already knew what we needed to know about how the Republic and Colonies came to be and her search was a waste of time.
Finally, I was a bit disappointed with how the overarching conflicts (the virus and the Colony invasion) played out. Despite what we were told at the start of this book about the deadly virus, that subplot never felt all that threatening. We're told it's spreading, but are never shown how it is impacting the people living in either country. Then after all the build up, the resolution was rather anticlimactic. In the same way, the Chancellor of the Colonies showed up toward the end acting all menacing, but I didn't buy it. By that point, I didn't doubt what the final outcome would be so the tension wasn't there. In some ways, it felt like we were just going through the motions. The finale needed a big bad guy and he was it. Perhaps if he had been more established as a villain from the start, his role here wouldn't have seemed so unimportant.
Gripes aside, I still enjoyed several aspects including:
• Any of the moments that Day and June were able to be together
• June realizing her true strengths and refusing to stay in politics just because Anden wanted her with him
• The tension related to Day's health
• Eden standing up for himself and expressing his desire to help others
• Getting to explore the culture of Antarctica. That was exactly the type of futuristic and technology-advanced society I was hoping to get at some point in this series. The concepts presented were both creative and fascinating.
• The ending - despite being absolutely heartbreaking. I also liked how the epilogue offered a more hopeful future for these characters.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this series. My lower rating for this final book does not take away from the immense enjoyment I had while reading the first two. I still really enjoyed these characters and following them through these adventures. This was a solid YA dystopian series and I'm glad I gave it a chance.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
beeee_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
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