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gottheart's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-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
5.0
popthebutterfly's review against another edition
5.0
Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from netgalley. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: The Challenger
Author: Taran Matharu
Book Series: Contender book 2
Diversity: Middle Eastern main character and deaf/hard of hearing side character
Rating: 5/5
Recommended For...: Adventure, male lead, History facts
Publication Date: August 11, 2020
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 400
Recommended Age: 16+ (slavery tw, death, violence, gore)
Synopsis: Cade Carter and his friends have survived the qualifying round of the mysterious overlords' twisted games, decimated by the loss of so many of their comrades during the fight. But they have no time to mourn, for the next round of trials is about to begin.
When the group discovers that their next foe will be even more ferocious than the last, Cade leads them on a quest out into their strange new world to find anything that might give them an edge. But what they find in the wilds could prove to be even more dangerous than the impending battle...
Review: For the most part I thought this was a well done book! I loved the concept and the plot kept me intrigued throughout the whole book. The world building was marvelous and I felt that the action scenes were well scripted. Overall, I loved this sequel.
However, I don't think the author did as well for character development as he did in the first book. The book also had a little less history than the first book.
Verdict: Solid sequel.
Book: The Challenger
Author: Taran Matharu
Book Series: Contender book 2
Diversity: Middle Eastern main character and deaf/hard of hearing side character
Rating: 5/5
Recommended For...: Adventure, male lead, History facts
Publication Date: August 11, 2020
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 400
Recommended Age: 16+ (slavery tw, death, violence, gore)
Synopsis: Cade Carter and his friends have survived the qualifying round of the mysterious overlords' twisted games, decimated by the loss of so many of their comrades during the fight. But they have no time to mourn, for the next round of trials is about to begin.
When the group discovers that their next foe will be even more ferocious than the last, Cade leads them on a quest out into their strange new world to find anything that might give them an edge. But what they find in the wilds could prove to be even more dangerous than the impending battle...
Review: For the most part I thought this was a well done book! I loved the concept and the plot kept me intrigued throughout the whole book. The world building was marvelous and I felt that the action scenes were well scripted. Overall, I loved this sequel.
However, I don't think the author did as well for character development as he did in the first book. The book also had a little less history than the first book.
Verdict: Solid sequel.
acascadeofbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
dreximgirl's review against another edition
4.0
I didnt love this as much as the first one. I think it struggled a bit being the middle book. The characters were still good and some of the new ones were amazing but the plot was a bit messy and too much time spent in one area and not enough in others. Also that ending was a massive cliffhanger!
curtis's review against another edition
4.0
I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as the first book, since it felt a little rushed - the writing felt a little... stilted? and the story didn’t progress as much as I’d have liked it to (and the ending also felt pretty rushed), and I preferred the dual timeline in book 1, with Cade talking about his time spent in Reform School interspersed with the main storyline, but I am definitely loving reading more about this world and these characters, and I cannot wait for the next instalment in this series!
scarlettskyes's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
3.0
While I adore the Summoner series from Taran Matharu, and in fact gave each book 5 Stars, I am sort of left wanting with this new series. The premise is sort of unique, if you don't think about GameMaster things from Marvel Comics, with the characters being sort of unique as well. I especially love Quintis as he is very loyal and has worked very hard to learn English despite being hard of hearing and only speaking Latin. Cade as the protaginist is okay, if a little generic, though it is great to see him be fiercely loyal to his friends and recieve the training he would realistically need in the battles he finds himself in. The development of friendship between Quintis and Cade is great, adding more depth to both characters as they are both unused to friendship. However, I found that before he was suddenly interested in her, there wasn't much that distinguished Amber to the other girls and as such there isn't too much development between Cade and Amber, apart from that she helps him a little with training, something that Quintis is already doing. In fact, when something happened later on in the book to another character, I assumed it was the girl he was interested in instead of somebody different. While it is great to see the gradual training Cade receives, giving him a chance in the upcoming games, the ultimate battle that the book is leading to is somewhat disappointing, culminating in just a single chapter. It's understandable, as actual battles don't often last more than a few seconds/minutes, but as an action story it was a bit of a let down. I will still be looking forward to and buying the final book in the series when it comes out, though I will not be raving to all my friends about how good it is compared to the Summoner.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, and Slavery
Moderate: Gore and Trafficking
Minor: Ableism
aoife26935's review against another edition
4.0
Trapped on an alien world, Cade and his friends have been waiting for the next round of the life or death Contest to begin. When they leave their safe haven to train for it, their paths diverge wildly...
I'll be honest; I went into this expecting more of what we had in the first book. I'd have been perfectly happy with that! It was good, exciting fun. This one has a completely different type of story line and adds several layers to what's going on, though.
I still think these are a shade below Taran's Summoner books, but only a shade below. This one is more complex than the first, with a lot of things going on on various levels. Taran is able to keep a lot of things going while only following one character, which is very clever.
I was expecting things to stop a couple of chapters before they did, and now I'm really worried about what might happen in the third book! I don't know where things can go from here, but I'm looking forward to finding out.
I'll be honest; I went into this expecting more of what we had in the first book. I'd have been perfectly happy with that! It was good, exciting fun. This one has a completely different type of story line and adds several layers to what's going on, though.
I still think these are a shade below Taran's Summoner books, but only a shade below. This one is more complex than the first, with a lot of things going on on various levels. Taran is able to keep a lot of things going while only following one character, which is very clever.
I was expecting things to stop a couple of chapters before they did, and now I'm really worried about what might happen in the third book! I don't know where things can go from here, but I'm looking forward to finding out.
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