Reviews

Ferocious by Paula Stokes

literarilyjess's review

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4.0

I really enjoyed Vicarious last year, so I was super excited when Ferocious popped up on NetGalley! With Girl Against the Universe Paula Stokes quickly earned a spot among my favorite authors, and each new book from her just proves how diverse her talents are. She created such an interesting near future world to tell Winter's story, and it just got deeper and more complex with Ferocious . The VISE technology was fun to explore further in book two without it feeling too dense. Winter's struggles with both her situation and her own head were well-drawn, and I felt invested almost immediately even though I didn't have time to reread book one before jumping in. This is a wonderful conclusion to Winter’s story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

makenna's review

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5.0

I am always super nervous with going into second books because for the most part I usually don't like it nearly as much as the first one, but that wasn't the case for this one, I actually liked it as much as Vicarious (if not more). My favorite part was definitely the fact that Winter goes to South Korea because it was super cool getting a look into that culture. Besides getting that look into South Korea, I just thought the overall story was really good and it was a great conclusion to the duology. The only things I wish there was a little more of was that I really liked ViSE in the first book, and would have loved to see more of it (but I totally see why it was not included more in THIS book, the point of this book wasn't the ViSEing, I just loved it so much in the first book that I wanted more).

kiaramedina's review

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5.0

I read Ferocious as an arc in July 2017 and am reviewing in July 2017. As always, these are my honest thoughts. All my reviews can be found at www.theterriblebookblogger.wordpress.com

The first chapter of this book gives a recap of what happened in Vicarious and I am eternally grateful that it’s there because boy oh boy had I forgotten everything. And the recap opened the old wounds again and got me excited to be in Winter’s mind again.

This one is darker than the first, but there’s more of a connection with Winter. She’s grown so much and dealt with so much (seriously, SO MUCH) and all you want is for her to be okay.

This one gets 5 stars from me, because even though it’s darker and grittier than what I normally read, it’s a story with purpose and heart. I tend to shy away from stories with too much depth, ones that make me uncomfortable (and I was uncomfortable so many times), but Winter needs to be heard. And we need to listen.

booksargram's review

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i don't know why i couldn't connect to this. i loved the first one. maybe i need to reread them together. dnf at page 144

jmjames1210's review

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4.0

I really enjoyed Vicarious last year, so I was super excited when Ferocious popped up on NetGalley! With Girl Against the Universe Paula Stokes quickly earned a spot among my favorite authors, and each new book from her just proves how diverse her talents are. She created such an interesting near future world to tell Winter's story, and it just got deeper and more complex with Ferocious . The VISE technology was fun to explore further in book two without it feeling too dense. Winter's struggles with both her situation and her own head were well-drawn, and I felt invested almost immediately even though I didn't have time to reread book one before jumping in. This is a wonderful conclusion to Winter’s story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

audiobookingwithleah's review

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5.0

You know how to avoid the underwhelming 2nd book in a trilogy…make it a duology and the problem is solved. At least with this duo it is.

Book Title: Ferocious
Author: Paula Stokes
Series: Vicarious #2 (duology)
Genre: Older YA, Science Fiction, Thriller
Publisher: Macmillan-Tor/Forge
Setting: LA and Seoul, South Korea
Source: I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

✧✧✧OVERALL RATING✧5/5 STARS✧A+✧✧✧


⇝My Thoughts⇜

⇝First off I want to thank Paula Stokes for making sure I received an arc of this personally⇜

I feel that Ferocious rocked for a second/final book. It's well paced, action packed, and never boring. In my review for Vicarious I said this is a toned down not-quite-so-violent Kill Bill meets Strange Days, and this is true for the second book too…just less Strange Days and more Pretty Girl-13, which is another story about a girl with DID. It also has the added bonus of Jesse and Winter's romance…so sweet and blended in seamlessly with all the action going on.

This begins right where book 1 left off…and has Winter more than ready to get her revenge on Kyung for everything he has done to her family. Once the setting changes to Seoul, everything ratchets up a notch. The food, people and culture descriptions, are so well researched I felt like I was there myself.

Oh yeah...one more thing...this duo would make an excellent movie or movies.

⇝Ratings Breakdown⇜

Plot: 5/5
Main Characters: 5/5
Secondary Characters: 5/5
The Feels: 4.8/5
Addictiveness: 4.8/5
Theme or Tone: 5/5
Flow (Writing Style): 5/5
Backdrop (World Building): 5+/5
Originality: 5/5
Book Cover: 5/5
Ending: 5/5 Cliffhanger: Nope, not at all.
Total: 5/5 STARS

Will I read more from this Author? Most definitely.

pages_and_procrastination's review

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4.0

I am not sure what I was expecting or hoping would happen. But, I can say that I got more than I expected.  And I am not sure what I can talk about without giving anything away.  So, I will do my best to be as thorough as possible, but really you should check this series out. 

Book 2 picks up right where the first book left off. Winter is still trying to deal with everything that happened and all of the new information that she got-literally pages from the end of the first book. So, I am very glad that I already had the second book and could jump right in.  This new information takes her from St. Louis to Los Angeles to Seoul.  Along the way Baz and Jesse join her, and offer her their assistance in her mission. 

Man, it so much harder to not give things away than I thought that it would be. I enjoyed this book so much more than the first one. The stakes were raised immediately from the beginning and that tension was well-maintained throughout the story. I like Winter in this one, she is more real. She struggles trying to figure out who she is in this world now that she knows that what she thought was true isn't. The attraction between her and Jesse is cheesy at times, but for the most part it is stuttering and awkward -as it should be.
Thought the content of the books make it weird to say that I enjoyed it, I did. And I will be keeping my eye out for more from Stokes. 

ruthsic's review

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4.0

Warning: this review may contain spoilers for Vicarious

Ferocious is a worthy enough sequel to the psychological mystery that Vicarious was. In the previous book, most of the plot was devoted to Winter trying to solve her sister's murder while giving her mental illness the stink eye and looking very badass while doing all of that. Ferocious shifts the plot slightly into a revenge arc, where Winter, now aware of the circumstances of her sister's death, and starting to realize the breadth of her illness, is out to retrieve the ViSE tech from Kyung, her arch-nemesis. Her story takes us from the aftermath of the events in the climax of Vicarious, to her on the run and finally landing in Seoul, to fight the battle on their turf.

The two major components of the plot are action and romance. Action with Winter trying to devise a heist-like strategy to retrieve the stolen tech, and romance with Jesse starting to become a safe place for her. Her arc in the previous book was all about denying herself the chance to be a normal girl, to be with him because she felt sullied by her past. In this book, he supports her constantly and becomes her rock, so that she can learn that her past doesn't define her or make her unfit for love. She also shifts from her fatalistic tendencies and in very cliched terms, learns to live.

The story, while slow paced, devotes time to both the action and romance, and while I am not usually a fan of the latter having a majority arc in a story, it worked here because of the dynamics of their relationship. Most of the story takes place in Korea, so it is also peppered with details about Seoul, and the food and the cultural conventions, which seem to be well-researched. As with Vicarious, the mental illness also seems to be well-handled and given it's due importance, as well sending out the message to seek therapy rather than shun it.

Overall, I find it a nice conclusion to Winter's story, and a good sequel to Vicarious.

Content warning: Mentions of sexual assault, human trafficking, and torture.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Tor Teen, via Netgalley.
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