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kelseyalwaysreading's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ollie77777's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
- 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
4.0
raechel's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I was surprised to see a sequel to The Marrow Thieves and even more surprised to see it takes place immediately after the ending of the first book. That kind of expediency threw me off, and unfortunately it sets the pace for the entire novel.
We follow French, captured by Recruiters and placed in a school. About half the chapters in this book follow other characters POVs, but we always come back to French and his perspective. And the novel continues its fast pace, where French learns what happens in the schools and tries to play the system and resist brainwashing. The pacing seemed unrealistic to me, but I think that's because this is YA and many books for this range tend to love at this speed.
I did find this novel easier to read than the first book, but it also feels more heavy-handed, with many scenes happening and being resolved within a few chapters, never to really be looked back on. We don't really sit with anything for too long.
The world this book is set in is, frankly, horrifying. A group of people are being hunted for their literal bone marrow. The majority of the world has been ravaged by plague and is going insane from lack of dreams. But at the same time, so many things are resolved that it doesn't really feel like anything is at stake. And the timelines are a bit wonky.
If you liked the first book, I think you should read this one. But it didn't hit quite as hard this time around.
We follow French, captured by Recruiters and placed in a school. About half the chapters in this book follow other characters POVs, but we always come back to French and his perspective. And the novel continues its fast pace, where French learns what happens in the schools and tries to play the system and resist brainwashing. The pacing seemed unrealistic to me, but I think that's because this is YA and many books for this range tend to love at this speed.
I did find this novel easier to read than the first book, but it also feels more heavy-handed, with many scenes happening and being resolved within a few chapters, never to really be looked back on. We don't really sit with anything for too long.
The world this book is set in is, frankly, horrifying. A group of people are being hunted for their literal bone marrow. The majority of the world has been ravaged by plague and is going insane from lack of dreams. But at the same time, so many things are resolved that it doesn't really feel like anything is at stake. And the timelines are a bit wonky.
If you liked the first book, I think you should read this one. But it didn't hit quite as hard this time around.
heythisishilary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
dicheeks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
rorybory's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? No
5.0
urmomloveselrond's review against another edition
4.0
I read this as a standalone and I really liked it. It took until about halfway through to care about all the plot points, though, but once you get to that point there's no stopping.
winterreader40's review against another edition
4.0
We are back following French after he's been stolen from his family and taken to one of the schools, where he finds his brother has been converted to the schools way of thinking, now French must find a way to escape and take his brother with him to try and deprogram him.
We get to watch as French is fast-tracked through the same program his brother went through and what he does to hold on to himself and what he has to sacrifice to save his family.
This was an excellent continuation of this story we get to see all the people from the first story as well as meet a few new ones and while the horrors of the school are mostly never on page you definitely get the horrified feelings your supposed to towards how these people are treated and we get to see what happens when a couple of characters are taken by a blood cult as well.
I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.
We get to watch as French is fast-tracked through the same program his brother went through and what he does to hold on to himself and what he has to sacrifice to save his family.
This was an excellent continuation of this story we get to see all the people from the first story as well as meet a few new ones and while the horrors of the school are mostly never on page you definitely get the horrified feelings your supposed to towards how these people are treated and we get to see what happens when a couple of characters are taken by a blood cult as well.
I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.
dude_watchin_with_the_brontes's review against another edition
4.0
This was a much harder read than The Marrow Thieves. This is a very vague spoiler:
One reason I don't read a lot of YA (besides the fact that I am not in that age group) is that so many books in that genre elevate emerging romantic relationships above all else. This book is the perfect answer to that tendency.
Spoiler
we see the way people can completely lose themselves in the face of extreme and continuous trauma. The level of dissociation could be really hard to take.One reason I don't read a lot of YA (besides the fact that I am not in that age group) is that so many books in that genre elevate emerging romantic relationships above all else. This book is the perfect answer to that tendency.