Reviews

Riven by Belinda Crawford

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

4.0

Finished reading: April 29th 2017

"Instead, she reached out to touch her mum's mind. And ran smack-bang into a mawberry-flavoured wall. She glared at Fink.
He twitched an ear. Manners, he thought to her."

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

Spoiler

Riven is the second book of The Hero Rebellion series I started reading last year. It's also probably one of the few YA sci-fi/fantasy series out there that is 100% romance free thanks to the fact that the author Belinda Crawford probably dislikes cheesy romance as much as I do. I enjoy reading the genre and tend to tolerate the romance since it seems to go with it, so not having to deal with it in The Hero Rebellion is definitely a rare treat. This story focuses on the worldbuilding of Jørn instead and is stuffed to its limit with action and more action. As soon as you start reading, you find yourself right in the middle of the action and that won't stop until you reach the last page. The worldbuilding is interesting and I love the idea behind it; the Jørn creatures and the many street races are probably my favorite part of this series. The main character Hero's powers and colorful 'thought'-speaking can get a bit confusing if you are not used to it (it took me a bit longer to get used to this time), but there is no doubt it is one of the most original features of this sci-fi world. Riven ends with a cliffhanger that definitely makes me want to find out what happens next... Because there is still much to learn about Jørn and the main characters. I did feel the plot wasn't as interesting as in book one, but that just might be because part of it was a preparation of what is still to come. If you enjoy the genre and like me are allergic to romance, this one is just for you!



WARNING: Possible spoilers! Please don’t read this summary if you haven’t read the first  book yet. I’ll keep the summary super short but it’s impossible to keep it completely spoiler-free…

Hero Regan is a telepath and the first of a new subspecies of human; an experiment to try and find a way for the human race to survive on Jørn. But something seems to be wrong after all that happened lately. Her brain is acting up, and that might just be directly related to the 'bad thing'. Her genetically engineered companion Fink is acting up as well... And even though she already has too many things to deal with, the Librarian once again needs her help to save the world and it doesn't seem like she has a choice in the matter. Will Hero be able to deal with all of this?



Riven is without doubt an action-packed and entertaining sci-fi read and the best part is that it's 100% romance free. I struggled a bit more to get used to the whole 'thought-talking' and 'colored/scented thoughts' thing, but it is without doubt a very original concept. The plot itself wasn't as strong as in Hero, but it did sound promising for the things that are still to come. I will be looking forward to book three!

P.S. Find more of my reviews here.