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tmleblanc's review against another edition
3.0
The Rebel Series by Lance Erlick is a curious examination of society after the Second World War which divides men and women into separate communities. Each with their own government, religion, morals and values.
What I Liked Most About the Series
The grey area. There are some obvious plus sides to a society made up of a single sex. And there are some obvious down sides. Erlick, through the characters, presents many of these views, but doesn’t push the reader in either direction.
Annabelle. She fits right up there with Katniss and Tris, but Erlick takes her a bit further than Collins took Katniss and Roth took Tris. There’s a complexity to Annabelle as she discovers the dark side of an all female society and starts to actively fight against it. She’s stronger, in my opinion, physically and mentally. The obstacles that break her down do not paralyze her or scare her. You can feel her fighting every inch of the way.
What I Liked Least About the Series
The order of the books. If you read them in publication order, I am almost certain you will be confused because I certainly was! Annabelle is given a mission at the end of book one which is not mentioned in Rebels Divided. The Rebel Trap explores that mission. Now that all three books have been released, I hope that GoodReads will change the series order.
The many voices in The Rebel Trap. While there was good formatting to show you the different voices speaking to Annabelle, it got frustrating to follow what was going on. With so any competing voices—both internal and external—I wasn’t sure which side I should be rooting for.
Overall, I would give The Rebel series by Lance Erlick a thumbs up. The unique single sex societies along with a strong female lead drove the story forward. If the books are read in chronological order (The Rebel Within, The Rebel Trap and Rebels Divided) I believe the reader will find the series reaches a satisfying conclusion.
What I Liked Most About the Series
The grey area. There are some obvious plus sides to a society made up of a single sex. And there are some obvious down sides. Erlick, through the characters, presents many of these views, but doesn’t push the reader in either direction.
Annabelle. She fits right up there with Katniss and Tris, but Erlick takes her a bit further than Collins took Katniss and Roth took Tris. There’s a complexity to Annabelle as she discovers the dark side of an all female society and starts to actively fight against it. She’s stronger, in my opinion, physically and mentally. The obstacles that break her down do not paralyze her or scare her. You can feel her fighting every inch of the way.
What I Liked Least About the Series
The order of the books. If you read them in publication order, I am almost certain you will be confused because I certainly was! Annabelle is given a mission at the end of book one which is not mentioned in Rebels Divided. The Rebel Trap explores that mission. Now that all three books have been released, I hope that GoodReads will change the series order.
The many voices in The Rebel Trap. While there was good formatting to show you the different voices speaking to Annabelle, it got frustrating to follow what was going on. With so any competing voices—both internal and external—I wasn’t sure which side I should be rooting for.
Overall, I would give The Rebel series by Lance Erlick a thumbs up. The unique single sex societies along with a strong female lead drove the story forward. If the books are read in chronological order (The Rebel Within, The Rebel Trap and Rebels Divided) I believe the reader will find the series reaches a satisfying conclusion.
story_sanctuary's review against another edition
4.0
In Annabelle’s world, men are exiled, quarantined or forced to fight to the death in the annual games which serve as final training for Mech operatives. When a group of boys escape from an enclosed school, Mechs and cops alike are called to the hunt. Annabelle can’t suppress her curiosity about men. Her feelings about them are so different than her feelings for women, and she wonders if this is strange. When she is faced with an escapee, Annabelle knows she should turn him in and follow the rules. The only problem: she is anything but a rule-following girl. Helping the boy escape will endanger everyone she loves and rocket Annabelle to a place of impossible life and death decisions.
This novel definitely has some feminist themes, but at its core, it's a story reminding us that both sexes are to be valued. Erlick keeps the girl-on-girl action pretty low-key, leaving your imagination to do the work, and spins cultural feelings about relationships into a paradox: girl/girl relationships in this female-dominated story-world are the norm, and it's the apparently straight girl who finds herself wondering if something is wrong with her.
The story offers more than explorations of relationships, however, and features some intense action scenes as Annabelle struggles to survive fierce military training. Over all, it was really enjoyable, and a thought-provoking read.
This novel definitely has some feminist themes, but at its core, it's a story reminding us that both sexes are to be valued. Erlick keeps the girl-on-girl action pretty low-key, leaving your imagination to do the work, and spins cultural feelings about relationships into a paradox: girl/girl relationships in this female-dominated story-world are the norm, and it's the apparently straight girl who finds herself wondering if something is wrong with her.
The story offers more than explorations of relationships, however, and features some intense action scenes as Annabelle struggles to survive fierce military training. Over all, it was really enjoyable, and a thought-provoking read.
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