Reviews - Rogue Justice | The StoryGraph

389 reviews for:

Rogue Justice

Stacey Abrams

3.9 AVERAGE

judybarnicle's review against another edition

3.5

tense medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

t1dmama's review against another edition

3.0

So far, I have always thoroughly enjoyed any books by Stacey Abrams. And it's not that I didn't enjoy Rogue Justice, but it seems like it took me quite awhile to actually become interested in the story at hand. After looking back at my review of book one (While Justice Sleeps), I seemed to have a bit of the same problem with that book. There were parts that absolutely loved, and then parts that felt like were pulling teeth to get me through.

I really like that Stacey Abrams has experience as a Prosecutor and writes with that experience, but I think in some ways the stories are too in depth that the reader gets lost in the shuffle. Who knows...I could completely be off base but I do know that I've struggled through both of the Avery Keene books! I am still interested enough to see where book three might go, should there be a book three!

I absolutely love Avery Keene as a character. She is an incredibly strong female character that wants to save the world all by herself. She has an incredible support system that roots for her at every turn and an impeccable memory...actually she says she wishes she COULD forget some things! So the character development in these books are above par, for sure.

Rogue Justice is narrated by Adenrele Ojo and I feel like she fits the Avery Keene character pretty well and does a pretty good job. I'm not real familiar with any of her other work, but I'm not disappointed by her performance in this book one bit.

I know that Stacey Abrams has the ability to write an incredible story, because I've read them before! Unfortunately this story just didn't hit incredible level for me!

I would like to take a minute to offer a HUGE thank you to Stacey Abrams, Doubleday Books, and Netgalley for providing me with an Advanced Reader's Copy of Rogue Justice which allowed me to contribute this honest and unbiased review.

jnhamm's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous mysterious 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

I read the first novel in the political thriller series based on Supreme Court clerk Avery Keene, While Justice Sleeps, a year or so ago. And it was really solid. Good enough that, when I was in the mood for another of its type (which isn’t frequent, for me, but I’m having an escapist-reading kind of year, so this is sooner than I would have expected, tbh), I grabbed this second one. Which, I think, was even better than the first?

This picks up just after the last novel leaves us, with Keene trying to stand against the limelight and backlash that have been following her since she exposed the president’s conspiracy-level shady-ass dealings and involvement with genocide in the name of “national defense.” Now, with that fame (notoriety?) people are coming out of the woodwork to get Avery to unmask all sorts of other suspected conspiracies. One, of course, is legit. And so we get this second novel that does a great job in bringing a new thriller plot, while still continuing the stories/development of the characters we have already gotten to know.

This particular plot was more intense (for me) because it feels much closer to home, as far as the danger posed to the average person living in the US, the threat of what an attack on our electrical grid could do to cripple the nation, and as a woman, and the ever-present potential for a puffed-up jackass of a man who thinks they’re owed everything can do to take away power and ruin lives on a whim. I know this maybe isn’t great, but honestly, I love a “rogue justice” tale when the justice is against the system and it’s in support of women/those with less power…I cannot even be mad about the collateral damage. It’s just satisfying. And in this case, I also appreciated the “our messed-up system creates its own “bad guys”/antagonists” story. It’s not subtle, but absolutely believable and real.

One random thing I noted that is mostly unrelated to the book itself, but has everything to do with psychologically understand people in general and, in a very real way, what is happening politically in the US right now… There was fascinating commentary on leaders getting away with doing (or even supported in doing) terrible things. Because either people supported him and don’t want to admit they were duped OR they were against him and do want to have to own up how much they let him get away with. So, the brushing it away and moving on, or trying to prove it false, or any other ignoring of cognitive dissonance, is easier on the conscious and self-image, even with all the mental gymnastics it requires. Hard truths. Phew.

As far as Abrams writing, the attention to and inclusion of complex details remains strong here. There are so many moving pieces and perspectives in the unfolding of this political thriller and her intellect continues to astound. Side bar: the double meaning title is very well done again. I am glad I had the audiobook to move me through, so I didn’t bog myself down in eyeball-reading all those details. But with the audiobook at hand, I sped through the listen in like, two days. I couldn’t stop. There is so clearly an opening for a third book – with an antagonist that I am glad is still on the table from this novel, and two that I wish had been more permanently removed from the first - and I will definitely be reading it if/when we get it.

“One of the threats of the modern age was incredulity. Even at the highest levels of power, leaders habitually, instinctively, rejected the improbable as wholly impossible, and they grounded their doubt in a phony pessimism that cloaked blind hope.”

Content Warnings