Reviews

Actualized by Jenetta Penner

danimae1981's review against another edition

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4.0

You know you've enjoyed a book series when you reach the final page and are sad to see it end, and that's how I felt about finishing this book. I felt like I was a part of this world and became quite attached to the characters. This book was a great ending to a great series.

My only complaint is that this book could use more editing. It got a bit confusing when people were sending messages and many times there weren't italics to differentiate the message from the protagonist's voice.

b0ok_drag0n52's review against another edition

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3.0

This was a good read. It was a little predictable in plot (the only thing that surprised me was that Ben wasn’t killed off...he seemed kind of separated from the rest of the crew for much of the storyline.) It was compelling though. I wanted to keep reading to finish the story and find out what happened to everyone. Typical happy ending. Not that I’m complaining; I enjoy a good happy ending. The technology was really interesting, and the concept fun to experience. For dystopian YA fiction, I’d say it’s similar in plot line to most others of this sort. The only thing making it different was the technology. I was a bit irritated at times with Avlyn’s constant predictable need to disobey orders. I get it, she’s the herione. She saves the day. But it just seemed like anytime something big was going on, the author made some reference to her not being good at obeying orders. Meh. Seemed a bit overdone. And the switch from disappointed, distant relationship with her “parents” to loving and grieving their loss? Also seemed a bit overdone. Just my opinion. But like I said, overall, I enjoyed the read.

im211's review against another edition

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3.0

audiobook received from Author
My semester began midway of this book and I barely had time to listen to lectures to keep up with this.... And now I'm not as intrigued anymore and I've already started on - Starfire Wars - so mayne later

haleighann87's review

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adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

4.25

bookbreaksnhottakes's review against another edition

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4.0

A delightful and logical conclusion (spoilers)

The rundown:
We join our characters in the the final book of the series. We now find ourselves In the Outlands wondering who to trust. A journey to the city together information quickly escalate to an all out plan and an unlikely alliance

The good:
The love triangle has all but dissipated which is great. I love the fact that the author didn’t try to drag out the possible love triangle in a illogical fashion. I also enjoyed the author’s focus on ben and avyln’s relationship and how it’s changed, like a normal relationship would.

The bad:
The fact about Manning being a Avyln’s grandfather was a little expected, but I feel there should’ve been some kind of confrontation with that knowledge. All were given is at Manning decides to commit suicide which I thought was a little lackluster.
Additionally I felt like the entire main conflict could have been dragged out a little bit more, as the climax battle scene wasn’t as impressive as others in the series have been.

The hope:
Girl, I really enjoyed the series and felt that the author created a simple yet beautiful story set in the dystopian genre. The characters were realistic, experienced logical growth and were not too chintzy.
Maybe an explorer series with baby joy?!?! Or a story told from Aron’s point of view?!?!

aziz_reads's review against another edition

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5.0

I'm not crying, you're crying

This series has been great to read. The middle of this book fell just a little short for me--I couldn't tell you why, but I found myself switching to game apps more often than the first two. But the ending, man that was perfect. It's clear Penner put a lot of thought into that ending and I thought it fitting that an ending full of love made me cry when a series full of angst and grief didn't.

roseayyy_reads's review

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4.0

I listened to the audiobook. This was everything I wanted in the ending for the trilogy. It gave me all i wanted, and I love they you heard about each person and where they were mostly currently at in their lives at the end. It was a good wrap up. Didn’t quite hit that 5 star mark, but definitely a solid 4.5 for me!

tymar14's review against another edition

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3.0

like 3.9 stars

ericlklein's review against another edition

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5.0

Great conclusion to the trilogy.
I would love to see more in this world, either as a prequel to how they got there or 100+ years later to see how things turn out.

amanda_lee's review against another edition

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5.0

A great ending to a great trilogy. I really enjoyed Avalyn's story, I was completely hooked from the start and highly recommend this series.