A review by revbeckett
Meridian Divide by Cassandra Rose Clarke

tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 In the previous book of this duology, we left Evie, Victor, Dorian, and Saskia agreeing to ONI’s recruitment to return to their home planet Meridian to prevent the Covenant from finding whatever Forerunner artefact they’re looking for because if they do, they’ll leave and glass the planet. But even if they do find it first, the Covenant will still glass the planet, so Meridian is doomed no matter what. Yet the fate of humanity is more important than one planet. But first, they need to do some quick, intensive training. That’s where this book begins. 
 
The Covenant seem to come across as naïve morons against four even more naïve high schoolers when in the other books, the Covenant are a terrifying force to be reckoned with. This discontinuity makes the story barely believable. It also seems uncharacteristic of ONI to bet the entire fate of Meridian on the skills of amateur high schoolers, although they could just be desperate. Maybe I’m just being nit-picky; this is a young adult novel, after all. And to be fair, it’s not just the four of them against the Covenant. There’s also Meridian’s militia, a Spartan, and some UNSC marines. But most of their success seems to amount to dumb luck, but I suppose that’s necessary when you write a story that hinges on a quartet of immature teenagers acting as amateur soldiers. 
 
Their immaturity definitely comes out as a character flaw, especially during a part when they find out that the Spartan, Owen, lied to them about something in the previous book. The lie had to do with how long the Covenant has been on Meridian, and they’re all extremely upset about it. But the lie doesn’t compromise their mission or anybody’s lives, and Owen’s lie is easily justifiable because he was under orders not to reveal that information and it wasn’t relevant to their survival at the time. So basically their anger just amounts to their feelings being hurt, their young self-entitlement to being told everything, and their naïveté about the negative outcome that would’ve happened if the military did what these kids think they should’ve done. This isn’t a flaw of the book. Like I said, it’s just a character flaw. Usually, however, character flaws are written in a way where you sympathise or somewhat sympathise with the character, but I found myself siding with Owen instead of the main protagonists. It was an annoying part of the book to read just because they were so immature and petty about it and dwelling on it for too long. Saskia seems to be the only reasonable one out of them all. Maybe I would think differently if I were a young adult reading this, since I would be closer in age to Evie, Dorian, Victor, and Saskia. I don’t know if it’s my being older or my pragmatism that makes me side with Owen and ONI. 
 
All that being said, the ending is really good. I won’t say whether you find out what exactly the Forerunner artefact is and what it does, but there is an unexpected ending that brings in some later Halo lore you don’t see coming. 
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