Mini Reviews of Sequels: The Unbound, Three, The Outside, & Split Second

The Unbound (The Archived #2) by: Victoria Schwab (Jan. 2014)
368 pages
Genre: Young Adult/Suspense/Thriller/Fantasy
Publisher: Hyperion
Source: Bought
Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon

Mini Summary: "Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books. Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive." After the traumatizing events of the last book Mackanzie Bishop is back. She must fight her nightmares, figure out why people are vanishing, try to keep her job as a keeper along with her memories, and all while being a normal average girl on the outside.

My Mini Review: Victoria Schwab never dissapoints, her writing is just as magical in the sequel as it was in The Archived. The Unbound may have been a little slow at times, but it didn't matter, my attention never wavered. The Unbound is a strong sequel, one of the strongest I have ever read, and the best part, there isn't a big cliff hanger at the end. I admire Mac, the MC, even more in this installment, I still love Wes, and I liked the minor characters, new and old. I was cheering on Mac like my life depended on it. I definitely want more and I hope the third one does end up getting published. The only part of this novel I wasn't a fan of... it needed even more Wes time.

Three (Article 5 #3) by: Kristen Simmons (Feb. 14)
384 pages
Genre: Young Adult/Dystopian
Publisher: Tor Teen
Source: The Library
Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon
**This review may contain minor spoilers of the previous books.

Mini Summary: Ember and Chase once again try to find safety and refuge in Three, the last book of the Article 5 trilogy. After finding the safe house destroyed they must find a new place to stay. Three finally is revealed and Ember will finally get the chance to really fight back.

My Mini Review: The Article 5 trilogy ended strong with Three. The first book was really good, the second book was okay, and this book left me feeling very satisfied. We get a lot more sensible and somewhat romantic interactions between Chase and Ember, which I enjoyed immensely. The plot was paced in such a way that I could just feel the tension rising between everyone in the novel and myself. There were also some very exceptional fight scenes and a great big rebellious stand. I don't regret reading this series. It's a young adult dystopian I enjoyed a great deal.

The Outside (The Hallowed Ones #2) by: Laura Bickle (Sept. 2013)
325 pages
Genre: Young Adult/Horror/Survival
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Source: The Library
Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon
**This review may contain minor spoilers of the previous book.

Mini Summary: Katie is kicked out of her Amish community and must survive with her two friends in a world dominated by a plague of vampires.

My Mini Review: I feel that The Hallowed Ones really deserves more attention than it is getting, and this sequel, The Outside, only reaffirmed those feelings in me. The book starts off strong and ends strong. I really liked the different relationships this story has to offer, maybe even better than the first. There is a lot of action to keep you entertained. Not to mention there are very unique vampires (nothing like what you have probably read before in young adult literature), and how people come to find a way to deal with the vampires is just as unique. Give these books a chance. They are superb.

Split Second (Pivot Point #2) by: Kasie West (Feb. 2014)
360 pages
Genre: Young Adult/Paranormal
Publisher: Harper Teen
Source: The Library
Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon

Mini Summary: Addie is having a hard time dealing with her life since her parents divorce, since she chose the path she had to take. Ever since then her world has become even more complex. Addie's ability has started acting up, she runs into a boy she feels like she should know, and finds out that her friend may be able to bring back her lost memories she so desperately wants and maybe even needs.

My Mini Review: Is it even possible for me to love Kasie West more than I already do? She once again wrote a story so enthralling and characters so real that I can't seem to get enough. If you loved Pivot Point then you will love Split Second, no doubt in my mind. Not only do we get some much needed and somewhat hilarious and painful Trevor and Addie time, we also get some Laila time. Did I mention we also get introduced to another wonderful boy besides Trevor? Well we do, and his name is Connor. (He is a love interest for Laila not Addie, calm down.) I couldn't read Split Second fast enough. It was full of good twists, great friendships, and a perfect ending. What are you waiting for?

Review: Article 5 by: Kristen Simmons

Article 5 by: Kristen Simmons (2012)

Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates Book

362 pages

Genre: YA/Dystopian/Romance

Goodreads Summary: New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned. The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren't always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it's hard for her to forget that people weren't always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It's hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings—the only boy Ember has ever loved.

My Review

My first thoughts: I will read the second book in this series. I have grown to really love these characters and I want to see how their lives play out. Although this was not a great dystopian novel, there were some issues I had with it, it was still really enjoyable.

In my last review I complained about how boring the first part of the novel was and how there was too much background information. Well this book was the exact opposite. The novel started off with a bang. There was no shortage of action and I loved it. BUT, and I hate to have to say this, there was not nearly enough information about how the U.S. came to be such a horrid place. The author only briefly mentioned a war that lead to the new articles everyone must follow, but there wasn't any detail. And this my friend was frustrating. To really fully immerge myself in a book I want to know about the world I am stepping into. I think I could have given this book a higher rating if it would have been better formed. I will say that the Articles hit on a lot of interesting controversial social subjects, but they were not emphasized enough besides the article Ember gets in trouble for.  It makes me sad because I wanted to give this book a higher rating. Although you don’t technically need the hard core details, I’m one of those readers that likes to know.

The characters are enjoyable and I may have once again fallen in love with a fictional male character, Chase.  I love Chase’s complex character. I not only wanted to hug him and smack him at the same time but I wanted to applaud him for fighting and doing the best he can. It takes a while for Ember, the female lead, to really understand what it means to fight to survive and she comes off as weak at times. Don't worry though, she gets better. The chemistry between Ember and Chase is wonderfully perfect. It helps that this wasn't insta-love, this was best friends that turned into more over time.  The flashbacks really showed off their relationship even more. I know there was a focus on the love story in this dystopian book instead of always the bad government, but I enjoyed the change. These two characters may have their ups and downs and some may get frustrated by this, but I thought it seemed appropriate for their situation.

I love a book with a lot of action and this one lived up to those expectations. I was always wondering what danger was lurking around the next corner.  It kept me glued to the pages.

So as you can see I have mixed feelings about this book, but I liked it enough that I will keep reading the series and suggest that others should take a chance at it. If anything I want to see where the author will take this story in the next book. I’m giving it a shot with an open mind. Luckily the second book just came out so I don’t have to wait long.

In the end, if you don’t delve too deep in breaking down the world Simmons created, you will really enjoy this book. 

RATING 4/5   Buy Article 5