Leslie Saunders

Pulse Pounding Conclusion Evokes ALLEGIANT To A Degree. This is a solid continuation and conclusion of the EXILES story, and both combined are short enough that one almost wonders why the two books (each sub-300 pages) were not simply written as one complete story rather than one story in two halves? It seemed to make sense at the end of EXILES, when at least my own expectation was that this would be a second trilogy from the twin sisters that write twin characters. With this clearly being a show more short duology now... one begins to question a bit more. Ultimately, I'll leave the 5* and not deduct one for blatant cash grab, but I'll also be interested to see what other readers think on that point, and perhaps hear in some interview or social media post or some such why the decision was made to split the story as it was. That noted, particularly with its emphasis on fear and our heroes having vials that can evoke or conquer fear... yes, this book absolutely has a degree of a feel of ALLEGIANT to it. Which was an interesting connection, given just how reviled the ending to that particular tale was (though to be crystal clear and yet without actually giving anything away, this tale does *not* use the specific type of ending that got ALLEGIANT most of the scorn it has ultimately gotten - scorn that I have disagreed with since the moment I finished that book myself).

And yet, even with these issues this tale really was another pulse-pounding thrill ride, perhaps with fewer questions for the reader to ponder and more fights to marvel at. The sisters continue to show their evolving skills and natural-seeming storytelling talent, and it will be very interesting to see what they come up with next. Very much recommended. show less

I liked this book a lot more than the first!

There was nearly nonstop action that kept me invested in the story and that made me grow more invested in the characters.

Speaking of which, I think that that characters really came into their own here. The news ones we saw were really cool and it was nice to see new faces.

The story over all was amazing and had me hooked right from the get go.

Resist much. Obey little.

A surprisingly great read!

I LOVED the premise of this book and I think that the two authors carried it out really well. Their writing style really made this a fast read and everything flowed really well.

The setting of the story seemed incredibly real and even like an actual possibility, especially the microchip and constant presence of "Big Brother".

The characters themselves were actually very compelling, though Mira irritated the crap out of me when she kept trying to escape from her show more grandmother's car. Things were really getting bad and tense in that scene, but she insisted on behaving like a tantrum throwing toddler. Thank god her sister and grandmother spoke some sense into her.
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Solid Setup But With Slight Torture Of English Language. This is a tale that manages to tell its own complete tale... and yet also manages to setup a new trilogy for the Saunders twins that is perhaps at least as compelling as their debut trilogy had been. Once again, these twins writing together focus on twin primary characters, and once again having that real world dynamic really helps with the in-world dynamic. Reading the author note about their extreme aversion to twin studies as teens show more and seeing what they put the twins through here was particularly relevatory, but the social commentary on homeless camps here was also thought provoking and compelling, without coming across as overly preachy in real-world terms. The *one* irritating thing about this read was the presence of the trans character and the torture of using the singular "they" repeatedly - showing in novel form why a completely different and new pronoun really is needed there (perhaps "ze" instead, as some promote?). Note that the trans character itself wasn't the problem, the singular "they" was, particularly as often as was used here - to the level of almost reading more as a sudden dose of dialect rather than the usual tone of the writing. Overall another great book from the Saunders Twins, and I for one am looking forward to the next entry in the trilogy. Very much recommended. show less