ABOUT THE ISLE:The Ward is in trouble—its streets filled with seawater after a devastating flood and its impoverished inhabitants suffering from a deadly disease called the Blight.
Ren, with the help of her scientist friend, Callum, and her racing buddy, Derek, has discovered a cure—miraculous spring water—administering it to her sick sister, Aven. But when Aven is kidnapped by Governor Voss, the malevolent dictator of the United Metro Isles (UMI), Ren must go on a dangerous mission to save her sister, again.
The mysterious healing water is the only source of freshwater throughout the entire UMI—water that Ren had been tasked by the government to discover. Although she refuses to give up the water’s location, Governor Voss has his own selfish reasons for wanting it. And he will do anything to satisfy his thirst for unquenchable power.
But Ren and Aven have more enemies than the governor. An ancient order, the Tètai, has been guarding the magical water for hundreds of years. And they will kill to protect it. With the Ward in desperate need of freshwater and wracked by disease—and deadly enemies at every turn—the sisters face a dangerous journey, marred by mysterious secrets and horrifying truths, to save their friends and neighbors, and a city.
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Brooke's Review:
I'd like to thank Harper Teen for providing me with an early copy of this book to read and give an honest review. Receiving this book for free has in no way altered my opinion or review.
When I received the first book in this series to read and review, I will say I was totally intrigued. Being from NYC, a book that takes place there is always of interest to me. Add in a dystopian world and a bit of sci-fi/paranormal element and I'm hooked! So given the chance to read the next book up, I jumped at it. And, while I didn't fly through this one like I did the first, I still loved every minute of the ride.
This book picks up right where the first left off. So if you haven't read the first book, beware of potential spoilers ahead!
This book is different from the first in that it's told in two POV: Ren and Aven. For me, this was odd, only because I wasn't expecting Aven's POV. But I can see why the author chose to use it. And since we only saw Aven through Ren's eyes in The Ward, I was looking forward to seeing more of her and learning more through her eyes.
Ren is determined to save Aven. Having no other family, she feels like Aven is a sister to her and will do whatever it takes to rescue her from the hands of Governor Voss. I enjoy Ren a lot. She's prickly and snarky. She's willing to do whatever it takes to take care of those she loves. I did find that at times she seemed a bit selfish. But when you are the only person you have, thinking of others really doesn't necessarily cross your mind as often as it should.
Aven has resigned herself to never seeing those she loves again. Under the finger of the Governor, she knows the chances of her getting out of his lab are slim to none. But she doesn't stop having hope. I think this is my most favorite thing about Aven. She's young and she has hope, despite all that she's been through. Of course she faces a true test when the Governor decides to experiment on her in a way I truly was not expecting. How she overcomes this is really a test to her strength and resilience. I will say that I often found her 14 year old voice to come across as a bit older than her age. However, I can't imagine having the life she's had and not being older before your time.
We see a return of previous characters who we met in The Ward: Callum, Derek, Terrance. And we are introduced to a few new characters as well. Also, there's a return of the romance we saw between Derek and Ren in the first book, though it's not a big part of the plot. I kind of wished we would have seen more of that to solidify their relationship and commitment to one another. And there's some other romantic elements that I won't name but that I found interesting.
There's tons of action in this book that keep it moving. I didn't have a boring moment when I was reading it. It really kept me on my toes. And there are also many twists and turns in the plot I just was not expecting.
Overall the writing combined with an interesting plot line make for a fast and fun read. And the plot twist that comes towards the end really makes you understand just who Ren is and why she is so important. This book is a great wrap to this dulology, answering any and all questions you may have had from when the first book ended. If you're looking for a series with a ton of action and suspense and plot twists that have your jaw dropping, then you'll want to dive into The Ward books!
ABOUT JORDANA FRANKEL:Jordana Frankel is a Jersey native.
She's been a camp counselor, a salesperson of diamonds, a hostess at a southwestern grill, an archivist of rare books, a yoga instructor, and a reading teacher, but her shining moment was when she got to hang out in Walmart for 12 hours a day as the AXE girl.
She received her B.A. in English from Goucher College, graduated and then went to live in Italy for a year. Afterwards she then went for her MFA in Poetry at Hollins University.
But then she graduated and she moved back to NYC.
She got her first job at The Literary Group International as a literary agency, where she'd started as an intern reading queries and then assisted editorially. At Linn Prentis Literary, also a literary agency, she handled foreign sales, picked up gems from unsolicited mail, and helped authors through the publishing process. And then it was onto The Book Report Network where she handled ads and promos for features on Teenreads.com, Kidsreads.com, and GraphicNovelReporter.com.
Jordana is currently writing a (history textbook/)novel entitled THE WARD, forthcoming from KT Books/HarperCollins in 2013. She also teaches creative writing workshops for kids ages 8 to 18 through Writopia Lab, a non-profit organization based in New York City.
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Sounds like a great read! I can't wait to read this book!
ReplyDeleteI also love books that take place in a location I've lived or visited. I have to find the first book to read now.
ReplyDeleteDystopian YA in NYC. I'm in. Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteRight? How can you go wrong? LOL!
Deleteconsidering that I have lived in a desert climate for the most part of my life I know how scare fresh water resources are, this book touches home because of the EPA contamination that happened this past summer
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