About this Book:
Join James and the team as they confront their invaders in the Southern Federation. James and his team head South after witnessing the BlankZone destructive power of the BlankZone. Their self-ascribed mission is to explore the most dangerous place on the planet – the new BlankZone border in the Southern Federation. While conspiracies drive the narrative in the North, James and his team set out to learn about the Federation’s mysterious aggressors. Jump back into the adventure as James and his friends discover new families, build allies, and come face to face with the enemy threatening their existence. Secrets, lies, and manipulation are exposed as James gets closer than he ever imagined to their greatest threat.
Rating: 4/5
My Review:
This felt different. The first book “Cut from Stone”, took us on a journey with a bunch of teens who trained intensively for an unknown threat in order to prove their capabilities. As such, the first book showed a completely different side of the characters, had a different tone and way of storytelling than this one. It felt more adventurous and exciting (You can read my review for the first book here.) whereas the sequel felt more intense.
Now that James and his team went AWOL, they had to fend for themselves, make decisions amidst chaos and there was no controlled atmosphere with a set incentive or punishment. Therefore, the action felt more authentic. It had higher stakes involved and the themes this book dealt with had more depth.
It just added another layer to the existing story with more complexities and harder to achieve objectives. What I liked about this book were the plot twists, which were quite unexpected and enhanced the reading experience.
I also liked how the author wasn’t really subtle about his messaging on war, conflict and the toll it takes. The novel doesn’t shy away from depicting the emotional toll on soldiers, the loss of innocence, and the collateral damage inflicted upon civilians caught in the crossfire.
While I appreciated that the first book was quite descriptive, for this one it felt like the details dragged on for quite a while. As such, it felt more slower paced than the first book.
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