First I should mention that I really enjoyed this book.
I do feel obligated to make an observation that will become obvious to anyone who has read the many novels that follow the same thematic threads. This book is the typical, in this case girl orphan who is soon to find she possesses fantastic powers. Then she'll discover she has a sibling and she'll join a group of like people who are fighting against the bad evil that means to abuse their powers. Then she discovers she may be integral to the success of these people.
Again this is an observation that's not meant to make it sound like a bad thing. It's just a very common thread these days and in having read a lot of self published and young adult work recently I find it to be a mainstay of tropes in this genre. These are not cliches as common reference would suppose in the same way that we don't try to call all music cliche.
What is most important about these types of books is how the protagonist is portrayed to the reader. These types of novels are heavily character driven. And this book does a good job of bringing the character of Grace Madison to life. She has her own specific level of confidence and though she seems abused by her peers she is usually level headed and restrained. Though, she is strong willed and capable of taking care of herself. She comes across easily as someone who might be able to take command of things. A trait which comes in handy later on.
The story starts with Grace, Ronnie, Sandy and Kenny all being kidnapped from their foster home. They wake up in the enemy territory with the memory of their home having been destroyed. Experiments are preformed on them and they all exhibit special abilities. Grace's are the most pronounced and through the guidance or intimidation of other inmates she allow herself to let go and she nearly destroy the place they are housed. The four escape with Rachel, Mike and Mary.
They bungle around a bit until they are almost caught by Jolt and the Sabers who are working for the evil company Aurora. Fortunately Vanish, Silence, Sam and Hothead come to the rescue. It seems these rescuers have a mole in Aurora's organization and they have come to lift the seven from the clutches of the enemy.
Once everyone gets settled into the training at Eastcroft, we really see Grace blossom into what she is meant to be. Though, it takes a while because she has mental blocks that are preventing her from using her new-found talent. Soon the reader discovers that the blocks have been keeping a lot more away from Grace and when the blocks come down we discover that Grace might be a natural who has now been modified by Aurora. Her natural talent might be reading minds it's not yet clear.
As I mentioned-this book is a bit trope heavy but it's well worth the time to read it. One caution is that the editing missed out some in many areas and there are missing words or misspelled words that create some bit of grammatical challenge. In some cases the wrong word could almost be considered humorous.I'm pretty sure that's not what the author is going for. In the long run it's not difficult to figure out the correct word and insert them so I had no problem. But, for those who do have issues this is a warning.
This is a good Young Adult Sci-Fi military-political-psychological thriller for people who love those types of novels. Great character development along with strong pacing.
I'm looking forward to reading the two other novels to this series. If they are all done this well I'll look for more if and when they come out.
J.L. Dobias
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