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Never Fade
by Alexandra Bracken
“Life isn’t fair.It’s taken me a while to get that. It’s always going to disappoint you in some way or another. You’ll make plans, and it’ll push you in another direction. You will love people, and they’ll be taken away no matter how hard you fight to keep them. You’ll try for something and won’t get it. You don’t have to find meaning in it; you don’t have to try to change things. You just have to accept the things that are out of your hands and try to take care of yourself. That’s your job.”
Stars (Out of 10): 9.5/10 Stars
Favorite Character:
Spoiler Free: So I’m an idiot and put off this review until after I finished the series. However, this book has a pretty big event at the end, so I should be able to distinguish what happens in this one and what happens in book 3!
Let’s start with by commenting on the trend that this series seems to have: it likes to fuck with your feelings and make you cry, a lot.
Originally, I put this book aside because of how upset I was by the ending of book 1, and how scared I was of the series, and the tone of the series, changing now that Ruby was working with the Children’s League, and that the side characters I had grown so attached to didn’t seem to be making an appearance in this book. I was worried for no reason. This is one of those series that seems to get better as it continues on and as it develops, rather than expending all its interesting twists in the first book.
Having Ruby working with the Children’s League puts her in a position to show more of the world to the reader, and expand her knowledge past what the kids are feeling in the crisis, as she now regularly sees how the adults are handling the change as well. This book just seems to expand the reach of the characters, and gives us some of the puzzle pieces that were missing in book one.
Like I mentioned above, I was at first worried at how Ruby, and the story itself, would change now that she wasn’t on the run. I had gotten used to this free and in charge Ruby, and was worried that putting her back under the thumb of someone else would make her lose her strong will again. This was not the case, and Ruby actually seemed to blossom in the Children’s League, at least in the sense that she learned more control over her abilities and strengthened her body and mind. Now she wasn’t just a girl with a fierce personality, but had the skills to back it up. Additionally, she never bought into some of the bullshit of the Children’s League, and therefore it gave an interesting perspective on the rebellion, one we don’t often get to see in dystopias. Normally, the rebellion is seen as the single shining star in a dark world, pure and full of hope. Often, that’s not the case, as every light casts a shadow, creates a darkness. Having Ruby as our eyes into this instance of rebellion gave the entire book a really interesting perspective.
Additionally, another worry was losing all our side characters and having to meet new ones that I assumed I would not like as much. Not only does the book one cast play a large role in this book, the new characters we are introduced to are also just as layered as Chubs, Liam, Zu, and Clancy were. Ruby is also less trusting of them at first, as she had recently been burned by Clancy, which also made the process of befriending Nico, Vida, Jude, and Cate an interesting one to follow. The variation in the characters also meshed really well together, and meshed well with the personalities of the old cast as well. Additionally, they all felt really well established, and there wasn’t really an overlap in personality/character. They all felt like actual individuals.
The plot was, once again, really well paced and action-packed. Something about the way this series is planned and written manages to keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time, but in a way that doesn’t overwhelm you. I never noticed a true lull in the book, and whenever I started getting bored of a setting, or it started to feel repetitive, the book changed things up once again.
Overall, I loved this installment just as much as book 1, if not more! It tied together so many characters and so many elements, and I am just constantly amazed by what this series accomplishes.
Careful! Spoilers beyond this point!
Spoilers:
Also, JUDE. What the heck Bracken! He was the light in the darkness and he just gets crushed to dust, literally! Unfortunately, I did accidentally spoil this death, or at least the fact that something bad was going to happen to Jude, but the way it was written made it hurt so much more. It was left up until the very end, and with Ruby believing he had made it out right along with them. It just hurts so much.
Stars (Out of 10): 9.5/10 Stars
Favorite Character:
Spoiler Free: So I’m an idiot and put off this review until after I finished the series. However, this book has a pretty big event at the end, so I should be able to distinguish what happens in this one and what happens in book 3!
Let’s start with by commenting on the trend that this series seems to have: it likes to fuck with your feelings and make you cry, a lot.
Originally, I put this book aside because of how upset I was by the ending of book 1, and how scared I was of the series, and the tone of the series, changing now that Ruby was working with the Children’s League, and that the side characters I had grown so attached to didn’t seem to be making an appearance in this book. I was worried for no reason. This is one of those series that seems to get better as it continues on and as it develops, rather than expending all its interesting twists in the first book.
Having Ruby working with the Children’s League puts her in a position to show more of the world to the reader, and expand her knowledge past what the kids are feeling in the crisis, as she now regularly sees how the adults are handling the change as well. This book just seems to expand the reach of the characters, and gives us some of the puzzle pieces that were missing in book one.
Like I mentioned above, I was at first worried at how Ruby, and the story itself, would change now that she wasn’t on the run. I had gotten used to this free and in charge Ruby, and was worried that putting her back under the thumb of someone else would make her lose her strong will again. This was not the case, and Ruby actually seemed to blossom in the Children’s League, at least in the sense that she learned more control over her abilities and strengthened her body and mind. Now she wasn’t just a girl with a fierce personality, but had the skills to back it up. Additionally, she never bought into some of the bullshit of the Children’s League, and therefore it gave an interesting perspective on the rebellion, one we don’t often get to see in dystopias. Normally, the rebellion is seen as the single shining star in a dark world, pure and full of hope. Often, that’s not the case, as every light casts a shadow, creates a darkness. Having Ruby as our eyes into this instance of rebellion gave the entire book a really interesting perspective.
Additionally, another worry was losing all our side characters and having to meet new ones that I assumed I would not like as much. Not only does the book one cast play a large role in this book, the new characters we are introduced to are also just as layered as Chubs, Liam, Zu, and Clancy were. Ruby is also less trusting of them at first, as she had recently been burned by Clancy, which also made the process of befriending Nico, Vida, Jude, and Cate an interesting one to follow. The variation in the characters also meshed really well together, and meshed well with the personalities of the old cast as well. Additionally, they all felt really well established, and there wasn’t really an overlap in personality/character. They all felt like actual individuals.
The plot was, once again, really well paced and action-packed. Something about the way this series is planned and written manages to keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time, but in a way that doesn’t overwhelm you. I never noticed a true lull in the book, and whenever I started getting bored of a setting, or it started to feel repetitive, the book changed things up once again.
Overall, I loved this installment just as much as book 1, if not more! It tied together so many characters and so many elements, and I am just constantly amazed by what this series accomplishes.
Careful! Spoilers beyond this point!
Spoilers:
Spoiler
The ending still gives me goosebumps, even though there’s a good 10+ days in between finishing this book and writing this review.Also, JUDE. What the heck Bracken! He was the light in the darkness and he just gets crushed to dust, literally! Unfortunately, I did accidentally spoil this death, or at least the fact that something bad was going to happen to Jude, but the way it was written made it hurt so much more. It was left up until the very end, and with Ruby believing he had made it out right along with them. It just hurts so much.