I was so excited to pick it up and start immediately, even though I was scared it would have me crying and too eager to finish for my own good. I was so right. I finished the book in one day, but managed to contain most of the tears by frantically turning the pages.
This book begins almost immediately after the first one ends. We find Sloane and James in an abandoned parking lot just across the border and having been unable to meet up with their friends. We later find out what happened to those friends, along with the safe house they were originally heading for. The Program is closing in on them. What follows is a roller coaster of a chase where The Program gets a lot to close for comfort, Sloane and James are forced out of their comfort zones and thrown for trust loops, and of course Realm has to return just to through a psychopathic monkey wrench into everyone's plans. This last reason is why I choose this book to fill the "love triangle" list item, because at times that aspect seemed more important than the actual chase.
I did have a few issues with this book, parts that were disappointing after the almost flawless nature of the first book, but I was able to overlook them to keep reading the book, far too interested and invested in the story to slow down. However, I will say that the ending was a small bit of a let down after the crazy roller coaster that was Sloane's life before, during, and after The Program. And like I said, the focus at times seemed to be more on the relationships of the characters than on the drastic nature of what The Program wants to do to those characters if it gets its hands on them. This leads to the characters making some pretty stupid decisions that only luck gets them out of, but hey, it's fiction.
It doesn't mean I wouldn't recommend it, because I so do! I believe firmly the book was worth it's flaws. I was, after all, impressed with James attitude change over the course of the novel. Although Sloane does nothing to help her boyfriend with his trust issues, she does see the error of her ways just in time for James to come back to make everything better. Sort of. And wow is Realm not the guy everyone thought, but then I must say, I never really liked him anyway.
I look forward to picking up the last book in the series, a prequel I am told, The Remedy, as soon as I can. I would love to find out how this all started, things so bad that parents would willingly let their children be "erased" to simply keep them alive. This series did bring up some very interesting questions. Would you be willing to have your child's memories, things that possibly make them who they are, to be taken from them just so they stay alive? At what point is it more humane to let them kill themselves over us killing their souls? How desperate would you be?
I would love your take on these books, if you have read them. I would really recommend that you give them a chance if you haven't! Young is one hell of a writer.
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