I received this book for free from a giveaway in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Rebel by Amy Tintera Series: Reboot #2
Published by HarperTeen on May 13, 2014
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: a giveaway
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The sequel to the action-packed Reboot is a can't-miss thrill ride, perfect for fans of James Patterson, Veronica Roth, and Marie Lu.
After coming back from death as Reboots and being trained by HARC as soldiers, Wren and Callum have finally escaped north, where they hope to find a life of freedom. But when they arrive at the Reboot Reservation, it isn't what they expected. Under the rule of a bloodthirsty leader, Micah, the Reboots are about to wage an all-out war on the humans. Although Wren's instincts are telling her to set off into the wilderness on their own and leave the battle far behind, Callum is unwilling to let his human family be murdered. When Micah commits the ultimate betrayal, the choice is made for them. But Micah has also made a fatal mistake . . . he's underestimated Wren and Callum.
The explosive finale to the Reboot duology is full of riveting action and steamy love scenes as Wren and Callum become rebels against their own kind.
Though Rebel fell short of my expectations, it was still better than its predecessor, Reboot. The main characters were slightly better, the secondary characters shined, the plot was a little more intriguing and the pace was a bit faster.
I still wasn’t a huge fan of Wren. I thought she would get better as time went on. She started out very boring and detached in Reboot. She shed some of that icy demeanor as the story went along, so I expected a lot more character growth than we got in Rebel. Don’t get me wrong, she still came a long way from where she started out, but I would have liked to see more from her.
I LOVED Callum. Right away, starting with chapter one, I loved hearing the story from his POV. He has such a distinct voice and, since he’s only a twenty-two, he still has a very human personality and human morales. He grew a lot from the innocent Reboot that he was in the first book. He hardened himself a little bit to some things and I really liked the way he was able to step up and become a leader. Honestly, I kind of wish the whole book had been told in his POV. Like with Reboot, he’s the only reason I didn’t DNF Rebel.
The one odd thing, though? I loved Callum, I didn’t love Wren – but I loved Wren through Callum’s eyes. Does that make sense? Because I’m saying it and I still can’t fully grasp the concept. Wren wasn’t very likable or relatable and she was very – the keyword with her – detached for much of the book. But through Callum’s eyes, she became likable.
One of my biggest issues with Reboot was that I didn’t like the secondary characters – only two of them, but one wasn’t in much of the book and the other met an unfortunate fate. So I was pleasantly surprised when I LOVED not one, not two, but about five of the secondary characters in Rebel. Among my favorites were Addie, Beth, Riley, Gabe and Isaac. Of those, I especially loved Addie and Riley. I can’t say much about them, specifically, because of spoilers. But I will say, I was MOSTLY satisfied with the way each of their stories ended.
Another big issue I had with Reboot was the pacing. The middle of the book completely dragged. The pacing in Rebel was much better and I can’t really think of any spots where Rebel dragged. It moved at a pretty decent pace the entire way through.
Despite the good, I definitely had some big issues with Reboot. One was forced reproduction to rebuild the population. I seriously hope I don’t need to explain why I hate that… The other issue I had was that Rebel was VERY predictable and VERY cliche. I found myself rolling my eyes several times throughout the book. Also, a couple scenes that should have been big and crazy were very anti-climatic, which was a let down.
Overall, Rebel was definitely a more interesting read than Reboot. I loved Callum, Wren got a little better and the secondary characters were great. The pacing was much better and the plot was way more interesting. Though it was a predictable read, it was still fun and I saw several opportunities for spin-offs with some of my favorite secondary characters. While I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend this book, I would still suggest giving it a try. What annoyed me may not annoy others and it still had an great premise.