Publication Date: August 14, 2018
Rating: 5-Raging Stars!!!
The Raging Ones, by Krista & Becca Ritchie, is the first book in a new YA-scifi duology that clobbered me over the head and left me for dead. Seriously though, WOW, I was so impressed with this book. This story had everything I desire, i.e. complex characters, intriguing plot, a competition element and phenomenal world-building. I don’t even know where to begin with this so will start with the basics:
The year is 3525 on a harsh, frozen planet where society is divided into a type of caste system based on how long you will live. How is this possible, you ask? Well, in this world, every baby has a simple test performed that tells the exact day they are going to die. As you can imagine, this extinguishes plenty of fear in the world because you can take risks and know that you will not die from them (unless it is your death day). However, it also extinguishes a lot of hope as well since you know it can never be changed. People accept the social structure and focus more on just surviving in such a severe environment.
The story focuses on three main characters and we follow each of their perspectives along the way. There is Franny Bluecastle, an impulsive and hard-edged Fast Tracker (death days between the ages of 13 – 29) girl who we first meet the day before her impending death day. Court Icecastle is a tough, well-educated ‘thief’ who has a hidden and mysterious past. Lastly, Mykal Kickfall, who is a sweet baby cinnamon roll who hails from the North and was a hunter/warrior prior to falling in with Court. Court and Mykal are drawn to Franny just after she survives her death day and the drama takes off from there.
Our three main characters are linked, you discover this early on, not just in the fact that they are the only known individuals to ‘survive’ their death days but also mentally and physically. They have a bond that is unlike anything I have ever read before. It is hard to describe because it is really more of a feeling than anything – they share senses, quite literally.
I know what you’re thinking…two boys, one girl, classic set up for a love triangle. Nope. Stop right there. This is NOT that book. This is not who will she choose, who will he choose. There is LOVE but not THAT kind of love. The foundation of this relationship is M/M. Mykal and Court have an incredibly deep, unbreakable bond that goes beyond anything that you would typically find in a ‘romance’ story. Franny does become a part of this but not in a third wheel, add-on, aggressive sort of way. The dynamic between the three is equal and all-consuming and I (a non-romantic) absolutely cherished every moment of it.
As a trio, Franny, Mykal and Court enroll to compete for the chance to become employed by StarDust (think NASA meets NSA) and hopefully get one of 5-coveted slots for the Saga-5 Mission. Essentially a space mission, the first in this society for over 300-years. Franny, Mykal and Court make it through enrollment and become three of 1,024 people competing for these spots. They live in dormitories, they have rivalries, they compete in challenges and undergo training on flying space ships, surviving in zero-G environments, etc. This part of the story gave me life! I absolutely love competition/training elements in books – it is one of my all time favorite tropes in YA and this one was so well done. We meet a great cast of side characters and learn more about the world overall through their interactions with our MCs.
I am a big fan of science-fiction books and particularly YA-scifi. I read a lot of them. This one impressed me because it felt very true to the genre without weighing you down in science jargon that would make the story unattractive to the masses. They kept the mysterious, dark, smart scifi feel without making it too snobby nerdy -does this make sense? I mean, I am a nerd, I will be the first to admit that, but I like my scifi to have the power to enthrall all types of people – nerd or not.
I loved so many things about this book, I know as soon as I publish this review I will think of 50 more things I should have mentioned. This storyline to me was so unique and the characters were so well fleshed out, I am going to be thinking about this one for a long time to come. Which makes me think…how long until the next book? That ending…honestly, I don’t know how I am going to live with this cliffhanger! It blew my mind the end of this book. I cannot wait for my book friends to read this so I can discuss with somebody! Please let that be you – If you haven’t already, please add this book to your TBR – you won’t regret it!
These authors, Krista and Becca (identical twins by the way – how cool is that?) deserve a big round of applause! That they came up with this, through a collaboration, is just so significant and I think demonstrative of their level of talent. I am really looking forward to progressing with this series!
Thank you so much to Wednesday Books for providing me with an early review copy of this book. It is, so far, my favorite read of 2018 and I just had such a wonderful time with it and providing my thoughts and opinions. I appreciate the opportunity!
Nyxia Unleashed is the second book in The Nyxia Triad. Just like the first book, I absolutely loved this and gave it FIVE well-deserved stars. This is a YA science-fiction novel that is incredibly inclusive and has a strong undercurrent of social commentary which I thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed.
‘You cannot fathom the distance I would travel for you.’
It just occurred to me that I never wrote up a full review for this wonderful book! I am currently reading the 2nd book of this planned trilogy, Nyxia Unleashed, and went back to see what I had written in regards to the first book and alas, NOTHING! I think this was one of those books where I needed to process for a bit after I finished and than never ended up compiling those thoughts into an actual review. It’s a problem I am sure many of you have experienced.
Of course, one of my favorite books of all time featuring a fierce competition would be The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This book is pretty much the epitome of competition narrative. When this book was released in 2008 it quite literally took the world by storm. Everyone of every age seemed to be reading it. The story takes kids seriously and puts them into a competition where the ultimate goal is to be the last man (or woman) standing – it was gritty and ground-breaking at the time and has seriously inspired a great assortment of other similar stories in YA-literature.
Now, I couldn’t possibly write a post about competitions in books without mentioning Harry Potter! Although a vein of competition runs throughout the series, through everything from Quidditch games, to the House Cup, my ultimate for the series would be the Triwizard Tournament. The Goblet of Fire, the fourth book in J.K. Rowling’s epic fantasy series, has always been my favorite and I think a lot of that is due to the competition itself. In The Goblet of Fire, we get to meet wizards and witches from other schools, which is also very cool and unique to this book. Even the legendary quidditch player, Viktor Krum is in residence at Hogwarts for this one! (swoon) The Tournament itself, well, it is by no means an ordinary competition – the level of danger and mystery is unequaled and this one, I know, will always stand on a pedestal to me!
Another book with an intense and highly satisfying competition element is, Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas. This is the first book in Sarah’s hugely popular Throne of Glass series and it is where we meet 18-year old assassin, Celaena Sardothien. Celaena is a great character and has quickly taken a place on my ‘favorites’ list. She is snarky, bold and haunted by a violent and mysterious past. In this start to the series, you learn that Celaena has been a prisoner at a labor camp, a mine to be exact, and she gets pulled out by Prince Dorian who offers her a chance to win her freedom. In order to do so, she must act as his champion to compete for the chance of becoming the royal assassin. She agrees to his conditions and travels to the capital to begin her training. Once there she meets all the other champions, all strong, murderous burly men – okay, she is definitely an underdog but does she let it get to her? No way! Not Celaena – this girl is fully confident in her abilities and indeed they seem to be unmatched. She begins training with Chaol Westfall, the Captain of the Guards and Prince Dorian’s long-time friend. No matter what he throws at her she never backs down. I love this girl! The competition is brutal and it pushes all contestants to their limits. This is a must read for anyone who enjoys a hearty competition!
Finally, the last book I would like to mention in this fierce competitors post is, Warcross, by Marie Lu. This YA sci-fi novel was released in September of 2017. I pre-ordered a copy of this one for the cover alone but it ended up being one of my favorite books of 2017! The competition in this book is the International Warcross competition – what is Warcross you ask? In this story, Warcross is a VR game that essentially has taken over the world. Everyone in this story plays or at least it seems that way. Set in a rather bleak near-future, Warcross isn’t just a game, it is a way of life. Our main character, Emika Chen, is a brilliant computer hacker who makes her living as a bounty hunter tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. When she uses her hacking skills to actually glitch into the real Warcross games she attracts the attention of the game’s creator, Hideo Tanaka, and our main course of action begins there. 
Okay, back to the topic – Wonderblood by Julia Whicker! I finished Wonderblood late last night and needed to sleep on it before I could formulate my thoughts into a coherent review. Firstly, this is a debut novel for Julia Whicker and although this book did not blow me away, I would certainly be interested in other books (unrelated to this one) that she may write in the future. I enjoyed her writing style a lot which was not just agreeable but at times absolutely lyrical.
Octavia E. Butler (1947 – 2006) is a phenomenal American science-fiction writer who I certainly wish I would have discovered earlier in life. Her writing is intelligent, heartfelt and oddly prescient of today’s political climate, e.g. The Earthseed Series, (please look this up on Goodreads if you haven’t heard of it).
Kindred, originally published in 1979 was the first Butler book I read and I am very glad I started with that one. In fact, I feel that is a good starting point to anyone new to her writings. 
Wow – what a book! I know I will be mentally processing this one for a while – thank heavens for Kindle highlighting. I did a lot of highlighting during the course of reading this book, not because the concepts were difficult to understand or follow but because they were so meaningful. Ian Mortimer, as many know, is a wonderful historian, and he doesn’t disappoint with this work. The Outcasts of Time is indeed a work of fiction but is replete with very specific historical details; it runs through every element of the story.