Second Chances by P.D. Cacek
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Second Chances is the follow-up to P.D. Cacek’s 2019 release, Second Lives, which I read and reviewed last year.
In that novel, we learn of a global phenomenon where souls, in some cases, a long time dead, are reincarnated in a sense, into the bodies of recently deceased humans.
There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the bizarre occurrences, but the newly matched souls with bodies are known as Travelers, mostly accepted within society and protected under the law.
In some cases, the families of the recently deceased people, now inhabited by the souls of other people, agree to take these Travelers in and basically absorb them into their families.
It’s an odd concept, but definitely creative and also quite interesting to think about.
In this installment, we are mainly following twins, Jessie and Abbie, whose father is the leader of a religious movement known as, True Borns.
Daddy’s main area of focus happens to be preaching hate against the Travelers, or Imposters, as they call them. Otherwise known as imps.
We also follow a mentally unstable teen boy and his equally unstable mother, as well as a few other people related to the Traveler phenomenon.
I’m not sure how I feel about this one, y’all. It hurts my heart, but I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first novel.
It was definitely interesting, particularly the overall picture of what is going on in this world. If you think about the ramifications of what our world would be like if this actually happened, it’s creepy AF.
With this being said, there were also large portions, or storylines, of this book that just didn’t sit right with me. Frankly, they made me uncomfortable.
Particularly, Jessie’s storyline as a trans character, but also the treatment of mental health for Curtis and his mother. I would definitely be interested in seeing OWN voices reviews on those two representations here, should they come up.
Overall, I just don’t think it was a solid match for my tastes.
It is a good book though, don’t get me wrong. I would recommend picking it up, especially if you really enjoyed the first book.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Flame Tree Press, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity!
There is a reader for every book, and a book for every reader.
