Goodreads Synopsis

The four remaining fugitives are now spread across the Kingdom. And with the fate of the others unknown to him, Nate Anteros prays for a fast execution.

Yet execution does not come. After a meeting with the King which leaves Nate questioning his sanity, he’s sent to a workcamp in Argon Basin for five years of hard labour. It’s there that Nate learns what became of his friends upon their arrest.

And as his strength returns to him, and he’s plagued by dreams which are much too real to be ignored, Nate decides five years is far too long to wait …

My Mini Review

I loved the first book in this series, and I couldn’t wait to dive into this one as well. Unsurprisingly, I enjoyed this book too and was left wanting more thanks to the compelling story and cliffhanger ending. The world-building in this book added a lot of history and nuance to the dystopian society. I particularly enjoyed getting to see the mutant factions and experiencing some of the story from their point of view. Nate’s point of view was also explored in this novel, and seeing the events at the end of book one through his eyes was interesting. His POV allowed for an exploration of different types of love, as well, which I enjoyed. The author tackled some serious topics with this book, including forced marriage, rape, and abortion, without shying away from them at all. It realistically incorporated and portrayed PTSD and continued to explore the concept of freedom in a deep way. Many moments made me cringe from the awfulness of the events and feel so sad for these characters, but the story was so compelling I couldn’t stop reading. The writing was fantastic, yet again, and the pacing of the story kept me anticipating what would happen next. This was a great book, and if you like dystopian fiction, I highly recommend it. Therefore, I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. Book number three is now very high on my TBR!