Review: Fun and long read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 2, 2012
So the first book I had some issues with and this book goes a way to correcting those errors. We find Alex still between two women and trying to come to terms with the Program. Much of the books is filled with cut scenes with others so although Alex is still the main character "I think" you get a lot of face time with the tough one "Alice, Mitzi, Margot, etc". All of the book has to do with them battling an unknown army of exiled operators Anathema. Given that much of the book is battles which I liked, not a lot of them involve Alex which is somewhat sucky.Bad:- Alex is still the least likable character even with him starting to use his powers and actually have a voice. This may be deliberate as I really think his current personality is not his own. But even given that I struggle not to skim when he is in the scene as I find his character lacking well everything power, competence, intelligence, initiative or the common sense of a rock. He also is bullied or used by just about everyone including his kind of friends.- I talked made mention of this above but it deserves it's own point. Everyone tries to use everyone in this book except for Alex who is probably to dumb to do it. I especially found Vivek, Rachel and Ana all to be the worse cases and was not a fan. I understand it is part of the world but really can anybody have a friend in this who does not use them or betray their trust.Good- Given the fact that I dislike how the main character is portrayed the story is great and the other characters are engaging and fun to read.- People are fully fleshed out and delight to get to know. No cookie cutter people here at least as far as I can see.- Writing itself is well done with only a few spelling errors nothing that the casual reader will care about.- World is built well and you feel as if you are their. I sometimes feel that a person has a good plot but the world is hard to imagine. Not so here the places are described well and you can envision them.- Long book way longer than what you would expect.- Price in a day when it seems every person is trying to go higher on the price for indie books he is staying at 99. I like that and admire it.OverallGood sequel better than the first book some issues remain for me as regards to Alex but I have hope that he will become someone I can enjoy reading about versus a person I have to grit my teeth on. If you have read the first one I would strongly encourage you to read this one. If you have not read the first one it is a good book and I would say that the series is worth reading.