THE REBEL WITHIN (264 pages)
Action packed first book in Rebel series.
Annabelle (16) faces adult dilemmas and a fight for her life. Orphaned at age three when the military took her parents, she’s a tomboy who rebels against her conformist society, which pushes her to become a cop intern to catch escaped boys. Then she’s forced to choose between joining the elite military that took her parents or being torn from her beloved sister and adoptive mom.
The Rebel Within turns our male dominated world upside down. After the Second American Civil War, the Federal Union pursues a utopian society without men by rounding up the remaining males, and enforcing Harmony. Central to their plan is EggFusion Fertilization and Female Mechanized Warriors.
In this world, Annabelle faces a cop intern boss who hates her, a military commander who demands too much, and an amazon bully who won’t leave her alone. She meets a handsome boy who escapes prison. As she tries to survive rigorous military training and hunt for her imprisoned birth mother, Annabelle must choose between capturing the boy and helping him escape, while she wrestles with the consequences of her actions.
***
THE REBEL TRAP (259 pages)
Voices in 16-year-old Annabelle’s head aren’t God or signs she’s going mad—yet.
The Rebel Trap sweeps readers into a haunting world with no privacy. Written as a standalone story, it also follows Annabelle’s adventures from The Rebel Within.
Auditory implants and contact cams allow her military commander from the unit that took her parents to watch her 24-7. A boy she helped to escape hacks her implants to plead for her help. She’s forced to be a cop and military spy investigating her police captain as well as capturing escaped boys. Observed constantly, Annabelle has to dance between helping the escaped boy she likes free his brother from a heavily guarded geek institute, her job to capture him, and the feud between her military commander and the police chief she’s expected to spy on.
A pawn in a bigger game, no one believes she can handle this, which may be her greatest asset.
***
REBELS DIVIDED (286 pages)
Rebels Divided is a fun thrill ride written as a standalone action story, but also part of the Rebel series, three years later.
The first time Geo sees Annabelle, they meet as enemies and she doesn’t kill him. That’s worth something. Geo (19) is a rugged frontiersman who hungers to see more of the world than the impoverished Outland glen where he and his pa hide from local Rangers. Annabelle (19) is a tough yet fragile tomboy who lost her parents at age three to the Mech Warriors. Then she’s forced to become a Mech.
After the Second American Civil War, the nation divides into two ‘utopias’. The Federal Union enforces Harmony and an all-female society protected by Mechanized Warriors. The Outland promotes rugged individualism, but Thane Edwards holds a monopoly of power with his Rangers. The Union’s Tenn-tucky governor and the Outland warlord conclude a secret deal, pledging Annabelle to the warlord to provide heirs, and putting a bounty on Geo and his pa.
Hunted by military from both sides, Geo and Annabelle struggle to overcome mutual distrust in order to work together to rescue her sister and gain justice for the murder of his father.
Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon INT
My Review:
I have mixed feelings about these books. I felt the same for all three so I am going to review them all together.
First of all, I did like the story in each book. I had no trouble following the story line. I enjoyed watching Annabelle grow over the course of the three books. I enjoyed meeting new characters and seeing familiar faces. The primarily female society was unique and I really enjoyed the tech throughout the books.
Now for my cons for the three books. The writing seemed a little off to me. Sometimes it flowed smoothly for me, other times it was kind of choppy or something. I know I am no wordsmith myself, but when I open a book I expect to be drawn smoothly into a story. I want the writing to flow and be easy to read. With these books I almost felt like there were two different people writing different scenes. This made it hard to stay focused on the story, as I kept wanting to re-read bits to see if I was mistaken in how jumpy it seemed.
There were also discrepancies in how people acted in the books. While Annabelle might get a verbal warning for one thing, she gets thrown in jail for another offense that didn't seem any worse than the first one. In one part she seemed like a loner, in another she is rousing the team for a victory with a few, sparse words? I felt confused and wanted the writer to choose one or the other. There are more examples, but for some reason the first book stayed fresher in my mind with these inconsistencies than the other two. Who know how my mind works? I sure don't!
Now with reading all the negative, it would sound like I didn't like the books. I did. I would give them a 3.5 star rating overall. As I said earlier, the society is very interesting to me. I cannot imagine growing up being taught that men are basically obsolete. That they are a danger to society as a whole. I really enjoyed the tech throughout the books. I want a mech suit. I think it would be wonderful. I don't like the collar concept and the whole government can track every move you make way the society works. I think EggFusion Fertilization is a terrific idea.
I found things I liked and things I really, really disliked about the world the author created. I find this makes for a better book than if everything was just peachy.
Another good thing about these books is that each can be read as a standalone if you want to. They are even better read in a certain order though. Rebels Divided definitely makes more sense if you read The Rebels Within first, and The Rebel Trap skips ahead a few years and leaves you wondering what happened after the events of The Rebels Within. OK so maybe not quite standalone. Standalone-ish? Standalone adjacent?
So would I recommend these books. Yes. Who would I recommend these to? Anyone that enjoys dystopian, utopianesque, science fictionish, actiony stories with interesting characters and an engaging plot. Would I read more by this author? Yes. Would I be thrilled to wake up in the world brought to life in these books? No, though the mech suit would be awesome to have!
My Review:
I have mixed feelings about these books. I felt the same for all three so I am going to review them all together.
First of all, I did like the story in each book. I had no trouble following the story line. I enjoyed watching Annabelle grow over the course of the three books. I enjoyed meeting new characters and seeing familiar faces. The primarily female society was unique and I really enjoyed the tech throughout the books.
Now for my cons for the three books. The writing seemed a little off to me. Sometimes it flowed smoothly for me, other times it was kind of choppy or something. I know I am no wordsmith myself, but when I open a book I expect to be drawn smoothly into a story. I want the writing to flow and be easy to read. With these books I almost felt like there were two different people writing different scenes. This made it hard to stay focused on the story, as I kept wanting to re-read bits to see if I was mistaken in how jumpy it seemed.
There were also discrepancies in how people acted in the books. While Annabelle might get a verbal warning for one thing, she gets thrown in jail for another offense that didn't seem any worse than the first one. In one part she seemed like a loner, in another she is rousing the team for a victory with a few, sparse words? I felt confused and wanted the writer to choose one or the other. There are more examples, but for some reason the first book stayed fresher in my mind with these inconsistencies than the other two. Who know how my mind works? I sure don't!
Now with reading all the negative, it would sound like I didn't like the books. I did. I would give them a 3.5 star rating overall. As I said earlier, the society is very interesting to me. I cannot imagine growing up being taught that men are basically obsolete. That they are a danger to society as a whole. I really enjoyed the tech throughout the books. I want a mech suit. I think it would be wonderful. I don't like the collar concept and the whole government can track every move you make way the society works. I think EggFusion Fertilization is a terrific idea.
I found things I liked and things I really, really disliked about the world the author created. I find this makes for a better book than if everything was just peachy.
Another good thing about these books is that each can be read as a standalone if you want to. They are even better read in a certain order though. Rebels Divided definitely makes more sense if you read The Rebels Within first, and The Rebel Trap skips ahead a few years and leaves you wondering what happened after the events of The Rebels Within. OK so maybe not quite standalone. Standalone-ish? Standalone adjacent?
So would I recommend these books. Yes. Who would I recommend these to? Anyone that enjoys dystopian, utopianesque, science fictionish, actiony stories with interesting characters and an engaging plot. Would I read more by this author? Yes. Would I be thrilled to wake up in the world brought to life in these books? No, though the mech suit would be awesome to have!
About the Author:
Lance Erlick grew up in various parts of the United States and Europe. He took to stories as his anchor and was inspired by his father’s engineering work on cutting-edge aerospace projects to look to the future. He studied creative writing at Northwestern University and University of Iowa.
He writes science fiction, dystopian and young adult stories and likes to explore the future implications of social and technological trends. He is the author of The Rebel Within, The Rebel Trap, and Rebels Divided, three books in the Rebel series. In those stories, he flips traditional exploitation to explore the effects of a world that discriminates against males and the consequences of following conscience for those coming of age. Erlick lives in the Chicago area with his family.
Find learn more about the author and his stories visit his website at http://www.LanceErlick.com.
Website | Twitter | Facebook
Giveaway:
(2) $25 Amazon Gift Cards (INT)
Disclosure: I received copies of the ebooks above in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. I was not required to leave a positive review.
Thank you so much for hosting at our stop and reviewing!
ReplyDelete