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| Cover retrieved from Goodreads page |
The Rise of the Altereds is a YA Sci-Fi/Dystopian sequel to The Unadjusteds
My Goodreads review can be found here.
As per usual, anything that does not directly relate to the topic at hand will be written in this color.
All right, ladies and gentlemen, buckle up because I have Thoughts™.
One of the main things I appreciated with The Unadjusteds is that the main and secondary characters, ranging around 16, weren't stupid. Though they were young, they could think through their actions even if the reasoning was flawed or not the best. I would rather read about characters who made bad decisions because they thought they were making good decisions than I would about characters making bad decisions Because the Plot Demanded It™. (Or any kind of decision to be honest.) The characters have thought through their decisions and while I highly disagree with one of them I understand how they got there and it doesn't make me hate the characters.
I appreciate how the friends have continued to be caring of one another. They have their arguments and disagreements, but at the end of the day they still care for one another and have a united front. As an adult (guys, I'm old), I find the YA trope(s) of 1) agreeing with everything your friends do and 2) ditching your friends at the moment of disagreement only to come back at the final moment...unrealistic at best and harmful at worst. And not to mention, it's a cliché of the highest order. Letting the characters stay steady through thick and thin is a nice touch that more people should follow.
The tone of this book is a lot different than the first book. While I do have misgivings about how it could be seen (see below), it is mostly on the good side of Second Book Syndrome. There is still action; however, because it looks and feels different, it takes a while to get to the action that was felt in the first book. Once you arrive, there is quite a bit of satisfaction. If you think you might get bored, hang in there for a little bit before you make your to DNF or not.
Two words: Cowboy soldier. I love Sean so much. He is the greatest and I love him.
Finally, I love that the romance is prominent but does not overpower the other aspects of the story. Because many of the characters are in relations, there is the possibility of romance becoming the primary subgenre, if not the primary genre. This then detracts from the main storyline and, though it leads to cute moments, can be very frustrating. This book is done well in that it allows for the romance to be a big part of the story for all of the characters without compromising the main genres.
This is a middle book and the pressure to maintain the readership is strong; romance is a good way to keep readers invested in what they already love. However, the author runs the risk of alienating their readers if they lean into the secondary genre too much.
Side note: I'm not saying that it's bad to take a scene or two to focus on romance. Take a few chapters if you want. But the whole book when it's a different genre? Not cool, fam.
Because the primary genres remain primary while the romance, though prominent, remains secondary, this book is able to have good moments of romance that compliments the story instead of distracting.
While this book was fun to read, it did come with some issues.
As mentioned above, it is a different tone than the first book that does open it to accusations of Second Book Syndrome. The Unadjusteds had Silver constantly on the run while this had Silver and Co in a good position and any fighting that they do is in an effort to protect people. I personally do not believe that it suffers from SBS, but because the feeling is so different, I can see how someone would think this at the beginning.
I read this story while the world was in 2020 (I think you know what I mean.); one main aspect of the story is a virus. While this personally doesn't bother me (there was no way of predicting this would happen) it still threw me slightly.
Though it is a strength in terms of character and writing, I found that the secondary characters (who are mostly teens) tended to be a little dramatic in their interactions with the world and each other. This is a strength because the characters are teens, making it realistic, but they tend to do it often, which makes for a slower reading experience.
However, Silver's voice (and subsequently, her thought process) is a little older than she is in the story. While she's older so it doesn't matter too much (and I prefer it because contrary to popular belief, teens can think things through), if you're looking for complete voice accuracy you might not enjoy this as much.
While we got hints of new power (#NoSpoilers) at the very end of the last book/very beginning of this one, it comes at a...very opportune time and feels slightly off to me. If it was as strong as we are told, the power should manifest itself just a little bit more instead of having it work correctly at that time. To be fair, I do remember getting hints of the power before it manifests, but to have prominence at that particular time is a little too convenient for my tastes.
Now, this is one that, while I understand why they made this stupid decision, is tainted by association to The Last of Us 2, along with the traditionally horrible execution of said trope. (Even typing that game makes me want to drink myself into oblivion.) Again, I try not to give spoilers here, so my rage is going to be somewhat vague.
TLOU2 released and was an absolute dumpster fire, and that's putting it kindly. One of the main subpoints in this story shares a trope with TLOU2. Thankfully, this one actually somewhat makes sense both in the story and realistically, but because it mirrors TLOU2 and is still not a good thing, it's a little frustrating.
But again, I will reiterate: This subplot, though understandable why they felt the need to make this decision, is not one that I advise people to use because it is not done well in most cases. It is only redeemable because in this story, unlike TLOU2, the characters know this is not a good decision, feel that there is no other choice, and do the best that they can with the decision. These characters do not act as though this decision is normal but try to make the best of it due to the circumstances.
Also, it helps that they are actual characters with desires and flaw and not self-inserts and/or cookie-cutter images of Perfection(TM). But I digress.
Finally, as we head into the final book (The Reckoning, out May 6th!), I have this feeling that Matt is going to die. I have no basis for this feeling and I really hope I'm wrong, but I'm putting my bet down now that he dies.
This sequel, though having a different feel than the first book, is one of the better sequels I've read in a long time and I hope you will enjoy it as well.
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Next month is Indie April! Starting on April 9, I will have reviews of independently published on the blog every Friday for the month. Come join me!
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