Saturday, May 2, 2015

Review: Unleashed (Uninvited #2) by Sophie Jordan

Author: Sophie Jordan
Series: Uninvited
Genre: YA, Romance, Sci-fi/Dystopian
Release Date: February 24, 2015
Format: ARC
My Rating: 2 Stars
Summary From Goodreads: 
Davy has spent the last few months trying to come to terms with the fact that she tested positive for the kill gene HTS (also known as Homicidal Tendency Syndrome). She swore she would not let it change her, and that her DNA did not define her . . . but then she killed a man.
Now on the run, Davy must decide whether she'll be ruled by the kill gene or if she'll follow her heart and fight for her right to live free. But with her own potential for violence lying right beneath the surface, Davy doesn't even know if she can trust herself. 


My Thoughts

I loved Uninvited. I mean LOVED it. So yeah, I was really excited for Unleashed. I put it on my “can’t freaking wait” TBR list without even reading the summary. I was that excited. So of course I squealed when I received an ARC. I haven’t had much time to read, but I recently picked it up and finally read the summary. Imagine my surprise when I saw CADEN in the summary. Who be that? Where is SEAN? Do you not know how much I shipped them in Uninvited?! (See review gifs here). Of course this made me very wary, especially since the first chapter began with Davy being like, "yeah. I can’t look at Sean without feeling guilty and sick." Say whaaat? You can’t do this to my ship.

Also, I went into reading the book thinking it was a trilogy. I didn’t realize until the end when things began wrapping up that it was only a duology. That’s my fault, but I was completely blindsided. But honestly, this book suffered badly from second book syndrome, even though it’s not part of a trilogy. First of all, the pacing felt off to me. There would randomly be scenes where all these events are happening at one and then other parts it would just be Davy contemplating her thoughts on Caden and the resistance. That brings me to my second point. What happened to the strong Davy we met in the first book? Who is this weak, whiny Davy? I want the original girl back!

And seriously? The romance aspect with Caden? That is one of my number one pet peeves in books: when authors establish a relationship between two characters, and then suddenly changes their mind and switches love interests to a new character in the next book. YOU CAN’T JUST DO THAT, especially when it took them so long to build that relationship in the first place. Caden is cool and everything but is that really necessary? It’s not that big of a deal, but it’s one of the YA tropes I really just can’t stand (as you can see). And of course while Davy is off with Caden, Sean conveniently falls in love with someone else, so everyone is happy! I didn’t really connect to any of the characters either and mainly felt annoyed with Davy, especially when she kept on leaving the resistance compound and then coming back. Like, make up your mind already and stop thinking about everyone there being a carrier! It’s not that big of a deal!

The plot also felt really bland to me. Nothing truly happened. Sure, Davy stumbles upon a resistance group, but that’s about it. There weren’t any scenes where they fight against the agency or anything. They have scouts who go on occasional looks outs, but that’s the extent of it and it’s all very vague. They have the technology that allows them to see the location of the agencies and other resistance groups, but the book never really shows them doing anything. The end felt kind of abrupt and rushed to me. While there was an epilogue, things definitely could have been explained better in the decision behind the government’s declaration.


Overall, I really wanted to like this one but as the end of the series, it was a minor let down but I managed to finish (I had considered DNFing at one point). I would still recommend it to others though because I loved the first book, along with Sophie Jordan’s other YA series, and because of my initial excitement for the book. Who knows, maybe others will have better luck than me if they read it.
                                                                              
Sophie Jordan

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Sophie Jordan grew up in the Texas hill country where she wove fantasies of dragons, warriors, and princesses. A former high school English teacher, she's also the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Avon historical romances. She now lives in Houston with her family. When she's not writing, she spends her time overloading on caffeine (lattes and Diet cherry Coke preferred), talking plotlines with anyone who will listen (including her kids), and cramming her DVR with true-crime and reality-TV shows. Sophie also writes paranormal romances under the name Sharie Kohler.

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