Rebel (ARC): Review

Synopsis:

The sequel to the action-packed Reboot is a can't-miss thrill ride, perfect for fans of James Patterson, Veronica Roth, and Marie Lu.

After coming back from death as Reboots and being trained by HARC as soldiers, Wren and Callum have finally escaped north, where they hope to find a life of freedom. But when they arrive at the Reboot Reservation, it isn't what they expected. Under the rule of a bloodthirsty leader, Micah, the Reboots are about to wage an all-out war on the humans. Although Wren's instincts are telling her to set off into the wilderness on their own and leave the battle far behind, Callum is unwilling to let his human family be murdered. When Micah commits the ultimate betrayal, the choice is made for them. But Micah has also made a fatal mistake . . . he's underestimated Wren and Callum.

The explosive finale to the Reboot duology is full of riveting action and steamy love scenes as Wren and Callum become rebels against their own kind.

***

Rebel picks up after Wren and Callum escaped HARC and find a place known as the Reboot Reservation. Just when they try to find a life for themselves, they're thrown into violence again by the sort-of-psychotic leader of Reboot Reservation, Micah. And there's still the threat from HARC. They have to stick together in order to fight their way through all these mess and have a life they want.

So much more has happened in Rebel. I will admit Reboot is a little slow on uptake, because it takes quite sometime before the book gets to interesting parts. But since there are much more complicated stuff in Rebel, the plot is a lot more fast-paced. This part is the most significant improvement of the book. Action scenes are totally not in shortage. I don't count those trainings in HARC in Reboot as one of those action scenes (I don't think you actually need me to explain this, right?). Those fighting scenes in Rebel is just so much more intense and thrilling. It's "fighting-for-your-life-every-second" kind of intense. I love that.

Rebel is told in dual point of view. Wren's and Callum's. Although reading Callum's point of view is still a load of fun and pretty enjoyable, I find myself don't like it as much as I thought I would. Callum sounds too... sane in Rebel (not that Wren is insane, but come on). I thought being almost-human he will have a wider range and more intense emotions. But no, other than the fact that he thinks the Reboots shouldn't raise a massacre on humans just because they're nasty on Reboots, he's pretty tamed. Wren might be slightly more ruthless and logical than Callum (which is not very, but still), but her emotions are just more real and intense, which makes reading her point of view much more interesting. I must say, though I love the dual perspective, I can't deny I'm a little disappointed in Callum's point of view.

Amy Tintera makes a vast improvement in Rebel, and I deeply appreciate that. Although I think there are some space for more improvement, I'd say Rebel is good enough.

Rating: 7.5/10