Review Thursday: Numbers Ignite by Rebecca Rode

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Numbers Game #2

Goodreads Blurb:

"Treena and Vance think they’ve escaped the numbers game forever. They’re wrong.

After Treena’s disastrous attempt to unite the nation, she has the deaths of hundreds haunting her dreams. Now, with hatred and accusations following her past the border, she’s determined to leave that horrible day behind and find a peaceful, uneventful life with Vance and the settlers. But when she starts seeing mysterious figures hiding in the abandoned cities at night and uncovers a strange desert population, she realizes there’s a danger much greater than NORA to worry about—and she just abandoned her people to their fate.

Vance is a prisoner. Being rejected by the girl he loves and put on trial for betraying his clan are bad enough, but now he’s been framed for a crime he never committed. Their less-than-perfect refuge has become the political game of a madman, and Vance is the only one who can stop it—if he can keep from being executed first.

Treena and Vance are still very much in the game, and this time it will take everything they have to save those they love."

Review:

Thank you to the author, Rebecca Rode, and to Olivia (who organizes the review chain) for gifting me with a copy of Numbers Ignite in exchange for an honest review!

I read the first book in this series a little while ago and loved it so I was expecting great things out of the sequel.  Luckily, it didn't let me down!

1.  The characters.  I really enjoyed getting to know each of the characters, especially as we're introduced to more as Vance and Treena meet more people.  The alternating POV's between Vance and Treena really helped with this and kept everything so connected and present.  While I wouldn't say this book really dives into the inner psyche, the characters are all well-thought out, each with their own background and personality.  Sometimes, there were moments where there was a particularly odd thought or decision but those moments are few and far between.  This is such a good middle-of-the-road dystopian novel, walking the line between too little and too much.

2.  The plot.  The plot is equally good.  The structure follows the typical hero's journey (dystopian edition) and it really works for this book.  It may seem repetitive for a book to follow the path of so many before it but why fix what isn't broken?  The author threw in some really nice plot twists and in true trilogy fashion, we get a little bit of a more comprehensive peek at the outside world which supplements the plot nicely.  The pacing is quite good as well and it kept going at a steady clip throughout with the usual variances.

3.  The romance.  To be quite honest, there isn't much romance in this book at all compared with the first one.  I really did appreciate that choice made by the author, though.  There were opportunities for her to start up multiple love-triangles but she kept it simple and normal.  Treena has the potential for relationships when she's away from Vance and vice versa but they know who they want and that's that.  I think this is a much more accurate interpretation of human nature and I loved that the author recognized that romance isn't the only secondary plot line available.

4.  The writing.  As I've mentioned before, this book is a good middle-of-the-road dystopia and the writing reflects that.  There's nothing too fancy about it but it does the job in a very adequate and even exemplary fashion.  There are moments where the world felt a little far from reach and fuzzy but for the most part, the author kept the feelings of the book intact throughout.

The Final Verdict:

A solid dystopian sequel with an engaging plot and characters.

4.5 stars

Meet the Author

REBECCA RODE is the international bestselling author of the Numbers Game trilogy and Love Right, a sweet romance. Her published works also include the inspirational book for mothers, How to Have Peace When You're Falling to Pieces, and various freelance articles in the Deseret News, Provo Daily Herald, KSL.com, Family Share, and Schooled Magazine. She loves cheesy martial arts movies, chocolate-banana shakes, and good old fashioned romance. Rebecca lives with her husband and four children.

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