Wednesday 12 December 2012

The Resistance Review

The Resistance (The Declaration #2)
Gemma Malley

Publisher: UK – Bloomsbury

The year is 2140. Having escaped the horrors of Grange Hall, Peter and Anna are living freely on the Outside, trying hard to lead normal lives, but unable to leave the terror of the Declaration—and their experiences as surpluses—completely behind them. Peter is determined to infiltrate Pharma Corporation, which claims to have a new drug in the works; "Longevity+" will not just stop the ravages of old age, it is rumored to reverse the aging process. But what Peter and Anna discover behind the walls of Pharma is so nightmarish it makes the prison of their childhood seem like a sanctuary...

After flying through The Declaration a couple of week ago (read review here) and loving it, I know I wasn’t going to wait a long time before I picked up the sequel. Having escaped Grange House and now Legal, Anna and Peter attempt to figure out how the outside world works and discover that you can’t always have the world in black and white.

The Declaration was mostly told from Anna’s point of view, while The Resistance has moved to Peters view. Growing up in secret among the resistance Peter is a fairly angry young man who is determined to end The Declaration and allow people to have children and die again. However, he has been asked to undercover at his Grandfather’s firm in order to find out more about the Longevity drug and not everything is as it seems…

Anna was a very naïve lead previously – understandably considering her upbringing in Grange Hall and she still takes most people on face value – it never occurs to her that people may not always be sincere. However, Peter is very much a different character – full of action and vigour. He wants to change things today. It makes him a harder character to feel for, but you know his heart is in the right place. The Resistance is a much more complex story with the story expanded from the treatment of the Surpluses to the political and society changes that living forever makes in peoples thinking and politics. Peter’s Grandfather is quite a Machiavellian character and you never quite know the why behind his actions, while Pip the leader of the resistance is almost too good. Although I suspect a dark secret in his past…

There are some elements which seem a little too simple – how quickly Peter and Anna believe what they are told; they rarely seem to question anything for themselves – or figure it out. But they are a sweet couple and you do root for them throughout. The writing sucks you in and the pages seem to turn themselves. It is a fast moving story and once again I rarely stopped once I started reading, desperate to know how it ended and if Anna and Peter would be ok. The Legacy, the latest book in the trilogy is staring at me at the moment and I know I will pick it up soon!

Recommended for fans of Veronica Rossi and Suzanne Collins. 8 out of 10

3 comments:

  1. Oh I'm glad you are enjoying this trilogy. This does sound like a middle book, but it also sounds like there is a lot more characterization in the book. I also want to know if they are okay so read the last one and let me know! :)

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  2. Hmm, this is a new series to me. Sounds really good. THanks for sharing it and introducing me to a new one. :)

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  3. I'm glad you still liked it, Mel. I kind of stayed clear of this trilogy, it never attracted my attention but I'm glad that people are reading and enjoying it! :)

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