Secondborn

Wrote a full review on my blog. Fun read! https://happyechos.wordpress.com/2017...

Can’t. Tried to stick with it, but the MC (who is also the narrator) makes absolutely no sense — she is constantly doing random things without any strategy or reason, which would work if she were unpredictable and rebellious but she isn’t. Her personality was undefined at the start and still fails to take shape through the story. And not only does that make her an unreliable narrator, because the story progresses as unevenly as her mood; it also means that I couldn’t glean her motivation or anything about her that would make me want to keep reading. In addition to that, there is the fact that the society the story plays in has no basis or reason. Was there a war, that drove these changes? What’s with the various Fates (tribes as well as castes) and who decided what they do? Seriously, no rhyme or reason, no background and no explanation is given AT ALL for the societal structure. Without that as a foundation for the world-building, the story is a little wobbly from the start; but I gave it a fair shot because I’m a sucker for dystopian YA, and the basic premise of dictating someone’s destiny based on their birth order sounded intriguing. NOPE. Also, I don’t like that Hawthorne — the guy who has been so clearly chosen as the MC’s love interest from the beginning, that he might as well have been marked with heart-eyed emojis — has so many moments where he turns into a so-classic-it's-almost-cliché toxic male, before turning on the charm again. She sees it, she dislikes it, and yet she gets all googly-eyed when he touches the bruise HE gave her in apology and then holds her hand. GIVE ME A BREAK. Take a hike, weird voyeur creep. YOU DON’T KNOW HER AND SHE IS NOT YOUR PROPERTY. Gaaah! See? I can’t. With all of this, there is just not enough plot to keep me reading past 47%.

I wanna say that I loved this but I'm honestly unsure of how I feel at this point. The plot itself was good but a lot of the major plot twists were predicable and beyond convenient. Roselle was a kind of a flip-flop character? Her personality seemed to change when it would be convenient for the plot. I also feel there should have been a limit to how badass she was, it was almost silly. She's an 18 year old soldier with years of immense not a super hero. I will be reading the rest of the series and look forward to it. I hope that it improves with Traitor Born. It has a higher rating than Secondborn so it has my expectations up. Accurate rating is 3.5

This is the 1st in a series. I really enjoyed this book. I read it on a plane ride and I was engaged enough that I wanted to finish it. If you want a detailed world building story, this isn't it. If you want a beach read dystopian story. This one could be for you. I did not, however, find the romantic interest between Hawthorn and Rosalinda believable. Despite enjoying the story I'm not sure I will feel compelled to read the series.

DNF @ probably 30% (I was listening to it and have yet to figure out how to determine completion percentage on Audible). Issues with this book: 1) The narrator was poops. She just wasn't that great at creating different voices. And she was just a little too high pitched for my liking. 2) The movement of the plot was sloooow. It seems like it's going fast but not really. 3) The world is a little confusing. There are different Fates the people belong to and the whole government system seems a little weird. Like, it doesn't make sense. Anyways, these are all, clearly, subjective opinions. I do think reading a physical book rather than the audiobook would have been the better option.

Man! This book has so much potential! It just doesn't quite reach it :( Review to come.

I really enjoyed my time with this one. I especially liked Roselle as a main character. The whole world was fascinating and the plot kept you at the edge of your seat. Really good! Can't wait to read the next one.

4.25 (Reread on 12/21/17 - I still love this!) Let me start by saying that Amy is the author of one of my favorite series (the Kricket Series) and I find that I really enjoy her writing and storytelling. Naturally, I was really looking forward to picking this book up when it was released. Needless to say, it did not disappoint. The story is fast-paced and had several crucial plot twists that I did not see coming but really enjoyed. The characters are relatable, realistic, lovable and even a little "hate-able". The technology, "class" system and world introduced in this first installment is not wholly original but intriguing nonetheless with its own uniqueness. Its easy to see why some individuals in this world may choose the paths they do and why some may choose to jump at any opportunity to raise their standings in society. Overall, this is one of my favorite new releases of 2017 to have read. I have a few theories on where this story is going and will absolutely be continuing this series when the next one is released.

VERY LONG RANT! 🤦‍♀️ I haven't read a dystopian book in a long time and decided to give this book a try. I really really struggled with this book and DNF it at the end. I didn't care for any of the characters and there was nothing that stood out to me in regards of the world. My main problem was the world. There was very little world building and explanation on how the system works in this dystopian world. The only thing I know is that firstborns are treated like kings, secondborns are treated like garbage and thirdborns are killed. Also the world is broken into tropes/fraction, but why? How does it all work? What's the difference? What are they even? Information is thrown around in different chapters and I have to go back to other chapters so nothing gets mixed up together. I feel like I was reading about this world without any explanation or background info. Names were just dropped with no context, "fate of that" or "fate of this". How am I supposed to know what's happening if there is no explanation? *sigh* Just so you know, these are some of the names of the tropes or whatever they are that were mentioned (fates of swords, fates virtues, fates of stars, fates of atoms, fates of sun, fates of diamonds, fates of moons, fates of stones and finally fates of seas)... do you know what I mean? It was just too much.