Name: Rebel Nation
ISBN: 9780425268124

Shaunta Grimes

In the sequel to the Oheart-wrenching and exhilaratingO (Emily McKay, author of "The Farm") "Viral Nation, " Clover Donovan's fight for freedom could end up claiming her life.

Rebel Nation

Maggie Gordon

Rebel Nation was a fairly weak follow-up to an excellent introduction to a new series. Hopefully this is just an example of second book syndrome as the overall story remains quite intriguing!

In the Viral Nation series, the world has been ravaged by a deadly plague (I know, I know, this is the plot of every YA dystopia ever lately, but I promise this one is different!), and humanity was saved by two men who figured out how to time travel to the future to bring back a cure. Fast forward over a decade, and Clover, our autistic and incredibly awesome protagonist, uncovers a lot of secrets and lies about the plague and the people who supposedly cured it. This first installment of the series was exciting, and most importantly, different from the swarm of other similar book out there! Specifically, I was quite impressed with the inclusion of a non-neurotypical protagonist who was written with a lot of respect and verisimilitude. 

Unfortunately, Rebel Nation drops much of what made Viral Nation so captivating. Clover remains a very unique and well done character, but those around her are not very well developed. Furthermore, instead of exploring the whole time travel plot line, the book is focused instead on ensuring that Clover and her fellow rebels are safe. While what they go through is probably a more realistic portrayal of what happens when a bunch of younger people try to escape an evil corporation, the nitty gritty of figuring out whether X city is safe is not all that interesting or satisfying. I felt like most of the book could have been condensed by at least half the pages, and the plot could have moved forward far more quickly. 

Overall, I still recommend the series, but I am crossing my fingers that the third installment is as strong as the first.

Rebel Nation

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