Review: Deception by C.J. Redwine

Deception

Author: C.J. Redwine
Series: Courier’s Daughter #2
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Genre: YA Fantasy/YA Dystopian
Format: Hardcover, 480 pages
Release Date: August 27, 2013
Source: Personal Library, Bought
Rating: 5 Stars
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Synopsis from Goodreads:

Baalboden has been ravaged. The brutal Commander's whereabouts are unknown. And Rachel, grief stricken over her father's death, needs Logan more than ever. With their ragged group of survivors struggling to forge a future, it's up to Logan to become the leader they need—with Rachel by his side. Under constant threat from rival Carrington's army, who is after the device that controls the Cursed One, the group decides to abandon the ruins of their home and take their chances in the Wasteland.



But soon their problems intensify tenfold: someone—possibly inside their ranks—is sabotaging the survivors, picking them off one by one. The chaos and uncertainty of each day puts unbearable strain on Rachel and Logan, and it isn't long before they feel their love splintering. Even worse, as it becomes clear that the Commander will stop at nothing to destroy them, the band of survivors begins to question whether the price of freedom may be too great—and whether, hunted by their enemies and the murderous traitor in their midst, they can make it out of the Wasteland alive.

In this daring sequel to Defiance, with the world they once loved forever destroyed, Rachel and Logan must decide between a life on the run and standing their ground to fight.

My Review:

I preordered this book before it came out and ran to the mailbox the day it arrived. And then for some reason I didn’t pick it up right away. Library books got in the way. Review books got in the way. Then I was moving and life got in the way. Luckily as we were separating our stuff that we were taking with us vs. the stuff that was going into storage I grabbed this book. So with no library books to read and only review books screaming my name from my Kindle (shhhh….) I finally got to pick this one up. My sister has been bugging me for weeks about this book wanting to talk about it. Here you go, Megan. I finally did it!

This book picks up right where Defiance left off. Logan has been elected leader by the few remaining survivors of Baalboden. He must figure out a way to lead them to safety before the evil Commander returns to take what he believes is rightfully his. Easier said than done. The Wasteland is a nasty place and most of these people have never left the safety of Baalboden’s walls. Logan has his work cut out for him. These poor survivors cannot catch a break. Bad thing after bad thing happens to them on their journey. A lot of people die. It was harsh, brutal, and devastating, but it was perfect. C.J. Redwine accurately represented the harshness of the Wasteland and showed just how twisted the world is.

When I read the first book it felt like a fantasy novel to me with the presence of the Cursed One (a scary wingless dragon) and the primitive (yet also advanced) city-states. But in this one, we get a little more background into the world and it felt a lot more dystopian to me. I loved that. Because there are fantastical elements in the story it felt like a fresh approach to the dystopian genre. I enjoyed the tiny snippets of the old world that we got and I craved more information. I really hope we get more answers about how the world came to be like this in the third book.

Logan was just as awesome in this book as the first. He is strong, sweet, and able to focus on the goals and necessary actions even though he is grieving inside. I love his character. Rachel on the other hand goes to a very dark place in this book. My heart broke for her. She has suffered so much loss and carries so much guilt and she has no idea how to deal with it. She believes she is broken beyond fixing and becomes numb to everything around her. But going to this dark place really helped her develop as a character. She was still a total badass in this book (I loved seeing her fight scenes), but she is going to be even more badass in the next book.

  

“I’m not afraid of you, but you should be very afraid of me. You should look over your shoulder every minute of every day and wonder when I’m coming for you. You should tremble when you close your eyes because one of these nights, you’ll awaken with my blade against your throat and there will be nothing you can do to stop me.” –Rachel

Let’s talk about Quinn for a quick second. I love him. He’s my favorite character. I want Quinn to be my older brother. He’s so protective and so good and I just love everything about him. Amazing character addition. One that honestly, I wasn’t sure about in the first book, but he totally stole my heart in this one as we got to know him better.

“I know the pain scares you. It should, because healing is so much harder than being hurt in the first place. But you will never get better until you stop running and start looking things in the eye. Until you give the things that hurt you the label they deserve, feel the way they make you feel, and then let the pieces slowly settle until you can breathe again.” –Quinn

There are so many twists and revelations in this book. One thing that I never saw coming and never expected. Twists with the Cursed One, the Commander, and Rowansmark. Even twists with the characters that we (think) we know and love. C.J. Redwine had me fooled many times throughout this book. She shocked and awed me. She made me cry. She made me smile. She made me yell my battle-cry. Lots of feels in this book, a great second book to this awesome series. That cliffhanger at the ending has me begging for more. I can’t wait for the final book in this awesome trilogy! Happy reading all!

Have you guys read this book yet? Started this series? What did you think of Rachel in this book? Do you love Quinn as much as I do? Were you shocked by all the twists?