Hey everyone! Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Fearless by Emma Pass! Today I have my review of the book to share with you - and don't forget to enter to win a signed copy!
The Fearless
Author: Emma Pass
Genre: YA Science Fiction/Dystopia/Thriller
Release Date: April 14, 2015
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Description:
For fans of The Hunger Games, Matched, Divergent, and The Fifth Wave,
this fast-paced futuristic thriller tells the story of
seventeen-year-old Cass and her fight to protect her younger brother
from an unimaginably terrifying enemy.
The Deadliest Enemy feels no fear.
When the Fearless invaded, they injected everyone in their path with the same serum that stripped them of humanity.
Life became a waking nightmare.
Cass has the invasion seared in her memory. Seven years later, she and her brother, Jori, are living on Hope Island in a community of survivors. No one can enter, and no one can leave.
It's the only way to stay safe.
But when Hope Island's security is breeched and Jori is taken by the Fearless, Cass will risk everything to get him back.
The Deadliest Enemy feels no fear.
When the Fearless invaded, they injected everyone in their path with the same serum that stripped them of humanity.
Life became a waking nightmare.
Cass has the invasion seared in her memory. Seven years later, she and her brother, Jori, are living on Hope Island in a community of survivors. No one can enter, and no one can leave.
It's the only way to stay safe.
But when Hope Island's security is breeched and Jori is taken by the Fearless, Cass will risk everything to get him back.
The Fearless is a captivating young adult dystopian thriller that will have readers eagerly turning the pages to find out what will happen next. The story follows our leading lady - Cass - as she tries to live a normal-ish life with her younger brother Jori on Hope Island - an island that houses survivors of the Invasion. There's one major rule on the island: Nobody can leave and absolutely nobody can enter. Cass can remember the day of the Invasion like it was yesterday - not seven years ago. She remembers seeing the Fearless and the horrific things that they caused. So when the island's security is compromised and Jori is taken by the Fearless - Cass knows what she has to do. She has to leave the island to travel the unknown and horrifying world outside so she can find Jori and bring him back.
When I first read the description of this book, I was instantly intrigued. It sounded like a perfect blend of dystopia and thriller with an original plot. I haven't read any of the author's other works before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Happily, I wasn't disappointed in the least. The author does a great job creating a truly terrifying dystopian world where a drug that was supposed to help soldiers during and after serving has a severe side effect: most of the people who take it lose the ability to feel fear. The drug soon escaped the military's hands and was given to tons of people across the globe - infecting them with the same outcome - the loss of fear. I think the world the author created for the book is terrifying because, if you think about it, this could actually happen in our world today. Who knows what kind of drugs the military and government are working on? And a side effect of aggression that morphs into loss of fear is capable of occurring now. There's honestly nothing about how Cass's world came to be that isn't possible of happening to our society right now. That's a really scary thought. We see how fast the world disintegrates and falls into chaos - forcing people to hide in order to keep themselves and their families safe. Again - not very far-fetched, in my opinion. I loved learning how the drug came to be, how it changed from being a helpful medicine for soldiers into the dreadful poison that creates the Fearless, and how people live in a world so frightening.
Cass is a great main character for the book. She's ten years old when the Invasion happens, so she remembers what the world was like before the Fearless overtook it. She also remembers the horror of the Invasion itself - the panic it caused worldwide, all of the destruction that happened, and having to move to Hope Island to be safe. Because of this knowledge, Cass is a down to earth teenage girl who is incredibly protective of her little brother, Jori. She will do anything to keep him safe and out of harms way. She's always on her guard on the island, just in case something were to go wrong. She's a loving and kind person who will do whatever it takes to make things right or to fight for what she believes in. We see her character grow throughout the book as she goes to find Jori - she matures both mentally and physically in the outside world. By the end, Cass is a very different person from the one at the beginning of the book - having to fight to stay alive changes her in a lot of ways, not all of which are easy to see.
The plot was fascinating, just like the description promised. Like I mentioned above, the world that the author created freaked me out because it was so realistic and could actually happen. The story is fast paced with loads of action and lots of suspense. I found myself reading as fast as I could to see what was going to happen next. Cass's journey to find Jori was full of obstacles and problems that always seemed to get in her way. The Fearless were freaky and one of the best parts of the book. I think it's because of their grotesque behavior and odd appearance that had me so fascinated. It was like a wreck - it's gruesome and terrifying, but you just can't stop yourself from watching. The one thing I did notice was that some of the dialogue seemed choppy and didn't sound like a normal conversation. When I came across parts like this, it pulled me out of the story a bit, which then took a little while for me to get immersed into the novel again. This is solely my opinion and I'm sure that other readers had no issues with it. For me though, it broke the trance-like state that a good book can put you in several times and each time I had to get myself back into that mindset. If the dialogue was more natural and flowed easily, I would have given the book a higher rating. Overall, this was a solid YA dystopian thriller that fans of both genres will enjoy, along with those who like suspense, action, and science fiction. It's a great book for anyone to read and I highly recommend it to everyone.
Emma Pass grew up at an environmental studies centre near London, went to art school in Cornwall and now lives in the north-east Midlands, UK. Her YA dystopian thriller ACID is out from Random House Children's Books on 25th April 2013 (UK), Mondadori on 13th June 2013 (Spain) and Delacorte on 1st April 2014 (US). Another standalone thriller, The Fearless, will follow in the UK in 2014. (Author bio and picture taken from Goodreads.)
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Giveaway: (1) Signed hardcover copy of The Fearless - Open to US only!
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