Review: Rage Within by Jeyn Roberts

rage within Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publish Date: September 4th, 2012
Source: Purchased
Goodreads

Rating: 5/5 Baggers

Synopsis: Aries, Clementine, Michael, and Mason have survived the first wave of the apocalypse that wiped out most of the world’s population and turned many of the rest into murderous Baggers. Now they’re hiding out in an abandoned house in Vancouver with a ragtag group of fellow teen survivors, trying to figure out their next move.

Aries is trying to lead, but it’s hard to be a leader when there are no easy answers and every move feels wrong. Clementine is desperate to find her brother Heath, but it’s impossible to know where he’d be, assuming he’s alive. Michael is haunted by the memories of his actions during his harrowing struggle to survive. And Mason is struggling with something far worse: the fear that he may be a danger to his friends.

As the Baggers begin to create a new world order, these four teens will have to trust and rely on each other in order to survive. -Goodreads

Review: I’ve said it 1000 times already, but Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts was my favorite book of 2011, so you can imagine how much I was looking forward to book number two, Rage Within. I promise you, I was not disappointed. Book two jumps in essentially where the first left off. All four of our main characters are living in Vancouver (I love that this is both written by and about Canada, not only does it bring up some national pride but Canadian’s have a bit of a reputation for manners and being overly friendly, so to see Vancouver full of hatred filled baggers is fantastic), trying to survive the apocalypse and the baggers while trying to do this, that and other things. There’s a bit of romance in the air, but mostly it’s death and horror.

There are a few genuinely shocking moments. Some heart-breaking and others where things start to look like they might go better than expected. Jeyn Roberts is obviously a fantastically creative mind, and a great writer. The story is fast paced throughout and there is literally never a dull moment.

I still have time differentiating between Mason and Michael at times. I never had trouble remember who was doing what within this story, but can’t always remember who did what in the first book, and which back story goes with which guy. I don’t know if it was just the name alliteration, but I never had the same problem with Clementine and Aries. I think it had everything to do with how strong each of their story arcs have been throughout the series so far.

Even the secondary characters really stepped up their roles, and made memorable impacts. I won’t go into details, but I am loving the heart breaking journey that Jack is making and will be interested in seeing how things play out in the next book.

As we get farther into the story, the overall arc is starting to come together nicely. I still have no idea what the endgame is but I cant wait to find out. Rage Within was exactly what I was hoping for, and damn near perfect. You definitely have to be in the mood for something a little darker than your average young adult read, but all the creepyness is well worth the fantastic story you’ll get. Read this, read it now.