Review: Unleashed by Sophie Jordan

Unleashed

Sophie Jordan

(Uninvited #2)

Publication Date: February 24, 2015

Hardcover, 368 pages, Katherine Tegen Books

Genres: YA, Dystopian/Sci-Fi

Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Goodreads

Davy has spent the last few months trying to come to terms with the fact that she tested positive for the kill gene HTS (also known as Homicidal Tendency Syndrome). She swore she would not let it change her, and that her DNA did not define her . . . but then she killed a man.

Now on the run, Davy must decide whether she'll be ruled by the kill gene or if she'll follow her heart and fight for her right to live free. But with her own potential for violence lying right beneath the surface, Davy doesn't even know if she can trust herself.

My Review

WARNING SPOILERS may lie ahead! This is the second book in a DUOLOGY, so don’t read my review unless you want SPOILED.

Davy is a killer. It’s in her genes. After escaping from a camp designed to turn killers into more efficient killers, Davy and her group of friends are on the run, but somehow Sean, Sabine, and Gil get separated from Davy and she learns what happens to HTS carriers who don’t run, who fight.

So I have to say that I was nervous going into this book. I had heard all of the controversy about the absence of Sean, Davy’s love interest from the first book, and I was saddened. I did really like his character. But because I had heard about this change beforehand, and because I had more than a year between reading the two books, I was able to understand and accept why Sophie Jordan did this.

Davy is changing. She isn’t the same girl that she was when the first book started and Sean is still really the same boy he was when Davy started falling for him. They both just grew apart. So we meet a new boy, Caden. His appearance allows for a larger plotline. Now, Davy has a chance to fight the people who are either trying to control her or to kill her. But, she never really does fight back. Caden does most of the work, and even then he doesn’t do a lot.

Caden as a character is alpha-maleness to the core. And I love him. Do I love him as much as Sean? I’m not totally sure. They’re both fantastic in different ways. Do I like Caden for Davy? Not really. While Davy presents herself as strong and tough, she never got a chance to act on it. Also, Caden needs to learn to give people space. I mean if it was me I'd be like "Take me. I'm yours," but Davy has been through some crap and he needs to get that through his thick skull. Like I said, the main action of the story was performed by Caden,—which I’m normally fine with, because alpha-maleness FTW—but it happened off-screen. Not cool.

Despite most of the political action and physical action happening off-screen, I still enjoyed the way Sophie Jordan wrote it. For once the main character isn’t in the thick of the problem for no apparent reason. I always ask myself whenever I read a dystopian story, “Why is this 100-pound 16-year-old girl trying to tell people what to do?” Usually there’s no good answer. And thankfully, that didn’t happen in this book. Unfortunately though, the ending of the book kind of ruined this effect. It was just too abrupt and things just happened without any real reason.

I did enjoy this book (I read it in one sitting). I didn’t mind the love interest and I didn’t mind that there wasn’t a whole lot going on, I just wish the ending hadn’t been so wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am.

*Note: I purchased a copy of this book for myself.