Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Review: Surrender

SURRENDER (Possession #2)
Elana Johnson
Young Adult/Dystopian
480 Pages
Simon Pulse
Available Now
Received from author and CBB Book Promotions for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Forbidden love, intoxicating power, and the terror of control…

Raine has always been a good girl. She lives by the rules in Freedom. After all, they are her father’s rules: He’s the Director. It’s because of him that Raine is willing to use her talent—a power so dangerous, no one else is allowed to know about it. Not even her roommate, Vi.

All of that changes when Raine falls for Gunner. Raine’s got every reason in the world to stay away from Gunn, but she just can’t. Especially when she discovers his connection to Vi’s boyfriend, Zenn. Raine has never known anyone as heavily brainwashed as Vi. Raine’s father expects her to spy on Vi and report back to him. But Raine is beginning to wonder what Vi knows that her father is so anxious to keep hidden, and what might happen if she helps Vi remember it. She’s even starting to suspect Vi’s secrets might involve Freedom’s newest prisoner, the rebel Jag Barque...


MY THOUGHTS
Surrender is a lengthy expedition into a theoretically flawless world, the perceived burden of decision making removed from citizens entirely as their government oversees every aspect of their lives, small or large, to ensure perfection is achieved through the absence of independent thought. Like its predecessor, Surrender can be a chaotic story at times, our time split between protagonists Raine and Gunner as we follow their separate but linked journeys and uncover layer after layer of deceit. We’re given information, as are Gunner and Raine, in tiny fragments, bits and pieces revealed to us quickly before we must file them away and move on with our lead couple, but our collection of precious knowledge slowly but surely starts to paint a terrifying picture, and we can’t help but curl our lips in disgust the more we learn about those in power.

While Gunner and Raine are both interesting and likable characters, they aren’t necessarily what draw us into this grotesque mockery of an ideal world, instead it’s their roles in the resistance that have us rapidly turning the pages. Ms. Johnson has created in Director Hightower a villain in the form of a man; a father whose involvement in his daughter’s life stems not from any semblance of affection, but rather from a keen interest in her powerful talent, and in him, we find our emotional attachment to Gunner and Raine’s story. Typically emotional attachment comes in the form of more positive feelings – the love and support of beloved characters – but in this case, it comes in the form of utter hatred, our tether to him a sharp, pulsating thread of abhorrence that flares and causes a red haze to cloud our vision at every demonstration of his cruelty.

With his every action, our desire to see the resistance succeed grows tenfold, but as it does, we find a nervous anticipation accompanies its growth, our understanding of Director Hightower’s intelligence and his reach within Freedom making us horrifyingly aware of how likely a favorable outcome truly is. Ms. Johnson does a brilliant job of building that tension to an almost unbearable degree, giving us brief moments of happiness only to yank them away again as even the strongest of minds proves it can only withstand so much tampering before it shuts down. Through it all though we cling to glimpses of resistance we’ve been given, holding out hope that a small collective David will be able to topple one monstrous Goliath.

Though Surrender does have a tendency to be a touch choppy at times, bouncing back and forth between Gunner and Raine as well as between past and present when both characters have flashes of memory, the somewhat splintered nature of the story seems to fit the world itself. Freedom is not a smooth, tranquil city; it’s a thin film of complacency covering a seething underbelly of dissent, and the staccato rhythm of the chapters seems to match that of Gunner, Raine, Vi and Zenn’s lives. There are some momentous revelations in the final chapters, ensuring our need for the third and final book is at an all time high when we close the back cover, and I have already begun the countdown to June 2013 when I’ll finally get to see how all the pieces fit together.

Rating: 4/5




Candace over at CBB Book Promotions has organized a fantastic tour for the first two books in Elana Johnson's YA dystopian series, and Elana herself is offering up not one, but THREE, amazing giveaways to those who are following the tour. Below are the Rafflecopter forms for each of the giveaways:) Be sure and check out all the other fabulous stops on the tour HERE and you can find more information on Elana and her books on the these sites:

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34 comments:

  1. I think this is one of the books where we do not match! I wanted to love this book but simply couldn't. I was confused by the ending and totally confused by the characters. Maybe I'd need to give it another chance?

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    1. Hahaha this made it into the 5% of books we sort of disagree on? We were on a streak of perfect agreement, so this was bound to happen sooner rather than later:) I agree this world can be confusing, especially with all the memory tampering and mind control, but there was something fascinating about this installment for me. I got super involved hating Director Hightower:)

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  2. Sounds good, but to be honest, the blurb confuses me for some reason

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    1. That seems to be the case for a lot of people. You definitely have to read book 1 to know what's happening in this one despite the fact that the main characters are different from the first book.

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  3. Whoaaa after reading the blurb, I'm really confused by all the characters :S It's really great that author is able to build the tension well :) I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to start this series, but I'm really glad you enjoyed it :)Awesome review Jenny!!

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    1. I know it sounds confusing if you don't know who all the characters are, but it makes much more sense when you read the first book:) Gunner and Raine are new characters, but Vi, Zenn and Jag you meet in book 1.

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  4. The tension in this one was extreme! And how it related to the first book and led me into lusting after the third...definitely well done. I do kind of wish I'd waited for the third or read them all in a row because they interconnect so much. I tend to forget a lot of what happened in the prior book.

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    1. Wasn't it? I couldn't remember book one either so I struggled a touch in the beginning of this one trying to think of what happened to Vi, so I'm thinking I'll need to reread this one before Abandon comes out:)

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  5. I don't think I would want to live in a world where every decision was made for me. I could see where the world would be choatic :)

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    1. Me either. But then again we probably wouldn't know the world was that way because they'd ensure we didn't:)

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  6. I don't want to read the review, because I haven't read the first book, but I wanted to ask you if it has like.. Umm.. different persons telling the story? Because in the first book there seems to be a different narrator as the descriptions of the first one and the second one talk in different perspectives (Raine and Vi). But I'm glad you liked it since I plan on reading it so it gives me hope that maybe I'll like this too:)

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    1. Yes, books one and two have different main characters. The first book is Vi and Jag's story and this second book is Gunner and Raine's, however, Vi and Jag are an integral part of this second book, so they are in it as well, they're just not narrators. It's a complex world, and book one was a bit of a tricky read for me - kind of all over the place. This one was still a touch chaotic, but less so than the first so I have high hopes for book 3:)

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    2. Ooooh, well, I guess I'll just have to check it out for myself ;) Hopefully I'll enjoy both of these couples as main characters :)

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  7. I still need to read Possession. As in, it's sitting on my shelf, waiting to be picked up. So many books to read, so little time.

    I know it's shallow, but I am so struck by these covers. They're beautiful in their simplicity. A lot of my friends loved Possession, and you seemed to enjoy Surrender, so I'll make it a point to get to this series sooner rather than later!

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    1. I know. Almost every day I find a new book to add to my list, and then books I've been wanting to read for a while tend to get pushed further down. One of these days I'll get caught up Hannah!

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  8. Why I Broke Up is on the top of my wishlist right now!

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  9. I have to say that I'm disappointed this didn't continue the story of Vi and Zenn. Their story felt very unfinished for me. That said, the first book really didn't do anything for me so I'm going to take a pass on this one. Glad you enjoyed it, Jenny!

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    1. Fear not Rummanah! This does continue Vi an Jag's story, just not with them as narrators. Their story continues alongside Gunner and Raine's - they're all linked together.

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  10. I soo need to read the second book! I loved the first one. I'm glad to see that you like it and gave it a good rating. Sequels always make me a little nervous, cause you never know what will happen. Nice review Jenny!

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  11. I loved Surrender even more than Possession. I'm hooked. I absolutely cannot wait to read Abandon. This world is building very....very...scaryly.

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  12. Hmm. I am INTRIGUED by this. I may have to go check out the first book.

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  13. You know, I've never had the urge to read this series before for some reason. I don't think I've even read the summaries before today! It seems slightly messy and I'm a reader who gets easily confused, so maybe this is not the series for me! I'm glad to hear that this sequel was enjoyable, Jenny! :) Lovely review!

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  14. I'm glad you really enjoyed it! I love the series and am with you that the chaos 'feel' fits the world so I liked that. I know its a hit or miss for people but its one that many won't even consider and they seem to really misunderstand about the second one having new narrator's, like they think there's no Vi and Jag when in truth they are still there and very present. I liked getting new narrator's so that we kind of get a new side to things, we get to see things we wouldn't have with Vi and Jag.
    Anyway, thanks so much for hosting a stop and for your wonderful review!

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  15. I wish I had time to read these books for this tour. I have had them on my radar for awhile but I was just too slammed, and now I am reading all these good reviews and wishing I read them. Thanks for your input Jenny!

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  16. You make me want to give this series another shot, simply because this sounds a lot better than the first book. I didn't dislike Possession, but it wasn't nearly as gripping as I hoped it might be. I'm glad this impressed you well enough, Jenny! I hope the final book lives up to your expectations. :) Brilliant review!

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  17. I HATED the ending to the first book and then heard that there was no other book coming. I was SO upset. I'm SO glad that there is this book. You have no idea. I might wait for that 3rd book to be out so I can read the conclusion all at once (of course unless I win... *crosses fingers*). I want all those pieces to fit together!

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  18. I've been hearing great things about this series, so I definitely want to check it out soon. I'm so glad you enjoyed this one, Jenny! :) Amazing review, dear!

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  19. I had trouble with Possession. I felt it was very choppy and the characters didn't match their actions, but with Surrender I thought things were much better, like you the choppiness was lessened to a degree that I hardly noticed it. Now I can't wait for the third book! Aargh!
    Her endings!

    Heather

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  20. Ive wanted to read this series forever!!! I hope I win, I hope I win, I hope I win.....:D

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  21. Thanks for the awesome giveaway. Please enter me. Tore923@aol.com

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  22. Thanks for having such amazing giveaways!

    I have been wanting to read this series for a while, I am so glad that the winter holidays are almost here - more time to read :).

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  23. I wasn't too keen on the first book, but it's still nice to read a review for the sequel - and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I think it was the chaotic-ness that I didn't like so much. But it really seems like advancements were made and big things are set up the the final book so as a sequel, I would say success!

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  24. I have not read these yet, but I am very intrigued by your review...sounds like fun! Thanks for the giveaway:)

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  25. I didn't realize that Candace was running book tours now. I'll have to keep an eye out for them. I've been meaning to read Possession for a long time now.

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