As the final Friday Reads entry of this week, I'm having an ARC review! I have to give a big shout out to Flux Books for always approving my requests on NetGalley! Thank you!!
As a review copy, it is included in my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge and little by little, I'm inching towards the 80% ratio!
Paranoia by J.R. Johansson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I was very lucky to be approved by Flux books on NetGalley for Paranoia, and after finishing Insomnia, I was extremely eager to get some more answers to all the unanswered questions!
I'm gonna try to keep this review as spoiler free as possible, but you can expect some spoilers for the first book.
Paranoia starts pretty much where Insomnia left us with Parker, Mia, Finn and Addie dealing with the aftermath of what happened by the end of the book, and recovering from it. Parker is now better since he can finally get some sleep and his friends know about his "ability".
Then Finn, Addie and Mia leave for Disneyland and as much as Parker tries to stay in control all hell breaks loose and he ends up being taken over by his darker side and in jail. And low and behold, Jack the guy with the blind skull patch comes back again to save the day.
I'm a bit torn on how to rate Paranoia, because I loved Parker's progression and character growth and we got answers and we got some background story for that answers that made sense and hinted at more things... but I highly disliked Jack for 90% of the book and I was truly annoyed at the twists added to the romance part.
First of all, let's start with Jack. He's been sent by Parker's dad to protect him, but he's been doing quite a crap job and he really isn't helpful at all when training or giving answers to Parker. I knew something didn't add up in his story, and I guessed correctly. He knows everything Parker doesn't about the abilities and how to control them and all the rest of what he calls "the Night Watchers" and despite knowing that Parker had no contact or information about it all, continues to act annoyed and high and mighty every step of the way. He might be hurt, he might be resentful, but he really isn't doing his job very well at all. Very frustrating!
There was a certain uncertainity introduced with Mia and Finn and Parker and if the romance mess would have been limited to that, I would have understand. It made sense and confusion and misunderstandings happen. But how things went with Addie and Parker and Jack, it was once again frustrating!
The way the book ends is quite enough as to leave this as a duology, and we do get plenty of answers (finally!). The climax was interesting, with a few reveals that were quite interesting (one I had guessed, the other I didn't see coming) but I have to say something I know should have been a bigger emotional punch left me a bit unsure how to feel. I don't think neither Parker nor the reader has enough time to process emotionally the changes to feel affected enough.
It was still a very engrossing read, less creepy and full of tension than the first book, but thankfully full of answers. Torn as I am, I give it 3 to 3.5 stars.
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As a review copy, it is included in my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge and little by little, I'm inching towards the 80% ratio!
Paranoia by J.R. JohanssonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I was very lucky to be approved by Flux books on NetGalley for Paranoia, and after finishing Insomnia, I was extremely eager to get some more answers to all the unanswered questions!
I'm gonna try to keep this review as spoiler free as possible, but you can expect some spoilers for the first book.
Paranoia starts pretty much where Insomnia left us with Parker, Mia, Finn and Addie dealing with the aftermath of what happened by the end of the book, and recovering from it. Parker is now better since he can finally get some sleep and his friends know about his "ability".
Then Finn, Addie and Mia leave for Disneyland and as much as Parker tries to stay in control all hell breaks loose and he ends up being taken over by his darker side and in jail. And low and behold, Jack the guy with the blind skull patch comes back again to save the day.
I'm a bit torn on how to rate Paranoia, because I loved Parker's progression and character growth and we got answers and we got some background story for that answers that made sense and hinted at more things... but I highly disliked Jack for 90% of the book and I was truly annoyed at the twists added to the romance part.
First of all, let's start with Jack. He's been sent by Parker's dad to protect him, but he's been doing quite a crap job and he really isn't helpful at all when training or giving answers to Parker. I knew something didn't add up in his story, and I guessed correctly. He knows everything Parker doesn't about the abilities and how to control them and all the rest of what he calls "the Night Watchers" and despite knowing that Parker had no contact or information about it all, continues to act annoyed and high and mighty every step of the way. He might be hurt, he might be resentful, but he really isn't doing his job very well at all. Very frustrating!
There was a certain uncertainity introduced with Mia and Finn and Parker and if the romance mess would have been limited to that, I would have understand. It made sense and confusion and misunderstandings happen. But how things went with Addie and Parker and Jack, it was once again frustrating!
The way the book ends is quite enough as to leave this as a duology, and we do get plenty of answers (finally!). The climax was interesting, with a few reveals that were quite interesting (one I had guessed, the other I didn't see coming) but I have to say something I know should have been a bigger emotional punch left me a bit unsure how to feel. I don't think neither Parker nor the reader has enough time to process emotionally the changes to feel affected enough.
It was still a very engrossing read, less creepy and full of tension than the first book, but thankfully full of answers. Torn as I am, I give it 3 to 3.5 stars.
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Aw, I'm sorry you didn't fully love this book. But I'm glad you still managed to enjoy it :D Amazing review sweetie. <3
ReplyDeleteThank you sweetie!!
DeleteOh no! I'm sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy this book as much. I cant wait to read and see what all happens.
ReplyDeleteGreat review!
I hope you'll enjoy it more than I did, Lili!
DeleteDo I sense two love triangles? Or am I misinterpreting what you said? I am sorry you didn't enjoy this one as much as you did the predecessor, hon :( It always sucks when the sequel of a book you enjoyed lets you down :/
ReplyDeleteLovely review though, Pili! :)
Rashika @ The Social Potato
Luckily there's only one love triangle, the other you might sense is only a lil misunderstanding, that gets clarified very quickly!
DeleteThank you!
I'm kind of glad this one is a duology and at least it didn't leave many loose ends. Very annoying though how things didn't end "properly" with some of the characters. Lovely review as always Pili <3
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jeann! I'm glad we wrapped up the story enough, even if not everything was as satisfactory as I wanted!
DeleteI didn't love this one as much as I loved the first one - I thought it was pretty mediocre :\ Jack was kind of useless, really. I think I'll still read the next book though!
ReplyDeleteExcellent review, Pili!
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
Is it gonna be a trilogy then? I thought it would have worked as a duology too..
DeleteAnd yeah, Jack annoyed me to no end!!
Well it is good to hear positive feelings towards this sequel. So often the sequel is where it loses people. I'm really eager to read it because I remember enjoying the first. Glad you were able to like it.
ReplyDeleteIt was not the greatest sequel ever, but still quite good! Thank you for visiting the blog!
Delete