Rebel

It was as good as the first one. I don't think there's much I can say, because I would give stuff away about the first one.

Anyways, they're great fluffy reads for if you're in a noncommittal mood. The characters are likable and it's an interesting take on a zombie apocalypse.

If you'll recall, I rather liked Reboot, the first book in this series. It was one of those books that you have to suspend disbelief to enjoy, but it was a fun ride. When Rebel popped up on my recommendations in Audible, I was excited! Khristine Hvam narrates both of these, and she's one of my all time favorite narrators. I was definitely ready to drop back into a world filled with reboots. Ready to see what atrocities HARC would commit now. I guess I was just ready for some action.

Talking solely about the audio book aspect of this, the first miss for me was that there are two narrators this time around. Mike Chamberlain takes on the voice of Callum, our male protagnoist, and I wasn't a fan of him at all. His voice is flat. It never changes, despite switching characters or having certain emotional cues. He drove me crazy. Of course every other chapter it would switch to Wren's perspective, and therefore to Khristine Hvam's wonderful voice, and all was well with the world. I wish they would have left her as the sole narrator. I could have done without an actual male voice for Callum.

Where the first book blew me away with its action and originality, Rebel just felt like it was rehashing a lot of the same things. The big cliffhanger at the end of Reboot left you wondering where Wren and Callum would go next. We find that out right at the beginning of this book, and I was less than impressed. Micah was an okay villain. His plot to bring about devastation and change a decent plot tool. The problem was that I didn't feel like anything new was being done. The first book had daring escapes, shoot outs and secrets. This one just felt lackluster compared to that.

What I will say is that Amy Tintera does her readers a solid by answering any and all questions that might have been left lingering. Everything I wondered about came to fruition in this book. I couldn't help but smile as Wren and Callum were closer than ever, and Wren's emotions finally started to turn into something almost human. Do I feel like there was a bit too much romance here? No. It balances out nicely with everything else. Actually, I would have almost liked to see a little more action. I missed my kick-ass Wren. I really did.