Hello Humans! Just a heads up, before you read today’s book review, why not go back in time and check out my review of the first book in this duology Voiceless? I’m so happy to have been approved to review Expression and to share my thoughts with you guys!
Goodreads Summary:
Adelaide Te Ngawai was twenty-two when Maunga Richards found her prison.
In Expression, discover what happened to Addy after the harrowing ending to Voiceless. Follow Addy’s brother Theo and her former nemesis Maunga as they plunge into an underground reality, not knowing whether they can find Addy—or what they will find if they can. Mind-bending and sensory, Expression assails the unknown without fear or regret.
How far will Theo go to save his sister?
So this was a very interesting route to take for a sequel. After spending a book letting us get to know Addy we’re suddenly years in the future and our main characters are now her brother and his wife Muanga. At first I was a little annoyed at this but actually I think this was a smart choice. Addy was a great character, but I’m not sure if she would have had that much development had this simply been a continuation from the story of book one. Instead we get two characters both of whom are interesting, have a great backstory and are connected enough to the plot of Voiceless that you feel the continuation.
This also felt more action packed that Voiceless which I appreciated. It has that essence of heist that I appreciate in books. It’s a prison break story, which isn’t a wholly new idea but it was handled in an interesting way, with a lot of science fiction packed in. There are also a lot of things which I would wager money were inspired by the game Portal 2 (but I have been playing that with the husband lately so perhaps that’s just wishful thinking?).
This book explores trauma in a much more in depth way than Voiceless does, there’s a psychological aspect that is more developed in the sequel. I thought this was very interesting, though as to how well researched it is I must confess I am no expert…
All in all, this was a great idea for a story to follow Voiceless, it certainly wasn’t the predictable sequel I was expecting. What could have been a thoroughly overdone science fiction YA escape story, instead was a powerful look into how sometimes you have to wait for things to happen. In the world of fiction we are so used to the instantaneous, it was a wise choice to have the passage of time as a tool both to develop plot and to build character developments and relationships.
These are nice books to read, not too difficult, not too long but with enough to get your teeth into that you feel somewhat challenged.
My rating: 4/5 stars
By the way, I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
What say you? Have you read Voiceless? What do you think about very disparate sequels? Let me know in the comments below!
J
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