Deception by C.J. Redwine
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Deception is book 2 in the Defiance series by C.J. Redwine and it picks up right where book 1 (Defiance) left off. Baalboden has been destroyed by the Cursed One and Logan has become the leader of those who have survived. Rachel is still angry about her father’s death and the Commander is outside the wall just waiting for his opportunity to strike.
Deception brings back a lot of the things that I loved from book one, action, mystery, good guys, and bad guys. Redwine keeps you guessing throughout the entire book and you may be surprised to see where she goes with it.
I love the story here – survivors trying to figure out who they should trust. The kicker is that eventually the person they choose to lead is the one that was looked at as an outcast within the walls of Baalboden. In addition to that, there is still a mission here…where in Defiance Rachel was looking for her father, in Deception, the group is trying to keep the device that controls the Cursed One out of the hands of the Commander while keeping everyone safe on their trek to a neighboring city. If I had to pick one word to describe the story it would be survival.
I love the characters within this story. First, Rachel is so angry and at times reckless in her bid for revenge it is a bit scary. She is so focused on killing the Commander that she is willing to do whatever it takes. Unfortunately, she doesn’t really look at the big picture and how much it would impact the group (and Logan) if something did happen to her. I could easily understand Logan’s almost desperation to find some way to keep her safe from herself.
Logan is by far my favorite character in this book. Not just because he is super swoony (which he is – almost all of my stickies are for him…) but because he is someone who, despite the hand he has been dealt in life, does what he can to stand up for himself and those he cares about. Logan is someone who will make the hard decisions and do whatever he needs to in order to make sure those he cares for are safe and protected…and I love that about him. He takes leading the group very seriously and similar to Rachel, will do whatever he has to in order to make sure they reach their goal.
The secondary characters are important in this story. Ian, Adam, Quinn, Willow, Sylph, Thom, and Frankie…every last one of them play a critical role in this story and help things progress. I refuse to give anything away but some big things go down in the last 1/3 of the book that each of these characters have an impact on. So…now that I left you with that little nugget…
Trust me when I say you should read this book. If you haven’t yet read Defiance, get started and by the time August rolls around, you will be ready to dive right into Deception. This was a great second book in the series and I recommend this to anyone who appreciates the post-apocalyptic, dystopian genre with a great story.
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