Goodreads Rating: 3.25
Pages: 336
Format: ARC from BEA13
USA TODAY bestselling author Jeff Hirsch once again creates a futuristic world with stunning, dramatic realism.
A civil war rages between the Glorious Path--a militant religion based on the teachings of a former US soldier--and what's left of the US government. Fifteen-year-old Callum Roe and his younger brother, James, were captured and forced to convert six years ago. Cal has been working in the Path's dog kennels, and is very close to becoming one of the Path's deadliest secret agents. Then Cal befriends a stray dog named Bear and kills a commander who wants to train him to be a vicious attack dog. This sends Cal and Bear on the run, and sets in motion a series of incredible events that will test Cal's loyalties and end in a fierce battle that the fate of the entire country rests on.
Having really, really, not enjoyed Magisterium, I went into this book with a ton of trepidation. That being said, I actually enjoyed this book. I felt that this book as a lot easier to relate to because the world was a lot closer to the type of world we live in. There were times where it was confusing because we never really got an explanation as to how we got to this point. I wished that we had learned how we got to the point in our history where a Jim Jones type took over part of the country.
I think that was the missing element, the background to what made the world so awful that would happen. I had the same issue with Magisterium, so I was bummed that it is a reoccurrence. I did enjoy this story much better, I felt that it was more together and that Callum had a more clear path having left "The Path." Heh.
I was a little bummed that most character in the book were only temporary, sort of the people that someone encounters while on a hero's journey. I felt that they were all there just to illustrate the different people and experiences that different groups went through. We got to see what it was like for people that were rich and towns that were on the border and how people lived in the camps. It was all a big exercise in looking at things from different points of view.
I think that this is a great book for kids starting in middle grade. It shows the lengths that people will go through for family and how our world is not one to be taken advantage of.
The Courts Decision:
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