Shudder (Stitch Trilogy, #2)

by Samantha Durante

• ASIN: B00DE3MQDE
• Publish Date: 2013
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Format: eBook (Kindle)
• Pages: 359
• Language: English

Reviews

[lizarodz]

4.5 Stars! I received this book from the author in exchange of my honest review.

Wow! I’m glad to report that Shudder did not suffer from the second book syndrome. It had many twists and turns and many surprises that kept me at the edge of my seat for most of the book.

Shudder starts where Stitch left off. Isaac and Alessa are outside or Paragon looking for a rebel base. They have a really hard time trudging through the ‘outside’. They are afraid of the virus that took most of humanity, they are hungry, and to top it all they find some weird ‘creatures’ that are following them. I don’t want to spoil the book for you, so let me just say that it was quite the quest. This time served to tried and strengthen Alessa and Isaac’s relationship.

I like Alessa and Isaac because they are strong, but flawed characters. They are deeply in love and they are fiercely loyal to each other and to those they love. Even if Isaac felt helpless at times to help Alessa with her newfound abilities, he still sticks with her and tries (typical of a man!) to find an explanation and cheers her on.
One of the things I like the most is that we find out a lot more about the post-war, post-virus world. We understand what happened to our characters and to humanity as a whole and why. We get many answers (even if we don’t like them!), and still have many questions.

Stitch read like a paranormal contemporary (a ghost story) and then switched when we know what was really happening. In contrast, Shudder’s story is told in the third person point of view, from different perspectives. We have the distinct voices of Alessa, Isaac, Nikhil, Phoenix, and at a lesser degree 14. Surprisingly, this adds a lot of depth to the story without making it confusing. There seems lot be a traitor in their mist and I hope that she knows better.

The writing is good, and easy to understand. To me, the best part of the series is the plot and world building. It is a testament to Ms. Durante’s imagination that when came up with this dystopian world and all its evils. I suspected some things and others had me fooled until the end. Let me just tell you that Paragon is a bad place :)

I can’t wait to read Stuck, coming out next year!


About the cover: I live the cover a lot. It has the illusion of a ‘break’ with neurons behind and Alessa and Isaac’s hands reaching for each other.

[Kelly]

http://divainpyjamas.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/shudder-by-samantha-durante-review.html

Alyssa and Isaac have escaped the walls of Paragon, seeking safe passage to join the rebel cause and find a safe house for operations. Their lives played upon a manipulated reality, realised with the aide of producer.

The general population of Paragon, the former government quarantine zone, fear The Virus, a lethal illness brought into the city from over the walled compound. The citizens of Paragon, known as the ruling class, are being drugged to be kept compliant, unaware that their daily lives are being manipulated, right down to the nightly drama, where the 'actors' believed the soap was reality, both Alyssa and Isaac included.

The goal? To produce a peaceful, egalitarian society, the first the world has ever seen. To mend communities after the world went to war, the millions of lives lost after the the missiles rained and the virus killed the weak and wounded... So they say.

Their journey through harsh, unforgiving terrain is hungry work, with little rations now available. The two forge on with a quiet resolve, but something is terribly wrong. Something is hunting them, not quite human, but far more than a wild, feral animal. Whatever it is, is effecting Alyssa. She is having vivid nightmares and heightened emotional sensations. She is overpowered by grief, the loss of loved ones... And not just that of her own.

Janie, Lizzy and Joe are missing, Nikhil has been captured, but a fate far worse has been destined for one of them, trialled for her involvement, she will be made an example of. If only she could remember who she is. As Alyssa and Isaac make it back to Paragon, unscathed, plans are put in place to move the rebels and those seeking refuge, to the new safe house.

Not everything will go according to plan, they have a traitor in their ranks, animalistic hunters out for blood, and a revelation from the faceless men who control Paragon... Deemed worthy of a war that the rebels need to survive.

Shudder was awesome. Where the first book in the series Stitched, posed more questions than answers, Shudder answered them... In abundance.The Stitch trilogy isn't your average dystopian series, it's intelligent, unique and will keep readers on their toes. I'm giddy at the prospect of the final in the series, it'll be epic.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Last year I enjoyed Stitch the first book in the Stitch Trilogy and was anxious to discover what was happening in this strange dystopian world. Samantha Durante's second book Shudder shows us the world beyond the walls of Paragon, and the engineers that designed Paragon. She does this all while revealing things that kept me turning the pages. Three word review: fascinating, suspenseful and enlightening.

The tale picks up right after Stitch ended as Alessa and Isaac travel the world beyond Paragon looking for a headquarters for the rebels. There is danger and something supernatural pursuing them. As they search Alessa experiences emotions and memories of the dead and the creatures that pursue them. Phoenix is taken captive by the Engineers and we gain insight into their operations. Told from multiple third person perspectives that change with each chapter Durante reveals the characters and the engineers to us creating a suspenseful and fascinating read.

Alessa struggles in this novel with her emotions, the visions and the mission. Memories of Joe haunt her and she is unsure why, she loved him but loves Isaac. I like Alessa and find her to be brave and fearless even if she occasionally wants to escape her grueling reality. Isaac is sweet, and does things to protect both Alessa and his family. Phoenix is brave and through her we learn more about the engineers, the past and Paragon. We meet #14 and #15 as they exchange notes through a hole in the prison cells and learn their identity towards the end of the book. While the driving force of this tale is the world itself, I would still like to see the characters fleshed out a bit more. I wasn’t as emotionally invested in them this time around. I thought once they became unstitched I would feel more. The engineers *shiver* are diabolic and we are often privy to their plans. We see many of the original rebels and I am hoping they become more fleshed out in book three. I struggled with some of the characters behavior but the author slowly reveals information explaining it and I am anxious to see what develops.

While Shudder didn’t suffer from middle book doldrums it didn’t have quite the captivating affect that book one had on me. The author uses Alessa and Isaac in the beginning to recap events from book one through conversation and sadly it felt awkward. Once we got past that bit their conversations and connection felt more natural. While it is not the main focus, we see growth in the romance, despite a few hiccups. We have a several storylines running parallel to each other. The first is Alessa and Isaac as they travel outside Paragon. The second is Phoenix with the engineers and the third is the prisoners in the cells below Paragon. Each thread was interesting and gave us tremendous insight into the world while still maintaining an air of mystery and suspense. I actually like the way this was done, it kept things suspenseful. The tale moved at an even clip until the final chapters where I found myself turning the pages at a frantic pace as all of the threads came together and we moved to the climatic ending. We as the reader are now privy to things the Rebels do not know and the set up for book three created suspense and anticipation. With its powerful world-building this tale has me excited to read the conclusion of this trilogy.

Copy received in exchange for unbiased review and originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer