Book review: Day of Reckoning
A fast-paced, action-packed ride that is a ton of fun!
Day of Reckoning picks up the story of Dawn and Gabby, two orphan girls from London who got into serious trouble in Dawn of Rebellion (check my review here), after Gabby was caught shoplifting her sister’s birthday present and shipped off to the “colonies” or what used to be the United States of America.
After Dawn and Gabby’s boyfriend, Drew, rescue Gabby from a brutal prison in what was once the sunny state of Florida, things take a series of unexpected twists and the plot thickens as they flee to the “Republic of Texas”.
Like the characters themselves, the reader is led to believe that the “colonies” are basically hell on earth, a scarcely populated dump filled with prison camps and little else. I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprises that await characters and readers alike at this point, but let me just say that the “colonies” are not completely under the control of the “Brits”.
The girls also discover a huge surprise about their own family history along the way, a secret that I didn’t see coming, and I commend author Michelle Lynn for doing such a wonderful job with this particular storyline.
What I liked about this book:
Although “Day of Reckoning” falls in the YA category due to the fact that protagonists are young adults, author Michelle Lynn manages to present darker, more mature themes in her books and characters’ makeup, which help makes her current series much more than a simple romantic teen adventure.
Written in the first person from different characters’ points of view, chapters are short and straight to the point, fast paced and action packed. Still, the reader is able to get a deeper look into a dystopian future that is not so hard to believe, given the current path that our world finds itself in. This is a wonderful immersion factor that the book brings to the table, while at the same time being a definite page-turner.
What I didn’t like about this book:
There were times I would’ve liked for chapters to be a little longer, if only to catch a breather from all the action or to get better acquainted with certain places and situations, but that may be a personal preference thing as I usually favor long, highly detailed epics.
Despite the fact that main characters such as Dawn, Gabby and Drew were born and raised in England, their speech is much more reminiscent of the young, modern-day Americans rather than English youngsters.
Although I don’t mind cliffhanger endings, readers should be warned that Day of Reckoning is not really a standalone book. Fortunately, I’ll be able to jump right from this book into Eve of Tomorrow, the final installment in Michelle Lynn’s Dawn of Rebellion trilogy.
Conclusion:
Day of Reckoning is the perfect middle act: an excellent follow-up to a strong opening act that also does a great job to set up the climactic third and final act in the trilogy.
