Series- Aberrant Trilogy # 1
By Ruth Silver
Ebook Publication Date: April 17, 2013
Genre- YA Dystopian
Blurb:
In the future dystopian society of Cabal, the government instills equality for all and offers its citizens the perfect system. There is food, shelter and jobs for everyone. The one requirement is to follow the rules without question, including the government's match in marriage and "The Day of the Chosen", a lottery that randomly selects families to conceive children as natural means hasn't existed in generations. Following her eighteenth birthday, Olivia Parker accepts her requirement to marry her childhood best friend, Joshua Warren, and is eager to start her work assignment and new life when it all comes abruptly to an end as she's arrested and thrown in prison. The only crime committed, her existence. Olivia is unlike the rest of the world born not from "The Day of the Chosen." The truth haunts the government and puts her life in grave danger as one simple fact would destroy the perfect system.
With Joshua's help, Olivia breaks free of prison and is forced on the run. Together they set out to find the promised rebel town in search of a new home and new life together. Their situation seems less than promising as they reach the town of Haven. New rules and customs must be adhered to in order to stay. Leaving would mean most certain death in the large expanse of the Gravelands. Time is running out as the government mounts an attack to destroy Olivia and bury her secret with her. Thrown into a world unlike their own, they must quickly adapt to survive.
Review:
What do you get when you combine Divergent with The Hunger Games and sprinkle in a little Captain America?
Aberrant.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines Aberrant as: adj. Departing from an accepted standard; Diverging from the normal type. I was quite surprised to find that this book fit that definition very well, to the point where it stood out among a genre that is overflowing with options to choose from and made itself different. We meet Olivia in the city of Genesis, a town that was set up as a breeding city after the 4th world war and a plague decimated most of the world and left the population unable to conceive naturally.
At least that's what they all think.
Enter Olivia Parker, 18 year old daughter of a widow, on her matching ceremony day. Nervous just like the rest of her class to find out who the government has chosen her to spend the rest of her life with within her own graduating lot. 18 years old and terrified of what's gong to happened, Olivia is matched with Joshua Warren, there are worse things than being paired with your best friend since the age of 5 so thins seem to be looking up, until she is arrested hours later by the governor and thrown in jail....
What for you may ask?
Olivia is the only person on the earth that can conceive. Her mother boar her and now everyone thinks that has been passed to her. The government wants her either dead or in one of their labs, but Joshua's mother helps them escape to a town outside of Genesis named Haven, a city part of the Rebel Alliance trying to rise up against government control. The feelings of relief and freedom soon evaporates when the plans of the Rebel Alliance are spelled out for Olivia, but what does this mean for her and her future? And what does it means for her feelings towards Joshua? Will they stay in Haven? Will the government find her?
SO MANY QUESTIONS!!! I'm sorry but I'm not going to answer ANY of them because YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK! I'm going to give you the main reason I feel this way.
Main. Female. Lead.
I loved Olivia. What I require for me to like a main character, strength, poise, a little vulnerability and resolve, she possess. I felt like she never wavered from what she thought was right and what she wanted. Yes, plans changed a number of times but although the grander scheme shifted almost from page to page, at the core of the story was one girl who might be special but really lead with her heart first and foremost and then with her head. It worked for me, she didn't just do things for a boy and she didn't turn her back on anyone for the greater cause, Olivia balanced out what was right and moral or what she felt was her duty with this new found freedom of doing things her way or what she wanted to do not what everyone else told her to do. That is BRILLIANT. A girl who can stand on her own two feet and still love someone in a natural and not-immediate manner? WE NEED MORE OF THIS IN LITERATURE.
Olivia Parker sold the book for me, but I really did love the whole package. You get a clear picture of what world these characters are living in and that world is massive. Not only do you have government and rebels and gravelands (the nasty open deserts between cities) but you can see the clear distinction of environments as it changes. Taking great characters and putting them into a complete setting is not something that is easily found and this book has it! Add in all the unique things that you'll find scattered everywhere within the story and it made Aberrant one of my favorite books of the year, I CAN NOT WAIT for a sequel!!!-My Opinion- Buy it!!
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Moirai
Series -Aberrant Trilogy # 2
By- Ruth Silver
Publication Date- September 26th, 2013
Genre- YA Dystopian
Blurb:
Olivia has been on the run from the government of Cabal since the marriage ceremony. Finally settling in and finding herself a place to call home, in Shadow, Olivia and Joshua are preparing for the uprising that they and the rebel alliance have been planning for months.
With new abilities and special talents, from Mindonsiphan, Olivia learns that she can do more than most ordinary eighteen year olds. Learning both to hide and perfect her skills will be one of the biggest challenges she'll be forced to face.
A constant rollercoaster of emotion and adventure await Olivia and Joshua, as they embark on a journey to the rebel city of Torv, and what was once home, Genesis.
Review:
Moirai picks up 7 months after the conclusion of Aberrant and we find Olivia and company preparing for an assault on Genesis. They are goig to launch a major strike at the Governor's Ball, thus taking out all of Cabal's leaders in one strike. Olivia and Joshua are training hard to learn more and more about the abilities that the surgical procedure has given them and also trying to make a home for themselves in Shadow. Along the way to the final battle, there are quite a number of twists and turns to go through and of course there's always the "things are not always as they seem" to traverse.
Olivia really grew up in this installment for me. She went from being a naive young girl thrust into a world of rebellion and mystery about what the was, to a young woman who stands her ground and has a better understanding of who she is and what she believes is right. That was great to see a character grow that much in one story. I think Adelaide had the most impact on how we, as the reader, saw Olivia. She had another person to be responsible for (Joshua doesn't count he can look out for himself too) and how she handled that. I'd agree just by her taking a leadership role in the Rebellion and how hard she trains that Olivia has matured but Adelaide is the most obvious way that the author is showing progress instead of complacency.
Olivia was the focus of this book, for good reason, but I would have loved to hear more about what Joshua was doing throughout. We knew he had gotten all these crazy awesome technology abilities but we never saw much of it in action. That along with several other story lines such as the city of Torv and Joshua's father, would have certainly peaked my interested. Really the world of Cabal and the rebellion is fascinating and I wish we had enough time to find out everything about it! Including all these feelings I got while reading about certain people.
Torv and all of it's characters bother me.....a lot. I can already feel this sense of unease with people like Chloe, the council and this mysterious "board" in Torv that really made makes me nervous about what's coming. I wish we got a chance to flush that out a little more. Plus, Chloe's husband?? WHAT?? I'm not going to say anymore because it will certainly spoil it for you while reading, but let me just say this: Moirai just threw one hell of a grenade into this series for me in the most amazing ways. Touche, Ms. Silver, Touche.-My Opinion- Buy it!
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About the author:
Ruth Silver attended Northern Illinois University and graduated with a Bachelor's in Communication in the spring of 2005. While in college, she spent much of her free time writing with friends she met online and penning her first novel, Deuces are Wild, which she self-published in 2004. Her favorite class was Creative Writing senior year where she often handed in assignments longer than the professor required because she loved to write and always wanted to finish her stories. Her love of writing led her on an adventure in 2007 to Melbourne, Australia. Silver enjoys reading, photography, traveling and most of all writing. She loves dystopian and fantasy young adult stories. Her debut novel published by Lazy Day Publishing, ABERRANT is scheduled for release April 2013. Ruth has been actively writing since she was a teenager. She currently resides in Plainfield, Illinois.
You can visit her online at http://writeawaybliss.com
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Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Ruth-Silver/e/B008NGH038/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
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