Book Review: The Unleashed by Sarah Dalton
Synopsis:
“I wanted to live. I wanted us to have a future, and there was nothing else on my mind. With Daniel by my side I ran so fast my lungs ached.”
Mina’s world is turned upside down as an important person from her past materialises to take her away from the Compound. She finds herself separated from her friends and facing life-changing decisions on her own.
Meanwhile Daniel is on a mission to find Mina when he becomes involved in the Resistance – along with the rest of the Freaks. His visions take their toll as he learns of an event that could devastate the people he loves the most. Only he can stop it.
Angela finds herself on the adventure of a lifetime as she helps Sebastian find his father in Area 14. After action and adventure on the way there, the group are thrown into another life and death situation… can Angela find a way out?
Fans of the popular YA dystopia series Blemished will not be disappointed by this thrilling conclusion. It will keep you guessing right up to the very last page.
Trust no one.
The Blemished:
A beautiful world comes at a price…
In a world filled with stunning clones Mina Hart is Blemished. Her genes are worthless and that takes away her rights: her right to an Education, her right to a normal life and her right to have a child.
Mina keeps a dangerous secret which she never thought she could share until she meets Angela on her first day at St Jude’s School. But their friendship is soon complicated by Angela’s adoptive brother Daniel. Mina finds herself drawn to his mysterious powers and impulsive nature. Then there is the gorgeous clone Sebastian who Mina is forbidden from even speaking to…
The Blemished is a frightening take on a fractured future where the Genetic Enhancement Ministry have taken control of Britain. It will take you on a ride filled with adventure, romance and rebellion.
The Vanished:
“The Compound bustled with action and anticipation, causing my stomach to do a flip. I stopped in my tracks, realising something, something I hadn’t thought of before. We were going to war, and people were going to die.”
The Vanished are the forgotten: those who live beyond law or society. Mina fought for freedom. She fought for a better life – a future. But even a free world can decay.
As Mina begins her new life in the Clans she meets people with surprising knowledge about her power, knowledge that could change everything – even her relationship with Daniel. But as she makes new friends, old friends turn against her in shocking betrayal.
Life in the Compound is tough; there are ways and traditions so strange that Mina begins to suspect foul play at the very heart of her new home. Instead of leaving corruption behind in Area 14, Mina is faced with the rotten core of human nature as a Clan warlord threatens to invade the Compound. The Clans are turning against each other and Mina is stuck in the middle.
The Vanished is the second installment in the Blemished series and follows Mina’s story as she continues to challenge those in power and seek out new dangers. With even more rebellion, romance and betrayal, The Vanished promises to take the reader on a roller-coaster ride of adventure and emotion.
Will freedom fall?
About the Author:
Sarah grew up in the middle of nowhere in the countryside of Derbyshire and as a result has an over-active imagination. She has been an avid reader for most of her life, taking inspiration from the stories she read as a child, and the novels she devoured as an adult.
Sarah mainly writes speculative fiction for a young adult audience and has had pieces of short fiction published in the Medulla Literary Review, Apex Magazine, PANK magazine and the British Fantasy Society publication Dark Horizons. Her short story ‘Vampires Wear Chanel’ is featured in the Wyvern Publication Fangtales available from Amazon.
The Blemished series is Sarah’s first full-length work of fiction. In a Fractured Britain, Mina Hart has to fight against the Genetic Enhancement Ministry to win back her rights.
@sarahdalton
My Reviews:
The Blemished trilogy really does dig deep into the possibilities of where science could be leading us. For a YA series it doesn’t skimp on the scary, or nasty, and gives the reader a psychological injection of fear – because quite frankly this could happen. With designer babies and clones still in the news and the government doing God only know what without bothering to keep us informed, this is the kind of worry that could keep you awake at night– just like the threat of infected flesh munching zombies, this future could very well be on the cards. Okay, sorry, paranoid rant over!
The character of Mina was perfect – just the right amount of doubt and fight (considering how she had grown up) It has the usual love triangle and best friend + an unhealthy dose of parental abandonment issues. All in all, a great read.
From a writer’s perspective there were a few info dumps lingering in the beginning and a couple of clichéd moments, but Sarah Dalton does prove to be an excellent writer and had me reading all three books within a week. It kind of took me back to when I first read Angela Carter’s ‘A Hand Maiden’s Tale’ (certainly not a YA book) the kind of bleak prediction of the future and the feeling it was going to get a lot worse, before it got better.
Being English myself, it was actually a pleasant change to read novel set in England – although to be honest, due to the themes of the books it really doesn’t matter – this could have happened anywhere in the word.
The front covers are a bit samey – I understand that this can help with branding and they at least different colours, but I’d have preferred them to be completely different so it would be easier to tell them apart. Also Mina is described as being slightly overweight (which I felt was quite revolutionary for YA literature) but the girl on the front covers is certainly not overweight – is it a different character?
As I read all three books together I have scored them 4 out of 5 stars overall. If you loved the Hunger Games and Blood Red Road – you’ll love The Blemished trilogy.
Filed under: Book Review Tagged: dystopian, Enchanted book tours, fireside reads, Sarah Dalton, The Blemished book revoew, The Unleashed book review, The Vanished book review, YA books
