Across The Sea

The Dartmoor Chronicles #2

by Jen Minkman

All that matters now is revenge, and I know who deserves it.
“I’m going to kill the president,” I say in a voice that scares me when I hear it. “You hear?”
“Sarah…” Kian looks at me helplessly.
“You hear?” My voice rises, a note of hysteria creeping into my words. “Don’t you dare telling me that what I feel is wrong. That this exact anger is what consumed the Old World. Because our New World is no better.”

Sarah and Kian have ended up on Tresco. They have brought Jinn home, but at a price - the president of Dartmoor is hot on their heels, and the only people who can help them live on the island of Lundy in the north, or in the notoriously rebellious community of Exmoor. When they team up with Walt and Leia, the Young Keepers of Lundy, as well as the leader of Exmoor,a makeshift army is put together to put an end to President Jacob's rule once and for all. The islanders and mainlanders will do everything in their power to make the New World into what it was truly supposed to be.

Will Kian be able to honor his uncle's legacy? And will Sarah keep her family safe and find out what happened to Jinn's twin brother? Find out in this final installment in the Island/Dartmoor series!

Genres: Dystopia

150 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2017

About the author

Jen Minkman (1978) writes YA paranormal romance, dystopian fiction and poetry. She is from the Netherlands and self-publishes her work in English. Her works are available in paperback & digital format (ebook and audio).
You can subscribe to her newsletter here > http://eepurl.com/bTXSWv

Jen was born in the Netherlands and lived in Austria, Belgium and the UK during her studies. She learned how to read at the age of three and has never stopped reading since. Her favourite books to read are (YA) paranormal/fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian and romance, and this is reflected in the stories she writes. In her home country, she is a trade-published author of paranormal romance and chicklit. Across the border, she is a self-published author of poetry, paranormal romance and dystopian fiction. Her books are already available in English, Dutch, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, and Afrikaans.

She currently resides in The Hague where she works and lives with her husband and two noisy zebra finches.

Reviews

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is it, the finale of one stage of life and the beginning of another for Sarah and those she loves. The vile president is on their tails, hoping to end their rebellion against him as they uncover the lies he has lived as an imposing leader of Dartmoor. Hiding out with the townsfolk, Sarah has saved her true love, Jinn from the torture and cruel experiments that President Jacob has imposed on him, but can he survive or has he been damaged beyond saving? With a heavy heart and a determined mind, Sarah and Kian seek the help of islanders and mainlanders to create a world that should have been.

With a secret and priceless treasure to trade, they convince a powerful King to stand with them, but the journey has been long, grueling and costly, and Sarah has a secret that is weighing heavily both emotionally and physically, is she up for the final showdown with President Jacob? Has she discovered she can love two men, each in a different way? The race against time is critical. The survival of her people is at stake and they must not fail as Sarah sacrifices her heart to create a future for the innocents. Shocking revelations and heartbreaking realities will fill their journey, but never do they falter in their quest.

Jen Minkman’s ACROSS THE SEA is filled with action, both of the physical and emotional kind as one seventeen-year-old girl wears the façade of a brave soldier for the love of those around her. They say that sacrifice of the few versus the survival of the many is part of war and rebellion, and Jen Minkman has written a powerful tale whose theme is just that. Perfectly flawed characters give their all for a perfect future and there is no way NOT to become connected or to root for these brave heroes!

I received this copy from Jen Minkman in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

Series: The Dartmoor Chronicles - Book 2
Publisher: Dutch Venture Publishing (April 17, 2017)
Publication Date: April 17, 2017
Genre: YA Dystopian Fantasy
Print Length: 188 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble 
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from the author in exchange of an honest review.

The final (nooooess) book in this series.

Just like the previous book this book is told from two POVs, Kian's and Sarah's. As those who read my review for the first book know, I didn't like Kian. And I have to say that the first few parts with him were him being a jealous ass again. But, yes but, he turns around. I quite liked him as his chapters went by, as the pages that featured him in the Sarah POVs passed by. He showed another side to himself. One that is more accepting, more open, more willing to understand people, he is becoming less and less brainwashed, and I suddenly saw a great guy underneath that. Sure, he was still jealous, but I can forgive him for that, he does see that it is no use being jealous. Sarah picked Jinn, and that he should just let them be.
He was so sweet in this book towards Sarah.

Sarah was terrific, though I do have to say I got a bit tired of her constantly saying she wants to kill the President. Yes, girl, we get it. You want to do that, but are you sure you are truly going to do it? You would be the same as him, a killer. Do you want that? But I can understand why she is so determined. Her family is threatened, he is about to destroy everything for a cure, not caring about lives lost, and then there is also Jinn, her lover, the one who was abused so much that he is now dying.

So my first thought, when they found the hard drives/CD Roms, was not "Ohhh, this might help.". Oh no. My first thought was: "You guys might not know this, but this could just be porn, or cat gifs/pictures. :P" Yes, I am terrible. I have just spent too much time on the internet.

What was going on with Sarah? I just knew it immediately. She had sex with Jinn (in that lovely little alcove) and I am guessing that while they may have some precautions, that it isn't enough to prevent a pregnancy. And then not that long after she first got sick we got this part: The next morning, I'm starting to see a pattern when I wake up and throw up in the bucket I put next to my bed, just in case.
I don't think I'm seasick. Thus I became curious, how long would she keep this from Kian? This is quite an important thing, if she is really, and truly, pregnant that may complicate things.
I just laughed so hard when the captain instantly knew what was going on, and how he tried to explain it to a clueless Kian. :P
Later on I was laughing at how surprised Sarah was when Alisa found out. Hey girl, of course she knows. She also had kids, so she probably went through the same stuff.

Kyaaa, Leia and Walter! Sorry, that was just my first reaction when we got to the part where we met these 2 characters from the previous series. I am so happy to see them, that they are happy, alive, and even have a tiny little kid, awww! And they named him Tony! That is even sweeter, Tony indeed did a lot, it is so sweet that they honour and remember him in this way.

I loved seeing Lundy, see what happened to all those people who fled. To see what they made from that island. And how they are now living together on a much smaller island than Tresco.
Plus we saw Saul again, I didn't quite like him in the previous series (because of what he did), but he really changed. He found someone who loves him, and someone he can love. I loved the amends he made towards Kian in this one. Plus his kid's names were perfection!

It was fantastic to see how everything tied together. How stories and histories were connected. Of course we already knew that these series are connected and the previous book also showed the connections, but, and this is how I feel, it wasn't until this book, especially the Lundy part, that I truly felt the connection between the stories. It just all tied up neatly.

Haha, Sarah was quite oblivious about Kian and how he feels about her. Girl, really? You never saw that? Oh my. Oh my. :P

I liked how no one was at all weirded out by the king and who he married. When that titbit popped up I was already thinking, oh dear, this will end up badly. Given how every one of these people have had some form of religion/doctrine in their youth. But it seems they are quite open about these things, which really made me happy.

It was also fun to see old technology pop up again, we already saw various things in the previous book, but we now also see hard drives, USB sticks, and computers. There is also talk about Cloud and Online, and you can just imagine how confused people are about this all.

And then the ending, and how everything got together, and how everything was resolved. It was perfection. It was beautiful, and I noticed I was just tearing up. I am so happy with the ending, I won't say much, but I loved it. The epilogue from Sarah's POV was just, I am just so happy that it was added. It was something I was hoping would still happen.

I will definitely miss this series, I am still hoping for some sort of prequel, with the earlier days, when everything just went down, or right before everything turned for the worse.

This series and the previous one are all highly recommended.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good ending to a very good series. Loved finding out more about the characters we grew to love in book one. While book two is not all sunshine and roses what part of life is. I really enjoy how the author incorporates things into this series.

[Sandra "Jeanz" · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read the whole of the Island Series and the Dartmoor Chronicles book one I was looking forward to revisiting the characters and places in the series' as well as having some of my questions answered.

The cover shows the vastness of the sea and features what I would call an old fashioned ship prominently on the cover. The cover fits well with both the other Dartmoor Chronicle's title, Beyond the Fence and the covers for The Island Series.

President Jacob wants his Soldiers of Gideon to take fit and healthy people away from Tresco and perform experimental tests on them in a bid to find a cure for the disease his daughter has. It is time for the different settlements on the island to band together and make a stand.

So at the very end of Beyond The Fence, we discovered along with Sarah, Kian and Jinn that they had been fooled and followed by President Jacob's Soldiers of Gideon.
Sarah even ponders if the fact she met Jinn was engineered by the President too, as well as a boat being at the harbour to aid their escape.

Rob the keeper of Tresco orders that the people should leave the town and initially hide in some caves they have stocked with food, water and blankets for such an occasion as this invasion. How long can they successfully hide? What happens when the Soldiers of Gideon find the caves and those hidden in them? Or what will happen when the supplies in the cave run out?

It's quite ironic that the boys from the manor are going to be the first line of the Islands defence's when they were once the bullies and bad guys of the Island. It's decided that Sarah and Kian will go back to Lundy and ask for help to stop President Jacob kidnapping the Tresco Islanders and taking them against their will to be tested, and possibly meet the same fate of Jinn, ending up haing the disease itself and dying.

There were quite a few emotional scenes in the book, when Jinn is reunited with Gordon his father, there is elation at them finding each other again but tinged with sadness as Jinn's brother, also Gordon's son, Winda is still missing.
I also thought the talk that Kian and Jinn have before Kian and Sarah have to on a mission was quite emotional. Jinn knows he will most probably be dead before Sarah returns and he secretly and quietly asks Kian to look after Sarah, and though Jinn doesn't say the exact words he is giving Kian permission to go ahead and court Sarah in the future, though at the time, Kian takes the remark as look after her on the mission and help her cope when she comes home and I may have already passed on.

Whilst Kian and Sarah make their way to the harbour to wait for Captain Tom so they can go to Lundy for help, they have to take temporary cover in a part ruined building. Kian finds some cd roms, which later in the book he is prepared to barter for help to keep the Islanders safe, but will old computer items, storage devices be enough to barter help to fight off the invading army? Will King Locryn want these computer items enough to offer and follow through with the help the Islanders need? Even if King Locryn does agree to help will there be anyone left on the island to help defend their home or even anyone left alive on the island?

This book is told from the points of view of the central characters of Kian and Sarah. They are the main characters involved in gaining the help of powerful allies to take on President Jacob about his actions in testing people against their will, like Jinn.
My first thoughts upon finishing this book were, well that ties up all the loose ends from book one. Then I thought a little more and began thinking of things I still had questions about, like would Kian and Sarah ever get together? There's the surprise Sarah had whilst on the boat with Kian and Captain Tom to be taken into account too. I'd like to know more about that and how it affects both Sarah and Kian. Then there's still a little more that could be revealed about Gordon, Jinn's father.. . . .So I guess what I am saying is I would love maybe a novella set a bit further into the future, to kind of catch up with my favourite characters, Kian, Sarah, Walt, Leia, Saul, Cal and Mia are among the first that spring to mind.

Would I recommend this series? Of course yes! I'd recommend reading both The Island Series, and the Dartmoor Chronicles Series too. I've read quite a lot of books by this author, I love her writing style and pace.

[Nancy (The Avid Reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sarah, Jinn and Kian have finally reached the island; and Jinn is happily reunited with his father. But their happiness is short lived when they learn that they were set up and was followed by the president. They take all the people and go hide out in caves but with their food and supplies running low someone has to make a run for it. So Sarah and Kian are the chosen ones and find another way out of the caves to go find help on another island.

Sarah is just a seventeen year old girl who lost her father at the young age of twelve and now she has to leave her boyfriend behind so she can hopefully save him again and his family from the president, hopefully she makes it back before it is too late. When Sarah makes the decision to leave the cave she knows she may never see Jinn again but there is a good chance that she may not see her Mom and little brother Tim again either if she can’t stop the president in time.

Can Sarah and Kian make it to the other islands and convince the people there to help them save Jinn and his people along with the people on the mainland too? Can Sarah stop the president? Can she save her family, Jinn and everyone else too? Will they finally get to live the life they deserve? Will they ever be free? Will they always be slaves to the president?

I have truly loved reading The Dartmoor Chronicles and following along with Sarah, Kian, Jinn and everyone else on their adventures. I love the world that the author has created for The Dartmoor Chronicles. Jen Minkman is just an awesome writer and I love all of her stories and I can’t wait to read more of them. I love the whole concept and meaning behind The Island Trilogy and The Dartmoor Chronicles and would love to read more of this nature. Where does Sarah and Kian go from here? Where will their lives lead them next?

If you have not read the Island Trilogy or The Dartmoor Chronicles then let me suggest that you do. They are both just so amazing in their own way.

[Teri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome finish to the series. Lots of heartache and tears some losses but then some reunions. The sage ends with healing and new friends, compromise and changes. The way this author brings this dystopian world together and answers all of the questions and open ends are taken care of. Family members are found and so is love. This is a very emotional read in many ways and most definitely good. I am not a big fan of dystopian reads but I am so glad I read this one. The imagery this author provides just makes this world explode!! Awesome sauce

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picks up where the last book left off with a few surprises. The story wraps up nicely, but with some loss and sadness. Things are not perfect, but there is change and at least they were able to accomplish what they ultimately set out to do. I like that at the end, Sarah and Kian remain true to themselves even as they grow.

I had not read the first series, but do intend to as I would like to get to know some of the characters that were mentioned in this one.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is apparently the final book in the Island/Dartmoor series, and it wraps up the loose ends pretty well. I enjoyed it as much as the previous Dartmoor book, although I don't find Sarah and Kian as interesting as Walt and Leia for some reason. This story is alternately narrated by Sarah and Kian again. They have brought Jinn home to Tresco, but have been followed by the Dartmoor soldiers. The Dartmoor president wants to abduct more islanders for medical tests, to try to determine why they are immune to the 'war sickness' caused by the radiation from old wars in the area. Most of the islanders flee to a mountain hideaway full of caves and tunnels, but the soldiers eventually find them. Sarah and Kian slip out through tunnels to go to Lundy, another island where many of the former Tresco inhabitants are now living, to ask for help. Sarah is upset about leaving Jinn behind, but he is too sick to accompany them. She is ill for much of the trip. Kian finds some CD-Roms and disk drives in an abandoned building where they spend the night, and takes them along in hopes of finding a working computer or using them for barter. At Lundy, they meet Walt and Leia (who are now the "young Keepers") and elder Keeper Branek; later they also meet Alisa and Saul. They also discover Jinn's brother Winda, who has lost his memory. It is decided they should go back to the mainland and ask Exmoor for help, since Lundy has maintained a relationship with King Locryn there. The idea is to raise an army, go to Dartmoor and confront President Jacob. The final showdown with the president is pretty much the end of the story, although Sarah has an epilogue after she goes back to Tresco.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

taking over where Beyond the Fence left off, we see a return to Tresco as Sarah and Kian and the remaining residents are forced into hiding .

It had a slow start, but when it picked up, it really picked up. This was a great end to the whole series.