3 Days of Outside
Review & Giveaway
The Clearing
(Outside #2)
by
Shalini Boland
In the ravaged future, children are disappearing.Riley lives safely behind her Perimeter Fence, but soon she’ll have to confront the terrible truth of what’s happening outside. An old enemy is approaching. Threatening to extinguish her way of life.
To save herself, she will have to fight to save another. She must put herself in the last place she ever wanted to be.
This is the terrifying sequel to the post apocalyptic thriller OUTSIDE.
Riley and Luc are home and safe for the time being but how long can it last. She's realizing that her feelings are more than what she believed. She is still so unsure of everything that is happening. Her parents are just getting over almost losing her and the mess that Ellie had made when things begin their inevitable spiral.
Riley and Luc are out on a picnic when it's cut short by visitors that are being held in jail. Come to find out the duo that duped them and nearly got them killed were double crossed by the almighty James Grey. They are desperate and trade help for information about the psychotic and vengeance seeking leader of The Close.
Things are being stirred up outside their perimeter as Grey unleashes his armies of the brainwashed. Riley is resolved to do what she can for those who need saving. Luc would never let her go on alone. Her Pa, Johnny is not happy with the entire situation but with Grey closing in on the surrounding perimeters and slowly taking over everything, he's left with little choice but to let the young pair go off to the very place he never wanted them to return.
He is off himself to secure the other perimeters and lead a stand against the evil Grey.
Riley reluctantly must employ help from a man she would rather have nothing to do with but Connor is connected and as an electrician he is a prized commodity to any perimeter. They go off on a dicey gig to get in and out and hopefully retrieve the two things their double crossed cohorts would do anything for.
Then there's a tandem story in The Clearing that chills you to the bone.
Lissy is young and scared when she is taken from all she has known. At the age of seven she is taken to The Close and indoctrinated, but made wise by a brave girl, giving her sort of an upper hand.
"Don't drink the soup." will stick with me for certain. She claims a young frightened four year old is her sister so that she may be allowed to look after the four year old.
She is growing weary in their captivity and desperately wonders where they have her brother. He is a bit older but was taken as well.
All sorts of things unfold at her first service in the presence of the self proclaimed almighty appointed James Grey. Liss finds out what penalty there is for those who do not adjust to their new blessed and chosen life. She finds out the brave girl who made her wise has been being help captive and is sentenced to a worse fate. The account of this very happening sent shivers down my spine.
She is given a new name and she and the young girl she had take under her wing Annabella are given new, holy names. Liss is now Deborah and Annabelle is Anna.
Years pass, nine to be exact when Liss has fallen into her duties and learned well how to blend in with the rest of the inhabitants of The Close.
She is put in charge of her dorm and life goes on.
Eventually Grey must take a right hand man to do his speaking and they call him The Voice of the father. Lissy is devastated when she sees who this man is and passes out! Iwould have too!
Meanwhile, Riley and Luc meet up with a surprise of an old friend and are off to see if Connor has come through or not. Riley hates having to trust the man she has little faith in but given the circumstances she is left with little choice.
They wait for days for Connor but are finally met on the outskirts be a young female instead with one heck of a story. The tidbits of this are staying unspoiled. I just won't but wow!
With Connor and Liss both in the dungeon, Riley, Luc and Denzil a old friend who helped them in The Outside, have no choice but to risk it all on a suicide mission to get Lissy and Connor out. They are determined to get a very warped, "Voice" *aka* F.J. out too. Him and Liss are what they came for anyhow, but Riley can't help but want to nip the entire impending war in the bud by taking out Grey as well.
Tensions ran so high in this book I was having to take a break! It is such a fast paced read that has you reading paragraphs at record speed.
The story converges and turns to one as all of the characters converge as well. And oh, man! Such an epic part of the book, truly nail biting.
And some of the things that transpired made me cry so much, it was so sad. I really wished it would have been different in that moment but the story is filled with tragedy. It is a post- apocalyptic dystopian after all.
There was an eeriness about the last part as the disciples of Grey were amassed, it was so wicked, lifting the hairs on my arms with just the thought of their chanting.
Barely getting out of harms clutches is getting to be the norm for Riley and Luc, I do hope they sort the personal stuff out next book!
It was really a great read and I am so not joking about how gripping this series truly is. It captivates you and pulls you along and you eagerly follow hanging on every word down to the last. Not a dull moment or an unrealistic one for that matter.
I am so unbelievably happy I had book 3 in my eager clutches. I would have truly hated to wait to read Perimeter!
Loving this series immensely!
The Best Places to Read a Book
by
Shalini Boland
Yes, on the sofa is a nice place to read. It’s comfy. You can have a cup of tea next to you on the coffee table (not on the arm – you might knock it off accidentally) and maybe a couple of biscuits to dunk. BUT, the sitting room isn’t always a haven of calm. A husband could walk through at any time searching for lost car keys. A child may wander in, tap you on the shoulder and request that you provide him with more food. There are always way too many distractions.
Good call. If the door has a lock, you know you’ll be totally undisturbed. HOWEVER, there’s only a finite time you can spend in there before your skin goes wrinkly and the water begins to turn from volcano hot to lukewarm. Plus, there’s the added danger that your book could fall in, or, heaven forbid, your ereader. Can you get electrocuted from an ereader in the bath? I don’t think so, but you wouldn’t want to test that theory.
Possibly a favourite choice. Sunshine, sun loungers, hours of time to relax, no work distractions, Holidays are the perfect time to catch up with those stacks of novels you’ve been dying to read, but haven’t had the chance to, due to the fact you’ve been searching for lost keys, feeding kids and recovering from electrical injuries you sustained in the bath. Yes, holidays seem to be the perfect place to read, UNLESS you’re like me and only take one holiday every millennium.
Hmmm, I guess if you commute, this could be a good option. As long as you don’t live in Britain, where you can never get a seat on the train/bus due to massive over-crowding, unless you re-mortgage your house to travel first class, in which case you get virtually a whole carriage to yourself and a four poster bed, champagne, truffles and your own butler. I’m exaggerating. BUT what happens if you get to a really good bit of the book and you reach your stop? Do you get up, mid-scene, destroying the atmosphere of the story, or do you ignore your stop, travel to the end of the line, to Where-the heck-am-I-ville, and get a taxi home? This type of scenario has actually happened in real life.
This gets my vote. The kids have been fed and are sound asleep. The husband’s car keys are on the hook downstairs. You’ve had a nice soaky bubble bath without mishap. The holiday to Costa del Gorgeous is booked. So now you can get into your pjs, snuggle under the duvet and turn to page one. Bliss.
So where’s your fave place to read? One of the above, or somewhere totally different?
Connect
Brought to you by
No comments:
Post a Comment