Berkley Trade
December 2, 2014
368 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depo/or Amazon
There is no rest for the damned in this thrilling follow-up to Emily McKay's The Lair and The Farm, in a series New York Times bestselling author Chloe Neill calls, "Equal parts Resident Evil and Hunger Games."
In a world where vampires rule and teenaged humans are quarantined as a food source, there is only one choice—resist or die. But fighting the vampires comes at a terrible cost to twin sisters Mel and Lily and their best friend Carter . . .
With Lily exposed to the vampire virus and lying in a coma, it’s up to Mel and Carter to search for the cure. Time is not on their side. With every passing heartbeat, Mel is becoming more and more purely vampire.
Desperate, Carter and Mel decide to split up. Carter will recruit human rebels from the Farm in San Angelo to infiltrate the guarded kingdom of the vampire Sabrina and steal the cure. Mel will go back to her mentor, her friend, her betrayer, Sebastian, who is the only one who can access an underground vault that may house the secret to the cure.
That is, if he’s still alive after she staked him to the ground. Now her worst enemy may be their best hope for curing Lily—and saving the human race.
As with The Farm, the second book in this trilogy, The Lair, also ended on quite a cliffhanger. Here in the third book, The Vault, we pick up right where the last book left off, hoping to find out if all of the characters can survive until the end.
There was so much character development and evolution in The Lair that going into this last book of the trilogy, I felt like I had a much better idea of who each of them was. I, especially, loved the growth of Mel's character and was excited to see what role she would play in the story now.
Readers who have read the previous two books will know the setup of The Farm's world: the virus, the ticks, the farms and know the characters. If you haven't read the previous book, there are some reminders, some reestablishment of the facts, but overall the story will be rather confusing. (This is a series to read in order.) If you've read the other books, you'll also know that now with Mel a vampire and Lily exposed to the tick virus, their lives are more different than ever, the stakes higher.
It was nice to see a bit of a reversal in the sister's relationship, with Mel the one looking out for Lily where it was always Lily taking care of Mel. This not only fits with the changes the characters have undergone, but allows us to see different aspects of their personalities.
There are definitely times, in The Vault, where it seems like nothing good can come of the current situation. When the characters do find ways out of perilous circumstances, their unique skills and talents are put to use and the solutions (while still dangerous and anxiety inducing) make sense and fit in both the story and the world.
The mix of danger, fear, hope, anxiety and love that makes up so much of the story is great. The series follows a great progression of events. What seems like just the right amount of happenings, of characters' actions have new light shed on them. Whether it's thanks to new information or another character's perspective, some things that seemed so certain are called into question or seen differently. It really fills out the story.
I enjoyed how different things form the previous books - characters, decisions, facts - became a part of this last book. The second book, with all of its character development, is still my favorite of the three but this is a more than worthy follow-up.
If The Vault is, actually, the absolute end of the series, I am a bit disappointed that there was not more of an epilogue to wrap things up. I like that some of the bigger things were left more open ended, so I can imagine what may be to come for the characters, for the world. Yet, some parts, with some characters, were too unresolved for me.
If you have read The Farm and The Lair then get The Vault and start reading - if you haven't, read those two first so you can read The Vault and fully enjoy the characters and story.
Other Books You May Also Enjoy: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa and The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda
The Farm Series (in order):
digital galley received from Penguin through NetGalley for tour review - thank you
No comments:
Post a Comment