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Series: Breeders #3
on 12-6-2014
Genres: Dystopia
Pages: 258
Format: eBook
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The third book in the award-winning, best-selling dystopian series. They’ve escaped the Breeders. They’ve broken out of the Citadel. Now, after all they’ve been through, Riley, Clay, and Ethan know one thing for sure: nothing tastes sweeter than freedom. And no one can rest easy with Auntie Bell in bondage. The group journeys home to rescue her and liberate Clay’s town from the cruel Warden. But when an ally betrays them, they must face the very enemy they’ve been trying to avoid. Captured and separated, Riley is sold to a slave-owner who uses human beings for sport, while Clay and Ethan become the latest in a series of lab rats to be poked and prodded. As a slave, Riley conceals her identity to survive among the other benders, but it’s only a matter of time before a dangerous job takes her life. Clay and Ethan find themselves a war zone between a madwoman and marauders. And the odd don’t look good.
In The Benders, Riley and Clay end up being prisoners again, albeit separated this time. Riley ends up as a slave in a camp run by a deranged bullet maker who runs his estate like a medieval castle. Meanwhile, Clay and Ethan are held prisoner by Nessa in an army compound. Both sets must fight to escape and reunite.
This book was a bit more interesting than the last. Riley and Clay are still at the mercy of lunatics, but at least things stay fresh with two different subplots and the whole plot about Riley’s struggle was very captivating. It definitely kept me turning the pages. The world is still quite bleak with little hope, but the characters keep pushing forward. The novel does introduce a new hope though, a destination that Riley hopes to find one day.
As far as negatives, I would say a lot of my discontent revolves around Nessa. For most of the novel her intentions are never fully revealed, and the fate of her at the end was a bit disappointing to me (but I suppose could be necessary to keep the story going). She also seems to be very heartless and is impossible to relate to.
Overall, I enjoyed the book very much and am looking forward to future novels in the series.