A huge thanks to Shane @ Itching For Books for hosting this blog tour!
Author: Heather Anastasiu
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: July 2, 2013
Pages: 320
Source: NetGalley/Publisher for Blog Tour
Purchase: Amazon
The battle is all but over, and hope seems to be lost. Zoe and her fellow Resistance fighters are on the run, having lost their home, their protection, and their leader. They are outnumbered and outmatched by the powerful corporation that controls the world, and the cruel Chancellor is inches away from completing a scheme that would kill most of humanity. Zoe's only remaining option is to chase the impossible dream of upending the Link system, freeing the world from the hardware that controls their thoughts and emotions, and hope it will trigger a revolution.
The plot requires a nearly impossible mission to infiltrate the dangerous Community, and it is a task that Zoe must unfortunately complete alone. With challenges and surprises at every turn, nothing goes according to plan. Adrien's visions of the future now show two possible outcomes: one in which they succeed, and one in which humanity falls. It all lies in Zoe's hands.
Full of romance, high-adrenaline action and shocking twists, Shutdown is a heart-pounding conclusion to an exciting sci-fi adventure trilogy for young adults.
The thrilling conclusion to an action-packed sci-fi trilogy.
Review: I definitely felt like this book was a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy! I also feel like it definitely made up for what I felt like was lacking with the characters in the previous books! So I guess I want to start with Zoe. I really loved that she developed so much control over her gifts. From the point she was at when she first figured out her gift, to the point she ended at in this book, she definitely made a huge improvement! The only thing she still struggled with was controlling her gift while sleeping, which I can understand because its really hard to control much of what you do when your sleeping. Lol. But she gained so much control over her telek, and she also found out with Adrien's help that she had another gift related to her telek. And she really took to that gift as well and learned it and had control over it much faster than her original struggle with the telek. But also, she was able to use her gift to control her cells from causing an allergy attack. I think that was as amazing as her other talents because she couldn't even step outside before let alone survive for days without a suit. But she was able to have that much control that she could be outside for extended periods of time without having an attack! That in itself really helped over the course of the entire book, since most of it took place outdoors. I was also happy to see Zoe's growth as a person. She went from being a follower to leading people which was definitely not an easy task when not everyone was on board with her leading. But she stepped up as much as she could and did what she had to. She also grew a ton emotionally, especially when it came to Adrien and the person he was becoming.
On that note. I wanna talk about Adrien. This poor boy. I mean seriously. I wasn't sure how things would turn out for him after the Chancellor chopped up his brain in the last book. I seriously wasn't even sure he would survive for long. But overall, I was pleased with the way things turned out for him. So he wasn't the same Adrien we met in Glitch. He still had some of his characteristics, but they were brought out a little differently with the new him. He got better with the regrowing of parts of his brain (physically), but his emotions were just all over the place when he finally started getting them back. Not to mention, he still couldn't associate those emotions with any memories. So he had the separate emotions and memories and people telling him that he should be working on trying to become the person he was before, but he couldn't. And that really upset him a lot throughout the book as we find out. Everyone was so focused on him becoming like the boy he was before that they weren't focusing on the boy he was becoming now, which was still a pretty awesome guy. He finally stopped pushing Zoe away though when he realized that she liked the new him as well as the old him. I felt like that was the huge turning point in the book. It wasn't any specific battle, it was when Adrien finally realized people liked the new him as well. I was very happy when he let Zoe back into his life along with the others he had been pushing out for so long.
OK, now to the Rez/Zoe vs. Chancellor business. I seriously hate the Chancellor! She had so much to her advantage it wasn't even funny. How was anyone supposed to be able to take her down when she never let you have even one thing in your advantage?? Even just a small thing! It was so aggravating! She was always like 10 steps ahead of anything the Rez and Zoe was doing! She even found the Foundation and forced all the people that could get out (thanks to her surprise attack) to go on the run! And once they were forced out of the Foundation, they never stopped being on the run after that (hence where Zoe's being forced to be outdoors most of the book comes from)! The Chancellor was just relentless in her attacks and tracking Zoe down! And she didn't even care how many people she killed to do that. I was just absolutely disgusted in the Chancellor! And then don't even get me started on her new idea with the V-Chips and how angry that would have made me. All she was after was control over everyone! And that was sickening! I was very satisfied with what happened to the Chancellor in the end of the book. All I can say is that she deserved what she got!
Overall, I was very pleased with how this book ended. I'm not spoiling it, but I think people will be very happy with how Adrien and Zoe's story ends, along with the huge changes that end up happening due to what happened to the Chancellor! I was very satisfied with the overall ending of the book! Especially with what happens in regards to Zoe's brother (which if you paid attention, she's been wanting to save since the day she left the Community). So many good things happened at the end of the book that you definitely not regret finishing this trilogy!
4 Stars!
So for my stop I also get to share my favorite quote from the book. I found two that really stuck out to me but this one is my absolute favorite! It also directly relates to the major turning point with Adrien!
Favorite Quote:
"But then when we were out in the wilderness," his words were a rush now, "and the rendezvous site was burned and I knew you'd go into an allergy attack at any moment, all logic fled from my head. I had to save you. I didn't question the impulse, not till later. And then when I did, it was so clear to me what I'd been denying all along." His eyes met mine. "I love you, Zoe. Every incarnation of me will love you, even when this body is just bones and dust."
About the Author:
www.heatheranastasiu.com | twitter.com/h_anastasiu
Other Books In The Trilogy!
Giveaway:
