Title: Crystal Fire (The Hunted #2)
Author: Jordan Dane
Release Date: November 26th 2013
Publisher: HarlequinTEEN
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: NetGalley
Because of what you are, the Believers will hunt you down.
A storm is brewing on the streets of LA, one that has intensified since a tragic and deadly confrontation claimed an innocent life.
While Gabriel Stewart trains his army of teen psychics to stop Alexander Reese—the obsessed leader of the Believers—the fanatical church becomes more bent on the annihilation of all Indigo and Crystal children. They're silencing the voices of the telepathic hive, one soul at a time, with frightening experiments cruelly executed on vulnerable minds.
When the Believers torture a mysterious homeless boy, Oliver Blue, they brainwash him into betraying his own. The boy becomes a deadly pawn to take Gabriel down. As the fires of chaos burn around him, Gabe is running out of time. He'll need to confront his past—and the man who made him—before the hope of peace for the future is silenced forever.If you follow my Multimedia Monday features, you'd know that I watch The Tomorrow People, a new-ish TV show. That show is so eerily similar to The Hunted series that they had almost become one entity in my mind, but after reading the first few pages of this sequel, I was reminded that these books are something entirely their own.
Crystal Fire was hard to get into. The Indigos and two known Crystals, Gabe and Luke, are gearing up for an inevitable battle against the Believers who are also upping their game, resorting to harsher, more inhumane experiments for the sake of faith and science. The first half of the book just dragged and it was a struggle to get past—as in 'I fell asleep while reading it' level of difficulty. But once the action kicked in, it couldn't have been any easier to read through and devour.
The romance between Rayne and Gabe felt insubstantial, much like it had in the first book. Because of all the crazy shenanigans that were ensuing, they had little to no time together and I just couldn't bring myself to believe that their love could have deepened that much. Their relationship actually felt... unnecessary, or, dare I say it, a hindrance to speeding up the plot—something this book definitely needed. They were good for each other, yes, but their chemistry didn't seep out of the pages and their moments together just felt flat.
Another problem I had with Crystal Fire was my overall emotional detachment from the characters. I'm not sure why, but I didn't really care about them to worry if they would get hurt or anything. I only kept reading for the sake of knowing what would happen next, but I think that says a lot considering I finished the book. Anyway, I also couldn't fathom why the hell they couldn't bring themselves to hurt their enemies physically. Considering they were being dissected like lab rats and then disposed of like trash or kept in jars like alien specimen, I know revenge would have come easily for me. I know they were good kids, but their goodness ended up feeling unrealistic.
If nothing else, this book was unpredictable and hilarious when it wanted to be. Oh yes, it made me laugh more than once, and most of them were during intense scenes, which made them even funnier. Crystal Fire didn't outdo its predecessor by much, but I'm sure I'll still check out the third book.
MY FAVORITE PART was their revenge on Dr. Fiona =))
RATING:
About the author:
Bestselling, critically-acclaimed author Jordan Dane’s gritty romantic thrillers are ripped from the headlines with vivid settings, intrigue, and dark humor. Publishers Weekly compared her intense novels to Lisa Jackson, Lisa Gardner, and Tami Hoag, naming her debut novel NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM as Best Books of 2008. She also pens young-adult novels for Harlequin Teen. Formerly an energy sales manager, she now writes full time. Jordan and her husband share their Texas residence with two lucky rescue dogs.
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