Book Review + Giveaway: The Severed Tower - J. Barton Mitchell

Title: The Severed Tower (Conquered Earth #2)

Author: J. Barton Mitchell

Release Date: November 19th 2013

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: ARC from author

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Holt, Mira, and Max have fled Midnight City with Zoey after watching her repel an entire Assembly army. Zoey's powers are unlocked, but who and what she is remains a mystery. All she knows is that she must reach the Severed Tower, an infamous location in the middle of the world's most dangerous landscape: The Strange Lands, a place where the laws of physics have completely broken down. But the closer they get to the Tower, the more precarious things become. The Assembly has pursued Zoey into the Strange Lands. Among them is a new group, their walkers and machines strangely bereft of any color, stripped to bare metal, and whose agenda seems to differ from the rest. To make matters worse, the group hunting Holt are here, too, led by a dangerous and beautiful pirate named Ravan. So is Mira's first love, Benjamin Aubertine, whose singular ambition to reach the Tower threatens to get them all killed.

Then there's the Strange Lands themselves. They have inexplicably begun to grow, spreading outwards, becoming more powerful. Somehow, it all seems tied to Zoey herself, and the closer she gets to the Tower, the weaker she becomes.

Quotable: 

Compassion comes in all kinds of flavors. But they don't all taste like pumpkin pie.

Holy cheesecakes—The Severed Tower was amazing! The book picks up a few days after the events of Midnight City, and I was so easily sucked back in to the author's crazy, perilous world. A bulk of the story takes place in the Strange Lands, and I imagine navigating the deadly, constantly-changing landscape was a nightmare for the characters, but for the reader who's safely tucked in a corner, it's a whole lot of fun.

The Severed Tower doesn't waste time with history lessons of what happened in book one, instead thrusting us straight back to action. This may confuse those who read Midnight City a while back, so I suggest a re-read before diving into this one—which is exactly what I did, so it certainly feels like I've been living in this fictional world for days now. I feel sad to be leaving it until the next book is out.

Part One in the first book was quite a struggle for me to get through, but The Severed Tower's was such a breeze. New characters are introduced, people from Holt's and Mira's pasts who give us a deeper knowing of just who they had been. Yep, I'm talking about love interests. I won't discuss them in great detail to avoid tiny spoilers, but know that the distorted love square frustrated me. But then the Assembly started firing their plasma bolts and blowing things up, so what little stagnancy that brought was quickly ended.

A number of mysteries had to be solved in this book: Zoey's real purpose, why the Strange Lands was getting even more insane, and the Assembly. As if the heart-pumping action wasn't enough to keep me reading, these ticking time bombs had me at the edge of my seat. I looked at each lengthy chapter and told myself, "Just one more", but it was simply too hard to stop. And aside from the Menagerie and other Freebooters, another group of characters added color and kickass to this book: spear-wielding, post-apocalyptic ninjas who could see without their eyes. Their reckoning brought totally-unexpected tears to my eyes.

Everything about The Severed Tower is eerily close to perfection. Action-packed and unpredictable, this is one of the most fast-paced books I've read this year, maybe even ever. This sequel gave answers as much as the first book held them back, and the ending was nothing if not a shocker. Just give me the next book already!

MY FAVORITE PART was Zoey getting her answers.

RATING:

Giveaways!

Rewind Review: Midnight City - J. Barton Mitchell

Sometimes, I read a book for the second time and just think, "Is this the same book that I read before?" Well, Rewind Review is my answer to that. In this feature, I will re-review a book that I've previously read and reviewed—but only when my opinions on it have changed.

Title: Midnight City (Conquered Earth #1)

Author: J. Barton Mitchell

Release Date: October 30th 2012

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: signed copy won from author

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Earth has been conquered by an alien race known as the Assembly. The human adult population is gone, having succumbed to the Tone—a powerful, telepathic super-signal broadcast across the planet that reduces them to a state of complete subservience. But the Tone has one critical flaw. It only affects the population once they reach their early twenties, which means that there is one group left to resist: Children.

Holt Hawkins is a bounty hunter, and his current target is Mira Toombs, an infamous treasure seeker with a price on her head. It’s not long before Holt bags his prey, but their instant connection isn’t something he bargained for. Neither is the Assembly ship that crash-lands near them shortly after. Venturing inside, Holt finds a young girl who remembers nothing except her name: Zoey.

As the three make their way to the cavernous metropolis of Midnight City, they encounter young freedom fighters, mutants, otherworldly artifacts, pirates, feuding alien armies, and the amazing powers that Zoey is beginning to exhibit. Powers that suggest she, as impossible as it seems, may just be the key to stopping the Assembly once and for all.

Previous Rating: 4.5/5

What's the same?
The world-building was still amazing and the characters endearing, but I appreciated those even more during my re-read. The post-apocalyptic world that the author created was very easy to picture in my head, and I can just as easily see this as a movie. Seriously. It's one adaptation that needs to happen.

What changed?
I think I ignored it the first time I read this, but part one of Midnight City just dragged. It wasn't exactly boring, but it didn't keep my eyes glued, either. But patience, grasshopper, because after two hundred pages you'll find that this book is quite the gem. Everything gets crazy on part two—the part that I read in one sitting on both my first and second reads, so it's tried and tested, really.

New Rating:

Book Review: Midnight City - J. Barton Mitchell

Title: Midnight City (Conquered Earth #1)

Author: J. Barton Mitchell

Release Date: October 30th 2012

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Pages: 384 (hardcover)

Goodreads

In a post-apocalyptic world controlled by alien invaders, two teens and a young girl with mysterious powers embark on a dangerous journey. What they find will change everything... 

Earth has been conquered. An extraterrestrial race known as The Assembly has abducted the adult population, leaving the planet’s youth to fend for themselves. In this treacherous landscape, Holt, a bounty hunter, is transporting his prisoner Mira when they discover Zoey, a young girl with powerful abilities who could be the key to stopping The Assembly. As they make their way to the cavernous metropolis of Midnight City, the trio must contend with freedom fighters, mutants, otherworldly artifacts, pirates, feuding alien armies, and perhaps most perilous of all: Holt and Mira’s growing attraction to each other.

As with alien-invasion movies, I expected Midnight City to be either of two things when I started reading it: a hit or a miss. And the beginning made me think it was the latter of the two, until it started hitting me in all the right places.

The best part about this book was the pace. I'd only planned to read a hundred more pages today, but I kept reading because I had to know what would happen next.

I also loved the group of misfits who were the main characters. Holt, a survivor, if nothing else; Mira, ever so resolute about her plan; Zoey, innocent but courageous and smart for her age; and the Max, adorable... although I believe Mira when she said that he stinks. Their group was formed out of necessity, and their hostility not just towards their pursuers but also towards each other made them very real.

The world-building was outstanding. Mitchell described everything in a way that made it easy for me to see the scenes in my mind, and also made me thankful that I do not live in his futuristic world. A world without adults might seem fun to some, but not to me, especially if aliens would take over the minds of nineteen-or-so-year-olds and kids had to mature quickly if they wanted to make the most out of their lives before the Tone gets to them. It's just awful.

The idea of the artifacts also intrigued me. I'm sure it would be cool, although dangerous, to mix and match seemingly worthless items that produced magical effects such as controlling gravity and opening any locked door.

The ending was fulfilling, but it still left many questions unanswered. What was it with Holt's and Mira's pasts and what will happen to their future? What did the Assembly do with the adults? - because I don't think they just beckoned them with the Tone and then killed them off. And just how many Assemblies are there? But I am certain of two things. First, this is one story I would not want to live in, unless I want to die of exhaustion or have running as the last thing I'll do. Second, if you want a constant surge of action, you'll want to get Midnight City.

MY FAVORITE PART was learning just how much Zoey could do, and I'm sure there'll be more.

RATING: 4.5/5

(photo and summary from Goodreads.com)