Distortion by Victor Dixen

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Publisher: Hot Key Books
Released: 18th of October 2018 

Six girls, six boys: looking for glory and romance on Mars 

They thought they were masters of their destiny.

They are the twelve pioneers of the Genesis programme. 

They thought they were taking part in the most extraordinary of missions.

In fact, they are the victims of the cruellest of plots.

Leonor was looking for glory - and love - on Mars.

She thought she would be able to open her heart there. 

But what she has done is open up a Pandora's box of her past ...

What I Have to Say 

I've never had such a different reaction to a sequel as the first book before, but as much as I loved Ascension, I really hated Distortion. It was a massive disappointment. Sometimes I read a book and get caught up in the action and the mystery of it all and I don't notice that actually, the writing itself isn't so great. I think that's the case with Ascension. I'm not withdrawing my recommendation. I still loved Ascension. It's worth reading for all the secrets and lies and mystery. But having a book like Distortion, where most of the mystery is already revealed and there's not the big build up of the first book? It becomes clear that the actual writing is very lacking. I don't know whether this is a translation issue or the original text, but it's really off-putting 

I like the main 12 characters a lot. Their dialogue may be really stilted and formal, but their actions and their motivations shine through. I think this is what will keep me reading this series. Because even though Serena is turning into more and more of a comic book villain, even though I find the way that they've paired up nice and neatly with each six couples being madly in love completely and utterly ridiculous and unbelievable, I want to see what comes next for them. I want them to survive and win out against all the odds stacked against them. 

So this is a very mixed review. There are some really good things about the series, but it's not one that I want to shout about and push on my friends anymore. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hot Key Books for providing me with this copy for review. 

Day 7 by Kerry Drewery

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 448 

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 15th of June 2017 

Other Books in the Series: Cell 7 

Martha Honeydew has been released from the terrifying Cell 7. But despite her new freedom, the corrupt judicial system is still tracking Martha's every move. And Isaac, her only trusted friend, is now imprisoned in the very same cells she was. Isaac saved Martha's life, it is only right she now saves his. 

But with Martha still a target, her chances of saving Isaac are remote. Martha begins to question whether it is ever possible to escape government scrutiny. 

Will Martha and Isaac ever reunite? 

Will they ever live in a better world?

What I Have to Say 

I loved Cell 7 so I was really looking forward to Day 7, but it made me feel a bit disappointed when I found it a little repetitive. For a lot of it, it kind of felt like the same plot as Cell 7 but with Isaac in the cell instead of Martha. It was different enough to keep me interested, but I think it could have been more different. 

I love the whole concept of it though. Everything is a conspiracy. Everything is manipulation and I feel like in this book we saw more of that. We saw how everyone's strings are being pulled behind the scenes. Not just the presenters of the TV shows but even Martha and Eve and everyone else. I love reading about manipulation and how hard it is to escape from this kind of thing. 

I'm looking forward to the next book a lot. I don't like the repetitiveness, but I still love the whole idea and everything else about, Kerry Drewery's writing is beautiful and the different styles really bring it all together. 

I can't wait to see what happens now. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hot Key Books for providing me with this copy for review. 

Cell 7 by Kerry Drewery

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 400

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 22nd of September 2016 

Should she live or die? You decide 

An adored celebrity has been killed. Sixteen-year-old Martha Honeydew was found holding a gun, standing over the body.

Now Justice must prevail.

The general public will decide whether Martha is innocent or guilty by viewing daily episodes of the hugely popular TV show Death is Justice, the only TV show that gives the power of life and death decisions - all for the price of a phone call.

Martha has admitted to the crime. But is she guilty? Or is reality sometimes more complicated than the images we are shown on TV?

What I Have to Say 

Just from the concept, I knew this book would be good. It's a little out there. Hopefully, not the sort of thing that would come out of our own society. But it still feels very believable. This concept that is dreadful and terrible and anyone could see is a completely insane idea is so grounded in the world that Drewery has created that you can see how the society has been indoctrinated into believing that this is the way things should be. 

It was really easy to sympathize with Martha too. To feel her suffering as she goes through the torture of each cell as her human rights are being stripped away and she suffers through horrors that no one should ever have to go through. Drewery makes it so that even though it's fiction, the reader feels angry at the society. The hypocritical nature of those in charge and the presenters on the TV show just added to this. 

I loved the bits of the book that were in transcript format as well.  It added to the atmosphere at the book and it made the bits where the presenters were cutting across people in order to hide the truth more effective because you could really see where they were cutting in. 

I've been hearing so many people talking about this book and saying how great it is, but I want to add my voice to the mix. This book is amazing and everyone should read it.