Unleashed
Author: Sophie Jordan
Publication Date: February 24th 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~
Unleashed, the romantic, high-stakes sequel to New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan's Uninvited, is perfect for fans of James Patterson's Confessions of a Murder Suspect.
Davy has spent the last few months trying to come to terms with the fact that she tested positive for the kill gene HTS (also known as Homicidal Tendency Syndrome). She swore she would not let it change her, and that her DNA did not define her . . . but then she killed a man.
Now on the run, Davy must decide whether she'll be ruled by the kill gene or if she'll follow her heart and fight for her right to live free. But with her own potential for violence lying right beneath the surface, Davy doesn't even know if she can trust herself
If you haven't read Uninvited, there's probably some minor spoilers for it, so ABORT ABORT ABORT. If you don't want to know anything about Uninvited.
Gone?
----
Okay.
Here's the thing, if you loved Uninvited for Davy and Sean's relationship, there's a big chance you will hate Unleashed, if you loved it for the questions it brought up about morality and a murder gene, there's still a chance you'll like Unleashed. I'm wavering in-between right now, because I'm not going to lie, the sequel felt more of a different book than Uninvited was, sometimes it didn't feel like a sequel at all, and it has a slower plot and focuses more on the romance, but it also focuses more on the characteristics, which leads it to being more of a character driven story. Or to be more precise, Davy.
That being said, I still can't quite decide if I loved it, liked it, or hated it. I did like the romance between Davy and Sean, I do ship them, but I also get the reason for why she couldn't be with him anymore. And it's a pretty important one. Davy didn't grow up like Sean, she can't rationalise what she did, killing someone, to save Sean, she can't forgive or forget while just looking at Sean reminds her of what she did.
Unleashed is more focused on Davy joining the Resistance, which throughout the novel, she keeps going back and forth on whether to stay or try to get back to Sean, Gil and Sabine. Then there's a sub-plot of a traitor in the underground, which was a nice surprise since I didn't guess it, but it didn't make much sense, why that person did what they did because of Spoiler- wanting Caden. Bitch crazy. Although being stuck in one place for so long with only trips outside every now and then, it would drive you crazy, which would be a more realistic turns.
I didn't mind the change in love interest, if Sean was still around, that might have changed that, but since we lose contact with Gil, Sabine and Sean after the first couple of chapters. I have to say, while I did love Uninvited for the questions it brought up, the cast of characters was what made it all that more good, so I missed that and I missed them. Especially because the new cast of characters you don't get to know much about, it doesn't delve into their psyche or much of their past, especially this certain character who likes throwing a lot of shade at people that don't listen to him.
Through emails/letters and phone calls in Unleashed at the end of every chapter, we get a more rounded picture of the turning point in the world to do with the murder gene and the camps, which added that little touch. Overall, I am disappointed with Unleashed since I loved Uninvited so much, but Davy goes through so much growth in this one that's it's still worth reading for the conclusion to the series.
Rating: 3/5
