Synopsis
The four remaining fugitives are now spread across the Kingdom. And with the fate of the others unknown to him, Nate Anteros prays for a fast execution.
Yet execution does not come. After a meeting with the King which leaves Nate questioning his sanity, he’s sent to a workcamp in Argon Basin for five years of hard labour. It’s there that Nate learns what became of his friends upon their arrest.
And as his strength returns to him, and he’s plagued by dreams which are much too real to be ignored, Nate decides five years is far too long to wait … Add it on Goodreads.
My Thoughts
Rating: ★★★★
Thank you to the author, Rebecca Crunden, for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
With the huge cliffhanger ending of the first book, I naturally jumped at the chance to read the second book as well! And I am so glad that I did! I really liked the first one and I loved this one even more. It was darker and revealed so much more of the history of the world. Thank you again to Rebecca Crunden for letting me read and review this one as well!
First of all, like in the first book, the writing style was wonderful to read, and you can really see how much the author has grown and improved in terms of writing since the previous book. Again, it was fast-paced and action-packed and the combination of clear but also beautiful writing with the darker and grittier tone of the second book made for a truly enjoyable read!
Some words were better left unsaid, but strange things occurred in the darkness; words that would never be utterable in the daylight suddenly seemed necessary in the night.
Somewhat unexpected was the fact that the second book is told from a different perspective. Whereas the first book was told from Kitty’s point of view, the second one follows Nate’s point of view. I actually really enjoyed this shift as I think the differing perspectives reveal more about the story than you would get if you only got to see it from the mind of one person. As I already mentioned, this second book is a lot darker, which reveals itself in the story and the horrible topics it deals with such as forced marriage, rape, and torture. What I especially liked is that Rebecca Crunden doesn’t soften any edges and just writes about it straight up. The topics aren’t romanticized which makes them as realistic and unapologetic as they are, which I think is very important.
What made me really happy is that we got so much more history and information on the world and its peoples and cultures in this second book, but I just can’t help wanting more! It is both an interesting and terrifying world with secrets and war and you never know what is true and what is made up by the government in an attempt to indoctrinate and control the people. The most interesting part for me was the history of the Outlands and the Mutants that live there. I really hope to see more about them in future books!
‘Why would anyone defy King Markas?’ said the boy, ‘He keeps us safe.’
[…] ‘Very good. And what does he keep us safe from?’
‘Freedom,’ chorused the boys.
Finally, as in the first book, it is the characters that really make the book come to life! They are all so unique and real and go through so much growth, each in their own way. Additionally, the relationships and dynamics between the characters shifted as well as the story went on and they had to go through all those horrible things and that was really well done in my opinion! You could really see how those events affected them individually and as a group. Reading the story from Nate’s perspective also gave me new insights into both his characters and the other characters and made me love them all even more!
All in all, A History of Madness is the perfect sequel in this intriguing and fantastic dystopia, and I am so curious to see what happens next! It definitely keeps you at the edge of your seat and you can really see the growth of the author as well as the characters and the story!
My Life, Stolen by Books 