Well, of course I got a kick out of it, it's been in the wings for a while so it would be hard not to!
Jessica Roe's on form with her infectious style again and it's welcome when one spends most of the time writing stuff on a par with Adele's albums. I enjoyed the whirligig pace, the get-the-hell-on-with-it atmosphere, the bunch of misfits who are inevitably adorable underneath. We're introduced to more employees/leaders/secret service of the Guardians, who are all intriguing and secretive and you definitely wanna dig more out of. It's a shame we didn't get to have a bit of an adventure with them a little more, but surely there will be time, there's going to be another one, of course there is! Having found out Sacha is off-world with a bunch of other kidnapped Outcasts the race is on to find them, and Gable is certainly not going to stay behind while they gallivant through dimensions. Anyway, I'm not going to explain the whole plot, read the blurb!
The focus is almost entirely on Gable in this one (the alternate story arc is Fortune who's in a cell with Sacha...somewhere...), which is perfectly riotous most of the time. You see plenty of different sides to her and certainly feel for her loss of Sacha and learn a bit more of her dreams. What was missing for me was that there was no firm conflict for her (except Nicky, but not that kind of conflict) and she could have done with having Walker about for that (a real shame she wasn't about much) to tie in with the possibility of joining the gang. The great things about Gable are her resilience and drive, and her deep passion for Sacha - she feels things in extremities and protects herself emotionally when it comes to him. It gives her vulnerability which is a nice contrast.
However, Gable seemed a little too myopic and self-involved at times to the point of irritation, not even bothering to remember the one other girl in the group's name but knowing all the boys - she could probably have used a wake-up call, and perhaps a slap. It suggests her strength is only found in getting approval from all the men around her (because her conflict/disinterest is with almost all of the women) which is an entirely unlikeable aspect of her character to me, and stops me taking her seriously at those moments. She's strong enough to accept and correct these flaws but doesn't. This is the only reason it didn't rank higher for me - it feels out of place in the character I bought in to.
Anyway, back to reality where these people aren't real... A barrel of fun, a river of emotions, twists and turns that leave you in a joyously suspenseful state, and some Outcasts to root for again! I love the world, I love the setting, I love the stuff that hasn't happened yet and I can see creeping up. I can't tell all - go and read it!
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