ARC REVIEW: TEMPER by Beck Nicholas

TEMPER

Author: Beck Nicholas
Series: Lifer #2
Source: eARC via the Publisher
Publisher: Month9Books
Publication Date: 2016
Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary:
FREEDOM COMES WITH A PRICE.

Free from the spaceship and reunited with Samuai, Asher should be happy. But thoughts of her dead family weigh heavily on her mind.

Things worsen when temper problems in camp lead to a murder. When Asher volunteers to get the drug need to calm people down, tension ignites.

Loyalties are questioned.

Jealousy rears its head. Sparks fly.

And when rumor of a second ship hits close to home, all bets are off.


Have the aliens returned? Is this the end of everything Asher has ever known?

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I reviewed the first book in this series, LIFER, as part of the blog tour. Then I was lucky enough to get a super early version of this book to read and review. Which was awesome because as much as I was skeptical about LIFER, both Dani from Dani Reviews Things and I agreed we needed to read the rest of the series to find out what happened. And boy am I glad I did just that.

Where I thought LIFER was your typical dystopian novel but too "squished" together to be unique, TEMPER blew it out of the water. The beginning 25% was a little slow for me and I found myself rolling my eyes at Asher's interactions with both brothers, but once the plot moved into what the story arc was for this book, it really shone.

Everyone at camp is getting riled up over little things and it turns out that the Company was injecting the people of the Pelican with a serum that was keeping them well mannered, but now that they no longer are living on the Pelican, tempers (*wink wink*) are flaring and this is causing the Pelicanites (that's what I'm calling them now) to get so angry they want to beat on anyone and anything in sight. This is problematic for a lot of reasons. Asher volunteers to go to New City to get the serum from the Company with Davyd in tow; Samuai stays back to be the Pelicanite diplomat. And from here the story kicks into overdrive.

I was constantly on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what would happen next. The best part of any story is being able to guess some of the plot points but be surprised by others. And boy did this one keep me guessing. There are so many twists and turns in this one, but the best part is that they all make sense. They don't come out of nowhere or have the reader saying "Where did THAT come from?"

I thought Asher was much stronger this time. I liked that she was starting to question her feelings for both Dayvd and Samuai but kept coming back to the idea that she was her number one priority -- and her number one saviour. I can't wait to see where her story leads to next and what sort of conclusions she makes about what she should do for not only herself but also for her people. Because they are HER people.

Samuai annoyed me at the beginning but I liked that he had to come to terms with his grief and also wasn't an epic douche by being honest with Megs that he couldn't be with her while he was still thinking about Asher. I am so glad that neither Asher nor Samuai jumped into a new relationship and acknowledged their lingering feelings for one another. And I thought Samuai's story made him all the more interesting. I was glad he had a storyline that I actually wanted to follow.

The pacing and the story flowed so much better this time. I liked that the story picked up a couple weeks after the breakout because it made the tensions in the camp seem that much more believable. As well, I thought the dynamics of camp were interesting. I would have liked to see a bit more of Lady and her shenanigans because I think they will become important in the future for where the Pelicanites will eventually end up.

I can't wait to see where this story concludes. If you're looking for a good science fiction read, I highly recommend this series. It is a bit slow to start but it picks up and leaves your heart racing until the very last page.