Revelations by J.A. Souders
Series: The Elysium Chronicles #2
Published: 05 November 2013
Tor Teen, Hardcover, 352 pages
Source: Library
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WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR RENEGADE.
Six weeks after her arrival on the Surface, Evelyn Winters is no closer to unlocking the memories lost in her subconscious than she was when she first came. Isolated in a strange new society, Evie has only Gavin Hunter to remind her of who she once was.
But even with a clean slate, it’s easy to see that Evie doesn’t fit in on the Surface. And as her differences make her feel more and more alone, she can’t help but yearn for that place she doesn’t remember: the isolated city hidden in the depths of the ocean. Elysium. Home.
But she can’t exactly tell Gavin what she’s feeling. Not when he’s the one who helped her escape Elysium in the first place, and has the scars to prove it. Though the doctors say otherwise, Gavin believes that Evie just needs time. And if her memories don’t come back, well, maybe she’s better off not remembering her past.
But the decision may be out of their hands when Evie’s ever-elusive memories begin to collide with reality. People and images from her past appear in the most unlikely places, haunting her, provoking her…and making her seem not only strange but dangerous.
Evie and Gavin can’t wait around for her memories to return. They’ll have to journey across the Outlands of the Surface to find help, and in the end, their search may just lead them back to the place it all started…
Rating: ★★½
Almost a year ago, I had made one of the best decision in my bookish life – reading Renegade, the first installment in The Elysium Chronicles, despite the average reviews it had. I utterly loved its gore, thrilling pace and the amazing bond formed between Evie and Gavin; it was a shoo-in as one of my favorite novels ever. So when I finally got my hands on Revelations, it undoubtedly got me in a crazy fangirling fit. Unfortunately, Revelations fell far from my expectations – so far I wanted to chuck it at a wall multiple times.
Firstly, the perfect pacing of events that kept the story from ever getting dull was gone. Poof! No more. Gone. It felt to me as if Souders lost her momentum somewhere between Renegade and Revelations. Maybe it was the drastic change of setting from Elysium to the Surface but no matter what, it was almost painful to read (especially if you’ve been eagerly looking forward to the book for almost a year). I just wanted to get to the part where they went back to Elysium so bad (this is not a spoiler as it was already implied in the synopsis).
Not only was the pacing horrid, the characters were all over the place too. As we all know, at the end of Renegade, Evie lost all her memories. However, in Revelations, it seemed like she lost her whole spirit along with her memories. Simply put, Evie’s character was dead and flat. Thankfully, her point of view was not the only one portrayed in the story; Gavin also narrated part of the book. Honestly, I enjoyed Gavin’s segments a lot better because at least he still seemed like the Gavin in Renegade (although still not on par).
The direction the plot took was okay but not spectacular or anything to get excited over. As compared to the heart-pounding action and suspense in its predecessor, Revelations was like an accounting textbook – informative but boring.
Although I was fine with the course of the general plot, I’m completely enraged at the romance sector. It was cliché enough to cause severely unpleasant rambling (I feel sorry for my friends who were around me while I’d been reading this book). Cliché utterly-uncalled-for-couple-separation that’s present in an insane number of sequels? Check. Cliché addition of a third party to fool readers into thinking a love angle/triangle might be forming? Check. Well, for those of you feeling like you would commit murder if you don’t know whether there would be a love triangle, highlight the text below for the answer. It’s sort of a spoiler though.
No, there is no love triangle at the end. And while you have this highlighted, I shall tell you I found Asher insanely annoying too.
All in all, Revelations was a complete disappointment for me, particularly since I loved Renegade so copiously. Despite that, the ending was just interesting enough to leave me slightly curious for the next – probably the last – book of The Elysium Chronicles. I will admit I’m still rooting for J.A. Souders to somehow redeem the trilogy due to my love for the first book so I guess I’ll be hoping and praying until that finale is released.
A Page of Heaven 