Deception: A Postapocalyptic YA Fantasy Sequel About Survivors, Warriors, and an Unknown Killer (Defiance Trilogy, 2)

5 out of 5 stars.Baalboden is gone, burned and condensed down to nothing but ashes. There are just over a hundred survivors after the fatal attack by the Cursed One, which killed, and these broken people have chosen Logan to be their leader. But he’s just a young kid trying to stay alive; they’re all just trying to stay alive, yet they are prepared to follow him wherever he may lead them. Logan barely knows how to save himself and Rachel, and he certainly doesn’t know how to lead a hundred-and-some people successfully into the Wasteland, and to SURVIVE the long trek to another city-state. But Logan has always been smart and scrappy, and somehow he will come up with a plan, a way to pull the impossible off with his friends alongside him. He will make the remaining people of Baalboden proud to call him their leader.Plans never go as easily as we hope them to, and Logan’s are no exception. He has got a plan and it’s a good one, but someone among Baalboden’s survivors is sabotaging Logan inventions, slowing his plan for a safe departure into the Wasteland. Logan has only got so much time before other city states hear of Baalboden’s destruction and they come to hunt him and his people down. Sure, they’re petty pranks, but it is still costing him time, and time is something Logan has very little of. Soon enough, though, Logan finds out that his time is already up: the Commander is back, and he wants revenge.Rachel is a different girl now. Stars don’t dance in her eyes anymore, and the sun doesn’t warm her from the inside out like it should. Everything is empty now that her father, Jared, and her adoptive grandfather, Oliver, are gone. Rachel is drowning and the only person keeping her afloat is Logan. But he has so many people to take care of now, and he doesn’t need to hear her troubles; he doesn’t need another burden. So she learns to close in on herself and contain her fears while the sun is up. But when the moon rises and Rachel slips into sleep, everything she hates and wants to hide from haunts her dreams. There is no redemption for someone like her, no matter what Logan says, no matter what anyone says. People like her don’t deserve mercy, and sooner rather than later, she will have to pay for her crimes. But before that day comes, Rachel has something to deliver to the Commander. In person.With the weight of the world on their shoulders, Logan, Rachel, and their friends begin to lead Baalboden’s citizens out of their ruined city and into the Wasteland. But it seems that every force is ready to contend with them. The Commander is constantly on their tail, Rowansmark is now tracking them, and the Cursed One could show up at any time. Could things get any worse? Sadly for the already ragged group, things do get worse. Soon the little pranks begin to escalate into threatening letters in Logan pack. Each time something happens in their camp, it becomes more and more sinister until it begins to turn into murder. Innocent people are being picked off and Logan cannot figure out why and who is doing the dastardly deed. Can Logan and Rachel find the culprit before the refugees are eliminated one after another and they themselves come face to face with the killer, or are their lives going to be cut short because of a sin they didn’t even knowthey committed? And can Rachel overcome the darkness that seems to consume her, or is she to be swallowed whole by all that she has done?It has been a LONG wait for this book. My sister bought “Defiance” by C.J. Redwine a week or two after it came out last year, and we both just LOVED it!! “Defiance” was amazing, and the more I think about it the more I love the story; it is a five-star book for me. So, having to wait a year for the next installment to be released was pretty painful, but patience is definitely rewarded.“Deception” is a great book, but I want to warn you it is pretty dark. A whole lot of “you know what” is hitting the fan at ALL times. There is never really a down moment, and my stomach was twisting at the thought of what might happen next; my stomach had quite a few reasons to twist while reading this book. It was like I was experiencing a train wreck over and over again!!! It was terrible and horrible, and wonderful all at the same time!Logan was amazing as usual! I love him still, but I was a little bummed that I didn’t get as many heartfelt scenes between him and Rachel in this book as I did in “Defiance.” The moments I did get were good, but I guess I wanted more of what they had in the beginning of the first book.Rachel was also a good character. I will warn you, she is kind of crazy in this book. A bit more than in the first, but I was okay with that because I really understood her inner turmoil, and I wanted to see her overcome it. It broke my heart to see her shut so many people who loved her out of her heart; it is understandable, but still sad. I am looking forward to seeing how C.J. resolves what’s going on inside of Rachel in the third and final book.Overall, “Deception” is a great, explosive read, and I really enjoyed it. The only reason I am not giving it five stars is because of how dark it was. With “Defiance” I really liked the grittiness of Redwine’s world, and I loved how despite all of the despair and pain that the characters endured, there was still hope because they had each other. “Deception” had that nearing the end, but I felt like that ray of “sunshine” didn’t come across quite as strong as it did in the first book (or it should have been introduced earlier on in this book), and with this one being so much darker, it needed a LOT of sunshine! But overall, “Deception” is an amazingly well written book. Loved it! Now I must wait for the last book in this trilogy…check-out by blog at booksandwonderfulthings.wordpress.com

An action packed intense, emotionally charged read that will leave you begging for the next book.C.J. Redwine won me over with her debut novel, DEFIANCE (read my glowing review for it here). I couldn't get enough of that book. I quickly fell in love with her characters, the world they live in, and C.J.'s writing, so much so that I could not wait to get DECEPTION in my hands. You know when you've patiently waited for what feels like forever to get the next book in your hands, you're torn between devouring the book, and taking your time with it. Well I did both with this one.Deception is definitely not one of those sophomore slump kind of reads. Oh no. C.J. throws in new twists, plenty of action, danger, and some shocking betrayals. She not only allowed me to see how much her characters grow in this story, she also dove much deeper into the story's history, and shocking secrets. What I was not excepting with this book, was to be pushed to my emotional limit right along side the characters. To say this story is intense at times, is an understatement. C.J. tested and pushed her characters. She broke them, and made them stronger. Rachel, Logan, Quinn, and the entire cast of characters both new and old dealt with a lot in this book. Sometimes I felt their grief, their helplessness, and other times I felt their determination, their love and most of all their unwavering ability to never give up, even when the odds get stacked against them.Logan for me is the character who grew the most. He really steps up and becomes the leader he needs to be with the group he's trying to protect, despite the reservations some of them have about him being their leader. Rachel on the other hand becomes this fierce, determined, broken character who for part of the book is really just a shell of her former self. I hated seeing her like that as much as Logan did. On the other hand, had she not become like this, she wouldn't be a character I could have emotionally connected with, because everything she's dwelt with has changed her, and has taken a toll on her, as it should. She lives in a world that is dangerous, it's ripped everything from her life except Logan, and even now someone is threaten his very life. She has no home, and is on the run from more than just the Commander who's ruthlessly hunting her and Logan down.The relationship between Logan and Rachel is oh so brilliantly written! Seriously. I loved that these two just love each other despite how broken they both become. They're the anchor that keeps the other afloat and going. Reading this book from both of their points of views allowed me to see just how similar they both felt about each other, and how much the other wanted to fix the other one. Instead of trying to change the other, they both accept each other for who they are, broken or whole. Their relationship is complex, and yet so sweet. I loved their stolen moments together. I loved seeing how even in the face of all they're dealing with, they both can let all that melt away even if it's for a few brief moments. Logan and Rachel would do anything for each other, and I love how they both cling to the love they have for each other, and how much that not only drives them individually, but keeps them going.I love the role the secondary characters have. I simply adored Quinn. I love that he gets Rachel on a level that no one, except Logan gets, but he's able to break down her walls in a wall Logan can't. I admired Logan for talking to Quinn, and I loved Quinn for all that he does for Rachel. Talk about characters, C.J. Redwine might have ripped my heart out more than once in the killing off of a few characters. I know! I wanted to throw my book and yell NO! Oh yeah, that ending is a KILLER! If I thought waiting for Deception was hard, waiting for the next book is going to be brutal. C.J. has totally tipped this world upside down, and in the process caused a lot of heartbreak, chaos and given me an ending I had a feeling was coming, but what actually plays out shocked even me.DECEPTION takes what Defiance gave readers and amps it up, A LOT! It's literally a non stop action read. It's in-depth, it's addicting, has a lot more depth to the story, it's characters, and the world they're apart of. There's plenty of shocking twists, and some incredibly shocking secrets that are revealed that again, I didn't even see coming that tie some of the events from Defiance into this story perfectly. If you loved Defiance, definitely pick this book up! If you haven't read Defiance yet, run out and pick it up! This series is action packed, well written, and has given us characters we have totally fallen in love with.*Originally reviewed on Mundie Moms

Deception by CJ Redwine is the second book in the Courier Daughter's trilogy. The first book, Defiance, was a book that I absolutely LOVED when I read it maybe two years ago? And I was always going to be excited to carry on the trilogy. ...It's just taken me a little longer than I expected to do so.Despite the length of time between reading the first book in the trilogy and the sequel, I didn't find that I'd forgotten that much when I started reading Deception. I felt like CJ Redwine did a great job of creating a memorable world, memorable characters and definitely a memorable scenario that we find ourselves reading about. And right from the first page of Deception, I found it very easy to fall back into this world. And it felt exciting and emotional right from the start.This book will contain spoilers for the first book in the trilogy, Defiance, but will not contain any spoilers for Deception. If you haven't yet read Defiance but are interested in reading this trilogy at some point, I suggest that you stop reading now.Deception takes place right after the ending of Defiance. Rachel and Logan are in the battered remains of Baalboden and it's up to Logan to organise everyone and shift all of the survivors of Baalboden out into the Wasteland and kept safely away from the Commander's army that is chasing them down. He has a plan to ally himself with one of the other city-states but must face new challenges, the pressures of leadership as well as a mole within his straggling band of survivors.At the same time, Rachel is really dealing with the grief over her father and Oliver and also her conflicted feelings over killing a man. These losses weigh heavily on her and at the same time she feels so much rage against the Commander and wants him to pay for what he's done and what he's taken from her and everyone around her.Most of this book is like a road trip story as Rachel and Logan and the others are trying to get from one place to another but with Cursed Ones ready to pop up and destroy everything in sight, an army chasing them from one side, a tracker picking people off from another, dissension in the ranks as well as some hot tempers.What I really loved about this second book in the trilogy is that we see more development of all the main characters, the action is moved along without that much unnecessary drama and we get a bunch more information about the world, the Commander, our main characters and the Cursed Ones. I especially love the elements of technology and of fighting and the ways in which the community of Baalboden change their opinions of both gender and outsiders.Willow and Quinn, the two Tree People that we meet in the first book play a huge part in Deception. Quinn faces a lot of criticism and name-calling from some of the Baalbodens and I loved the way in which she went out about winning them over. And I loved the way in which Quinn's relationship with Rachel unfolded and hearing more about his upbringing and why he has the no weapon policy. I found it all very interesting and I wanted more. This entire book is filled with fascinating people and relationships and I read this whole book wanting more of everything!At the heart of this book, though, is Rachel and Logan. And I thought they were both adorable in this book. Obviously dealing with a lot, but they end up dealing with things together. I love how they both let each other stand on their own and they fight all of the co-dependency issues that most couples in YA succumb to.I absolutely loved this book and this trilogy so far! If you haven't yet discovered this trilogy I really highly recommend them.

Have to say, after reading and enjoying Defiance, I was hoping the sequel would be just as entertaining. Sadly, not very impressed by the whole thing now. It has its odd moment of action and intrigue I guess, but it just fails to keep me hooked, or actually wanting to even get to the end at all. Most of the characters are quite annoying; after reading a couple of chapters in, my interest slowly ebbed. Not one of the most memorable reads out there.

Another fantastic book in the series. Exciting and brutal with honest character representation. Logan's protectiveness of Rachel is something I can never get tired of and I just can't get enough of their love an dedication. I would give these more than 5* if I could. Wish there were more than 3 books! Incredible.

ok read - read the first so continuing with series probably between 3 and 4 stars in truth

My only disappointment was that the book had to end. I don't know how I'm going to wait for the next one.The other day, scenes from the first book kept randomly popping into my head, and when I looked it up to see when the next book was out, to my delight, I saw that it was due out at midnight that very same day. That's got to be fate.This book is amazing. The plot is brilliant and the twists kept me reading until well past my bedtime. And the cliffhanger is unbearable. Hopefully the third book will be with us soon.