Kira Liebert’s brief taste of freedom beyond Vita Nova’s wall shatters when Patrol soldiers seize young Teddy, dragging him back to face certain death. With no choice but to follow, she returns to the city that branded her a traitor—only to be captured and cast into the Confines, the brutal prison where the condemned await execution. She emerges from the darkness bearing two impossible a blue rose on her wrist and a new identity as Victor Devlin's secret daughter.
Deep in the wilderness of the Unregulated Zone, Ghost refuses to surrender another soul to Vita Nova’s cruel ritual. A scarred and haunted man whose past with Devlin and Kira’s mother holds secrets that could topple Vita Nova itself, he knows the true cost of inaction. With Will, Brack, and Grace at his side, he plans a desperate rescue attempt. One final chance at redemption that could cost him everything.
As the clock winds down and the city watches her every move, Kira finds herself caught between two fathers on opposite sides of the wall—one who claims her as his own and one who refuses to let her go. Because while some fathers demand sacrifice, others stand ready to sacrifice everything.
RANSOM is the heart-stopping conclusion to the Reverence trilogy that when everything you love is at stake, what are you willing to sacrifice?
Raena lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and three children. When she’s not writing, she enjoys exploring historic battlefields (her kids always drag her up the tallest lookout towers), family movie nights that feature cheesy 80's and 90's action films, and daydreaming of expanding her backyard farm (goats are still under discussion). Her goal is to write stories that challenge, encourage, and remind readers that even in the darkness, when all hope seems lost, God is always in control.
OH MY GOODNESS 5/5 BOOK HANDS DOWN. This book had my laughing, crying, screaming, running laps around the house. I mean it had high highs and low lows. I can already tell I’ll be thinking about it for weeks to come and I will definitely reread in the future. My heart stopped every time something happened in the last handful of chapters from Kira almost dying to Will almost dying to Kira almost dying again to Ghost dying for all we know until the epilogue. The descriptions and visuals in the book are amazing. The plot is amazing and the pace is pretty good. My only criticism would be that some of the back and forth of “will they won’t they?” got a little repetitive. The whole is this person going to die? Is this person going to die? I will say Will dying was gut wrenching I was crying during this scene. Also Teddy throughout this whole thing has been a doll, he is such a cute kid and I love him. I love that he’s so attached to Kira and says we’re gonna stay awake together. I also loved that Will proposed the first chance he got exactly like he promised Ghost. I also love the found family themes between all the characters and the adoptive father daughter relationship between Ghost and Kira. Their relationship made me so happy, they both got so much taken from them I’m glad they ended up having each other. I was a little sad Ghost didn’t die in the end though because of how happy he was at the thought of being reunited with Madison. This was such a beautiful story and I will absolutely be telling everyone I know to read it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is such a great book series, the character development was absolutely incredible! Twist and turns I didn’t see coming! When you thought it was going to go one way BAM it goes another way! It was also a great November read!!
I'm speechless. That book...was amazing. The final installment in the Reverence trilogy did not disappoint. I had so many emotions throughout the entire book. The last few chapters was so much trying not to cry. But I was pleased with ending. This series is one of the best series I've ever read. Like, The Hunger Games trilogy is really my number one, and I would say I liked this trilogy about as much as that. Amazing! Amazing!
Ransom is the third and final book in The Reverence Trilogy. It picks up right where the previous book left off. Kira's life is in danger, and Will and Ghost will do anything to save her. Kira's father reaches new levels of evil, and we learn the fate of some characters from book 2. This is a sweet, fast-paced YA romance, but unfortunately, Kira and Will are separated for most of the book. However, there is a HEA and a powerful message of love and redemption. 4 stars for the entire series!
I started this series when there were only two books, breaking a cardinal rule of mine. I hate getting invested in a story, only to have to wait months to find out what happens in the end. I read this book the day it came out, and it did not disappoint. A series that combines dystopian societies and Christian faith. Unbeatable! Wonderful characters, intense situations, and an unbreakable love story.
I waited on bated breath for breath for each installment. Reano Rood creates relatable characters in calamity laden situation that pull you along thru the story. Her books always leave you wanting more. Sad and happy for the conclusion of this series, but eager for the next. I'll miss Ghost, Kira, Will and Teddy, they are great characters..
I enjoyed this series! Kira chooses to go back to Vita Nova in an attempt to save Teddy, the little boy who was scheduled for death. She is captured and marked as a traitor. From this point on you are on wild page turning journey to see what happens. Didn’t realize this was a Christian based series until I was into book two but this aspect of the book was not overdone.
The series overall was very very good. The story was different than many that I’ve seen. I like the characters except for the ones we were supposed to hate ,who I hated. This was a very good ending to a very good series . I’m going to check out some more books by this author.
Ransom is one of those books it's difficult to rate. In some ways it could get four stars. In others, it could net only two. And honestly, the rating might depend on the day or my mood or about a hundred other factors. So as with many books like it, Ransom's rating goes right in the middle. This last book in the trilogy might well be a case of the author "saving the best for last." In some ways, it goes everywhere I wanted and needed the trilogy to go. Craft-wise though, it's a mixed bag, an up and down experience.
So as always with books like this, let's start with the good stuff. The world of Vita Nova is not as three-dimensional as some worlds I have seen, but it feels absolutely real. Moreover, it feels close and urgent, as if it could realistically exist. I don't think Raena Rood wrote Vita Nova that way to scare readers, though. I think she created and wrote Vita Nova with a good sense that, this is a beat dystopian fiction needs to hit. More importantly, Vita Nova feels less like a closed circle dystopian world--though that's what it is--than a world that encapsulates the conflicts real people are experiencing on small levels and could experience on large ones. Thus, Ransom has a lot of moments where the story isn't about "us vs. them." It's more, "understanding life vs. tragically misinterpreting it."
That's another strong point--the theme of life and death permeates this novel. In a lot of ways, it's too "on the nose," which I'll explain in a minute. But when it's not, the theme completely works. The defiance of the human spirit, the part of us that says, "live" even in the most dire circumstances, bursts out of this book. Plus, Raena Rood is not afraid to unite that with the fact, living is hard and heartbreaking. Living is messy. Sometimes there are shades of gray, sometimes there are no good choices, the "good guys" and "bad guys" aren't obvious and can cross into each other's camps. Characters like Chanda Devlin, Lucas Pine, and even kids like Vance and Violet, do a wonderful job of showing this.
I also got a chill, in a good way, from the psychological themes and dialogue here. Every time Victor, Sienna, or someone else tried to gaslight Kira or make her out to be the villain, I empathized with her. I cheered her on because, in less life-altering ways, I've been there. It hurts, and I recognized that in Kira's position, it might break me. But Kira legitimately inspired me to remember how strong I could be, to push past the initial hurt, and find the real truth under the twisted version (which is really a bunch of lies). The character arcs here could be done better, if they exist at all. But that particular part of Kira's development kept me hooked.
Finally, although the characters aren't strong--which, Ransom is plot-driven so I'll forgive it--I did enjoy some of the small moments where Raena showed me who a character was and could be. Kira's the big one, of course. Raena also did this with Chandra and even Donna, in ways that fit the story but had their own little twists. (That is, these women are the kinds of characters you might expect in a dystopian story. They're "types." But, they are unique people with unique motives).
I liked that here, I sympathized and empathized with Ghost a lot more, because I understood him better. And if I can gush for just a minute, I absolutely loved Adeline Fleming. Her little "touches" to Rolling Meadows, like the books on the nightstand and the sneaky absence of Volunteer blue, made me cheer. In truth, I wanted Adeline or a character like her to have her or his own book (I'm getting to that).
Now, what are the weak points, the stuff that makes the rating hard? Well the good news is, it's not so much what I usually see with Raena Rood (i.e., so much focus on running and escaping, there's no time for much else). The good news is also that, this story stands so strong on its own, I think she could've dropped Rebellion entirely and given readers the info from that book in Ransom, just in different ways.
The bad news is, there are still some classic Raena Rood pitfalls here. Some of these are actual criticisms, like the last third is breakneck fast, but also a bit repetitive. I mean, the final mission and the actual finding and rescuing gets dragged out for chapters on end. (It's not totally egregious because the chapters are short, but I did feel dragged through the story). Also, Ransom often reads like Kira and especially Will are satellites to their own stories. I don't know if that's because the novel is plot-driven, because of the literal life and death stakes, or what, but I found myself caring more about people like Adeline or Chandra than the main couple. I found myself saying, "These are the people who have stories. These are the people who might be affected the most depending on whether Kira or Victor triumphs." And for this story, that's not so good.
Now, I'm going to move on to something that's more a critique than a criticism. This is me the writer, not me the reviewer, talking, so stay with me. Raena has great "bone structure" in Ransom and the Vita Nova trilogy. She knows how to tell an action-packed, sensory-filled story (and she knows that better than I do, so brownie points). If you know my reviews, you know I don't normally go for plot-driven stories, but hers is the type I would read.
That said, Raena falls short on the deeper stuff, like themes, character, and spirituality. I love the fact that in Ransom, she has characters confronting the truth of, we've become comfortable with death and we shouldn't. Death is not inherently good; it's painful and it's ugly. That's great. Symbolism like Kira's yellow dress, is also great. The problem is, at the same time, you have characters making literal speeches or monologues that contradict each other. The symbolism can't be subtle because it's "exciting," but it's hammered into your head. You can cheer for the deliverance of the people of Vita Nova and Haven, but you can't get "into" it as much more than an action story because well, for the most part, you don't know these people.
Additionally, I applaud Raena for writing a book that essentially hinges on a revolution, and for exploring the different ways people choose to revolt or respond to such (see the contrast between Ghost and Lyle, or even Ghost and Will, for instance). After a while though, you combine that with a breakneck pace and a lot of literal "telling," and you start to feel, "This is 'us vs. them. It's too simple.'"
Contrast characters like Adeline, who are definitely not "going along to get along," but are more subtle in how they cope. Contrast characters like Teddy, who granted, is six years old and wouldn't be the best point of view character, but--yeah. What about people who have literally no choices? Who are the heart of the story, the reason for why characters do what they do, but then--are just kinda "there?" Contrast characters like Chandra, who've made their choices and still have a bunch of complex feelings and no real path forward. I think Raena had a great opportunity to go a lot deeper, and she didn't take it. Maybe that's a genre thing and if yes, that's fine, but it would've made this book stand out in a market saturated with Christian dystopia.
Ah, and speaking of Christian, that's my last point. Raena does have a great scene in Ransom where Kira contrasts Victor Devlin with a real father caring for his children (and that could also be a capital H). She makes a good choice in having Christian or Christian-coded characters express real doubt. And yet...for me, there was something missing. Namely, Raena makes clear human life is sacred and the actions of Victor and his supporters are wrong. Yet, as I mentioned in my review of Reverence, she doesn't exactly contrast that with Christ's sacrifice.
After all, the word "sacrifice" is used constantly in this book. People who force their fellow humans to "trade" their lives for others' lives, permeate this book. And yet, there's no clear contrast between that, and the fact, Jesus Christ died so humans could live. His sacrifice was true and right; Vita Nova's sacrifices are not. It's a fine line to walk because if Raena had chosen to have that in dialogue, it would've gotten too preachy. Personally though, I'd have *really* liked to see some kind of discussion or contrast on that point.
So, in summary, Ransom is not a "bad" book. Like so many of its kind, it has a lot of great points. I would recommend both it and Reverence (the first book in the trilogy) if this is the kind of read you like best or connect with most. I would say though, that there are better and less borderline cliche ways to write Christian dystopia, so maybe read this in conjunction with something else.
Let me start with this.... I love Ghost! And I love that we got to see from another perspective other than Kira's! Having not seen Raena do this in the other two books, I was pleasantly surprised and thrilled. I thought she did an excellent job at switching focus between the characters while keeping them in their own personality. I can attest to how difficult this can be to achieve, and she did it quite well! It was especially unique that she chose Ghost instead of Will as a second perspective, and I liked that because Ghost gives us something special.... But I don't want to spoil what that is. Read the book and find out. The whole series is a fun and satisfying read! Also, side note... I am excited to see if she will do this switching perspective with other books of hers. I love the option to get emotionally involved with one or the other, or both! Keep up the wonderful work, Raena! God bless!
Exciting, heartbreaking and heartwarming. just beautiful
I wish this wasn’t over. I’m so filled with excitement for the future of these characters lives. I want more but am also happy for what I got! I’ll be looking to find what else this author has written as she’s completely new to me. I’m so happy to have stumbled onto this trilogy it is the perfect amount of love, action and intrigue.
I always find Raena Rood’s books nearly impossible to review… not because they fall short, but because they’re so good that my words feel inadequate. But I’m giving it my best shot.
Ransom is the final book in the Reverence trilogy, and these are not standalones. You need to read them in order to feel the full emotional and narrative weight. I’ve reposted my reviews for Reverence and Rebellion in the repost tab if you’re interested.
This finale is a crescendo of chaos and catharsis. Ransom delivers some of the most heart-wrenching, heart-pounding, and heartwarming moments I’ve ever read. Rood masterfully weaves terror and tenderness into every chapter, and it’s that brutal, beautiful dichotomy that makes this story unforgettable. And I’m not going to lie… I was sobbing at the end!
The trilogy begins with blind faith in “the system” and ends with a fierce fight for morality and truth. It shifts from romanticizing death to honoring life. It explores redemption through action and sacrifice with agency. And it is one of the most powerful portrayals of found family I’ve ever read… proving that true family isn’t always tied to blood.
Kira’s journey in this final installment is unflinching and powerful. She’s no longer the obedient girl we met in book one, but rather a woman who is determined to do what is right no matter the cost. She’s finally her own true self, and her bold and brave transformative arc was nothing short of spectacular.
I want to tell you so much more! Like how Ghost’s quiet heroism and fatherly love felt like reading a hug, how Will’s love for Kira never wavered, how absolutely satisfying the ending was, and how the last 5 words of the book knocked the wind out of me in the best way possible. But IG has character limits, so I must wrap it up.
This book, and the series, asks hard questions about justice, mercy, sacrifice, and hope in a broken world. And it answers those questions with grace, grit, and heart.