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Mad World #3
Perfection
Following months of living on the streets of Boston, the Wakefield escapees have found a temporary shelter to recoup in after barely escaping from Arlington Station with their lives - but time is running out.
As the troubled teens grow closer and rely on each other for survival, they know the inexhaustible Dr. Lycen is on the hunt. When he shows up on their doorstep with his crimson army, they are forced into action. With limited options, some of them flee to Perfection, a turn of the century living museum that holds more than its fair share of secrets.
Those who travel to Perfection find a new home that promises safety and stability. But is a dangerous adversary pulling the strings behind the scenes?
As the troubled teens grow closer and rely on each other for survival, they know the inexhaustible Dr. Lycen is on the hunt. When he shows up on their doorstep with his crimson army, they are forced into action. With limited options, some of them flee to Perfection, a turn of the century living museum that holds more than its fair share of secrets.
Those who travel to Perfection find a new home that promises safety and stability. But is a dangerous adversary pulling the strings behind the scenes?
- GenresParanormal
330 pages, ebook
First published July 11, 2014
7 people want to read
About the author
Troy H. Gardner
18 books9 followersTroy H. Gardner was born in Florida but left at the ripe age of six months. He grew up and earned his Bachelor’s Degree in New England before returning to the Sunshine State just in time for Hurricane Irma.
He started writing stories on his Tandy Personal Computer as a child in the ’90s after devouring the works of Stephen King in elementary school.
Red is his favorite color, but blue hasn’t gotten the memo yet. He doesn’t understand why fans can’t equally love Star Wars and Star Trek (they’re different genres, people!). When Troy isn’t writing, or talking about writing, he enjoys killing hours on his PlayStation or watching horror movies (both really great and incredibly bad are his jam).
He started writing stories on his Tandy Personal Computer as a child in the ’90s after devouring the works of Stephen King in elementary school.
Red is his favorite color, but blue hasn’t gotten the memo yet. He doesn’t understand why fans can’t equally love Star Wars and Star Trek (they’re different genres, people!). When Troy isn’t writing, or talking about writing, he enjoys killing hours on his PlayStation or watching horror movies (both really great and incredibly bad are his jam).
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 5, 2017
Excerpt from my review - originally published at Offbeat YA.
Pros: Quirky, refreshing look at magic, woven with a peculiar mythology. Interesting, not stereotypical characters. Surprises and mysteries.
Cons: Some occurrences are a bit too convenient. Astrid and Max's voices sound a bit similar or too mature sometimes. Some characters get less screentime than the others. A lot happens and you feel compelled to read on without giving everything the chance to sink in.
Will appeal to: Those who liked Wakefield and Tunnelville but craved for more action...and more (awesome) magic.
First off...DISCLAIMER: I received this novel from the authors in exchange for an honest review. And...*drum roll*...this is actually my very first ARC! (Huge thanks to Erin and Troy for trusting me with it!). But I'm confident you'll be able to realise that my review wasn't biased...since it's next to impossible to fake enthusiasm when one writes the kind of reviews that yours truly writes :). Here goes...
You probably know by now that I don't read many popular series, but from what other reviewers say, even the best of them often tend to lose momentum as the story progresses. Well, that's not the case here. The Mad World series has reached its third installment, and I've been pleasantly surprised to see it grow and get richer and more layered with each book. Also, I was able to spot a subtle difference in each one of them. While Book 1 was more "contemporary meets paranormal" (which is the main theme of this series, since it focus on a bunch of kids who don't all have special abilities), Book 2 - though mainly dealing with survival in a hostile environment - had a wider urban fantasy angle, and now Book 3 provides a stronger magical feel, besides being more on the rural fantasy side. Now, since Mad World is, in the words of its authors, a "double trilogy", this means that we're only halfway through the story - and still the vein is well far from running dry.
As usual, we mainly get a double POV from friends Astrid and Max, though the book has a prologue and epilogue by Dr. Lycen (the teens' nemesis) and is interspersed with chapters where Karen (Astrid's aunt) tells her own side of the story. As the book begins, six of the original Wakefield escapees are living in a temporary shelter that is literally across the street from where they lived before - so I wonder why it takes Dr. Lycen so much to find them (especially since they make a living with their magic tricks in the metro...). But he ultimately does, of course...though a character from Book 2 makes an unexpected comeback and manages to take them to Perfection, a protected village somewhere near Boston where a bunch of magicians live. Max's old dream has come true at this point: since one of them has made a last-minute decision to follow a different path, only five of the kids actually reach Perfection. But is the turn of the century living museum as safe as it seems?
A lot happens in these 300-something pages. We are introduced to many new faces, and even meet some old ones. Most of the Wakefield escapees get unexpected character development, especially when it comes to their powers. There's so much cool magic in this book...animated origamis, a quilt that can trap memories, a painting that can advise you of your impending death (I'm not going to spoil this one...it sounds creepy, but it's also highly original and fascinating), a place that's not really there (and now we get an explanation for the moving tower in Book 2), and much more. Also, we get a closer look at the different kinds of magic, and learn more about Mentalists and Elementals - not to mention the reasons behind the Hickory Group, an ancient, shady organization bent on containing magic and not letting it be exposed. Of course, magic has its dark side as well, and we get plenty of it. But in the midst of all this, the authors don't lose sight of the human interactions, especially when it comes to Astrid and Max's friendship and her budding romance with fellow escapee Lawrence. Mind you, the latter is a slow-burning fuse, so don't expect any instalove syndrome to rear its ugly head ;D. [...]
Whole review here.
Pros: Quirky, refreshing look at magic, woven with a peculiar mythology. Interesting, not stereotypical characters. Surprises and mysteries.
Cons: Some occurrences are a bit too convenient. Astrid and Max's voices sound a bit similar or too mature sometimes. Some characters get less screentime than the others. A lot happens and you feel compelled to read on without giving everything the chance to sink in.
Will appeal to: Those who liked Wakefield and Tunnelville but craved for more action...and more (awesome) magic.
First off...DISCLAIMER: I received this novel from the authors in exchange for an honest review. And...*drum roll*...this is actually my very first ARC! (Huge thanks to Erin and Troy for trusting me with it!). But I'm confident you'll be able to realise that my review wasn't biased...since it's next to impossible to fake enthusiasm when one writes the kind of reviews that yours truly writes :). Here goes...
You probably know by now that I don't read many popular series, but from what other reviewers say, even the best of them often tend to lose momentum as the story progresses. Well, that's not the case here. The Mad World series has reached its third installment, and I've been pleasantly surprised to see it grow and get richer and more layered with each book. Also, I was able to spot a subtle difference in each one of them. While Book 1 was more "contemporary meets paranormal" (which is the main theme of this series, since it focus on a bunch of kids who don't all have special abilities), Book 2 - though mainly dealing with survival in a hostile environment - had a wider urban fantasy angle, and now Book 3 provides a stronger magical feel, besides being more on the rural fantasy side. Now, since Mad World is, in the words of its authors, a "double trilogy", this means that we're only halfway through the story - and still the vein is well far from running dry.
As usual, we mainly get a double POV from friends Astrid and Max, though the book has a prologue and epilogue by Dr. Lycen (the teens' nemesis) and is interspersed with chapters where Karen (Astrid's aunt) tells her own side of the story. As the book begins, six of the original Wakefield escapees are living in a temporary shelter that is literally across the street from where they lived before - so I wonder why it takes Dr. Lycen so much to find them (especially since they make a living with their magic tricks in the metro...). But he ultimately does, of course...though a character from Book 2 makes an unexpected comeback and manages to take them to Perfection, a protected village somewhere near Boston where a bunch of magicians live. Max's old dream has come true at this point: since one of them has made a last-minute decision to follow a different path, only five of the kids actually reach Perfection. But is the turn of the century living museum as safe as it seems?
A lot happens in these 300-something pages. We are introduced to many new faces, and even meet some old ones. Most of the Wakefield escapees get unexpected character development, especially when it comes to their powers. There's so much cool magic in this book...animated origamis, a quilt that can trap memories, a painting that can advise you of your impending death (I'm not going to spoil this one...it sounds creepy, but it's also highly original and fascinating), a place that's not really there (and now we get an explanation for the moving tower in Book 2), and much more. Also, we get a closer look at the different kinds of magic, and learn more about Mentalists and Elementals - not to mention the reasons behind the Hickory Group, an ancient, shady organization bent on containing magic and not letting it be exposed. Of course, magic has its dark side as well, and we get plenty of it. But in the midst of all this, the authors don't lose sight of the human interactions, especially when it comes to Astrid and Max's friendship and her budding romance with fellow escapee Lawrence. Mind you, the latter is a slow-burning fuse, so don't expect any instalove syndrome to rear its ugly head ;D. [...]
Whole review here.
July 24, 2014
Woohoo! My new favorite writing duo! Perfection - great name for a great series. I said it once (or twice) and I'll say it again - This series is FANTASTIC! I loved the village of Perfection, I would love to live there.The authors described it perfectly (let's see how many derivatives of Perfection I can sneak into this review!).
Again with the great character development. Each personality was perfectly played out, I loved these guys. It had been a while since I had read book two but I was soon giggling at their snarky attitudes again. The conversations in this book are so natural, it really feels like teens just hanging.
The book takes right off where the other one left you. The author's did a perfect job catching you up. They didn't just do an intro paragraph like some authors do, they made it seem like part of the story. I was being "caught up" without even realizing it.
A lot of explaining is done in this book. You finally feel like "Ah ha!" You get some answers to all those questions you had. This book was very interesting, lots of paranormal activity (not the movie), but it lost just a tad of the fun for me - hence the 4.5 stars instead of 5. But still an excellent read! The ending had a kind of "The Stand" feel to it - good vs. evil. I am assuming there is going to be a book four? Because this one ended with a cliff hanger.
Here are a few quotes for your reading pleasure -
"You sound like my aunt," She said, squirting toothpaste out of the tube.
"I feel like one," I said before realizing that wasn't quite right. "More like a step-dad, I mean. Or like a guy who goes out with a mother of three, but they never get married, and she dies, so then he has to take care of her kids out of some sense of duty that no one expects besides himself."
"Funny, I feel like a girl who ran away from a mental institution with her magical friends."
"Can you tell us if you ever saw anything strange at Wakefield?" Gene asked.
Becky laughed, "That's like asking me if I saw oats in my oatmeal this morning. I saw a lot of strange things..."
"You're not my elder. You're, like, five years older than me."
"Five years is a long time when you are a young adult. You can do a lot of damage to yourself in those years. No one's there to tell you what to do, but you're still a complete dunce. Sometimes I think how stupid I was back then and it makes me cringe."
Thanks so much Erin for sending me this book for my honest review! Can't wait till the next!
Great fun paranormal series - Just read it!
Again with the great character development. Each personality was perfectly played out, I loved these guys. It had been a while since I had read book two but I was soon giggling at their snarky attitudes again. The conversations in this book are so natural, it really feels like teens just hanging.
The book takes right off where the other one left you. The author's did a perfect job catching you up. They didn't just do an intro paragraph like some authors do, they made it seem like part of the story. I was being "caught up" without even realizing it.
A lot of explaining is done in this book. You finally feel like "Ah ha!" You get some answers to all those questions you had. This book was very interesting, lots of paranormal activity (not the movie), but it lost just a tad of the fun for me - hence the 4.5 stars instead of 5. But still an excellent read! The ending had a kind of "The Stand" feel to it - good vs. evil. I am assuming there is going to be a book four? Because this one ended with a cliff hanger.
Here are a few quotes for your reading pleasure -
"You sound like my aunt," She said, squirting toothpaste out of the tube.
"I feel like one," I said before realizing that wasn't quite right. "More like a step-dad, I mean. Or like a guy who goes out with a mother of three, but they never get married, and she dies, so then he has to take care of her kids out of some sense of duty that no one expects besides himself."
"Funny, I feel like a girl who ran away from a mental institution with her magical friends."
"Can you tell us if you ever saw anything strange at Wakefield?" Gene asked.
Becky laughed, "That's like asking me if I saw oats in my oatmeal this morning. I saw a lot of strange things..."
"You're not my elder. You're, like, five years older than me."
"Five years is a long time when you are a young adult. You can do a lot of damage to yourself in those years. No one's there to tell you what to do, but you're still a complete dunce. Sometimes I think how stupid I was back then and it makes me cringe."
Thanks so much Erin for sending me this book for my honest review! Can't wait till the next!
Great fun paranormal series - Just read it!
July 22, 2014
Perfection didn't have the same action that I appreciated so much in the first two books in the series. That isn't to say there isn't any action at all, because that's not true. I just didn't feel the same breathless anticipation reading this as I did before.
I think really the main thing that I really loved about this particular installment is that it is slowly bringing back (or seems to be, anyway) characters that I had been wondering about. After the group dropped Ally, Ben and Azrael I couldn't help but wonder what happened to them. And this one, ever so slowly, is adding Ally back into the mix. And I can't wait to see what her contribution to later novels in the series will be.
Plus, the independent project Astrid did on the Hickory group was great. It added a three-dimensional element to the "bad" guys--making them human instead of just a faceless enemy. It was a fantastic way of introducing the history of the Hickory group without info dumping in the typical way. I also really enjoyed that Lil was such a savant throughout the whole thing, helping Astrid along and giving her valuable information. It was an interesting way of handling that.
I think my biggest beef with Perfection is that there's very little transition in the dialogue, and it comes through kind of clunky. There really wasn't a smooth transition from one topic of conversation to another, and it was fairly noticeable.
Honestly though, it wasn't enough to break the book for me. I still loved it and I really want to see where it goes next.
I think really the main thing that I really loved about this particular installment is that it is slowly bringing back (or seems to be, anyway) characters that I had been wondering about. After the group dropped Ally, Ben and Azrael I couldn't help but wonder what happened to them. And this one, ever so slowly, is adding Ally back into the mix. And I can't wait to see what her contribution to later novels in the series will be.
Plus, the independent project Astrid did on the Hickory group was great. It added a three-dimensional element to the "bad" guys--making them human instead of just a faceless enemy. It was a fantastic way of introducing the history of the Hickory group without info dumping in the typical way. I also really enjoyed that Lil was such a savant throughout the whole thing, helping Astrid along and giving her valuable information. It was an interesting way of handling that.
I think my biggest beef with Perfection is that there's very little transition in the dialogue, and it comes through kind of clunky. There really wasn't a smooth transition from one topic of conversation to another, and it was fairly noticeable.
Honestly though, it wasn't enough to break the book for me. I still loved it and I really want to see where it goes next.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews