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Contra
In the sequel to the young adult dystopian novel, Omni, one young couple will do anything to stay together, and one man will do anything to control them.
After barely escaping death in Omni, eighteen-year-old Pierce has left behind his place in the Artist stratum in exchange for sanctuary with his family. However, when Harmony goes missing, he can’t help but think it’s just another ploy of the Omni government to force him to return.
With Harmony on her own, the two must find a way back to each other while battling against the full might of the government, but one powerful official is determined to keep them apart. Bent on revenge, Pelagic will stop at nothing to expose the secret of Pierce’s parentage.
After barely escaping death in Omni, eighteen-year-old Pierce has left behind his place in the Artist stratum in exchange for sanctuary with his family. However, when Harmony goes missing, he can’t help but think it’s just another ploy of the Omni government to force him to return.
With Harmony on her own, the two must find a way back to each other while battling against the full might of the government, but one powerful official is determined to keep them apart. Bent on revenge, Pelagic will stop at nothing to expose the secret of Pierce’s parentage.
- GenresScience Fiction
221 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 1, 2016
10 people want to read
About the author
Andrea Murray
6 books66 followersAndrea Murray’s love of English didn’t begin until high school. In fact, in elementary school, she hated reading and never read a book unless she was forced to read. She found her joy as a ninth grader when she began reading classic short stories like “The Most Dangerous Game” and “The Cask of Amontillado”. After that, she knew she wanted to study English and teach kids like her who weren’t entirely thrilled with English.
She graduated valedictorian of her high school class in the same little town where she still lives and earned a BSE in English and an MA in English from Arkansas State University, where she also earned honors as the Outstanding BSE graduate in English. Andrea has now been teaching English for twenty years. She’s taught journalism, freshmen composition, every level of junior high and high school English, and Pre-AP and AP literature. Andrea is also a two-time teacher of the year.
She lives in Arkansas with Chris, her high school sweetheart and husband of twenty-two years; their two children, Olivia and Wyatt; and their rambunctious German Shepherd, Claus, in a possibly haunted house. She co-coaches her daughter’s two-time state champion Odyssey of the Mind team when she isn’t chauffeuring her son to Cub Scouts. She loves Victorian British literature focused on that when earning her MA. Her first true love is historical romance. She can remember sneaking my mother's trashy romance novels when she was a young teenager and reading while mother was grocery shopping. Her favorites were always the Medieval and pirate stories, but she also loves young adult literature and just about anything paranormal. She’s a proud Mensan and is addicted to television. When she isn’t watching bad science fiction movies, she spends her time reading.
In addition to her young adult paranormal romance series The Vivid Trilogy, she has written The Omni Duology, a young-adult dystopian duo.
She graduated valedictorian of her high school class in the same little town where she still lives and earned a BSE in English and an MA in English from Arkansas State University, where she also earned honors as the Outstanding BSE graduate in English. Andrea has now been teaching English for twenty years. She’s taught journalism, freshmen composition, every level of junior high and high school English, and Pre-AP and AP literature. Andrea is also a two-time teacher of the year.
She lives in Arkansas with Chris, her high school sweetheart and husband of twenty-two years; their two children, Olivia and Wyatt; and their rambunctious German Shepherd, Claus, in a possibly haunted house. She co-coaches her daughter’s two-time state champion Odyssey of the Mind team when she isn’t chauffeuring her son to Cub Scouts. She loves Victorian British literature focused on that when earning her MA. Her first true love is historical romance. She can remember sneaking my mother's trashy romance novels when she was a young teenager and reading while mother was grocery shopping. Her favorites were always the Medieval and pirate stories, but she also loves young adult literature and just about anything paranormal. She’s a proud Mensan and is addicted to television. When she isn’t watching bad science fiction movies, she spends her time reading.
In addition to her young adult paranormal romance series The Vivid Trilogy, she has written The Omni Duology, a young-adult dystopian duo.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 25, 2016
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
This was a satisfying conclusion to the duology. I liked that the basis of the myth was still there but that Murray took some liberties with it to make it her own. I think it was a really well constructed duology that is best read back to back as one novel. I really liked the re-imagining of the world and the way that the system was created -- I also really liked the characterizations and the choices that everyone made. But it did feel a little easy for some of the characters to get what they wanted. I read the Author's Note after and I understand WHY the characters were able to get off easy, but it kinda felt like a cop-out.
I liked Pierce in this one, but I found him to be a bit whiny. But I think that's why I liked him? Because Harmony made him see how he was behaving and that it wasn't acceptable for him to treat her like a fragile possession. I also really liked that he opened up to more people this time around rather than closing himself off. I think it really expanded his character to have him accept new people and to try to build more relationships rather than be judgmental and always side-eyeing everyone who wanted to help him.
Harmony was the best though. She took matters into her own hands to get what she wanted and didn't let anything or anyone stop her. I liked that she had a lot of agency to make her own choices, even if they weren't always the best. It made her feel like a real person rather than just a character or someone for Pierce to "obtain."
I thought the side characters were still a little flat at times, but I liked that there was more going on than just what was happening in Pierce and Harmony's life. I think it added dimension to the story that everyone had their own story arc -- and while they all affected Pierce and Harmony, it wasn't strictly to make Pierce and Harmony's world better or worse.
I would have liked a bit more from the "villains" in the story than what we got. They were ruthless in the first book, but definitely more passive in the second. I think I would have liked to see more of that ruthlessness in the second book as well.
Overall I recommend this series to anyone who likes a good romance that spans across centuries! As well, this is such a unique reimagining of Greek myths, so if you like those, you will like this. Murray should rewrite more Greek myths in this world -- I would definitely buy and read all of them.
Books and Ladders | Queen of the Bookshelves | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
This was a satisfying conclusion to the duology. I liked that the basis of the myth was still there but that Murray took some liberties with it to make it her own. I think it was a really well constructed duology that is best read back to back as one novel. I really liked the re-imagining of the world and the way that the system was created -- I also really liked the characterizations and the choices that everyone made. But it did feel a little easy for some of the characters to get what they wanted. I read the Author's Note after and I understand WHY the characters were able to get off easy, but it kinda felt like a cop-out.
I liked Pierce in this one, but I found him to be a bit whiny. But I think that's why I liked him? Because Harmony made him see how he was behaving and that it wasn't acceptable for him to treat her like a fragile possession. I also really liked that he opened up to more people this time around rather than closing himself off. I think it really expanded his character to have him accept new people and to try to build more relationships rather than be judgmental and always side-eyeing everyone who wanted to help him.
Harmony was the best though. She took matters into her own hands to get what she wanted and didn't let anything or anyone stop her. I liked that she had a lot of agency to make her own choices, even if they weren't always the best. It made her feel like a real person rather than just a character or someone for Pierce to "obtain."
I thought the side characters were still a little flat at times, but I liked that there was more going on than just what was happening in Pierce and Harmony's life. I think it added dimension to the story that everyone had their own story arc -- and while they all affected Pierce and Harmony, it wasn't strictly to make Pierce and Harmony's world better or worse.
I would have liked a bit more from the "villains" in the story than what we got. They were ruthless in the first book, but definitely more passive in the second. I think I would have liked to see more of that ruthlessness in the second book as well.
Overall I recommend this series to anyone who likes a good romance that spans across centuries! As well, this is such a unique reimagining of Greek myths, so if you like those, you will like this. Murray should rewrite more Greek myths in this world -- I would definitely buy and read all of them.
Books and Ladders | Queen of the Bookshelves | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
February 14, 2016
This is the second book in this series and I jumped right in, not having read the first novel which was okay, after I got myself organized. It took me a bit to fully understand the storyline but I think it really had to do with all the characters that were integrated inside this story. Using a multitude of characters, the author creates various storylines weaving them around the same account for which I had a hard time keeping them separated. I finally decided to make myself a cheat sheet so I could finally enjoy the novel and this worked wonderfully. The author did a great job briefing me on the information that was contained inside the first book in this series but I feel that I would have had a deeper passion and been more prepared for the disputes and the relationships had I read the first novel.
Harmony and Pierce were the perfect couple; they had made the citizens happy. When Pierce vanished, his whereabouts were a mystery. It’s a mystery that too many individuals have their sights on and want a piece of. It’s a fight for power, a fight to prove themselves, a fight to settle a score and sometimes it’s a fight to advance their careers …..either way, to find Pierce and bring him back to Omni is not just about helping the citizens, it’s about these individuals helping themselves. The government wants Pierce back and now everyone has their own reason to bring him back. To observe these conspirators, they put up a good front they looked to be doing their jobs for the country but their rational is far from respectable. Gathering in small groups, they plot their intentions while Harmony arranges her own plan. Holding strong feeling toward Pierce, she take great risks to fast-track the plan the two of them had devised earlier. Could Harmony be harboring information about Pierce and the fire in his cubicle? As they plot to find Pierce, this notion puts Harmony in harm’s way as they begin to track Pierce. I enjoyed the character of Harmony, being a successful actress, she was used to being cared for but throughout the novel, she matures and becomes a much stronger and outspoken individual. She was not afraid to step off her podium and experience life and get herself dirty. I liked that about her. This novel has plenty of entertainment value with the history of the individuals coming into play, the characters constantly plotting against one another and their constant strive to achieve the ultimate goal.
I received a copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest opinion.
Harmony and Pierce were the perfect couple; they had made the citizens happy. When Pierce vanished, his whereabouts were a mystery. It’s a mystery that too many individuals have their sights on and want a piece of. It’s a fight for power, a fight to prove themselves, a fight to settle a score and sometimes it’s a fight to advance their careers …..either way, to find Pierce and bring him back to Omni is not just about helping the citizens, it’s about these individuals helping themselves. The government wants Pierce back and now everyone has their own reason to bring him back. To observe these conspirators, they put up a good front they looked to be doing their jobs for the country but their rational is far from respectable. Gathering in small groups, they plot their intentions while Harmony arranges her own plan. Holding strong feeling toward Pierce, she take great risks to fast-track the plan the two of them had devised earlier. Could Harmony be harboring information about Pierce and the fire in his cubicle? As they plot to find Pierce, this notion puts Harmony in harm’s way as they begin to track Pierce. I enjoyed the character of Harmony, being a successful actress, she was used to being cared for but throughout the novel, she matures and becomes a much stronger and outspoken individual. She was not afraid to step off her podium and experience life and get herself dirty. I liked that about her. This novel has plenty of entertainment value with the history of the individuals coming into play, the characters constantly plotting against one another and their constant strive to achieve the ultimate goal.
I received a copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest opinion.
February 26, 2016
I enjoyed Omni, so it was no surprise that I enjoyed Contra as well. I’ve read many retellings in my day, and I always like to consider the “redo” on its own merits. One of the best things about Contra is that the prologue briefly recaps Omni, so the fact that I had read the first book several months ago didn’t leave me scrambling to remember. As Murray moved through the narrative, little pieces were brief reminders that triggered my recalling specific events in Omni. The prologue and these brief vignettes also allow someone to pick up Contra and understand what’s going on without reading Omni, but reading these books back-to-back, or close together is how these are meant to be read.
If you consider Contra without Omni, a few of the characters are clichéd, their backstory and driving characteristics missing from Contra. The ending of Contra was slightly more satisfying than the ending to Omni, and although the series is explicitly stated to be a duology, I could see a third book written, and would an eager purchaser of said book.
As for the star rating, Contra is easily a four-star read. I have the Vivid trilogy by Ms. Murray and plan to read it sometime soon. If Ms. Murray decided to write more sci-fi or dystopian, I would read them since I feel Ms. Murray does an excellent job storytelling.
If you consider Contra without Omni, a few of the characters are clichéd, their backstory and driving characteristics missing from Contra. The ending of Contra was slightly more satisfying than the ending to Omni, and although the series is explicitly stated to be a duology, I could see a third book written, and would an eager purchaser of said book.
As for the star rating, Contra is easily a four-star read. I have the Vivid trilogy by Ms. Murray and plan to read it sometime soon. If Ms. Murray decided to write more sci-fi or dystopian, I would read them since I feel Ms. Murray does an excellent job storytelling.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews