The Scattering had too much of what I *didn't* like about The Outliers and not enough of what I *did*.
So, to recap my review of The Outliers (book 1), what I really liked was how fast-paced and thrilling it was and the relationship between Wylie and Jasper (especially the character of Jasper). What I didn't like was how implausible much of it was and the bad decisions by the main characters.
I was really looking forward to book 2, despite not really liking how weird the last 1/3 of the first book was. A minor gripe I have about this book was how poorly it recapped the secondary characters....mainly, the people at the camp. The first book got so convoluted and had SO many twists that I finished it not really understanding who were the okay people vs. the villains. A few were referred to in the second book, but I couldn't remember the details (even though I just read the first book less than a month ago...which again speaks to how weird and confusing the end of that book was). I still wasn't confident in my understanding of who knew about her dad's research and had vested interests in it and why. I'm also still not really getting the whole bloody baby doll thing.
There was not enough of what I liked from the Outliers...mainly how fast paced and thrilling it was. This book is extremely slow for the first half. I felt like waaay too much time was spent at that hospital...I just didn't care and, while it might have been relevant, I didn't FEEL like it was all that relevant so I got bored. There aren't a lot of thrills in this one either, IMO. There were a few cases of the main character(s) running from/into danger, but not as well-written and exciting as in the first book. The other thing I liked about book 1 was the character of Jasper and his relationship with Wylie. Jasper is only present in about 1/3 of this book, and Wylie is MUCH less likable without him there.
There was TOO much of the same stuff I didn't like about book 1...mainly, the bad decisions of Wylie. It became extremely frustrating to me that she thought she knew everything even though it was pretty clear that she didn't and that she's probably wrong about nearly everyone. I can't really tell if we are SUPPOSED to believe everything Wylie thinks is true or if we're meant to see through it. It feels like Jasper has a decent brain, but he ALWAYS ends up caving in to whatever wild belief/notion that Wylie has. For someone who supposedly has such great intuition, Wylie never actually knows what's going on, who's good or bad, etc. It's really annoying to dislike the protagonist and her actions/decision-making in a book so much.
Lastly, the ending. Oh good grief, that ending. I want to avoid any specific spoilers, but NOTHING ENDS!!!! NOTHING. SERIOUSLY. NONE of the story lines actually wrap up. Cliff hangers are great, I get it. The last book ended up with one and it actually helped encourage me to read the next (although the last cliff hanger turned out to be ENTIRELY irrelevant to any of the plot of the next book). But I'm not talking about the obvious cliffhanger...that one was pretty intriguing. I'm talking about the actual plot of the 2nd book. None of it concludes at all. I read a lot of book series, and the way they should work is that each book's specific story gets told but certain elements of the larger story continue. This book is awful as an individual story. I was so frustrated when I hit the last page that I audibly yelled....and not in a good way of anticipation...just plain frustration. I'm positive I will have forgotten important elements of the plot in the year(ish?) it will take for the next installment. It's also very likely that I will have lost the somewhat-interest that I have now by that time.
Anyway, in the slim-to-none chance that anybody ever actually reads this, I don't necessarily NOT recommend this book, but I definitely don't think you should read it until the rest of the series comes out. And if you didn't like the Outliers, I doubt you'll like this one any more.