Thoughts and Plot
This novel picks up where the first left off (the second being a short novella from Riska's perspective). Sulan, Taro, Hank and Billy have been taken to the Dome. Now they are trapped and in the mercy of Mr. Winn and his niece Claudine Winn, the founders of Global Arms. They are groomed and molded to become the new Heroes of America, aka advertising puppets for Global Arms. Hank takes to it immediately, not questioning the colour coded uniforms, the food quantity caps, the standard housing. All she sees is a way to provide for her family, so she'll do whatever Mr. Winn wants her to do. She naturally blooms in the public spotlight.
This is not how Sulan, Taro, and Billy feel. They know something is up. While they realize one wrong move could get themselves and their families thrown out into the Alaskan snowy wilderness, they can't sit idly by and let themselves be used a puppets. So while on the outside they try to appear to be conforming, what they are actually doing in secret is building a vex machine with a follow classmate in order to reach out of the dome and figure out exactly what is going on.
To make matters worse, Sulan's dad is meeting in secret with Taro's dad. Together they are trying to crack what is going on in something called the Project Renascentia. Sulan, Taro, and Billy stumble on some intel that could blow the mystery wide open....
Once again I found the beginning a little slow for my taste, but knowing the author would come through towards the end, I powered through. And sure enough, before we even hit the halfway point, things start heating up. Uncle Zed plays more of an active role in this one, mistaking Sulan for her mother, aka Morning Star! Sulan finally learns exactly who Gun is (totally called it).
The ending was FABULOUS!!!! I am now in the process of figuring out how to get the rest of the series to read!!!
In Conclusion
Loved it!!!! Totally looking into getting a hold of the next set of books!!!