Cleo, orphaned in the wake of an alien invasion, left behind the life she knew to fight for the future of Earth.
Now she and Alex, the shapeshifting rebel alien posing as her father, make a fearsome team in a guerrilla war against the invaders. But Cleo's past is about to come back to haunt An adversary she thought she'd seen the last of is out for revenge, determined to ruin Cleo's life and destroy the trusting relationship Cleo has built with her alien "dad." Hearts and Minds is the second installment in the sci-fi thriller series from Matt Mair Lowery and Cassie Anderson.
This one definitely read so quickly. I couldn’t put it down. Still not my favorite but they’re definitely very interesting! Is there a sequel or something to this one?! That ending has me confused. I thought this was the last one??
After giving such a bad review to book 1, I knew I was going to go into book 2 feeling a lot more generous. And... yep, I was.
I enjoyed the dynamic between Cleo and her "dad" a lot more in this volume - the flashbacks added a lot, and there was some great angst. I just felt like their issues didn't get fully resolved by the book's end.
I don't think I mentioned her in my review of book 1, but I really liked Ayesha in here. Her journey and her Muslim faith are a great story alongside Cleo's own. I got chills from her a couple of times.
There was another surprise character in here that was good, and their arc and personality felt well-developed. I'd like to see them again.
The ending of this caught me off guard, though - I thought that this was the last volume. But it sort of seemed like the story was setting up for another installation. We'll see, I suppose.
A worthy successor to the first book, Hearts and Minds delves deeper into the relationship between our two heroes while also pitting them against a much different adversary. As always, Cassie's art is expressive and vibrant, while Matt's writing continues to ring true for parents and children alike.
I really enjoyed volume 1 of Lifeformed, and volume 2 is even better! The story was so compelling it just sucked me in. Cleo is complicated, as always, but still full of heart.
A good follow up to vol 1, but I feel like I'm either missing something or the plot was too convoluted. It's difficult to tell what kind of timelines we're working with sometimes, and what events happened past vs current. I'll look forward to hopefully getting more answers next vol.
Very cool. A great follow up to the loose end and unfinished part of the story after book one. Deeper into the characters to satisfy that itch better and a continuation of the emotional art style and great writing.
I really enjoy this series. It is action-packed, full of heart, and I love the art. My library has it categorized as teen but this is easily middle grade as well.