The War Outside

The Beautiful Ones #2

by Kody Boye

I have accomplished the goal of my lifetime. I have become a Beautiful One. But it is not at all what I expected. Between the glitz, the glam, the fame, fortune, and my recent wedding, it’s almost impossible to believe that a civil war rages beyond the capitol city’s walls, and that my life was nearly taken because of it. This is why, the day after the attempt on my life, I choose to designate my Purpose to the great war. There’s no guarantee that my words will change anything. But as my presence within the Glittering City grows, it becomes quickly apparent that I am in danger… and that no one, not even my government, can save me.

Genres: Dystopia

263 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 23, 2019

About the author

Kody Boye has always been drawn to escape into other worlds. Now primarily a young adult fiction author, he made his debut in the Yellow Mama webzine at the age of fourteen with the publication of "[A] Prom Queen's Revenge," and sold his debut novel, Sunrise, to Library of the Living Dead Press at eighteen.​

Since then, he has authored several young adult novels across multiple speculative fiction genres. His works include The Beautiful Ones, The Red Wolf Saga, and the When They Came trilogy.​

When not writing, Kody enjoys reading YA novels, playing video games, and relaxing with his three cats. He currently lives and writes in Southeastern Idaho.

Reviews

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

THE WAR OUTSIDE is the sequel to Kody Boye's intriguing THE BEAUTIFUL ONES, which I described as a PG-13 Handmaid's Tale. The premise of the book is that Kelendra won a beauty pageant that allows her to join the ranks of the societal elite. They are obsessed with breeding a smarter, prettier, and stronger Master Race so poor Kelendra is married off at 16 to much pomp and ceremony. Things could be worse, though, because they didn't marry her to a psychotic old man like in the famous Atwood novel. Instead, she was married to a sweet, somewhat naive, boy her own age.

Kelendra is not content to be a do-nothing piece of art, though, and decides to raise morale among troops in the war against the Terrible North. This exposes her to the horrible conditions, failure of the war, and terrorist/guerilla attacks of the populace against its hated Elite. Things go from bad to worse as Kelendra must decide which side she belongs to.

I really enjoyed this book and am anxious for the sequel. Lots of actions, twists, turns, and melodrama. A really entertaining YA novel.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was on its way to get 4.5-5 stars. But the ending completely ruined it for me. Don’t get me wrong the book was amazing but the choice to kill Daniel didn’t make sense to me?

Daniel was amazing and I grew hugely attached to the amazing person he is, and seeing him die at the end after telling Kelendra he loved her completely shattered me.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not opposed to deaths in books, for example I think Kelendra’s father death was extremely well done and could be a huge turning point to our heroine, motivating her to fight harder to end the war. However I truly cannot comprehend Daniel’s death and believe it was extremely purposeless.

I was so excited to read the next book, but I think it’s clear I won’t be doing so.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written

Very well written and keeps you hanging on! I keep reading to find out what’s going to happen. Great job!

[Vicki Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the story BUT sometimes it goes on with stuff I don’t care about, like her thinking. It does that a lot.

[Nancy (The Avid Reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kelendra’s dreams have finally come true she has been chosen as one of the Beautiful Ones. She has made it to the Glittering City and married her husband, Daniel the Handsome One. She is ready to start her new life within the city. She has presented her Purpose to the Gentlewomen and the ones who run the city. Now she awaits their reply to see if they accept her Purpose or not.

In the meantime a hit has been put out on Kelendra and she has to lay low for a while until her assassin is found. Daniel takes her to his home to meet his parents and for Kelendra to see what her new life is going to be like. But after someone tries to kill her Kelendra is whisked away to another location in hopes of avoiding the assassin once again. Can the SADs keep Kelendra safe?

Come join Kelendra on her journey in The War Outside to see if her dreams as the Beautiful One are all she expected them to be. As the saying goes if she knew then what she knows now would Kelendra’s dreams still be the same?

The War Outside is just as good if not better than The Beautiful Ones. It is filled with action and suspense from the first page and just the twists alone are enough to hold your attention and keep the pages turning and wanting more. I can’t wait to see where Kelendra’s journey takes her next in future books of this amazing series.

I still want to see the Handsome Ones side of the story as well. I would like to more about how this whole society began or more about how it all began and why you know with more detail on the subject. I want to know who and how the Handsome Ones are chosen and what their life is like before they are chosen.

This has been an amazing journey with going deeper into the Beautiful One’s life and world. The world building for this series is so very awesome and amazing as well. The writing and creation of this world is so amazing and beautiful, no puns intended of course.

This is one series that I highly recommend to all fans of dystopian societies. Yes I do recommend The Beautiful Ones and The War Outside to everyone.