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Sanctuary #3
Salvation
When Kenzie and her friends find themselves trapped on a strange planet, they must risk everything to save themselves and Earth in this thrilling final book in the Sanctuary trilogy.Fall down seven times, get up eight. These are the words Kenzie has always lived by. The problem is, she’s fallen down too many times to count. Kenzie and her friends have already escaped two vicious alien attacks—not to mention the corporate bounty hunters sent to capture them. They’re haunted by the friends they’ve lost and the hard choices they’ve had to make in this war they never asked for. And now, thanks to superpowers she received from the very aliens she’s fighting, Kenzie has stranded everyone on a strange planet with no way off. She just wanted a safe place from the monstrous creatures terrorizing her world, but this new planet has dangers of its own, and Kenzie must uncover its secrets if she has any hope of ever making it home again. Sacrifice is nothing new for Kenzie. She’ll do anything—anything—to destroy the aliens that killed both of her parents. But how can Kenzie save Earth if she can’t even save the people she loves?
432 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 21, 2020
21 people are currently reading
695 people want to read
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August 4, 2020I don’t often buy books that are over $10.00, but I made an exception on this one and had it pre-ordered for a long time. It arrived today. I wish I didn’t have a bunch of ARC Commitments and could start on it right away. But this is next on my list after I am caught up on those.
![Profile Image for Namera [The Literary Invertebrate].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1647896333i%2F31792110._UX200_CR0%2C96%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
February 3, 2021
⤅ This is like fricking Game of Thrones when it comes to character deaths, just set in space.
It's been a while since I've read this book now, so I won't go into details. But here's what I do remember taking away from the book:
⤅ A nice tight plot, as usual. Many of the questions I had in the earlier books are finally answered.
⤅ Hero and heroine who complement each other well.
⤅ A TON of character deaths. At one point, it did start feeling a little gratuitous, like the author was throwing them in for shock value rather than because they contributed to the plot.
⤅ A horrifically abrupt ending. Seriously, it's been months, and I'm still not over it. This book BADLY needed an epilogue, especially when you consider how heavy the subject matter is for most of the trilogy and how damaged the main characters must be. Though the prose is deceptively easy to get through, none of these books are a light read.
I ended up awarding this final book 3 stars, based on the two above points. But on the whole, I'm glad I read this series, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for an alien sci-fi YA dripping with diversity and with an excellent, nuanced romance between well-developed protagonists. Can't wait to read whatever Lix writes next.
[Blog] - [Bookstagram]
It's been a while since I've read this book now, so I won't go into details. But here's what I do remember taking away from the book:
⤅ A nice tight plot, as usual. Many of the questions I had in the earlier books are finally answered.
⤅ Hero and heroine who complement each other well.
⤅ A TON of character deaths. At one point, it did start feeling a little gratuitous, like the author was throwing them in for shock value rather than because they contributed to the plot.
⤅ A horrifically abrupt ending. Seriously, it's been months, and I'm still not over it. This book BADLY needed an epilogue, especially when you consider how heavy the subject matter is for most of the trilogy and how damaged the main characters must be. Though the prose is deceptively easy to get through, none of these books are a light read.
I ended up awarding this final book 3 stars, based on the two above points. But on the whole, I'm glad I read this series, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for an alien sci-fi YA dripping with diversity and with an excellent, nuanced romance between well-developed protagonists. Can't wait to read whatever Lix writes next.
[Blog] - [Bookstagram]
Want to read
February 19, 2020I cannot wait. I read Sanctuary in 2018 thinking I wasn't going to like it for this to be one of my favorite series.
February 16, 2021
Overall Rating : B+
"Hope overrides common sense, right?"
After the events of Containment, Kenzie and friends have ended up on a strange world. They must figure out how to get home along with ending the alien threat once and for all. But who will survive to tell the tale?
This series ended much better than it started. Better interactions with all the side characters and a compelling story-line I didn't really get in the second book. Reasonable danger and the physical and psychological horror of trying to escape without becoming a monster themselves.
Kenzie was still an issue with me. She was so overly informative on everything. She'll tell you exactly how she was feeling Every. Single. Time. And then do it all over again every few pages. Sometimes a little ambiguity is a good thing. I almost feel I would have given this a higher rating if this was in third P.O.V.
And I think part of the problem is that, with YA sci-fi, there's usually not enough world building to appreciate it's part in the whole plot. You know enough to sort of get by, but you still crave more.
The ending was absolutely brutal. I'm not gonna lie, some people don't make it, and if you've read this series, you know EXACTLY who it's gonna be. It still made my eyes burn a little. But what's a book about savage aliens from god-knows-where without a little mayhem and death?
Speaking of, the aliens, weren't really in this at all. It's strange since they were the main reason everything was happening. I got that in the second book, but you'd think with the finale they'd be more prominent. You do find out what they are and were they came from, I just wish it was as frightening as the first book(gave me chills). And the solution to them was almost TOO easy to be satisfying.
But it was a good, fast series to read, it killed my reading slump can't crap on it too much. So I recommend at least giving it a whirl!
"Hope overrides common sense, right?"
After the events of Containment, Kenzie and friends have ended up on a strange world. They must figure out how to get home along with ending the alien threat once and for all. But who will survive to tell the tale?
This series ended much better than it started. Better interactions with all the side characters and a compelling story-line I didn't really get in the second book. Reasonable danger and the physical and psychological horror of trying to escape without becoming a monster themselves.
Kenzie was still an issue with me. She was so overly informative on everything. She'll tell you exactly how she was feeling Every. Single. Time. And then do it all over again every few pages. Sometimes a little ambiguity is a good thing. I almost feel I would have given this a higher rating if this was in third P.O.V.
And I think part of the problem is that, with YA sci-fi, there's usually not enough world building to appreciate it's part in the whole plot. You know enough to sort of get by, but you still crave more.
The ending was absolutely brutal. I'm not gonna lie, some people don't make it, and if you've read this series, you know EXACTLY who it's gonna be. It still made my eyes burn a little. But what's a book about savage aliens from god-knows-where without a little mayhem and death?
Speaking of, the aliens, weren't really in this at all. It's strange since they were the main reason everything was happening. I got that in the second book, but you'd think with the finale they'd be more prominent. You do find out what they are and were they came from, I just wish it was as frightening as the first book(gave me chills). And the solution to them was almost TOO easy to be satisfying.
But it was a good, fast series to read, it killed my reading slump can't crap on it too much. So I recommend at least giving it a whirl!
March 27, 2021
I really enjoyed this. It wasn't until I started reading it that I remembered how much I like the characters. This felt really well paced and the story was interesting with some good plot developments. I was left feeling heartbroken yet hopeful which was an interesting combination.
Solid 4 star scifi trilogy.
Solid 4 star scifi trilogy.
June 8, 2021
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2020
i actually liked this better than the first two books—all the problems i had with those were nonexistent here and the plot was more exciting than the second book
the only thing i didn’t love were the info dumps, especially considering that this is the third book and there was a LOT of new information introduced
4.5 stars
the only thing i didn’t love were the info dumps, especially considering that this is the third book and there was a LOT of new information introduced
4.5 stars
February 15, 2021
This was a fantastic end to the series, I loved how things worked out, it was heartbreaking and amazing to read!
January 7, 2022
3.5 stars
Kenzie was kind of an annoying perspective to read from in this book. She had some weird savior complex going on and didn’t seem to think any of the other characters were capable of doing anything without her supervising them. That said, I still really enjoyed the plot and the other characters were still great!
Kenzie was kind of an annoying perspective to read from in this book. She had some weird savior complex going on and didn’t seem to think any of the other characters were capable of doing anything without her supervising them. That said, I still really enjoyed the plot and the other characters were still great!
December 6, 2020
FUCKING FUCK FUCK FUCK!
October 29, 2023
i put myself through all THAT and got THAT ending???
April 18, 2023
Well, folks, this is going to be another long one. But for once I will not be ranting against the book, but at YOU, anyone who hasn't read this, because the bottom line is:
THIS IS A GREAT READ!!
(Expect my actual honest opinion and a lot of words.)
So to anyone who has stumbled across this and needs this review to be quick, to the point, and user-friendly, and therefore will not be continuing on through all the words, I give you this GLORIOUS summary:
(da dada daaaaa!!!)
If you want a fast-paced thriller of a novel, with a group of hilarious superpowered teens basically trying to save the planet from murderous aliens without being killed in the process, this is for you. There are a lot of plot twists, a lot of deaths, some shocking revelations, and a good side plot of romance too. There will be journeys to moons and Mars and other planets and tons of action and Kenzie, who is very funny, and who loves a manga series called Robo Mecha Dream Girl 5 or something stupid like that.
Doesn't that sound good? Trust me, this series is good. I almost cried at the end. I laughed and smiled often. I stayed up until one a.m. reading it. I've just literally found nothing like it before!
(goooo get it *winks*)
(oh and be warned: the Sanctuary gang's gonna come for your heart, and then book 3's gonna end, and then you will have to cry because reality's gonna come crashing down and you will realize that you will never get to see the characters again.)
***I also want to reassure the people just starting this series: don't worry, Kenzie's power will get super awesome, and the lame language thing turns into a totally cool powerful thing and she eventually has the best power out of all of them. So just keep reading.***
Right, so, spoilers ahead people, tread with caution.
PLOT: 4/5
I have two things to say about the plot of this book: One, oh my gosh, there will never be another YA book that successfully blends sci-fi, aliens/zombies, AND superpowered teens all into one (never.) And for that, this book is a diamond in the rough. (Seriously, try to find anything else of any good at all with un-cliche teenage mutants fighting space zombies. I won't stick around waiting.) There were plot twists (good ones), people died ("untouchable" people no less!), and all the fight scenes were just beautiful.
Second, though, the repeated theme of aliens, aliens, aliens, (alienssssss) was frankly pretty old by the end of the story, and I was hoping for something other than the old
silent, tiptoeing around, *gasp* "ahh, what the heck, there's aliens in here!!" then being even SILENTER to escape, then the aliens hearing anyway, then everybody getting hurt and then healed...
...and then a brief respite before it all happened all over again. Really the only thing that changed throughout the books was which planet/station they were on, and which people weren't dead yet, and which place eventually resulted in getting blown up (seriously, EVERYTHING in these books gets blown up.) That being said, I stuck around without hardly putting the book down, so even the repeated battle scenes were thrilling enough to keep me going. ( how? hint: chaaaaaracters!)
CHARACTERS: 5/5
The main thing that stood out to me about this book was how LIKEABLE all the characters were! Each and every one of them had a unique personality, their own charm - and there were a lot of characters, which made it even more of a feat. While reading these books, but especially the last one, I repeatedly found myself smiling/laughing out loud at the adorableness of their ragtag little superpowered prisoner group. I genuinely cared for each and every one of them, and I was giggling every time someone opened their mouth. Also, it was refreshing for the dynamics of the group to be so realistic: it wasn't all peaches and giggles and "I love you my besties!!!" and there were many arguments and many rude comments and everybody got crabby at some point which was just so LOVELY, because it actually made SENSE. There is no way in the real world that they all could've gone through those terrible, horrible things and not been scarred, not struck out from time to time. Like, c'mon, I'll be honest - if my parents tried to kill me and then got killed by aliens, which were invading our planet to kill everybody on it, and my friends kept dying, and I was one in a dozen teenagers that were basically humanity's last hope, well, I certainly would not be peaches and giggles.
Mia: I strongly disliked this stubborn, violent, aggressive person in Sanctuary, but Mia really grew on me, and by the second book I really found myself appreciating her ruthlessness considering the world-ending situation they were in, not to mention her blunt, sometimes (usually) bristling remarks and take-no-prisoners style. The one thing I just couldn't wrap my head around was how she dealt with Alexei's death. It didn't seem like her at all - she just kind of...stopped. I would've thought she'd tear up everything in her grief and anger, not to mention kill that stupid traitor Eden since she was basically RESPONSIBLE for Alexei's DEATH...! (Seriously! I would've thought Mia would either go on a furious rampage or completely break, but instead she just kind of coped, I suppose.) And while we're at that topic, how come everyone else kind of just went, "shoot, Lex's dead, poor Mia" and moved on? This guy was supposedly Cage's best friend for FIVE YEARS in prison!
Anyway,
Matt: First of all, I HATE THE TROPE WHERE DEAD PEOPLE TURN OUT TO MIRACULOUSLY NOT BE DEAD. Alright? No buts. In this book, however, I found myself only the barest bit annoyed, because 1) Matt actually did die (he resurrected); 2) his being alive put an abrupt end to Kenzie's ridiculously annoying (if understandable) guilt party over shooting him to what she thought was his death (again, it was, but then he just came back); and 3), his death-but-not-death did not in any way set a pretense for any of the other characters; they were given no such mercy. About Matt's actual character, well, I wasn't a fan. He was good at the beginning, then turned evil fast and hard, then flipped again just as suddenly. Not much of a redemption arc there. More like a redemption CN Tower. (haha)
Rune: My initial impression of Rune was that she was way too soft (come on, like you've got any grounds to choose whether or not to save the things about to kill your planet!! Go Mia!) but I really started to like her as time went on. I think (major major spoilers in this sentence) I would've been devastated when she died, except I went into the series knowing she would, because SOMEONE spoiled it for me. Anyway, it was a pretty heroic end in any case.
Cage: Oh, this guy has stolen my heart!!! Him and Kenzie are just so adorable together! And more than that, they are always so gentle and caring with each other and it just melted my heart. Cage can be a little overprotective sometimes, but I've always liked characters with real flaws, and even his controlling behaviors come from a place I can understand. He's always steadying Kenzie, there for her when she needs him, sometimes just giving her a playful grin when she most needs it. And I just love him for it. ❤ It was always Cage and Kenzie against the world. *sighs wistfully*
Kenzie: I love Kenzie so much, and I just couldn't bear it when she started to fall apart in the second book. I think she hit her peak in Sanctuary, actually, before the heat of the battle died down (however briefly) and all the trauma she'd gone through started creeping up on her. And I loved her so much that when she started to crumble, I really had to fight not to scream into the book - "just pull yourself together!!! Come on!" But in the end, her breakdowns (there were more than a few) were really realistic and raw, and I wouldn't have wanted her to just coast through it all. She was strong and brave, but still broken. And however much it grated on me to see her falling down when the rest of her friends still stood strong, the way she repeatedly fell apart and pulled herself back together - albeit with a lot of help from Cage - was very powerful and much more so than it would've been if she was just totally steady.
PACING: 3/5
To start, it was super action-packed. Mostly in a good way, but there were a little too many instances where everything was fine and then the worst thing possible happened, which was thrilling most of the time...but annoying the other times, and eventually the prisoners' nonstop TERRIBLE luck got a little tedious, especially during the second book (the last one picked up again in a way that was definitely NOT tedious.) So for me, it felt like everything happened a little too quickly, and a little too horribly, to span only a month or so.
That being said, if the book had spanned longer, then we wouldn't have gotten such a real-time play-by-play of every little event, so I guess it's a sacrifice. Still, when Rune died and everything fell apart, I suddenly kind of jerked back and realized "hang on a second, Kenzie only knew Rune for a month" and then it felt weird all of a sudden, because it felt right for Kenzie to be shattered, and yet Rune was only her friend for like 40 days...
WORLD: 3/5
The worldbuilding for this series was really good, in my opinion. Futuristic Earth was just similar enough to ours today that I could accept it, and still different enough to be interesting. I mean, I'm not an astrophysicist or anything, but seems to me like our spacefaring technology could reasonably head in the direction of Kenzie's world - colonizing the Moon, Mars, Jupiter's moons too. The idea of a Sanctuary prison for superpowered teens didn't seem totally out there, either (believe it or not), as it was pretty well fleshed-out. Obsidian - the prison whose resident criminals took over and turned into a black market hive - was a little bit lacking in details, but still, interesting concept. The only thing I just can't get over...
...is the dimensions thing. Up to the point where they learned they were not on an alien planet at all, but another DIMENSION, everything seemed pretty believable.
And hey, alternate dimensions could sure exist. We don't have a clue. But, I don't know, it felt like the book turned less apocalyptic at that point and more...fantastical? I see that these opinions don't really make sense, but it kind of ruined the high-tech sciency vibe for me, so that was kind of irritating. What I wish had happened was they weren't on an alien planet or another Earth, but just their Earth, in the Sahara Desert or something, and Eden and her people totally played them up. Because that's what I thought had happened when the chapter ended with Rune saying "we're on Earth guys" or whatever, and I was like, "OH MY - " like Alexei died for nothing and they'd been on their planet the whole time, and then the weird dimensions thing happened.
So I think there were a few holes in the story (why some of their powers got way better and Cage and Alexei were just left in the dust, for instance, or why the heck some random shelter in a desert in an alternate dimension corresponded to a high-security space prison called the same thing), and it did irk me when I came across them, but it didn't draw away from the story too much.
WRITING: 2/5
So, now that I think about it, the writing was kind of bad. I have finished the entire trilogy, and I still have no idea what anyone looks like. The tags used in conversations were also really repetitive. And there was often an overload of Kenzie's Unimportant Thoughts, spanning pages, speals on friendship drama and guilt over her past mistakes and terror about the aliens. And there isn't really anything that justified that, although I suppose a fast-paced novel will tend to use simpler language (though the KUTs kind of just put big slow chunks in all the fast-paced parts anyway.)
OVERALL:
Strong 4 stars. The thing that really stood out to me about this series is just how lovable the characters are, and the connection I felt to them went deeper than it had ever done for any other series. (In fact I want to cry at the moment because it just sunk in that I will never get to read about their next adventures, NEVER, and I NEED TO, so I'm praying there's a spin-off, because Kenzie and Cage - and Reed, Imani, Jasper, Rune, Alexei, Matt, Mia, and Legion - have left a MASSIVE hole in my heart and they just up and left and I can't...!!!!)
UPDATE:
~(more of) my thoughts~
DO READ THIS - I don't know why it isn't more well-known!! It was a fantastic ride. I read all three books in two and a half days (granted, most of my reading happened at night, that's how absorbed I was.) I wish there was some kind of follow-up on how everyone's doing two, three years later - maybe a spin-off series - because while the ending was satisfying enough, it left a lot to the unknown.
But alas, I have seen and there is not. I'm kind of missing the old Sanctuary gang at the moment. My head is still half in Kenzie's world right now, and I finished the book hours ago. (Don't be worried. I don't mind.) I really enjoyed this series, and I don't think I'll find anything quite like it again, so thank you, Caryn Lix!!!
💖💖💖HEARTS TO THE SANCTUARY GANG 💖💖💖
(Expect my actual honest opinion and a lot of words.)
So to anyone who has stumbled across this and needs this review to be quick, to the point, and user-friendly, and therefore will not be continuing on through all the words, I give you this GLORIOUS summary:
(da dada daaaaa!!!)
If you want a fast-paced thriller of a novel, with a group of hilarious superpowered teens basically trying to save the planet from murderous aliens without being killed in the process, this is for you. There are a lot of plot twists, a lot of deaths, some shocking revelations, and a good side plot of romance too. There will be journeys to moons and Mars and other planets and tons of action and Kenzie, who is very funny, and who loves a manga series called Robo Mecha Dream Girl 5 or something stupid like that.
Doesn't that sound good? Trust me, this series is good. I almost cried at the end. I laughed and smiled often. I stayed up until one a.m. reading it. I've just literally found nothing like it before!
(goooo get it *winks*)
(oh and be warned: the Sanctuary gang's gonna come for your heart, and then book 3's gonna end, and then you will have to cry because reality's gonna come crashing down and you will realize that you will never get to see the characters again.)
***I also want to reassure the people just starting this series: don't worry, Kenzie's power will get super awesome, and the lame language thing turns into a totally cool powerful thing and she eventually has the best power out of all of them. So just keep reading.***
Right, so, spoilers ahead people, tread with caution.
PLOT: 4/5
I have two things to say about the plot of this book: One, oh my gosh, there will never be another YA book that successfully blends sci-fi, aliens/zombies, AND superpowered teens all into one (never.) And for that, this book is a diamond in the rough. (Seriously, try to find anything else of any good at all with un-cliche teenage mutants fighting space zombies. I won't stick around waiting.) There were plot twists (good ones), people died ("untouchable" people no less!), and all the fight scenes were just beautiful.
Second, though, the repeated theme of aliens, aliens, aliens, (alienssssss) was frankly pretty old by the end of the story, and I was hoping for something other than the old
silent, tiptoeing around, *gasp* "ahh, what the heck, there's aliens in here!!" then being even SILENTER to escape, then the aliens hearing anyway, then everybody getting hurt and then healed...
...and then a brief respite before it all happened all over again. Really the only thing that changed throughout the books was which planet/station they were on, and which people weren't dead yet, and which place eventually resulted in getting blown up (seriously, EVERYTHING in these books gets blown up.) That being said, I stuck around without hardly putting the book down, so even the repeated battle scenes were thrilling enough to keep me going. ( how? hint: chaaaaaracters!)
CHARACTERS: 5/5
The main thing that stood out to me about this book was how LIKEABLE all the characters were! Each and every one of them had a unique personality, their own charm - and there were a lot of characters, which made it even more of a feat. While reading these books, but especially the last one, I repeatedly found myself smiling/laughing out loud at the adorableness of their ragtag little superpowered prisoner group. I genuinely cared for each and every one of them, and I was giggling every time someone opened their mouth. Also, it was refreshing for the dynamics of the group to be so realistic: it wasn't all peaches and giggles and "I love you my besties!!!" and there were many arguments and many rude comments and everybody got crabby at some point which was just so LOVELY, because it actually made SENSE. There is no way in the real world that they all could've gone through those terrible, horrible things and not been scarred, not struck out from time to time. Like, c'mon, I'll be honest - if my parents tried to kill me and then got killed by aliens, which were invading our planet to kill everybody on it, and my friends kept dying, and I was one in a dozen teenagers that were basically humanity's last hope, well, I certainly would not be peaches and giggles.
Mia: I strongly disliked this stubborn, violent, aggressive person in Sanctuary, but Mia really grew on me, and by the second book I really found myself appreciating her ruthlessness considering the world-ending situation they were in, not to mention her blunt, sometimes (usually) bristling remarks and take-no-prisoners style. The one thing I just couldn't wrap my head around was how she dealt with Alexei's death. It didn't seem like her at all - she just kind of...stopped. I would've thought she'd tear up everything in her grief and anger, not to mention kill that stupid traitor Eden since she was basically RESPONSIBLE for Alexei's DEATH...! (Seriously! I would've thought Mia would either go on a furious rampage or completely break, but instead she just kind of coped, I suppose.) And while we're at that topic, how come everyone else kind of just went, "shoot, Lex's dead, poor Mia" and moved on? This guy was supposedly Cage's best friend for FIVE YEARS in prison!
Anyway,
Matt: First of all, I HATE THE TROPE WHERE DEAD PEOPLE TURN OUT TO MIRACULOUSLY NOT BE DEAD. Alright? No buts. In this book, however, I found myself only the barest bit annoyed, because 1) Matt actually did die (he resurrected); 2) his being alive put an abrupt end to Kenzie's ridiculously annoying (if understandable) guilt party over shooting him to what she thought was his death (again, it was, but then he just came back); and 3), his death-but-not-death did not in any way set a pretense for any of the other characters; they were given no such mercy. About Matt's actual character, well, I wasn't a fan. He was good at the beginning, then turned evil fast and hard, then flipped again just as suddenly. Not much of a redemption arc there. More like a redemption CN Tower. (haha)
Rune: My initial impression of Rune was that she was way too soft (come on, like you've got any grounds to choose whether or not to save the things about to kill your planet!! Go Mia!) but I really started to like her as time went on. I think (major major spoilers in this sentence) I would've been devastated when she died, except I went into the series knowing she would, because SOMEONE spoiled it for me. Anyway, it was a pretty heroic end in any case.
Cage: Oh, this guy has stolen my heart!!! Him and Kenzie are just so adorable together! And more than that, they are always so gentle and caring with each other and it just melted my heart. Cage can be a little overprotective sometimes, but I've always liked characters with real flaws, and even his controlling behaviors come from a place I can understand. He's always steadying Kenzie, there for her when she needs him, sometimes just giving her a playful grin when she most needs it. And I just love him for it. ❤ It was always Cage and Kenzie against the world. *sighs wistfully*
Kenzie: I love Kenzie so much, and I just couldn't bear it when she started to fall apart in the second book. I think she hit her peak in Sanctuary, actually, before the heat of the battle died down (however briefly) and all the trauma she'd gone through started creeping up on her. And I loved her so much that when she started to crumble, I really had to fight not to scream into the book - "just pull yourself together!!! Come on!" But in the end, her breakdowns (there were more than a few) were really realistic and raw, and I wouldn't have wanted her to just coast through it all. She was strong and brave, but still broken. And however much it grated on me to see her falling down when the rest of her friends still stood strong, the way she repeatedly fell apart and pulled herself back together - albeit with a lot of help from Cage - was very powerful and much more so than it would've been if she was just totally steady.
PACING: 3/5
To start, it was super action-packed. Mostly in a good way, but there were a little too many instances where everything was fine and then the worst thing possible happened, which was thrilling most of the time...but annoying the other times, and eventually the prisoners' nonstop TERRIBLE luck got a little tedious, especially during the second book (the last one picked up again in a way that was definitely NOT tedious.) So for me, it felt like everything happened a little too quickly, and a little too horribly, to span only a month or so.
That being said, if the book had spanned longer, then we wouldn't have gotten such a real-time play-by-play of every little event, so I guess it's a sacrifice. Still, when Rune died and everything fell apart, I suddenly kind of jerked back and realized "hang on a second, Kenzie only knew Rune for a month" and then it felt weird all of a sudden, because it felt right for Kenzie to be shattered, and yet Rune was only her friend for like 40 days...
WORLD: 3/5
The worldbuilding for this series was really good, in my opinion. Futuristic Earth was just similar enough to ours today that I could accept it, and still different enough to be interesting. I mean, I'm not an astrophysicist or anything, but seems to me like our spacefaring technology could reasonably head in the direction of Kenzie's world - colonizing the Moon, Mars, Jupiter's moons too. The idea of a Sanctuary prison for superpowered teens didn't seem totally out there, either (believe it or not), as it was pretty well fleshed-out. Obsidian - the prison whose resident criminals took over and turned into a black market hive - was a little bit lacking in details, but still, interesting concept. The only thing I just can't get over...
...is the dimensions thing. Up to the point where they learned they were not on an alien planet at all, but another DIMENSION, everything seemed pretty believable.
And hey, alternate dimensions could sure exist. We don't have a clue. But, I don't know, it felt like the book turned less apocalyptic at that point and more...fantastical? I see that these opinions don't really make sense, but it kind of ruined the high-tech sciency vibe for me, so that was kind of irritating. What I wish had happened was they weren't on an alien planet or another Earth, but just their Earth, in the Sahara Desert or something, and Eden and her people totally played them up. Because that's what I thought had happened when the chapter ended with Rune saying "we're on Earth guys" or whatever, and I was like, "OH MY - " like Alexei died for nothing and they'd been on their planet the whole time, and then the weird dimensions thing happened.
So I think there were a few holes in the story (why some of their powers got way better and Cage and Alexei were just left in the dust, for instance, or why the heck some random shelter in a desert in an alternate dimension corresponded to a high-security space prison called the same thing), and it did irk me when I came across them, but it didn't draw away from the story too much.
WRITING: 2/5
So, now that I think about it, the writing was kind of bad. I have finished the entire trilogy, and I still have no idea what anyone looks like. The tags used in conversations were also really repetitive. And there was often an overload of Kenzie's Unimportant Thoughts, spanning pages, speals on friendship drama and guilt over her past mistakes and terror about the aliens. And there isn't really anything that justified that, although I suppose a fast-paced novel will tend to use simpler language (though the KUTs kind of just put big slow chunks in all the fast-paced parts anyway.)
OVERALL:
Strong 4 stars. The thing that really stood out to me about this series is just how lovable the characters are, and the connection I felt to them went deeper than it had ever done for any other series. (In fact I want to cry at the moment because it just sunk in that I will never get to read about their next adventures, NEVER, and I NEED TO, so I'm praying there's a spin-off, because Kenzie and Cage - and Reed, Imani, Jasper, Rune, Alexei, Matt, Mia, and Legion - have left a MASSIVE hole in my heart and they just up and left and I can't...!!!!)
UPDATE:
~(more of) my thoughts~
DO READ THIS - I don't know why it isn't more well-known!! It was a fantastic ride. I read all three books in two and a half days (granted, most of my reading happened at night, that's how absorbed I was.) I wish there was some kind of follow-up on how everyone's doing two, three years later - maybe a spin-off series - because while the ending was satisfying enough, it left a lot to the unknown.
But alas, I have seen and there is not. I'm kind of missing the old Sanctuary gang at the moment. My head is still half in Kenzie's world right now, and I finished the book hours ago. (Don't be worried. I don't mind.) I really enjoyed this series, and I don't think I'll find anything quite like it again, so thank you, Caryn Lix!!!
💖💖💖HEARTS TO THE SANCTUARY GANG 💖💖💖
December 17, 2020
I enjoyed this next installment in the Sanctuary series. I don't know if it was the last or not. The way the ending came about, it could end there. Or it could have another sequel. If it does, I will eagerly read that one too. Yes, some of the storyline might seem redundant. After all, how many YA female teen heroines do we need? But sometimes, what has been done before continues to be done, just because, it works.
August 13, 2025
ohmigod. so this is my first time actively keeping a list of things to remember to write about in my Goodreads review. so here we go. this is just me ranting about my books so no one read this. however lulu follows me on here so lulu u can idk if you read my reviews but lulu if youre reading this Hi u are always welcome to my reviews!!! :)))) miss u <3. but also im going to start keeping lists abt stuff to rant about in the review bc writing this was fun
1. there was that whole thing in the beginning where it was like "we somehow landed on an alien planet that evolved so similarly to ours how weird we must have a psychic connection to another species and that's why we evolved so similarly and that's why everything is basically a weird version of things we already have and they look exactly like us AND they speak English" i was not buying it. it was too much of a stretch even for a book I was like no way is that a thing. i was not a fan I did not like that at all. every time they brought it up I was like phfhhfh yeah right. but I didn't really think of the alternative so I just kinda accepted it. more on that later.
2. what was the timing???! timeline?!?! it kept saying "a few months ago" or "a few weeks ago" how long has it been? i read the first one in 2018. 2018!! that's 3 years ago!! but yeah I'm glad it at least explained/described events from previous books because there was no way I was going to remember literally any of that. i barely remembered it. that literally happened to me while reading the sequel too I forgot a lot of stuff. but it came back to me as I read so I guess it was fine
3. my note just said "I love mia and alexei and no one else" they were my comfort characters. i never really understood the meaning of comfort characters before this but they were definitely my favorites. i love the two of them. so much like they were my favorites I remembered them the most from the other books I liked them a lot I relaxed when reading abt them. but then yes I cried about that too. tbh that kind of ruined the book for me. like not enough that I thought it was bad but I definitely didn't love it
4. there were a lot of weird words. like huh
5. anyways I couldn't really get into the beginning. or frankly the whole storyline. it just felt not it. i wasn't really a fan of the entire plot. not sure i really like how this is wrapping up the series but also its not like I have a better idea on what the conclusion should have been. it just. idk I felt like that was not the conclusion I wanted to read. was not really a fan of the plotline
6. literally don't remember how don't remember anything about legion being bad except that they were chasing them but then they had to be on the same team against the aliens. so they're whatever. ohh the thing with matt and rune just hit me right now. "later" kill me. that's so sad
moving along
7. ok I'm going to say this again. i know I complained about it in the first book but IM GOING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT IT MORE. WHEN THEY WERE AGAINST VENTING THE SLEEPING ALIENS??? LIKE BRO SHUT UP THEY WOULD KILL U WITHOUT HESITATION AND UR WORRIED ABT VENTING THEM IN THEIR SLEEP??? THATS A GOOD THING. GET RID OF THEM. I'm glad kenzie finally was like we made the right choice venting those aliens i want all of them gone I want them all dead I would vent them again if I had the chance. like FINALLY she was ok with it. JEEZ. more on this in a little bit actually. BUT THAT WAS STILL ANNOYING AND I WILL RANT ABT IT FOR HOURS. dude its either you or them I know if I were in that situation I would not feel bad about it at all. plus they are extremely disgusting so. no pity
8. in my mind's eye: alexei looks exactly like frank zhang from percy jackson. maybe that's why I was so attached to him lol. cage looked like Aqualad from teen titans go. the aliens just looked like different sized venoms from marvel but with more teeth I guess. and creepy. and more gross. and then karoch looked like huge venom but taller and hunchier. also I pronounced it as "car-rouch" instead of whatever you're supposed to say karoch as because that's the Armenian in me I guess.
9. mia mine. i loved that so much. not sure what to say abt it tho now very sad
10. a lot of it was very clear that they were all going through severe ptsd. not that I'm saying anything bad about that I'm just pointing it out. they didn't really say it directly but they did say they would all need therapy after this and yeah it was just clear the way she relived moments that she has major ptsd
11. words that were used way too much: "dubiously" stop doing and saying everything "dubiously" think of a different word please 😩. also "semihysterical laughter" autocorrect doesn't even register semihysterical as one word so. next
12. I DIDNT EVEN CONSIDER THAT. I NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED. LOL. SO THAT WAS A GOOD PLOT TWIST MY MOUTH LITERALLY DROPPED I WAS LIKE HUH
so if anything this series has good plot twists. frankly I like plot twists because I like being shocked. its fun and exciting
13. i liked the friendship and comradery with legion. i liked that they were all buddies by the end. i never really had issues w them and if I did I don't remember it. so I liked that they became friends
14. showing how they'd all grown as characters was sweet but also very helpful because I didnt remember any of it from the previous books. HAHA
15. last night I was like can this book please be over I don't like reading about these aliens they're so gross and creepy crawly i cant wait for this book to be over. maybe im just not a sci-fi person. yeah I think that's it. give me a high fantasy fae romance with the sea involved ill take that any day over disgusting scary aliens. i mean its good to change your reading styles sometimes and nothing against this series because it was good obvi but also they are just so gross. and yes I know they're supposed to be gross im not saying that was bad for them to be gross but they were just so hateable. so I did hate them
16. the thing with karoch being the center of a hive mind idk I wasn't a fan. like of course they're going to have to defeat a final boss to conclude the series how else would you wrap it up. but it felt predictable and final boss-y i wasn't a fan
17. there are SO MANY annoying ethics questions in this series. like the first one in the first book with do we vent these sleeping aliens? idk if we should bc that makes me feel sad :( even tho they would LITERALLY KILL U THE SECOND THEY OPEN THEIR EYES. SHUT UP WHY DO YOU FEEL BAD ABOUT THAT??? maybe I just have no moral compass. and then they were like do we blow up these missiles and kill the aliens once and for all? no there's a city with a traitor in it nearby. whatever!!! there are literal multiverses out there that are in need of saving! i guess im just better at seeing the greater good here. idk I wasn't a fan
18. literally don't even remember tyler at all. like I barely remember him. i remembered him barely at the end and when they were talking about the mind stuff. same with like reed and imani and jasper. literally no recollection of them barely. what I remember about them is extremely minimal. so yeah obviously alexei and mia were gonna be my favorites because I actually could remember them. they were so cute. cage and kenzie are cute too
19. robo mecha dream girl. she really likes robo mecha dream girl HAHA
20. was extremely predictable. whenever they were like and they were surprised about it? i was not.
idk why but I just got a flashback to
literally can these characters its making me sad
bruh
21. mia. mia mine. at the end. idk how to feel about that except sad. i feel sad about her situation. she has no one and she doesn't even like people so she wont let herself lean on anyone. the only person she ever loved who will take care of her who will remind her to eat? hopefully someone does. i love u as well mia mine
really sad how this ended up being absolutely not.
22. ok the final line of the book and therefore the series was so clever. it was about getting up again. kenzie's favorite quote about fall down 7 times get up 8. so of course the series ended with that she's going to get up again. not gonna lie that did make me smile. so its got that going for it.
wow this is a really long review!!!! i think im going to be making longer reviews from now on because I liked keeping track of things to rant about later
disclaimer I write these for me no one else read them HAHAHA
ALSO you know what. edit after I posted this originally. that gideon guy was off his rocker I'm glad he was not a central issue I wouldn't have been able to handle that. not a fan of crazies
1. there was that whole thing in the beginning where it was like "we somehow landed on an alien planet that evolved so similarly to ours how weird we must have a psychic connection to another species and that's why we evolved so similarly and that's why everything is basically a weird version of things we already have and they look exactly like us AND they speak English" i was not buying it. it was too much of a stretch even for a book I was like no way is that a thing. i was not a fan I did not like that at all. every time they brought it up I was like phfhhfh yeah right. but I didn't really think of the alternative so I just kinda accepted it. more on that later.
2. what was the timing???! timeline?!?! it kept saying "a few months ago" or "a few weeks ago" how long has it been? i read the first one in 2018. 2018!! that's 3 years ago!! but yeah I'm glad it at least explained/described events from previous books because there was no way I was going to remember literally any of that. i barely remembered it. that literally happened to me while reading the sequel too I forgot a lot of stuff. but it came back to me as I read so I guess it was fine
3. my note just said "I love mia and alexei and no one else" they were my comfort characters. i never really understood the meaning of comfort characters before this but they were definitely my favorites. i love the two of them. so much like they were my favorites I remembered them the most from the other books I liked them a lot I relaxed when reading abt them. but then yes I cried about that too. tbh that kind of ruined the book for me. like not enough that I thought it was bad but I definitely didn't love it
4. there were a lot of weird words. like huh
5. anyways I couldn't really get into the beginning. or frankly the whole storyline. it just felt not it. i wasn't really a fan of the entire plot. not sure i really like how this is wrapping up the series but also its not like I have a better idea on what the conclusion should have been. it just. idk I felt like that was not the conclusion I wanted to read. was not really a fan of the plotline
6. literally don't remember how don't remember anything about legion being bad except that they were chasing them but then they had to be on the same team against the aliens. so they're whatever. ohh the thing with matt and rune just hit me right now. "later" kill me. that's so sad
moving along
7. ok I'm going to say this again. i know I complained about it in the first book but IM GOING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT IT MORE. WHEN THEY WERE AGAINST VENTING THE SLEEPING ALIENS??? LIKE BRO SHUT UP THEY WOULD KILL U WITHOUT HESITATION AND UR WORRIED ABT VENTING THEM IN THEIR SLEEP??? THATS A GOOD THING. GET RID OF THEM. I'm glad kenzie finally was like we made the right choice venting those aliens i want all of them gone I want them all dead I would vent them again if I had the chance. like FINALLY she was ok with it. JEEZ. more on this in a little bit actually. BUT THAT WAS STILL ANNOYING AND I WILL RANT ABT IT FOR HOURS. dude its either you or them I know if I were in that situation I would not feel bad about it at all. plus they are extremely disgusting so. no pity
8. in my mind's eye: alexei looks exactly like frank zhang from percy jackson. maybe that's why I was so attached to him lol. cage looked like Aqualad from teen titans go. the aliens just looked like different sized venoms from marvel but with more teeth I guess. and creepy. and more gross. and then karoch looked like huge venom but taller and hunchier. also I pronounced it as "car-rouch" instead of whatever you're supposed to say karoch as because that's the Armenian in me I guess.
9. mia mine. i loved that so much. not sure what to say abt it tho now very sad
10. a lot of it was very clear that they were all going through severe ptsd. not that I'm saying anything bad about that I'm just pointing it out. they didn't really say it directly but they did say they would all need therapy after this and yeah it was just clear the way she relived moments that she has major ptsd
11. words that were used way too much: "dubiously" stop doing and saying everything "dubiously" think of a different word please 😩. also "semihysterical laughter" autocorrect doesn't even register semihysterical as one word so. next
12. I DIDNT EVEN CONSIDER THAT. I NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED. LOL. SO THAT WAS A GOOD PLOT TWIST MY MOUTH LITERALLY DROPPED I WAS LIKE HUH
so if anything this series has good plot twists. frankly I like plot twists because I like being shocked. its fun and exciting
13. i liked the friendship and comradery with legion. i liked that they were all buddies by the end. i never really had issues w them and if I did I don't remember it. so I liked that they became friends
14. showing how they'd all grown as characters was sweet but also very helpful because I didnt remember any of it from the previous books. HAHA
15. last night I was like can this book please be over I don't like reading about these aliens they're so gross and creepy crawly i cant wait for this book to be over. maybe im just not a sci-fi person. yeah I think that's it. give me a high fantasy fae romance with the sea involved ill take that any day over disgusting scary aliens. i mean its good to change your reading styles sometimes and nothing against this series because it was good obvi but also they are just so gross. and yes I know they're supposed to be gross im not saying that was bad for them to be gross but they were just so hateable. so I did hate them
16. the thing with karoch being the center of a hive mind idk I wasn't a fan. like of course they're going to have to defeat a final boss to conclude the series how else would you wrap it up. but it felt predictable and final boss-y i wasn't a fan
17. there are SO MANY annoying ethics questions in this series. like the first one in the first book with do we vent these sleeping aliens? idk if we should bc that makes me feel sad :( even tho they would LITERALLY KILL U THE SECOND THEY OPEN THEIR EYES. SHUT UP WHY DO YOU FEEL BAD ABOUT THAT??? maybe I just have no moral compass. and then they were like do we blow up these missiles and kill the aliens once and for all? no there's a city with a traitor in it nearby. whatever!!! there are literal multiverses out there that are in need of saving! i guess im just better at seeing the greater good here. idk I wasn't a fan
18. literally don't even remember tyler at all. like I barely remember him. i remembered him barely at the end and when they were talking about the mind stuff. same with like reed and imani and jasper. literally no recollection of them barely. what I remember about them is extremely minimal. so yeah obviously alexei and mia were gonna be my favorites because I actually could remember them. they were so cute. cage and kenzie are cute too
19. robo mecha dream girl. she really likes robo mecha dream girl HAHA
20. was extremely predictable. whenever they were like and they were surprised about it? i was not.
idk why but I just got a flashback to
literally can these characters its making me sad
bruh
21. mia. mia mine. at the end. idk how to feel about that except sad. i feel sad about her situation. she has no one and she doesn't even like people so she wont let herself lean on anyone. the only person she ever loved who will take care of her who will remind her to eat? hopefully someone does. i love u as well mia mine
really sad how this ended up being absolutely not.
22. ok the final line of the book and therefore the series was so clever. it was about getting up again. kenzie's favorite quote about fall down 7 times get up 8. so of course the series ended with that she's going to get up again. not gonna lie that did make me smile. so its got that going for it.
wow this is a really long review!!!! i think im going to be making longer reviews from now on because I liked keeping track of things to rant about later
disclaimer I write these for me no one else read them HAHAHA
ALSO you know what. edit after I posted this originally. that gideon guy was off his rocker I'm glad he was not a central issue I wouldn't have been able to handle that. not a fan of crazies
November 10, 2025
2 and a half stars
This is the third and final book in Caryn Lix’s Sanctuary series. I had such a blast with the first book that I immediately picked up the second, but my expectations must have been way too high, and my interest in how the series would conclude mostly evaporated after it really fell short. Now that I’ve finally finished the adventures of Kenzie Cord and her escaped prisoners, it’s safe for me to say Caryn Lix is better at telling the story of a breakout rather than the story of a fugitive.
Kenzie Cord has been through hell in the blink of an eye. She should’ve maybe been prepared for a fair bit of danger when she agreed to be a soldier on Sanctuary, a maximum security prison in space, for the corporation that has taken care of her and her parents for ages, Omnistellar. A riot and takeover took place that had Kenzie realize the company hunts down anyone and everyone with special powers that could one day be used to…overrun them if they wanted. It took a big wakeup call, but Kenzie got the prisoners out after battles with strange aliens who had gotten themselves in the prison, and then the gang travelled to Mars and to a black market spaceship called Obsidian…and before it could blow up, Kenzie was able to latch onto the superpowers of a rogue boy named Liam, and transport her and her new family…somewhere. Some kind of desert.
The gang ends up fortunately finding an abandoned city with a few remaining resources…but what planet is it? It could be Earth but there are some things that don’t quite resemble it. And what’s the state of the Resident-Evil-esque aliens that have been terrorizing them? The gang find some dwellers low on supplies who have been scrounging for years, no spaceship to escape the planet and no backup to go off of. Kenzie and her gang might be able to get them out once and for all and the survivors might be able to get them back to their home, wherever it is, but are her new allies all they say they are?
What I didn’t like about the last book, Contagion, was it didn’t do enough to make us feel like these characters were having to run from a huge corporation that owned most of the police force across space, nor what their plans were on finding a way to stay free. It didn’t quite seem to have that feeling of “We did it, we’re actually free and we have to do everything we can to stay that way.” And normally I encourage books to have characters sensitive to their surroundings, but Kenzie often retreated to unwarranted guilt over every single mishap her group has gotten into (it’s clearly far from all her fault) that got in the way of the suspense way too much. I loved the first book and gave it three and a half stars out of four for its non-stop thrills of prisoners taking over the surrounded penitentiary, but the sequel disappointed me so much I gave it a grade two whole stars lower. While this book also doesn’t have the sense it’s a fugitive story, a fugitive story being what I was hoping for, it does present ideas I didn’t expect with some more suspenseful action, with the guilt factor toned down a fair bit.
Once some time had gone by and the characters were still stranded in this desert, I accepted this book wouldn’t have too much adventure throughout the galaxy that is human-commandeered in this world. I was hoping when I started this book that that wouldn’t be the decision, but if you’re up for eventually accepting it and that these protagonists can only do so much since they are human (with superpowers, but still human) it might not be a deal breaker.
The ending is satisfactory. In fact, it turns really great when there’s a character who suggests being a little mischievous. Don’t want to spoil what I mean. In the end, Salvation is neither a bad book nor a good one. It still pales in comparison to the first book Sanctuary, and there’s a lot more we wish we could explore in this world. I’m hoping the next teen book I read about escaping jail will be better. But the series overall is a not-too-bad time if you’re a teenager trying to get into reading for the first time.
You can read more reviews of mine on my website, williammcginn.com
This is the third and final book in Caryn Lix’s Sanctuary series. I had such a blast with the first book that I immediately picked up the second, but my expectations must have been way too high, and my interest in how the series would conclude mostly evaporated after it really fell short. Now that I’ve finally finished the adventures of Kenzie Cord and her escaped prisoners, it’s safe for me to say Caryn Lix is better at telling the story of a breakout rather than the story of a fugitive.
Kenzie Cord has been through hell in the blink of an eye. She should’ve maybe been prepared for a fair bit of danger when she agreed to be a soldier on Sanctuary, a maximum security prison in space, for the corporation that has taken care of her and her parents for ages, Omnistellar. A riot and takeover took place that had Kenzie realize the company hunts down anyone and everyone with special powers that could one day be used to…overrun them if they wanted. It took a big wakeup call, but Kenzie got the prisoners out after battles with strange aliens who had gotten themselves in the prison, and then the gang travelled to Mars and to a black market spaceship called Obsidian…and before it could blow up, Kenzie was able to latch onto the superpowers of a rogue boy named Liam, and transport her and her new family…somewhere. Some kind of desert.
The gang ends up fortunately finding an abandoned city with a few remaining resources…but what planet is it? It could be Earth but there are some things that don’t quite resemble it. And what’s the state of the Resident-Evil-esque aliens that have been terrorizing them? The gang find some dwellers low on supplies who have been scrounging for years, no spaceship to escape the planet and no backup to go off of. Kenzie and her gang might be able to get them out once and for all and the survivors might be able to get them back to their home, wherever it is, but are her new allies all they say they are?
What I didn’t like about the last book, Contagion, was it didn’t do enough to make us feel like these characters were having to run from a huge corporation that owned most of the police force across space, nor what their plans were on finding a way to stay free. It didn’t quite seem to have that feeling of “We did it, we’re actually free and we have to do everything we can to stay that way.” And normally I encourage books to have characters sensitive to their surroundings, but Kenzie often retreated to unwarranted guilt over every single mishap her group has gotten into (it’s clearly far from all her fault) that got in the way of the suspense way too much. I loved the first book and gave it three and a half stars out of four for its non-stop thrills of prisoners taking over the surrounded penitentiary, but the sequel disappointed me so much I gave it a grade two whole stars lower. While this book also doesn’t have the sense it’s a fugitive story, a fugitive story being what I was hoping for, it does present ideas I didn’t expect with some more suspenseful action, with the guilt factor toned down a fair bit.
Once some time had gone by and the characters were still stranded in this desert, I accepted this book wouldn’t have too much adventure throughout the galaxy that is human-commandeered in this world. I was hoping when I started this book that that wouldn’t be the decision, but if you’re up for eventually accepting it and that these protagonists can only do so much since they are human (with superpowers, but still human) it might not be a deal breaker.
The ending is satisfactory. In fact, it turns really great when there’s a character who suggests being a little mischievous. Don’t want to spoil what I mean. In the end, Salvation is neither a bad book nor a good one. It still pales in comparison to the first book Sanctuary, and there’s a lot more we wish we could explore in this world. I’m hoping the next teen book I read about escaping jail will be better. But the series overall is a not-too-bad time if you’re a teenager trying to get into reading for the first time.
You can read more reviews of mine on my website, williammcginn.com
January 4, 2021
4.5 rounded up to 5
Overall rating: ☆☆☆☆✬
Worldbuilding: ☆☆☆☆
Characters: ☆☆☆☆☆
Plot: ☆☆☆☆☆
Writing: ☆☆☆☆
I have to admit that I made a mistake. In my original review of Sanctuary, I gave it a 2.5 and called it ok. I wasn’t even planning on picking up the next book. But I was bored and was procrastinating from my homework today, and I thought “What the hell, can’t hurt to give the sequel a go.” And I am SO glad I did.
The first book set up an interesting premise, but the world was relatively undeveloped. I am happy to say Containment and Salvation gave me so much more. We finally gain an understanding of not just the superpowers, but the alien race itself. I love the lore that Ms. Lix set up for these series; it is suspenseful, horrific, and an examination of capitalism and government. Each of these books has a unique setting (especially Salvation...) but they work together seamlessly. The author has created a dystopia that I not only want to explore, but also run away from?? Needless to say, I loved it.
I am such a sucker for character growth, and honestly I’d be hard pressed to find someone who has grown as much as the survivors of Sanctuary. The second book does an excellent job discussing PTSD and normalizing it. I feel like characters in YA novels are kind of expected to push past trauma for the sake of moving the plot along, but Ms. Lix takes time to explore the toll of that and show us how the crew deals with it. Between the first and second book, I went from feeling mostly indifferent to these characters to on the brink of tears whenever they got in trouble. I JUST WANT EVERYONE TO BE OK. Kenzie really grows into her position in the group and discovers her love for this ragtag group of ex-prisoners. I loved following her become more confident and capable. Containment explores a darker side of Cage fleshed out his character so much more. Of course, Mia remains my favorite character because she’s aggressive and impulsive but it makes the moments of vulnerability so much more meaningful.
I have no words for the plot. I can’t even process everything that has happened because I read Containment and Salvation back-to-back today and I am just reeling. And these books are so fricken EMOTIONAL too. I cannot count the number of times I wanted to cry, or scream, or just do something! I guess I would best describe Containment and Salvation as the thrills, twists and horror of Sanctuary times 100,000. I don’t think my heartbeat dipped below 100 bpm this entire time. I accused Sanctuary of being predictable, but Containment and Salvation are the literal opposite of that. Not a single dull moment.
Caryn Lix knows how to write a suspenseful story. I had a whole stack of homework to finish today, and I literally told myself I was just going to read a chapter or two of Containment, and now it's 11pm and I’ve done nothing all day. I just could not tear my eyes away! Each chapter ends on a mini cliffhanger, so be prepared to clear out your day because you won’t be able to stop. GO AND READ THIS NOW. Ok, now that I’m done lauding praise on this series, I’m going to go cry and replay that ending about 1,000 times in my head.
@Ms. Lix, I would 100% percent support another series in this world. Maybe following Anya or Mia? I look forward to reading your future works. Also, I fully plan on throwing you under the bus when my history teacher asks for my homework...
read more reviews at willowandash.com
Overall rating: ☆☆☆☆✬
Worldbuilding: ☆☆☆☆
Characters: ☆☆☆☆☆
Plot: ☆☆☆☆☆
Writing: ☆☆☆☆
I have to admit that I made a mistake. In my original review of Sanctuary, I gave it a 2.5 and called it ok. I wasn’t even planning on picking up the next book. But I was bored and was procrastinating from my homework today, and I thought “What the hell, can’t hurt to give the sequel a go.” And I am SO glad I did.
The first book set up an interesting premise, but the world was relatively undeveloped. I am happy to say Containment and Salvation gave me so much more. We finally gain an understanding of not just the superpowers, but the alien race itself. I love the lore that Ms. Lix set up for these series; it is suspenseful, horrific, and an examination of capitalism and government. Each of these books has a unique setting (especially Salvation...) but they work together seamlessly. The author has created a dystopia that I not only want to explore, but also run away from?? Needless to say, I loved it.
I am such a sucker for character growth, and honestly I’d be hard pressed to find someone who has grown as much as the survivors of Sanctuary. The second book does an excellent job discussing PTSD and normalizing it. I feel like characters in YA novels are kind of expected to push past trauma for the sake of moving the plot along, but Ms. Lix takes time to explore the toll of that and show us how the crew deals with it. Between the first and second book, I went from feeling mostly indifferent to these characters to on the brink of tears whenever they got in trouble. I JUST WANT EVERYONE TO BE OK. Kenzie really grows into her position in the group and discovers her love for this ragtag group of ex-prisoners. I loved following her become more confident and capable. Containment explores a darker side of Cage fleshed out his character so much more. Of course, Mia remains my favorite character because she’s aggressive and impulsive but it makes the moments of vulnerability so much more meaningful.
I have no words for the plot. I can’t even process everything that has happened because I read Containment and Salvation back-to-back today and I am just reeling. And these books are so fricken EMOTIONAL too. I cannot count the number of times I wanted to cry, or scream, or just do something! I guess I would best describe Containment and Salvation as the thrills, twists and horror of Sanctuary times 100,000. I don’t think my heartbeat dipped below 100 bpm this entire time. I accused Sanctuary of being predictable, but Containment and Salvation are the literal opposite of that. Not a single dull moment.
Caryn Lix knows how to write a suspenseful story. I had a whole stack of homework to finish today, and I literally told myself I was just going to read a chapter or two of Containment, and now it's 11pm and I’ve done nothing all day. I just could not tear my eyes away! Each chapter ends on a mini cliffhanger, so be prepared to clear out your day because you won’t be able to stop. GO AND READ THIS NOW. Ok, now that I’m done lauding praise on this series, I’m going to go cry and replay that ending about 1,000 times in my head.
@Ms. Lix, I would 100% percent support another series in this world. Maybe following Anya or Mia? I look forward to reading your future works. Also, I fully plan on throwing you under the bus when my history teacher asks for my homework...
read more reviews at willowandash.com
July 20, 2021
Actual rating 3.75 stars.
‘Salvation’ is a wonderful and unexpected twist on the Sanctuary trilogy. This concluding novel really captured my imagination but managed to stay grounded in reality as protagonists have to face consequences of their actions.
We see more loss in ‘Salvation’ and I’m on the fence over how this is dealt with… but I guess for a YA novel, and needing to move the plot forward, the author did justice for the characters and story, despite the gruelling situations.
I don’t feel like we got much more character development in ‘Salvation’ – the characters have already been put through the ringer. Here, it is more about strengthening their resolve in the face of desperation and insurmountable odds.
I also feel, for the first time, the aliens were finally grounded in the narrative, their backstory is revealed and no longer felt like a two-dimensional, single-minded antagonist.
There is still a juvenile tone to the narrative – as that is the target market for this novel, but I would have liked a more mature and calculated tone to elevate the story and characters. I don’t think it would have isolated the target market, making them feel like intelligent readers.
The pacing is fairly steady and really ramps up in the last quarter of the novel, and had me eagerly flipping through the pages. Though in having said that, I did feel there was a long build up to the conclusion. This is only because we had to go through a whole lot of world building of yet another new environment we find our protagonists in. But it was a fun mystery to unravel… I certainly did not guess it.
In the beginning novels we see a lot of squabbling between the protagonists, but in ‘Salvation’ it is less so because they are a lone group of survivors, reliant on each other to get out of their situation alive. And while Lix does a great job at keeping the clashing personalities strong in the narrative, I felt a need for the characters to have different motivations to create tension, rather than grating personalities. But Lix has done a stellar job in crafting distinct characters that you love to hate, and love to love.
It was a great conclusion to the series, but I was left wanting a little more of resonance on that final paragraph to get a hint at the protagonists’ future… just a minor tweak to really fuel my imagination.
Certainly a great number of surprises and reveals that delighted me. I think it was more tone that stopped me from truly being immersed in the narrative.
‘Salvation’ has definitely returned to the standard and promise of ‘Sanctuary,’ where ‘Containment’ suffered a little of that middle-book-syndrome. However, a strong finish.
‘Salvation’ is a wonderful and unexpected twist on the Sanctuary trilogy. This concluding novel really captured my imagination but managed to stay grounded in reality as protagonists have to face consequences of their actions.
We see more loss in ‘Salvation’ and I’m on the fence over how this is dealt with… but I guess for a YA novel, and needing to move the plot forward, the author did justice for the characters and story, despite the gruelling situations.
I don’t feel like we got much more character development in ‘Salvation’ – the characters have already been put through the ringer. Here, it is more about strengthening their resolve in the face of desperation and insurmountable odds.
I also feel, for the first time, the aliens were finally grounded in the narrative, their backstory is revealed and no longer felt like a two-dimensional, single-minded antagonist.
There is still a juvenile tone to the narrative – as that is the target market for this novel, but I would have liked a more mature and calculated tone to elevate the story and characters. I don’t think it would have isolated the target market, making them feel like intelligent readers.
The pacing is fairly steady and really ramps up in the last quarter of the novel, and had me eagerly flipping through the pages. Though in having said that, I did feel there was a long build up to the conclusion. This is only because we had to go through a whole lot of world building of yet another new environment we find our protagonists in. But it was a fun mystery to unravel… I certainly did not guess it.
In the beginning novels we see a lot of squabbling between the protagonists, but in ‘Salvation’ it is less so because they are a lone group of survivors, reliant on each other to get out of their situation alive. And while Lix does a great job at keeping the clashing personalities strong in the narrative, I felt a need for the characters to have different motivations to create tension, rather than grating personalities. But Lix has done a stellar job in crafting distinct characters that you love to hate, and love to love.
It was a great conclusion to the series, but I was left wanting a little more of resonance on that final paragraph to get a hint at the protagonists’ future… just a minor tweak to really fuel my imagination.
Certainly a great number of surprises and reveals that delighted me. I think it was more tone that stopped me from truly being immersed in the narrative.
‘Salvation’ has definitely returned to the standard and promise of ‘Sanctuary,’ where ‘Containment’ suffered a little of that middle-book-syndrome. However, a strong finish.
June 16, 2021
4/5*
Full review here: https://www.allcharacterswanted.com/b...
Another New World
Wow, does the original crew of Sanctuary get around! These teens have just been in so many insane situations, and I feel like they have just spent months bouncing around between worlds. Honestly, I don’t understand how they even have the energy to keep going! Of course their survival instincts have kicked in (and these are kids with strong survival instincts), but this new world is really daunting because of how similar it is to Earth, which really gives you the creeps as a reader not knowing where they really are.
Hard Loses
It’s actually so heartbreaking that characters who have made it this far still end up dying. The two big deaths in this book broke my heart and honestly I was a bit shocked that Lix would write the final book this way. This crew has made it so far and have just struggled so hard, so to lose anybody now is just awful. I kind of wonder if there was a different way to move the story here, because one death in particular felt very unnecessary. It would’ve been very possible for him to live and I feel like he was just thrown in there to kind of upset the balance more than for a valuable death. The second heartbreaking death at the end of the book made a lot more sense to me, and although it’s incredibly sad for the character and for the reader, I understood why she did what she did.
Ending Felt Rushed
The last few chapters of the book felt like an add on, especially after the intensity of the rest of the book (and series). I appreciate the open ending - what will characters do next is up to them - but the holding cells and corporation talks felt so light, especially since these are all wanted criminals. I would love to know what characters like Mia do next - where does she go? How does she spend the rest of her life? This has been a heartbreaking journey for all these teens and now that it’s over I would have loved to see an epilogue set in the future to know where they go.
Overall, this was a nice ending to the Sanctuary trilogy. While I do have a lot of questions about what happens next, and we do lose some characters along the way, I think this both wraps up the series but also leaves us a room for the author to come back in the future.
Full review here: https://www.allcharacterswanted.com/b...
Another New World
Wow, does the original crew of Sanctuary get around! These teens have just been in so many insane situations, and I feel like they have just spent months bouncing around between worlds. Honestly, I don’t understand how they even have the energy to keep going! Of course their survival instincts have kicked in (and these are kids with strong survival instincts), but this new world is really daunting because of how similar it is to Earth, which really gives you the creeps as a reader not knowing where they really are.
Hard Loses
It’s actually so heartbreaking that characters who have made it this far still end up dying. The two big deaths in this book broke my heart and honestly I was a bit shocked that Lix would write the final book this way. This crew has made it so far and have just struggled so hard, so to lose anybody now is just awful. I kind of wonder if there was a different way to move the story here, because one death in particular felt very unnecessary. It would’ve been very possible for him to live and I feel like he was just thrown in there to kind of upset the balance more than for a valuable death. The second heartbreaking death at the end of the book made a lot more sense to me, and although it’s incredibly sad for the character and for the reader, I understood why she did what she did.
Ending Felt Rushed
The last few chapters of the book felt like an add on, especially after the intensity of the rest of the book (and series). I appreciate the open ending - what will characters do next is up to them - but the holding cells and corporation talks felt so light, especially since these are all wanted criminals. I would love to know what characters like Mia do next - where does she go? How does she spend the rest of her life? This has been a heartbreaking journey for all these teens and now that it’s over I would have loved to see an epilogue set in the future to know where they go.
Overall, this was a nice ending to the Sanctuary trilogy. While I do have a lot of questions about what happens next, and we do lose some characters along the way, I think this both wraps up the series but also leaves us a room for the author to come back in the future.
November 19, 2020
What a journey this trilogy has been. When I realized I had missed the debut of this wrapping up of the story dove in and well dang Kenzie has grown and dang has this crew gone through it. I meann this summary by Rune as they were about to go off and do something else reckless to save the day sums it up: "We escaped a supposedly inescapable prison. We defeated a horde of alien invaders and stole their spaceship. We escaped another prison on Mars. We survived a team of nasty bounty hunters. “We escaped another exploding ship to travel to an alternate dimension, and then we survived a plot to kill us.”
They have been the heck through it and this one has them on an alternate dimension bc why not throw that in there. I like that since Kenzie can pull from people's powers we really get a sense of what everyone's powers are. Mia's invisibility and Cage's speed, Jasper's ability to move objects, Alexis' strength and Rune's ability to connect with tech and electricity. It was dope to see the different ways they had to use their powers to survive and ooh Eden was a triflin new character who while used for her purpose also felt underutilized. The aliens continue to the creepiest and that Kenzie was able to tap into their hive mind and figure out that if they didn't kill the big bad then they were just gonna continue destroying Earth and Mars. Badass bby Rune doing her part to save the dang day as well as Alexei like it had been a while since I'd read the first 2 so felt a bit detached at first but the ease with which we're reminded of the wild shit these folks have gone through you understand their ride or die mentality. Fuck omnistellar to the very ends of the earth tho like so glad Kenzie and everyone in the crew is aware of the fuckery that is corporations trying to hold control or power when these kids that you called literal abominations and had imprisoned saved the day. I loved that they Hallam, Matt, Priya and ofc Cage and Kenzie were like yeah let's make some moves to take them down bc we know they're still imprisoning people like us. Would love an enovella as a final piece of that adventure lol
They have been the heck through it and this one has them on an alternate dimension bc why not throw that in there. I like that since Kenzie can pull from people's powers we really get a sense of what everyone's powers are. Mia's invisibility and Cage's speed, Jasper's ability to move objects, Alexis' strength and Rune's ability to connect with tech and electricity. It was dope to see the different ways they had to use their powers to survive and ooh Eden was a triflin new character who while used for her purpose also felt underutilized. The aliens continue to the creepiest and that Kenzie was able to tap into their hive mind and figure out that if they didn't kill the big bad then they were just gonna continue destroying Earth and Mars. Badass bby Rune doing her part to save the dang day as well as Alexei like it had been a while since I'd read the first 2 so felt a bit detached at first but the ease with which we're reminded of the wild shit these folks have gone through you understand their ride or die mentality. Fuck omnistellar to the very ends of the earth tho like so glad Kenzie and everyone in the crew is aware of the fuckery that is corporations trying to hold control or power when these kids that you called literal abominations and had imprisoned saved the day. I loved that they Hallam, Matt, Priya and ofc Cage and Kenzie were like yeah let's make some moves to take them down bc we know they're still imprisoning people like us. Would love an enovella as a final piece of that adventure lol
October 2, 2022
This series was a wild ride and I loved every moment of it. What a thrilling series that kept me enticed to the very end. I must say that this series is high on my list of good series/books. It was just such a different style and genre to anything I had ever read which made it all the more intriguing. Just seeing how everything was resolved in the end it took a weight off my shoulders as if I was one of the characters fighting for survival as well. The ending was relieving but heartbreaking because the characters were all grieving after everyone had lost so much.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
Man I was absolutely devastated reading the part when Alexei sacrificed himself for his friends and defended them to the very end. I was in total denial when I was reading this, thinking no way is Lex gonna die, he can't. I was thinking how will Mia cope without him?
Also how Caryn wrote from the perspective of the Zemdyut in one chapter was interesting learning that it was humans who created them. It was a very believable thing that they were created as weapons of war. It made so much sense as the book was coming to a close, everything started to piece together. Each and every character came such a long way and seeing them all in the end fighting together made me so emotional haha. I loved the depth all the characters had and how each one was so different in personality but they all had such a close bond (Mia defs became one of my fav characters). Kenzie and Cage together was so sweet, I was rly happy with how things worked out with them. I love them both so much :)
And RUNE!!!! My baby girl :((( I cried, I srsly did. I felt a hole in my heart at the end of the book knowing Lex and Rune died saving the others.
Anyways knowing me I could rant about this series a lot more but if you made it to the end of this series like me I hoped you loved it just as much! It srsly was an awesome novel that felt so intricate and emotional.
Thank you so much to Caryn Lix for writing and creating an epic series that I thoroughly enjoyed :)
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
Man I was absolutely devastated reading the part when Alexei sacrificed himself for his friends and defended them to the very end. I was in total denial when I was reading this, thinking no way is Lex gonna die, he can't. I was thinking how will Mia cope without him?
Also how Caryn wrote from the perspective of the Zemdyut in one chapter was interesting learning that it was humans who created them. It was a very believable thing that they were created as weapons of war. It made so much sense as the book was coming to a close, everything started to piece together. Each and every character came such a long way and seeing them all in the end fighting together made me so emotional haha. I loved the depth all the characters had and how each one was so different in personality but they all had such a close bond (Mia defs became one of my fav characters). Kenzie and Cage together was so sweet, I was rly happy with how things worked out with them. I love them both so much :)
And RUNE!!!! My baby girl :((( I cried, I srsly did. I felt a hole in my heart at the end of the book knowing Lex and Rune died saving the others.
Anyways knowing me I could rant about this series a lot more but if you made it to the end of this series like me I hoped you loved it just as much! It srsly was an awesome novel that felt so intricate and emotional.
Thank you so much to Caryn Lix for writing and creating an epic series that I thoroughly enjoyed :)
August 24, 2022
This is the final volume of a young adult trilogy I've taken to calling "Young X-Men Meet Xenomorphs," with a good deal of Star Trek's Borg added to the mix for this book. The second book, Containment, ended on quite the cliffhanger, and this one has a goodly amount of plot threads to wrap up. Fortunately, it does so in a way that is fairly satisfying, even if the scientific handwaves are a bit obvious in places.
This time out, Kenzie and her fellow "anomalies" are stranded on what first seems to be a distant planet with no way of returning to Earth. As the story progresses, though, it becomes clear that not only are the inhabitants way too close to human to be possible, the culture and language of this planet is a mirror of Earth. This leads to the biggest plot twist, that this planet is Earth--an alternate-dimension Earth conquered by the aliens.
The pacing is much better in this book, flowing at an escalating speed to the final battle. There are a couple of heartbreaking deaths along the way--Lix isn't sparing of her characters. With the aliens as presented, it's a wonder anyone survives at all. The group pulls together and learns to work together and rely on each other, and the little found family does triumph.
Actually, the greatest issue with this book for me is the worldbuilding around the aliens. That's where the handwaving is most evident. We find out there are two other classes of alien, including one called Karoch that is the Borg Queen by another name. In fact their whole setup is really thinly disguised, repurposed Borg with a reptilian body plan and longer claws. This may take away from the story for some. I was able to look past it for the most part, especially with the relentless pacing of the book's final third, but you really can't think about it too much.
But overall, this book is a satisfying ending for the characters and the story, and it's a pretty good ride.
This time out, Kenzie and her fellow "anomalies" are stranded on what first seems to be a distant planet with no way of returning to Earth. As the story progresses, though, it becomes clear that not only are the inhabitants way too close to human to be possible, the culture and language of this planet is a mirror of Earth. This leads to the biggest plot twist, that this planet is Earth--an alternate-dimension Earth conquered by the aliens.
The pacing is much better in this book, flowing at an escalating speed to the final battle. There are a couple of heartbreaking deaths along the way--Lix isn't sparing of her characters. With the aliens as presented, it's a wonder anyone survives at all. The group pulls together and learns to work together and rely on each other, and the little found family does triumph.
Actually, the greatest issue with this book for me is the worldbuilding around the aliens. That's where the handwaving is most evident. We find out there are two other classes of alien, including one called Karoch that is the Borg Queen by another name. In fact their whole setup is really thinly disguised, repurposed Borg with a reptilian body plan and longer claws. This may take away from the story for some. I was able to look past it for the most part, especially with the relentless pacing of the book's final third, but you really can't think about it too much.
But overall, this book is a satisfying ending for the characters and the story, and it's a pretty good ride.
August 18, 2020
This was such an epic ending to an already epic trilogy. It was non-stop action and intrigue, love and heartache, from start to finish. I loved seeing the continuation of these characters' journeys and seeing how everything built up to a climactic ending.
I only wish that it didn't feel like so much new information about the aliens was all forced into this one book that the characters and readers had to learn while trying to fight the last battle against these creatures. In the end it all made sense in terms of the timeline of the plot and what they had access to in order to learn this info, but it just felt like there was so many new items of information being thrown into this book considering it was the final one in the trilogy. There were points when I was almost convinced it couldn't possibly wrap everything up in this book alone. But all in all, it ended up working out and everything made sense and kept the pacing fast and electric.
This series is honestly one of the best YA Sci-fi trilogies I have read. It has great characters, a fast paced plot full of high stakes and breathtaking action, a cute romance, and combines so many wonderful aspects of sci-fi (superpowers, aliens, dystopian society, space) all in one. This was an absolute joy to read and I look forward to whatever Caryn Lix has in store next.
4.5 stars
I only wish that it didn't feel like so much new information about the aliens was all forced into this one book that the characters and readers had to learn while trying to fight the last battle against these creatures. In the end it all made sense in terms of the timeline of the plot and what they had access to in order to learn this info, but it just felt like there was so many new items of information being thrown into this book considering it was the final one in the trilogy. There were points when I was almost convinced it couldn't possibly wrap everything up in this book alone. But all in all, it ended up working out and everything made sense and kept the pacing fast and electric.
This series is honestly one of the best YA Sci-fi trilogies I have read. It has great characters, a fast paced plot full of high stakes and breathtaking action, a cute romance, and combines so many wonderful aspects of sci-fi (superpowers, aliens, dystopian society, space) all in one. This was an absolute joy to read and I look forward to whatever Caryn Lix has in store next.
4.5 stars
January 17, 2023
This was an excellent way to end such a great trilogy! I love the characters. I love the story. I was so invested in how everything would unfold, and when it did, I was not disappointed. However, there were a few things that left me wondering why they became such a big story point only to fall flat. One being the struggle to vent all the aliens. I mean, come on! You have no idea when they will wake up, and when they do, do you really think they will be appreciative all of a sudden that you could have vented them and didn’t? They killed your family and friends and this is our moral dilemma? The second one being the whole connection thing with another planet. It was talked about so much and seemed so far fetched to begin with and then it’s just like nope, we are just on Earth. The third one that had me going wild at the end was the fact that Jasper and his family weren’t mentioned. We literally spent a book and a half worrying if his family was okay and then when we see people reunited with their families and moving on he’s not mentioned at all. I read the chapter twice and still didn’t see a mention. Unless I’m missing something, it seems like his story was just forgotten. Despite these things, I am still giving this book 5 stars because I just loved the story. I loved the characters. I was so invested. I literally cried for both main character deaths and when that happens you have to be invested and love the characters. The character development was just wonderful to watch and I think that’s what did it to me. Overall, very intriguing story to follow. I’m sad that it’s over!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 31, 2021
The ending was atrocious. Maybe it was lazy writing... Maybe, an ending to get a shock out of the audience, but whatever it was it was horrible. That's mainly why this is book is going to get only two stars. I usually don't rate so low because writing is usually not this bad, and not just in it to get a shock or two out of this audience. I've loved this series so far, a little dark... Maybe? But it's been an interesting ride that keeps you reading through it all. One of the things I hated most was probably, that Omnisteller, the big bad organization through it all, is still running at the end, they say there going to "fix Runes legend" but what's that even supposed to mean? I was hoping for a heroic take of destroying a corrupt organization, but the book fell flat. And I was hoping for some good character development with so many characters, but then Rune dies, and she never gets to really fix anything with her brother. Do you call dying character development, I certainly don't! And Alexi's death was just a shock to the reader nothing more, what purposes did it even do? I'm all for the realistic deaths thing, I think that books usually don't kill enough people off, I mean, if there's a war some people are going to have today, despite how morbid it is. Anyway, one of the good things the book did was portray post-traumatic stress, it's done brilliantly. All in all these book series had great potential, but in the end, fell flat.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 23, 2025
Ok first of all, is anyone else like me, where you can’t rate a book 5 full stars, no matter how good it is? Is that like a condition or something? Whatever. Anyways, on to the review. I have to say that these books just kept getting better and I’m pretty devastated that there isn’t gonna be more. That woman is an excellent author, I’m going to find more by her for sure because she held her own with all 3 books: as a sci-fi work (which we all know I have pretty high standards for), and as a thriller. I have almost never read a more thoroughly fleshed-out, well-balanced, relatable female lead in most or all of the entire sci-fi genre. Same for the supporting characters. I’m honestly a teeny bit shocked still at how good that series was! And bonus points for the fact that there was (a little) actual science in there!
Summary: Kenzie has landed herself and superpowered friends on a deserted hostile planet, but it turns out they’re not alone. (Oooo, chills!) Oh, and yet again, they haven’t, in fact, left the x creatures behind. They come to find out that there is a not-so-merry band of extremely human-like aliens trying hard to eke out a surreptitious existence without alerting the x creatures to their location. Distrustful of the seemingly relatable survivors, but with few other options, Kenzie and friends forge a tentative understanding with the leader of the fellow superpowered alien people, and agree to help with a mission to hunt down either a way off the planet, or a way to destroy the x creatures once and for all. Too late, they realize they’ve been set up to be bait, with the only way out for Kenzie’s own friend, Alexei sacrificing himself for the good of the rest. After escaping by the skin of their teeth, they regroup; meanwhile Kenzie realizes she can connect telepathically with the brain of the hive-mind x creatures and even figure out what their purpose is: to kill and assimilate every single planet with life on it in existence. And they’re not just traveling planet-to-planet- they’re traveling through dimensions. A final showdown with the boss x creature sees Kenzie, Cage, Mia, and most others finally, FINALLY extinguish the entire x creature race. The big, bad mega corporation Omnistellar catches up to them; debriefing them, rechipping them to deactivate their powers, and eventually, setting them free. The curtain closes on a pardoned Kenzie and Cage determined to begin a new life with their own rules. Starting with losing those chips.
All in all, I’d say the series as a whole gets a resounding 4.5 stars. We will see if it stands up to a rereading maybe next year or something, but I have high hopes!
Summary: Kenzie has landed herself and superpowered friends on a deserted hostile planet, but it turns out they’re not alone. (Oooo, chills!) Oh, and yet again, they haven’t, in fact, left the x creatures behind. They come to find out that there is a not-so-merry band of extremely human-like aliens trying hard to eke out a surreptitious existence without alerting the x creatures to their location. Distrustful of the seemingly relatable survivors, but with few other options, Kenzie and friends forge a tentative understanding with the leader of the fellow superpowered alien people, and agree to help with a mission to hunt down either a way off the planet, or a way to destroy the x creatures once and for all. Too late, they realize they’ve been set up to be bait, with the only way out for Kenzie’s own friend, Alexei sacrificing himself for the good of the rest. After escaping by the skin of their teeth, they regroup; meanwhile Kenzie realizes she can connect telepathically with the brain of the hive-mind x creatures and even figure out what their purpose is: to kill and assimilate every single planet with life on it in existence. And they’re not just traveling planet-to-planet- they’re traveling through dimensions. A final showdown with the boss x creature sees Kenzie, Cage, Mia, and most others finally, FINALLY extinguish the entire x creature race. The big, bad mega corporation Omnistellar catches up to them; debriefing them, rechipping them to deactivate their powers, and eventually, setting them free. The curtain closes on a pardoned Kenzie and Cage determined to begin a new life with their own rules. Starting with losing those chips.
All in all, I’d say the series as a whole gets a resounding 4.5 stars. We will see if it stands up to a rereading maybe next year or something, but I have high hopes!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 23, 2021
Their last minute escape thanks to Kenzie borrowing Liam's powers has landed their hodge-podge group of Sanctuary survivors plus other alien survivors plus Legion members on an unknown desert planet. It may be dry and a bit barren, but at least there are no aliens threatening them. Or are there? And why does this planet so closely resemble Earth?
A very satisfactory conclusion to this series. I figured out the twist in this one pretty early and kind of saw several things coming miles away, but it was still a very entertaining read. I love the movie Aliens and this most definitely has that same kind of vibe going on, along with characters and their relationships that have been gradually developing over the 3 book series. If you like monster/alien thriller scifi adventures, you will like this series.
Notes on content: Minor swearing scattered throughout. A guy/girl couple goes to bed together and it is very, very vaguely implied that more happens but nothing is shown or described. There are a lot of alien/human battles that result in fatalities and injuries (most injuries are easily healed thanks to the abilities various members of the group have). One human/human altercation results in a death. Though there is a lot of violence, there really isn't all that much description of wounds or blood, and most fatalities happen off page.
A very satisfactory conclusion to this series. I figured out the twist in this one pretty early and kind of saw several things coming miles away, but it was still a very entertaining read. I love the movie Aliens and this most definitely has that same kind of vibe going on, along with characters and their relationships that have been gradually developing over the 3 book series. If you like monster/alien thriller scifi adventures, you will like this series.
Notes on content: Minor swearing scattered throughout. A guy/girl couple goes to bed together and it is very, very vaguely implied that more happens but nothing is shown or described. There are a lot of alien/human battles that result in fatalities and injuries (most injuries are easily healed thanks to the abilities various members of the group have). One human/human altercation results in a death. Though there is a lot of violence, there really isn't all that much description of wounds or blood, and most fatalities happen off page.
August 28, 2021
4.5/5
Agh omg I loved this trilogy. The world was very similar to ours with some *minor* changes.. you know the typical strange planet that looks like a wasteland. The people they met were.. I don’t even want to go into them because I know for a fact I won’t be able to dance around the huge spoiler around them. I loved the group, as always. (Mia and Rune will forever be my comfort characters from this series) I loved how characters struggled with mental health and with that the group got trama for them to bond over. It really made the book more emotional. The missed up reason behind the whole plot was insane. I enjoyed how even in a small amount of time and stress Kenzie was still herself and there were callbacks to small things from the other two books. Kenzie and Cages relationship was so good. I loved how some of the chapters just had a calmness.. just because it is a thriller doesn’t mean every second of the story has to have a tense feel! I wish there was a little more backstory from the Legions. (I believe that is what they are called?) The only thing I have with the series is that I felt like there was one too many characters, when I was looking back on the three books I lost count of how many people have died.
Overall, the whole series gets a 4.7/5 stars and is definitely a comfort series, even though it deals with aliens and death.
Agh omg I loved this trilogy. The world was very similar to ours with some *minor* changes.. you know the typical strange planet that looks like a wasteland. The people they met were.. I don’t even want to go into them because I know for a fact I won’t be able to dance around the huge spoiler around them. I loved the group, as always. (Mia and Rune will forever be my comfort characters from this series) I loved how characters struggled with mental health and with that the group got trama for them to bond over. It really made the book more emotional. The missed up reason behind the whole plot was insane. I enjoyed how even in a small amount of time and stress Kenzie was still herself and there were callbacks to small things from the other two books. Kenzie and Cages relationship was so good. I loved how some of the chapters just had a calmness.. just because it is a thriller doesn’t mean every second of the story has to have a tense feel! I wish there was a little more backstory from the Legions. (I believe that is what they are called?) The only thing I have with the series is that I felt like there was one too many characters, when I was looking back on the three books I lost count of how many people have died.
Overall, the whole series gets a 4.7/5 stars and is definitely a comfort series, even though it deals with aliens and death.
August 13, 2020
I have been waiting for this book for a year. And I finished in a day. I’m not sorry for buying it and I’m not going to allow my very sad emotions get in the way of my review because it is a fantastic book. I am very sad about the deaths that happened in this book. I felt so connected to them and while they did die heroes, I am very sad that they had to die. The rest of the book was amazing. I’m satisfied with the ending,and I feel like most of the characters got a good ending. I do hope that Mia will find her friends again because I don’t want her to be by herself forever. I loved the twist that they weren’t actually on another planet, just in another dimension. I’ve stuck with this series for a very long time and I am so sorry that it’s over. I will continue to re-read this series even if while I do it I am very sad. I will miss this series so much, and I highly recommend it
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 16, 2020
I pre-ordered this as soon as I knew it would be published. Having read the first two in the series, I hoped this would be as good. News flash-it is. It literally hits the ground running in a desert on a world that's eerily similar to Earth. It's not long before the surviving teens find themselves in a seemingly abandoned city, then confront a group of survivors who are facing extinction by the same aliens Kenzie has been battling since they invaded Sanctuary in the first book. How they deal with the distrust between them and the survivors, the aliens, and a mind-blowing discovery, not to mention a toe curling battle near the end of the story, make for gripping reading. People get killed and the ending isn't what Kenzie and crew might hope for, but it makes sense. This book certainly lived up to my expectations big time.
December 15, 2021
Overall, I really liked this! It was exciting and it drew me along.
Yet, there was some things that I did not like. First, the end was not my type of thing. It was too fresh feeling. I would have liked an epilogue. Second, I am not a fan of death, especially with characters that I grow attach to. That is all I am going to say on the subject.
With that unpleasantness out of the way, let's talk about some of the really interesting stuff! There was a twist in here that felt like the book Cut Off mixed with Obsidio. Related to the twist, there is an interesting concept that is an assumption. The assumption is something I cannot talk about directly, but let's see what I can do. The assumption relates to the concept on whether Earth is not alone in the universe mixed with what Ox called the beings in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. To put a different way, Earth is only lonely when you think of it in one plane, but if you think of it in the horizontal it is not lonely. I will leave it to whoever reads this review to figure out what I mean.
Yet, there was some things that I did not like. First, the end was not my type of thing. It was too fresh feeling. I would have liked an epilogue. Second, I am not a fan of death, especially with characters that I grow attach to. That is all I am going to say on the subject.
With that unpleasantness out of the way, let's talk about some of the really interesting stuff! There was a twist in here that felt like the book Cut Off mixed with Obsidio. Related to the twist, there is an interesting concept that is an assumption. The assumption is something I cannot talk about directly, but let's see what I can do. The assumption relates to the concept on whether Earth is not alone in the universe mixed with what Ox called the beings in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. To put a different way, Earth is only lonely when you think of it in one plane, but if you think of it in the horizontal it is not lonely. I will leave it to whoever reads this review to figure out what I mean.
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