From my work, I get the rare opportunity to read books before they’ve been released. You can find “Resist,” by Ilima Todd, on bookshelves on July 5th.
“Resist” is the sequel to “Remake,” which is the currently overused “teenage girl in a controlled distopia – escapes and joins the rebellion with a love triangle.” What separates this series from the others is the people choose whether to be male or female at age 16. The gender question brings about some awkward conversations and scenes in both books, though it’s all PG. Seriously, the author’s main idea is to promote the values from “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.”
This second book takes a nice turn for the better as it’s from the perspective of the guy who’s still in the controlled section of the world, but knows about the rebellion, and is still kind of in love with the girl. It’s like the story from Jacob/Gale’s perspective as he moves on and deals with the problems of his world crumbling around him.
Like I said, the main point of the trilogy is to promote family values, and this can be uncomfortably blatant at times. While the first book revolved around gender issue, the second book is more basic, asking “What is a family?” (queue: cheesy song from “Lady and the Tramp 2” – I’m a little embarrassed to admit I’ve seen that, even though I think it’s better than the first.)
Speaking of sequels being better than the first; I’d rate “Remake” at **2 stars** and “Resist” on the lower end of ***3 stars*** since the story telling is done well, though the story itself is a bit predictable.
C. Rae D'Arc 