Reborn by Jennifer Rush
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group Canada
Published: 2015
Publisher: Little, Brown BFYR
Recommended Age: 13+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Action, Mystery, Romance
REVIEW:
The truth is, this third book (that feels more like a companion novel) was not necessary. The story ended adequately with the second book, ERASED. Another reason I’m saying this is because REBORN was more of a deeper exploration of Nick’s character—with the introduction of a new one, his love interest—than a real conclusion to this series.
But actually, I’m not being too fair here, because his love interest—Elizabeth—is pretty likeable and she’s more than just a love interest. She’s a real heroine, with a real past and present. She doesn’t need Nick to make her worth our attention. But whereas the first two books in this series had a love story amidst lots of action, here it’s more like action amidst lots of sexual tension, pining and love-triangle mess.
So the parts where the dark organization stuff was present felt forced, when I knew the author wanted to focus on Nick and Elizabeth growing closer and I, myself, wanted more of that. Perhaps I’m projecting onto the author, but I don’t think so. Maybe she did it on purpose, added action and danger to make us miss and crave the slower, more romantic moments harder.
Regardless, I enjoyed it. I really like Jennifer Rush’s writing style. As a general rule, she writes action well because she doesn’t dwell on detail much, so it’s fast. BUT, she also knows to slow down when the moment requires it. Once again, the action parts—especially towards the end—felt forced and were clearly UNBELIVABLE, but I quite liked getting to know Elizabeth and seeing her and Nick together.
Hit or Miss Books 