Thursday, March 6, 2014

Luminary - Krista McGee





Genre:  Books; Christian Fiction; Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian Novel
Publisher:  Thomas Nelson
Publication Date:  01/07/2014
Rating:   5 out of 5  Near Perfect

PROS:  Super-fast read, interesting topic, popular genre


CONS:  none


The last we left Thalli, Berk, Rhen, and John, they were just figuring out their escape in to the outside world.  Now, above ground, they set out on an adventure of a lifetime; their only choice is to find the other scientist that escaped to the former United States, or be caught by The Ten and returned to life as they knew it underground.  Unwilling to return, they decide to continue on…the world above ground can’t really be as bad as they were taught all those years, can it?
                                                                          
Thalli starts experiencing new feelings, ones she is unsure what to do with, and what they mean.  First are her ever growing feelings for Berk.  John has always described love as a happy, warm, fuzzy feeling.  If that’s the case, why does she start to feel anger and discontentment toward him when Rhen is around?  The 3 of them are best friends; certainly Rhen is not starting to feel love toward Berk also? 

Meanwhile, John’s faith is starting to falter.  John was the first to teach Thalli about God, and what he stood for and represented.  If John is starting to question what he has believed all those years, how can Thalli be sure God is real?  With all these new developments taking place, Thalli has a lot of decision making that needs to take place before The State closes in and recaptures them.  Will she run out of time?

Luminary is the 2nd book of the Anomaly series by Krista McGee.  Science Fiction and Dystopian novels are very hot genres right now, so it was a great time for McGee’s second book to release!  Normally, in my opinion, a series can tend to waver over time, often going downhill and losing momentum after the first book.  It is a true test of a series to have readers stay with you throughout the course, as eager for the next book to release as they were for the last…which is why I gave this book 5 stars!

McGee’s continued development of the characters make us feel as if we are slowly going into a deeper relationship with each, gradually earning their trust enabling us to learn more of their stories.  Not only are we growing in our association with the characters, but we start to see the characters themselves bond and relate on a different level with each other. 

The excitement and adventure is still there this time as it was with Anomaly, twisting and leading us down the path of uncertainty.  Just as we are starting to feel that we may have things figured out, there comes a surprise that is lurking around the corner.  After all, being above ground has enough issues in itself!  

McGee’s gentle and subtle way of sharing the gospel is a great way to get the News out to readers that may not read Christian Fiction for fear of having “God or religion” shoved down their throat.  Weaving it in throughout this dystopian novel is a great introduction, or a tender way to plant a seed that may not be harvested until years down the road.  I like to tell readers that although this is a Christian Fiction novel, in my opinion, it is foremost, a Science Fiction/Dystopian novel!

I lead a book club at the library where I work, and one of our recent reads was the book Anamoly.  The ladies in my group (ranging in age from 20 something-70 something) all enjoyed the novel immensely!  At the end of the evening, each and every one of them had placed a “hold” on Luminary, as we only have one copy available to check out.  I have spoken with 4 of the ladies who have had a chance to read book 2, and they said they actually enjoyed it more than the first one one!  We are all eagerly anticipating the next release, Revolutionary, which is due out in July!

**I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion**

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