Why You Were Taken review

I’m thoroughly enjoying this series! The prequel gave us a taste of what was possible from these characters and setting. Kirsten and Keke make a great team. They are both dedicated journalists and each has a history of being in dangerous situations. Set in a near future South Africa, showers & swimming pools are practically unheard of, the fertility rate has plummeted, and paper communications (like printed receipts, etc.) are practically unheard of. Yet tech has continued to progress. I loved this aspect of the book! Keke has a tattoo that changes colors with her insulin levels, letting her know when she needs a shot. Some people have implants tied to a small tablet (called a tile) for all their communication stuff and more.

There are several flashbacks sprinkled through out the story. It did take me a while to realize that they were flashbacks. I know I should have picked up on that sooner, I just thought this flashback character had some fascination with the 1990s. Anyway, the flashback storyline turns out to be very important for our main characters and over all, I liked it. All told, 4.5/5 stars.

How We Found You review

This was a pretty good sequel though if you picked it up without Book 1, you could read it as a standalone.

Kate (aka Kirsten) is raising her two kids (Silver & Mally) with her brother Seth and their very good friend Keke. She knows that Mally is special and she has her guesses as to why but she’s not sure what to do with it. Pretty soon, it becomes apparent that someone is after one or both of her kids and she has to unravel the mystery she walked away from 4 years ago in order to save them.

Sometimes I loved Kate and sometimes she was tedious. Even though I understand why she’s stressed out and sometimes loses her temper and wits, I still wanted to give her a small slap to bring her back to reality. Freaking out isn’t going to keep anyone safe and it did create a few lags in the story. I still find Kate’s synethesia fascinating and so many of the side characters are great, including the new guy Zach.

Keke is my true fascination. I want to be her side kick! So I was a little sad to see how limited her role was in this book. The plot is wrapped around a prophecy that has the kids caught up in it. I really enjoyed how this unfolded. 4.5/5 stars.

What Have We Done review

Wow! What a mind trip! This tale opens several years after the ending of Book 2 but there’s plenty of things in this story that refer to earlier books in the series so it wouldn’t make a stand alone book. Mally and Silver are both nearly 16 and they have grown up in a very different world than their mother Kate (who is a self-imposed technosaur). For the first half of the book, we’re really just getting to know the tech of the day and catching up with the characters we’ve fallen in love with along the way.

Keke is still my favorite character. She’s got a bigger role in this novel than she had in Book 2 (yay!). Marko, her friend with benefits/non-exclusive significant other, has run off to an ashram in India and Keke is a little heartsick over it, not knowing if he will ever return. Meanwhile, Seth (Kate’s twin brother) has stuck around to help raise the kids and he still has this torch burning for Keke. By the end of this book, I think he might be a great fit for her even if she’s still pining for Marko. Kate herself is trying to be a good mom but two rebellious kids in a world filled with tech that Kate doesn’t fully understand makes things difficult. Zack has been doing hard time at SkyRest for all those pesky murders in Book 2.

OK, so robots are everywhere and doing everything for humans in this near future South Africa. Some robots are strictly service bots with no AI and then there’s a whole range of AI in the more complex bots. Some bots have rights and some don’t. Like sexually harassing a lingerie bot is illegal but is only referred to as interference and doesn’t carry the same weight as such an act against a human. There’s those that are fighting for equal rights for the bots and there’s those that don’t want any rights for the bots.

Then a few bots loose their crap and people die. Runawayrunawayrunaway! The ending gives us a big mindscrew. Yep. Oh my! I loved it because it means our heroes have to take a big leap. 4.5/5 stars.

Narration review

Roshina Ratnam is phenomenal with this series. I’m loving her narration and really appreciate the skill she brings to the table. This tale is set in a near future South Africa and there’s several African accents. I’m completely untutored in African languages but Ratnam was made it possible for me to hear the differences in the various accents (for example, Zulu and Nigerian). She also did a great job with Kate’s wildly swinging emotions (as needed), Seth’s fear & determination, Keke’s deep concern, and Marko’s intense fear. She had perfect little kid voices for Mally and Silver. 5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by JT Lawrence. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it. ( )