Review: Resist by Sarah Crossan

Title: Resist (Breathe #2)
Author: Sarah Crossan
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia
Source: Bloomsbury Sydney. Thank you!
Goodreads | The Reading Room

The sequel—and conclusion—to Sarah Crossan's Breathe. Three teen outlaws must survive on their own in a world without air, exiled outside the glass dome that protects what's left of human civilization. Gripping action, provocative ideas, and shocking revelations in a dystopian novel that fans of Patrick Ness and Veronica Roth will devour.

Bea, Alina, and Quinn are on the run. They started a rebellion and were thrown out of the pod, the only place where there's enough oxygen to breathe. Bea has lost her family. Alina has lost her home. And Quinn has lost his privileged life. Can they survive in the perilous Outlands? Can they finish the revolution they began? Especially when a young operative from the pod's Special Forces is sent after them. Their only chance is to stand together, even when terrible circumstances force them apart. When the future of human society is in danger, these four teens must decide where their allegiances lie. Sarah Crossan has created a dangerous, and shattered society in this wrenching, thought-provoking, and unforgettable post-apocalyptic novel.

Review by Nara

It had been quite a while since I last read Breathe, so when I first dived into Resist, to be perfectly honest, I had no idea what was going on. Who is Alina? What exactly was the Rebellion doing again? Who are these fifty billion minor characters?! Thankfully, Crossan does quite a good job of weaving a recap into the first couple of pages, so I was soon able to keep track of most things- but seriously, if it's been a while since you've read Breathe, I'd recommend that you reread that first before getting into this book.

One of the problems I had with this book was that unfortunately, despite there being four different points of view, they all sounded pretty much exactly the same. There were no nice nuances to distinguish them, and to be honest, if the chapter titles didn't include the names of the characters, I would have had no idea who was narrating. I mean, this issue wasn't a particularly large one, and it was definitely one I was able to ignore, as there were other more engaging aspects of the book, but it still did affect my ability to really connect with the characters.

There was a minor romance playing in the background which I quite liked, as it never hijacked the main plot and never turned the book into this massive sappy love story. I mean, don't get me wrong. I do enjoy love stories, but in this novel, I was much more interested in the Rebellion and the Pods and the "future of human society" being in danger. And thankfully that's exactly what we got. While reading, there is constant action and some rather surprising deaths. I'm not sure about "shocking revelations", as described in the blurb, but we do see get some slightly surprising information about the apparent safe haven that the characters were heading towards at the end of Breathe.

While perhaps not as compelling as the first book, Resist was still most definitely a strong conclusion to the series- with most loose ends nicely wrapped up. If you enjoy reading more science oriented dystopians, I'd certainly recommend this series.

Liked it

Ratings
Overall: 7/10
Plot: 3/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 5/5