THE BELIEVERS
THE BREEDERS
Title: The Believers
Author: Katie French
Series: The Breeders
Publisher: Self/Indie
Release Date: 29th November 2013
BLURB supplied by Katie French
They’ve escaped the Breeders, yet their journey has just begun.
Riley and Clay are once again on the run from the Breeders. The group may have escaped the deranged breeding experiments at the hospital, but as one of the world's last free women, Riley can never be safe. On the road back home, Riley and her crew are captured by a band of savage men. Their destination: the Citadel, run by a bizarre religious prophet named the Messiah. Somehow he knows their secrets. He wants them to join his group of Believers, but only if they’ll drink the baptismal water and swear allegiance.
The problem is there’s something wrong with the water. Something wrong with the people. And there’s human moaning coming from the bottom of a dark crevasse that no one wants to talk about. If they can’t figure out what’s going on, Riley and everyone she loves could become a Believer forever.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katie French imagined herself an author when her poem caught the eye of her second grade teacher. In middle school she spent her free time locked in her room, writing her first young adult novel. Though her social life suffered, her love for literature thrived. She studied English at Eastern Michigan University, where she veered from writing and earned an education degree. She spent nine years teaching high school English. Currently she is a school counselor, doing a job that is both one of the hardest things she's ever done and the most rewarding. In her free time she writes, reads great books and takes care of her two beautiful and crazy children. She is a contributor and co-creator of Underground Book Reviews, a website dedicated to erasing the boundaries between traditional and non-traditional publishing. She lives in Michigan with her husband and two children. You can find her at www.katiefrenchbooks.com, at www.undergroundbookreviews.com or on Facebook.
REST OF THE SERIES
THE BREEDERS
THE BREEDERS
BLURB from Goodreads
Sixteen-year-old Riley Meemick is one of the world's last free girls. When Riley was born, her mother escaped the Breeders, the group of doctors using cruel experiments to bolster the dwindling human race. Her parents do everything possible to keep her from their clutches-- moving from one desolate farm after another to escape the Breeders' long reach. The Breeders control everything- the local war lords, the remaining factories, the fuel. They have unchecked power in this lawless society. And they're hunting Riley.
When the local Sheriff abducts the adult members of her family and hands her mother over to the Breeders, Riley and her eight-year-old brother, Ethan, hiding in a shelter, are left to starve. Then Clay arrives, the handsome gunslinger who seems determined to help to make up for past sins. The problem is Clay thinks Riley is a bender-- a genderless mutation, neither male nor female. As Riley's affection for Clay grows she wonders can she trust Clay with her secret and risk her freedom?
The three embark on a journey across the scarred remains of New Mexico-- escaping the Riders who use human sacrifice to appease their Good Mother, various men scrambling for luck, and a deranged lone survivor of a plague. When Riley is shot and forced into the Breeder's hospital, she learns the horrible fate of her mother—a fate she'll share unless she can find a way out.
When the local Sheriff abducts the adult members of her family and hands her mother over to the Breeders, Riley and her eight-year-old brother, Ethan, hiding in a shelter, are left to starve. Then Clay arrives, the handsome gunslinger who seems determined to help to make up for past sins. The problem is Clay thinks Riley is a bender-- a genderless mutation, neither male nor female. As Riley's affection for Clay grows she wonders can she trust Clay with her secret and risk her freedom?
The three embark on a journey across the scarred remains of New Mexico-- escaping the Riders who use human sacrifice to appease their Good Mother, various men scrambling for luck, and a deranged lone survivor of a plague. When Riley is shot and forced into the Breeder's hospital, she learns the horrible fate of her mother—a fate she'll share unless she can find a way out.
NESSA: A BREEDERS STORY
THE BREEDERS
BLURB from Goodreads
Eighteen-year-old Nessa knows what it’s like to be an endangered species. Grown up in a dying world where nine out of ten babies are born male, she survives by trusting no one. When Marlin, the nineteen-year-old gunslinger with the sky-blue eyes, kills the man who has been keeping her enslaved, Nessa decides this handsome stranger might be her meal ticket. What she doesn’t realize is love is still possible, even in their decimated world. When Nessa discovers she’s pregnant with Marlin’s child, her difficult life now teeters on a knife’s edge. Can she bear to bring a child into their shattered world? Better yet, can Marlin keep them safe from those that hunt Nessa?A companion story to The Breeders, this prequel novelette (34 pages or 10,000 words) explores the origins of two important characters and gives a deeper look into their background. It contains minor spoilers to the novel and is intended for mature teens and adults.
MY REVIEW
THE BELIEVERS
THE BREEDERS
Title: The Believers
Author: Katie French
Series: The Breeders
Publisher: Self/Indie
Release Date: 29th November 2013
BLURB supplied by Katie French
They’ve escaped the Breeders, yet their journey has just begun.
Riley and Clay are once again on the run from the Breeders. The group may have escaped the deranged breeding experiments at the hospital, but as one of the world's last free women, Riley can never be safe. On the road back home, Riley and her crew are captured by a band of savage men. Their destination: the Citadel, run by a bizarre religious prophet named the Messiah. Somehow he knows their secrets. He wants them to join his group of Believers, but only if they’ll drink the baptismal water and swear allegiance.
The problem is there’s something wrong with the water. Something wrong with the people. And there’s human moaning coming from the bottom of a dark crevasse that no one wants to talk about. If they can’t figure out what’s going on, Riley and everyone she loves could become a Believer forever.
INITIAL THOUGHTS
I had been looking forward to reading this one ever since I finished BK#1 The Breeders. I did have fairly high expectations for this one. I really enjoyed the fact Katie started off with a recap of Bk#1. I had remembered most of what was recapped but it helped to get me super engrossed back into the series.
MY REVIEW
I received an e-arc of this directly from the Author Katie French in exchange for my honest review.
The cover is a dark bleak looking thing which kind of suits the situation that Riley & Clay and their family find themselves in. The cover is also a scene from within the book as I'd say it is the entrance/tunnel way down to the water source that The Brotherhood drink from and cavort in before becoming "beasts". The byline of "More awaits in the dark than your fears" that is written on the wall is so apt for the book too.
So would the cover make me pick the book up in a bookstore? I think it probably would yes but as I've read part of the series I'd be looking out for it anyway!
So the group is captured and taken back to an old mall. To begin with things look pretty good there's food, electricity and some comfort with quite a large amount of survivors, some of which are woman and children too. The people of the mall are "governed"by a man whom they call their "Messiah" who preaches a mixture of religions and says he has sight. the sight that the Gods tall him how things should be. Riley soon becomes suspicious and wants to leave but the Messiah has other ideas. Then when Riley's pregnant mum is taken ill Riley finds herself bargaining with the Messiah for medicines for her mother.
As part of the bargain for medicines for Rileys mum Clay has to be initiated into The Brotherhood and drink the potentially contaminated water. Riley knows there is soething drastically wrong with the water as all the men that drink it develop awful ugly sores on their bodies and face. This water and initiation also change Clay into something and someone that Riley almost doesn't recognise, as well as the inevitable sores apearing on his skin. As Riley is so suspicious and has been befriended by the Messiahs daughter Mage she does get some information but searches the mall and finds tunnels down to the lake the men drink from she hears a low moaning that scares her so much she runs. Later in the book the Messiah's right hand man Andrew shackles Riley down the dark tunnels as a punishment. One of the tunnel creatures who we later find out call themselves "The Forgotten" releases Riley and asks she deliver a message to "those above" that "they are still here". Riley also discovers that the Messiah talks about "Revelations" and "The End" so its not such a leap to learn he intends to have the people of the mall commit a mass suicide so they can "go home" To get her family out and escape Riley must prevent this happening. Sacrifices have to be made, not everyone will get out, or even live.
I wont say anymore about the book as to do so would reveal too much, I feel I've revealed so much already.
The pace of the book is medium to fast pace. I really enjoy reading Katie's writing style. You do get attached to the characters. In this book we meet many new characters, one of my new favourites is Mage, the Messiahs young daughter who seems wise beyond her years and perhaps more capable of running the mall and its people than her father the messiah. I love the way she latches onto Riley. There's also a spark of a relationship between Ethan and Mage.
So did I enjoy the book? Loved it! Would I recommend the book? Definitely, I'd say read The Breeders, then Nessa's Story and then this one. Would I read another book in this series? Yes please! Would I read other books by this Author? I would yes.
PURCHASE LINKS
INITIAL THOUGHTS
I had been looking forward to reading this one ever since I finished BK#1 The Breeders. I did have fairly high expectations for this one. I really enjoyed the fact Katie started off with a recap of Bk#1. I had remembered most of what was recapped but it helped to get me super engrossed back into the series.
MY REVIEW
I received an e-arc of this directly from the Author Katie French in exchange for my honest review.
The cover is a dark bleak looking thing which kind of suits the situation that Riley & Clay and their family find themselves in. The cover is also a scene from within the book as I'd say it is the entrance/tunnel way down to the water source that The Brotherhood drink from and cavort in before becoming "beasts". The byline of "More awaits in the dark than your fears" that is written on the wall is so apt for the book too.
So would the cover make me pick the book up in a bookstore? I think it probably would yes but as I've read part of the series I'd be looking out for it anyway!
So the group is captured and taken back to an old mall. To begin with things look pretty good there's food, electricity and some comfort with quite a large amount of survivors, some of which are woman and children too. The people of the mall are "governed"by a man whom they call their "Messiah" who preaches a mixture of religions and says he has sight. the sight that the Gods tall him how things should be. Riley soon becomes suspicious and wants to leave but the Messiah has other ideas. Then when Riley's pregnant mum is taken ill Riley finds herself bargaining with the Messiah for medicines for her mother.
As part of the bargain for medicines for Rileys mum Clay has to be initiated into The Brotherhood and drink the potentially contaminated water. Riley knows there is soething drastically wrong with the water as all the men that drink it develop awful ugly sores on their bodies and face. This water and initiation also change Clay into something and someone that Riley almost doesn't recognise, as well as the inevitable sores apearing on his skin. As Riley is so suspicious and has been befriended by the Messiahs daughter Mage she does get some information but searches the mall and finds tunnels down to the lake the men drink from she hears a low moaning that scares her so much she runs. Later in the book the Messiah's right hand man Andrew shackles Riley down the dark tunnels as a punishment. One of the tunnel creatures who we later find out call themselves "The Forgotten" releases Riley and asks she deliver a message to "those above" that "they are still here". Riley also discovers that the Messiah talks about "Revelations" and "The End" so its not such a leap to learn he intends to have the people of the mall commit a mass suicide so they can "go home" To get her family out and escape Riley must prevent this happening. Sacrifices have to be made, not everyone will get out, or even live.
I wont say anymore about the book as to do so would reveal too much, I feel I've revealed so much already.
The pace of the book is medium to fast pace. I really enjoy reading Katie's writing style. You do get attached to the characters. In this book we meet many new characters, one of my new favourites is Mage, the Messiahs young daughter who seems wise beyond her years and perhaps more capable of running the mall and its people than her father the messiah. I love the way she latches onto Riley. There's also a spark of a relationship between Ethan and Mage.
So did I enjoy the book? Loved it! Would I recommend the book? Definitely, I'd say read The Breeders, then Nessa's Story and then this one. Would I read another book in this series? Yes please! Would I read other books by this Author? I would yes.
PURCHASE LINKS
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