This is the second instalment in the Extinction trials trilogy, so here is a WARNING, if you have not read the first book this review may contain some unintentional spoilers for that!
I read the first book for our book club and we all loved it so much that we decided to read the other two in the series so we could meet again to discuss the whole trilogy at the end of April!
Blurb
Betrayal. Sacrifice. Survival. Welcome to The Extinction Trials.
After surviving on Piloria once, Storm and Lincoln are the obvious candidates to return to the dinosaur continent to test the new virus that should clear the way for human settlement. But they have their own priorities – finding a cure for the plague that’s sweeping Earthasia, and keeping themselves alive.
My thoughts
This book was absolutely brilliant, I loved the first instalment and this second story carried on in the same manner as before. It had plenty of twists and turns.
We meet Storm and Lincoln again, following on from the last trials Storm is living with all her new 'brothers and sisters' in a house and generally pulling her hair out as she can't cope with them all. Lincoln is working in the labs still desperately trying to find a way to save his sister from the blistering plague that was ravaging Earthasia in the first book. Neither are happy and yet they have no way of changing what is happening around them.
Suddenly they are forced to return back to the continent of Piloria, a place they both hoped they would not see again for some time. They have to plant a virus in the hopes that it will wipe out the worst dinosaurs making it safe for them all to move there. This throws up a lot of questions for Storm as we know in the first book she is against the idea of eradicating dinosaurs for the gain of the humans. She has a lot of inner turmoil that is explored more in this book. I enjoyed the storytelling here as I believed that Storm was having a struggle with her own thoughts about the process. It was realistic and showed just how conflicting the human spirit can be.
Heading back to Piloria they are a bit more wise to the area this time round and have a few tricks up their sleeves but there are new and more fierce terrors awaiting them, unexpected monsters that they had never imagined. The whole book is full of suspense and terror.
One particlar scene with the Dilophosauruses reminded me of Jurassic Park!! It was incredibly tense and nail biting, I was gripped by the horror of the situation and willing the protagonists to escape. There were plenty of scenes with new dinosaurs, including a Titanosaurus, which gave more of a picture of the continent, helping to form an image in my mind of everything they were witnessing.
The characters were delved into a little more too. Reban seems to have a bit more compassion in this book, whether that is due to the circumstances of his new father-daughter relationship or due to his reasons for being on the continent, we start to see a slightly different side to him. I look forward to seeing how that is developed in the third book.
We meet up with characters from the first book again, some I didn't think we would see again and others I was glad to have back. As well as a host of new characters who help to broaden the story and give it more depth, beginning to give more information about the inner workings of Earthasia and Parliament. I hope to see more of Octavius and Silas, who is a character I loathed (when reading I fully imagined a man like Lucias Malfoy from Harry Potter) but I do love to hate a character!
I did have a hunch that the story would end in the way it did but I am glad as it was fitting for the characters. I am excited to read the final instalment and see just how the trilogy is completed. What will happen for Storm and Lincoln in that third book?
Have you read this trilogy? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!