Truth (XVI #2) Review

Truth (XVI #2)
by Julia Karr
From Goodreads:

Nina Oberon’s life has changed enormously in the last few months. When her mother was killed, Nina discovered the truth about her father, the leader of the Resistance. And now she sports the same Governing Council–ordered tattoo of XVI on her wrist that all sixteen-year-old girls have. The one that announces to the world that she is easy prey to predators. But Nina won’t be anyone’s stereotype. And when she joins an organization of girls working within the Resistance, she knows that they can put an end to one of the most terrifying secret programs the GC has ever conceived. Because the truth always comes out...and the consequences can be deadly.

My Thoughts: These books have gotten me into the habit of saying things are ultra.  It's like the whole "epic" and "fail" trend of a few years ago- which I still use all the time because I, myself, am epically unfail.  Truth is the follow up to XVI and yours truly got to read it before it gets released.  I know, it's pretty ultra.

Okay, now that I sound more like a empty headed "sexteen" then a 34 year old woman (is it weird that I sometimes forget my age?  I totally told someone I was 36 the other day, and I have no idea why in the world I would add numbers to my already bloated age number, but I did), lets discuss Truth.

Nina and friends are back in Truth, and now our heroine is tagged as a sixteen year old and while the threat of having to become a sex slave or worse in the FeLs program, and her creepy wannabe stepfather, are no longer hanging over her head, you'd think things would be looking up for Nina.  Uh, no.  Because this is dystopia, so shiz is going down.

Forces are coming together to take Nina and little sis, Dee, away from their grandparents, another boy is complicating her relationship with Sal, and Nina is determined to put her life at risk for the Resistance.  Now I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say that while I am normally not a fan of the whole YA love triangle plot that's so overused, this one works for me.  Usually I'm loyal to boy #1, in this case Sal, but honestly it's not very realistic that the very first boy you ever date is the One (even if I personally married my first and only love).  I kind of think Nina and boy #2 are a better fit.  Oh, the horrors!   Now I'm fully invested in the outcome of Nina's love life- go boy #2!  I'm purposely not mentioning Boy #2's name because I don't want to spoil it for you, but his name is a heck of a lot better than "Sal".

A quick history into my obsession with Boy #1s-  Dawson vs. Pacey in Dawson's Creek, Angel vs. Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Edward vs. Jacob in Twilight series, Gale vs. Peeta in the Hunger Games series, Morelli vs. Ranger in the Plum series.  As you see, I had my heart broken a few times with these triangles.  Some worse than others (I do feel Hunger Games ended the way it was supposed to and I have made peace with Dawson and Joey not walking down the aisle... mostly).

Boy #2's- Hmm, this one is a bit harder and other than this series I can only think of a few times that the late comer to the love triangle has won my heart- Noel in Felicity (and of course she picks Ben, Boy #1) and Eric in the Sookie Stackhouse novels.  I really dislike vampire Bill, and I adore Eric.  But you know what, I'm thinking of placing money on a Sam and Sookie ending... just saying.

The XVI series is doing dystopia the right way, yes things are pretty bleak, but there is always a little hope to be dangled in front of our faces to keep us reading (unlike The Knife of Never Letting Go which was all just dark, darker, kick a puppy darkest).  I actually like the characters, I'm cheering them on, and I'm sad when things don't work out the way I wanted them too.

And I really want to see the author's vision of Nina's tattoo (and there's a cool scene in the book when Nina shows her Grams her new wrist tattoo that she got around her XVI tat, and the grandmother loves it!  It reminds me of how un-ultra my mom feels about her kids and grand kids and our various tats).  I'm hoping once the book comes out lots of fans with actual artistic ability will flood Deviant Art with their take on Nina's tattoo. Plus the ending, while tying up lots of loose endings leaves some major questions that you are going to want the answers to!

To summarize: Read XVI, then read Truth, then agree with me about Boy #2.  Or disagree with me, but know in your heart that I am right.

Truth gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

 

*Participated in the Around the World Arc tour for this book