Juliette hasn't touched a person for over several months. The reason? She killed someone with her own hands, but it was an accident. Not convinced, the authorities and her parents lock her up in an institution where she can't get out of. While this is all happening, the world is shutting itself down: it's hard to find food, birds aren't flying anymore, other animals are dying and the population is shrinking. The Reestablishment wants to heal the world but survivors of the world are against them and so a war will being and rebels will become stronger. That's the moment when The Reestablishment decides that Juliette isn't a weakness, it's their new power to destroy the opponents. Juliette on the other hand, is not convinced of this and doesn't dare to hurt one human being ever again but hard times, take hard measures...
This book is a book I really appreciated. In fact I quiet liked it! First off, I was very curious to where this book might lead and I wasn't convinced that I'd like it as much as I do now. The characters are great, the plot was thrilling and makes you get excited. It has everything to be a great book!
Juliette is the first character that I want to discuss, because she's the most important in this whole book. As said in the short synopsis, Juliette is stuck in an institution where she can't hurt a human being ever again. She's stuck between four walls with a tiny window and nothing else. The Reestablishment wants her away from the people because she's a dangerous thing, a weakness for the world.
Juliette herself comes over as a very scared girl. She never intended to murder someone, she just wanted to help. It's actually already since she was a little kid that she was an outcast. Her parents didn't like her, kids bullied her and she never said or did anything back. Nobody touched her because they knew she'd be able to kill. She wants to help one time and then she's just being locked up. But things change, they want her as their weapon. They want her to kill everyone against them! And with that more people start getting around her and it's getting crowded. That's the moment when you really see how scared she is of someone touching her. She's very nervous around other people, she can't fight back and she wants distance around her.
What I'm asking myself most about this character is what it is she has. It's clear she can hurt people only by touching them. Yet the author leaves us in the dark to why or how this is possible. I do wish we knew some more about this ability because it's important but I guess further books will have to explain this.
I liked Juliette because it wasn't laid on it thickly, her anxiety came 'natural' and her reactions were 'normal' in her circumstances. I was keen on her since she's also not the one with the big mouth when they want her as their weapon and she just stays calm and thinks well.
Another character that's important is Adam. In the beginning you'll think that Adam is a stupid trader but things will get clear once you read on in the book. He's actually quiet nice and he's also someone who'll try and take care of Juliette. Not only her but also his brother and that's the aspect I loved about Adam: his humanity. He does stay a trader but for the good cause...A friend of Adam is Kenji, did I like him? Let's say that he started growing on me the further the story developed. Yet I can't say with certainty that I actually trust him. He often says things and does things that make him look suspicious in my eyes but he can also make me laugh. I'm not quiet sure what to think of him and the author also doesn't give us much about him. The other books will have to clear things out for me!
The last character I want to discuss is Warner. Warner is one of the leaders in The Reestablishment and it's also his fault that Juliette will become something she doesn't want to be. Warner is the madman in this book, he's weird and can get angry all of a sudden. He's unpredictable and that's why I often got confused by him. He's very important in the story but I'm not a fan of him, which is probably what the author wanted!
As for the plot, it's thrilling! It's been a long time that I've read a book that has this in it. You keep falling back in danger, choices and sacrifices will have to be made. Danger's constantly on Juliettes heels but in the meantime she has herself to worry about.
The action in this book is also not exaggerated, for me it had the best amount of action in it. There were times with action then some rest, then some action and I absolutely liked that in this book.
Of course this book doesn't only contain action and thrill, it has romance in it too but I don't want to get in details because it's a sweet love and I want you to discover it on your own. Let's just say that the romance in the book also paused the action from time to time and that's really great. It has a good variation!
There's one more thing that's really worth mentioning in this book: the suspicion. As I already said with Kenji, things he says and does make you feel like he's not completely trust worthy. But Juliette has problems with trusting too. This is logical, she's being used and hasn't seen people in a few months now. But with her you'll become suspicious about characters you thought you could trust. You get torn between worry for that certain character but also frustration because: can we trust this person, yes or no?! I'm an absolute fan of books that do this to you so that was a great asset to this book.
The author isn't done with you after that though! It'll throw you in a total new environment where you only have questions. You don't understand it, just like Juliette. You don't know who to trust or what to do, just like Juliette. This only showed me that you can really relate to the character and feel what she feels. I often had the same reaction as her and that made her my 'ally' in this book full of thrill.
The Reestablishment, however, is not done with her either. They still want her and Juliette is still torn between her choice: become their weapon and be someone she doesn't want to be, or become who she always wanted to be: a human being. The author doesn't leave us a choice, we need to pick up the following book to find out what she's going to do, what she has decided and what'll happen next. With this I do have to say that I was a little disappointed, the ending could've been a little better in my opinion but that won't stop me from reading the following book!My verdict therefore is that it's a good book with a nice amount of thrill, action, romance and suspicion. You'll keep your eyes open in the book to see who you can really trust and therefore can really relate to Juliette who has to do the same. Many characters will make you frustrated, will make you feel love and will make you hate them and want to kill them, but that's only an asset to the book. You'll really live in it together with the main character and that's the best thing a book can create: a world for you to live in.
"Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior."
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