Deception by C.J. Redwine

From Goodreads:

Baalboden has been ravaged. The brutal Commander's whereabouts are unknown. And Rachel, grief stricken over her father's death, needs Logan more than ever. With their ragged group of survivors struggling to forge a future, it's up to Logan to become the leader they need—with Rachel by his side. Under constant threat from rival Carrington's army, who is after the device that controls the Cursed One, the group decides to abandon the ruins of their home and take their chances in the Wasteland.



But soon their problems intensify tenfold: someone—possibly inside their ranks—is sabotaging the survivors, picking them off one by one. The chaos and uncertainty of each day puts unbearable strain on Rachel and Logan, and it isn't long before they feel their love splintering. Even worse, as it becomes clear that the Commander will stop at nothing to destroy them, the band of survivors begins to question whether the price of freedom may be too great—and whether, hunted by their enemies and the murderous traitor in their midst, they can make it out of the Wasteland alive. 

In this daring sequel to Defiance, with the world they once loved forever destroyed, Rachel and Logan must decide between a life on the run and standing their ground to fight.

Rating: 5 Stars

A few months ago I read Defiance and fell in love with CJ Redwine’s writing style and ability to tell a story. I wrote a spoiler free review for Defiance (which you can check out here). For my review of Deception, I will keep my review spoiler free for it, however there might be a few very vague spoilers for Defiance.

Deception picks up right where Defiance left off, with Rachel and Logan trying to figure out what to do with the few survivors of Baalboden. The story does not take any time to get into action, and just like Defiance, the story is extremely fast paced and action packed. In order to survive, Logan, Rachel, and the survivors of the attack on Baalboden at the end of Defiance, make plans to trek across the Wastelands to nearby city states in hopes of finding help and asylum.

The first few chapters can be a bit overwhelming because there are lots of new characters introduced, however, as the story progresses everyone finds their place and role within the story. Just like Defiance, this book is written in alternating points of view between Rachel and Logan, both narrating in first person, making it easy for the reader to understand each of their struggles and fears.

The romance between Rachel and Logan is one of the sweetest, most beautifully developed, and extremely deep relationships I have ever read. The fiery, witty Rachel we met in the first book is gone. The new Rachel struggles with her grief and tends to shut everyone out, including Logan. Logan struggles with his new leadership role, not because he isn’t doing a good job, but because he feels responsible for every life lost in his group. While both Rachel and Logan have their own personal issues and insecurities, one thing that never falters is the love they have for each other.

The journey through the Wastelands is not easy, as the Commander is following them and a traitor is amongst their group. It was heartbreaking reading some of the horrible things that were happening and knowing that someone in their group was responsible. The suspense created was so brilliantly written.

The other characters are also very well developed. In addition to all the new characters introduced in the first few chapters, we see some familiar names from Defiance. Willow and Quinn play huge roles in this book; we get to know both of them more and more as the story progresses. The story Redwine created for them was exceptionally intriguing and exquisitely layered.

While I believed Redwine’s writing style and word building abilities was great in Defiance, she still managed to grow and improve her craft. The continuation of her story took a much darker turn, but it was wonderfully suspenseful and beautifully crafted. There is a major cliffhanger at the end, but luckily all books in the series have been released so I didn’t have to wait a full year to find out what happens next. All in all, Deception was a perfect sequel, an action packed and emotionally intense read that that made me smile, shocked me at times, made me cry, and had me begging for more.