First off, I owe you an apology.
It was evening of the second Monday of this month. I laid my book down, turned off the lights, and had a terrible epiphany: I forgot this month’s Grammar with Beth article.
The way my schedule worked out, I was not able to get it written in a timely fashion, so rather than posting a super late June post featuring adjectives alone, I’m turning it into a massive July post featuring modifiers as a whole.
It’s a daunting task. I’m slightly nervous to boldly tackle this massive endeavor, but for your deserving sakes I truly will humbly undertake the colossal challenge.
Okay, that may be overdoing it a bit XD
Today, instead, I have a book recommendation for you.
If you’ve been around a while, you may remember my post about the cover reveal of E.B. Dawson‘s Into the Void, book 2 of the Creation of Jack series, from last May.
Creation of Jack (COJ) is a quartet of dystopian sci-fi novels. The stories follow Logan Bailey, alias Jack, as she navigates a future plagued by overpopulation and pollution. Her talents lead her to the attention of groups with questionable intentions, who end up testing Jack to the limits of her being.
Through it all, Logan fights to choose her own identity in a world that would define her in many negative ways. She learns to trust her friends and to fight even against impossible odds.
Until the End is the culmination of that series (at least for now). I was fortunate to read an advanced copy of the novel, so I can assure you that it is a beautiful, touching, powerful culmination to a series that has always been full of heart and truth.
Here is my review:
Every book in this series is even better than the last.
Until the End picks up right where Under the Skin left off and then heads in new, fantastic directions. Logan, Druce, and the team deal with their experiences, but things are never easy. They face Mechs, tension with the unmodified human purist group, dementia, and more.
One of my favorite aspects of this series is the team of characters, and never have they been such a team as in Until the End. All they’ve gone through in books 1-3 pays off in BIG ways.
Another aspect of the series I’ve loved is Logan and Druce’s relationship, and after this book, they’re now among my top 5 fictional couples of all time. I love how they work together and love each other as they are, and how they fight side-by-side in all arenas of life.
But what really shines in this story are the themes. Dawson never shies away from wrestling with the real issues in life, and Until the End is such an honest examination of what isn’t fair in life and of what it means to keep fighting anyways.
This book is everything I could have hoped for from the culmination of this series, and it’s more. I closed the last page satisfied and, what’s more, I closed it feeling deeply empowered to continue fighting for and protecting others. This series and Until the End in particular will challenge you to your core and make you feel like a superhero.
In summation, I loved it. If you like stories with rich characters, real themes, and a heavy dose of imagination and tech, you need to read this.
This series has touched me deeply. I often put books down and feel a sense of loss, whether because the book is over or, more often than not, because it seems that the author’s idea of “powerful” writing is to hit the reader as hard as possible.
That has never been the case with COJ. True, Dawson does not shy away from painful experiences, and I have cried multiple times while reading it. The difference is that, through it all, she handles the pain with wisdom and gentleness, like a scalpel rather than a sword. She uses it to highlight the lies we have been told and the false selves we have let others paint us as, and then she stitches up the wound and applies balm.
If you’re hurting, if the world feels unfair, this is the series you need. You’ll leave more healed than you began. You’ll leave with powerful role models in these flawed, deeply human characters. You’ll leave reminded that you are a warrior: You may not be super, but you can choose to be a hero and make the world a healthier, safer place for yourself and others.
And that, I think, is a message we will always need to hear.
You can start the COJ series with Out of Darkness on Amazon, or you can pick up Until the End itself there. I do highly recommend reading the first three books before UTE, though.
What’s a sci-fi series you absolutely love? Leave me your recommendations down in the comments!