authorkmg's review against another edition
5.0
There is so much happening in this sequel! We hit the ground running right where we left off in The Vanishing Girl and its a full out action pact sprint to the end. I have to say that Laura Thalassa might be one of the best at pacing and writing action pact scenes. Our hearts are pounding throughout this sequel and I loved that. No sophomore slump here!
Ember is almost completely different then the Ember we met in book one, but I would hope that everyone would expect her to be. She's a lot stronger, but at the same time her weaknesses are more apparent making her a hell of a lot more combative. Animal trapped in the corner analogy works great here. But she has many, many more reasons to fight beyond herself.
Her relationship with Caden is very intense, but then it's reflective of their life and situation. Not that I'm complaining here. I do think it's kind of sad we said goodbye to the jovial Caden. I guess when the you find out Oz is just some dude moving a machine it tends to disillusion you. He remains Ember's solid ground and she needs it. I will say the heat is turned allllll the way up in this one. And! AND! We get some scenes from Caden's POV!!! Very illuminating stuff, my fellow readers. YEEEEP!!!
Now its strange because there is a lot of things happening in this story...A LOT...but at the same time the truth is a slow drip throughout. And it isn't until the very, very, very (did I say very?) end that the veil is lifted and my Kindle went sailing across the room.
I don't want to give too much away because there are a lot of twist and turns in this installment. Many of which will piss people off (in a frustrated, when the hell is book 3 coming out kinda way), but it's worth the ride! Laura Thalassa is one of my favorite authors, she world-builds her ass off and has such a talent of characterization. Go read, people!!
Ember is almost completely different then the Ember we met in book one, but I would hope that everyone would expect her to be. She's a lot stronger, but at the same time her weaknesses are more apparent making her a hell of a lot more combative. Animal trapped in the corner analogy works great here. But she has many, many more reasons to fight beyond herself.
Her relationship with Caden is very intense, but then it's reflective of their life and situation. Not that I'm complaining here. I do think it's kind of sad we said goodbye to the jovial Caden. I guess when the you find out Oz is just some dude moving a machine it tends to disillusion you. He remains Ember's solid ground and she needs it. I will say the heat is turned allllll the way up in this one. And! AND! We get some scenes from Caden's POV!!! Very illuminating stuff, my fellow readers. YEEEEP!!!
Now its strange because there is a lot of things happening in this story...A LOT...but at the same time the truth is a slow drip throughout. And it isn't until the very, very, very (did I say very?) end that the veil is lifted and my Kindle went sailing across the room.
I don't want to give too much away because there are a lot of twist and turns in this installment. Many of which will piss people off (in a frustrated, when the hell is book 3 coming out kinda way), but it's worth the ride! Laura Thalassa is one of my favorite authors, she world-builds her ass off and has such a talent of characterization. Go read, people!!
kriscent's review against another edition
4.0
So is there not going to be a third book?
The book is fantastic with some interesting plots but unfortunately it ended on a cliffhanger. I'm a little upset considering this book was written in 2015 and it looks like there's not going to be a third. A little disappointed the author decided she wasn't going to continue with the series. One can only hope that it'll become popular enough that she'll write a third book and finish it off
The book is fantastic with some interesting plots but unfortunately it ended on a cliffhanger. I'm a little upset considering this book was written in 2015 and it looks like there's not going to be a third. A little disappointed the author decided she wasn't going to continue with the series. One can only hope that it'll become popular enough that she'll write a third book and finish it off
asunnyreadingcorner's review against another edition
2.0
I normally enjoy this authors work, but this book really fell short for me. The basic idea felt like it had a lot of potential, but between the romance- which I really wasn’t a fan of and the odd shift in perspectives as the book went on I didn’t enjoy this as much as I wish I had. The premise made me curious enough to get through the second book, but despite the cliffhanger that left me on I don’t think I’ll be reading any more of this series.
a_novel_ty's review against another edition
3.0
Sad to say that this book was a bit of a disappointment for me. The Decaying Empire follows Ember and Caden on their journey, trying to escape the Project which leads them all over the country and in countless dangerous situations. While all of that sounds pretty exciting, this story was just meh for me. In the first book I was 100% invested in what was going on and what was happening with the characters. I was at the edge of my seat, excited and anxious to know what was going to happen next. However with this installment, I found that I was really just reading to get to the end rather than out of any kind of enjoyment.
There were slight differences between Caden and Ember that made me enjoy their interactions less, which was one of the things I loved most about the first book. Caden spends all of his time calling Ember “Angel” or trying to ensure her that he is on her side is will do anything to protect her, which took away from his “bad boy with a smile” persona that I enjoyed so much and fell in love with. He was still sarcastic but the witty and quick with a comeback Caden is completely missing. Where’s the fun in that? One of the things I loved about EMBER, was her eff it attitude and the way she would assess a situation and take the least frustrating and BS route. For whatever reason, in The Decaying Empire, she does the complete opposite of that. She spent most of the book pointlessly keeping secrets from Caden which he eventually got out of her anyway and doubting whether or not she could really trust him when he was doing nothing but proving to her that she could. I went from loving her to being annoyed by every decision she made.
The concept of human teleportation with limits is still very unique and something I still enjoy in this story. There weren’t any missions in this story but the lack of action in the mission was more than made up for by the fact that every time Caden and Ember WEREN’T teleporting, they were being hunted, attacked and shot at. This made the story fast paced and action packed, but when an entire book is about escaping and nothing more, it gets old quickly which is why I think I was bored for the majority of it. I think I just wanted more than the running and randomly placed sex scenes that were presented.
Of course in this kind of book where there are secret government agencies and men in offices calling shots and controlling peoples lives, whenever you think a character has escaped and can finally be free, the exact opposite is usually true. Ember and Caden have escaped the frying pan only to jump directly into the fire. But what I love most about them is, they don’t let circumstances dictate their fate. They take a look at whatever situation they’re put in and do their best to put themselves in a better one.
I’m hoping that this is only middle book syndrome and the next book in this series will be much better. I still enjoy these characters despite their new found flaws and I definitely want to know whats going to happen next and how they’re going to play the cards they’ve been dealt.
There were slight differences between Caden and Ember that made me enjoy their interactions less, which was one of the things I loved most about the first book. Caden spends all of his time calling Ember “Angel” or trying to ensure her that he is on her side is will do anything to protect her, which took away from his “bad boy with a smile” persona that I enjoyed so much and fell in love with. He was still sarcastic but the witty and quick with a comeback Caden is completely missing. Where’s the fun in that? One of the things I loved about EMBER, was her eff it attitude and the way she would assess a situation and take the least frustrating and BS route. For whatever reason, in The Decaying Empire, she does the complete opposite of that. She spent most of the book pointlessly keeping secrets from Caden which he eventually got out of her anyway and doubting whether or not she could really trust him when he was doing nothing but proving to her that she could. I went from loving her to being annoyed by every decision she made.
The concept of human teleportation with limits is still very unique and something I still enjoy in this story. There weren’t any missions in this story but the lack of action in the mission was more than made up for by the fact that every time Caden and Ember WEREN’T teleporting, they were being hunted, attacked and shot at. This made the story fast paced and action packed, but when an entire book is about escaping and nothing more, it gets old quickly which is why I think I was bored for the majority of it. I think I just wanted more than the running and randomly placed sex scenes that were presented.
Of course in this kind of book where there are secret government agencies and men in offices calling shots and controlling peoples lives, whenever you think a character has escaped and can finally be free, the exact opposite is usually true. Ember and Caden have escaped the frying pan only to jump directly into the fire. But what I love most about them is, they don’t let circumstances dictate their fate. They take a look at whatever situation they’re put in and do their best to put themselves in a better one.
I’m hoping that this is only middle book syndrome and the next book in this series will be much better. I still enjoy these characters despite their new found flaws and I definitely want to know whats going to happen next and how they’re going to play the cards they’ve been dealt.
amanda1620's review against another edition
3.0
This book is better than the previous one, more fast-paced, but the character *cough* Caden *cough* is super protective, which annoyes me a little bit, but understandable.. However, I find that the banter between Ember and Caden is quite pleasing, it's much more funnier and free compared to the last book.
bookdealer1415's review against another edition
1.0
This book was so hard to get through. Literally the same three scenes were repeated. Running from the government, having sex, and being threatened with a gun/threatening with a gun. I barely even read this book, I just wanted to finish it so I sped read
momwithareadingproblem's review against another edition
4.0
I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.
The Decaying Empire by [a:Laura Thalassa|7152490|Laura Thalassa|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1372456585p2/7152490.jpg] is a continuation of Ember Pierce's story as she battles the Project to win her and her pair their freedom. Book one [b:The Vanishing Girl|19395125|The Vanishing Girl (The Vanishing Girl, #1)|Laura Thalassa|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1393714294s/19395125.jpg|27467073] ended leaving you with no warm and fuzzy feelings. Ember has been spliced, Caden believes she is dead, and the Project is behind it all. Flash forward ten months and Ember wakes up in a sterile hospital room and the ability, or curse depending on how you look at it, to teleport while awake. First place she goes is to Caden, inside the very facility that wants her dead. Together Caden and Ember piece together information about the project and work to escape. But escape comes at a cost and Ember must learn to trust others when she's always relied on herself.
I don't know whether to love Ember or hate her. She is such a contradiction, yet in this story I felt more sorry for her than anything. She is basically running scared the whole book. She's survived splicing and the Project trying to kill her, she's back with Caden in the facility that hates her, and she now has to escape or be forced to make babies with Caden. Not a lot of options for her and to top it off she has no control over her teleportation ability. She is now disappearing while awake, which proves dangerous when she does this while driving!
Also Adrian is back :D I was so happy to see him when Ember teleported back into his life. I'm still not sure what his place is in the story. He's not an angle in a love triangle, yet he obviously has some feelings for Ember and she for some reason trusts him implicitly. He's a big question mark in the series and I can't wait to find out more about him and his role!
Overall I loved this story! Ember and Caden's journey takes them all over the western United States and it's fast-paced, full of action and of course a little romance along the way. Also a bonus in this book is that the author gives some POV from Caden's perspective which I adored! I love getting into other characters' heads :D Take note though that there are some sexual scenes and of course strong language so 18 and over only please ;) If you enjoy science fiction and the new adult genre, I highly recommend you check this series out!
Review in a Gif:
The Decaying Empire by [a:Laura Thalassa|7152490|Laura Thalassa|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1372456585p2/7152490.jpg] is a continuation of Ember Pierce's story as she battles the Project to win her and her pair their freedom. Book one [b:The Vanishing Girl|19395125|The Vanishing Girl (The Vanishing Girl, #1)|Laura Thalassa|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1393714294s/19395125.jpg|27467073] ended leaving you with no warm and fuzzy feelings. Ember has been spliced, Caden believes she is dead, and the Project is behind it all. Flash forward ten months and Ember wakes up in a sterile hospital room and the ability, or curse depending on how you look at it, to teleport while awake. First place she goes is to Caden, inside the very facility that wants her dead. Together Caden and Ember piece together information about the project and work to escape. But escape comes at a cost and Ember must learn to trust others when she's always relied on herself.
I don't know whether to love Ember or hate her. She is such a contradiction, yet in this story I felt more sorry for her than anything. She is basically running scared the whole book. She's survived splicing and the Project trying to kill her, she's back with Caden in the facility that hates her, and she now has to escape or be forced to make babies with Caden. Not a lot of options for her and to top it off she has no control over her teleportation ability. She is now disappearing while awake, which proves dangerous when she does this while driving!
He was staring at me like I was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. A girl could get used to these kinds of looks.The savior of this story is Caden. I <3 him! He is Ember's rock, but he's changed too. He's harder, leaner, and gone is his naive perception of the Project. In fact, he's just as ready as Ember to leave them, he just didn't have a reason when he thought her dead. His utter devotion and love for Ember is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. I mean he spent ten months believing her dead to have her show up alive in his bedroom. As I said heartbreaking!!! His faith and love for her though is what pulls Ember from her fear.
When I saw you scared, my heart broke. When I saw you angry, I wanted to fight your demons for you. The first time you snapped at me, I wanted to rejoice that the fire within you hadn't been extinguished - but had it been, I would've worked at starting another. You cannot scare me away, angel. It's impossible...This story is just as fast-paced as the first. Ember and Caden are on a mission, escape the Project. It's that simple, but not that simple ;) First they need to trust each other, then they need to trust others and that's just not an easy thing to do.
Also Adrian is back :D I was so happy to see him when Ember teleported back into his life. I'm still not sure what his place is in the story. He's not an angle in a love triangle, yet he obviously has some feelings for Ember and she for some reason trusts him implicitly. He's a big question mark in the series and I can't wait to find out more about him and his role!
Overall I loved this story! Ember and Caden's journey takes them all over the western United States and it's fast-paced, full of action and of course a little romance along the way. Also a bonus in this book is that the author gives some POV from Caden's perspective which I adored! I love getting into other characters' heads :D Take note though that there are some sexual scenes and of course strong language so 18 and over only please ;) If you enjoy science fiction and the new adult genre, I highly recommend you check this series out!
Review in a Gif:
meganamaral's review against another edition
5.0
It is a rare occurrence when someone can say that the sequel was better than the original, but here we are.
And throughout this book, I was so set on giving it a 4/5 stars like the first book, but then they FINALLY escaped and it tested Caden and Ember's relationship and I was here for it. Don't get me wrong, I loved their relationship in book 1, but it seemed too much of insta love for my taste. This book on the other hand tested their feelings for one another and I saw how deep of a connection they had. In the beginning, it was a little too intense for me, but I understand. Ember was in a coma for 8 months in which Caden thought she was dead (he went back and forth and couldn't accept it), until the moment they revive her and she teleports to his bedroom. It was an amazing way to start off this book with Caden seeing her and holding her and not believing that she was truly there, but holding her as if he got one last chance to see her before she was gone for good. After they reunite, he was very intense and I could understand why Ember pushed away a little, but I believe it had more to do with her own trust issues and not completely understanding Caden's motivations. And that is the main reason why I gave this book 5/5. We got to see Caden and Ember's growth with one another, almost like they both knew it was insta love in book 1, but in book 2, they really didn't "know" one another and didn't know their motivations. Which also blew my mind that Ember didn't know what drove Caden. Yes in book 1, he would stand up for her, but when the leader of the organization told him to back off, he did, but with hesitance. Then in book 2, after Ember had been spliced, Caden took on a whole new demeanor. Now, there was no hesitation. He knew what it was like to lose her pair and he couldn't go through that again. Ember saw this, which is why it blew my mind that she hesitated. In book 1, he agreed to help her escape because it was what she wanted, but in book 2, he wanted to help her escape because he wanted to keep her safe and also because HE wanted to keep her safe. He knew that the organization set her up. It was always for her, never for him. Shoot, if he had to give up his freedom in order to keep her safe, he would. He would rather be with her, but he always put her before him. So when Ember decided to come up with a different plan during their escape which scarified her freedom for Caden and their two other friends, I hated how Ember thought that Caden would have left without her. That she made a sacrifice for their freedom and it they would understand. It was at that moment where I fell in love with Caden and how Laura Thalassa created this character that was completely straight forward. I knew that Caden wasn't going to leave her behind, so I am surprised that Ember thought he would have taken the opportunity. Then continuously after that when she expected to wake up naked on the side of the road alone, but Caden was always there to care for her. And it did break my heart with Caden started to have doubts about Ember's feelings for him, but it is completely fair! Caden has shown nothing but love and devotion to Ember, and what does she do? She straight out creates this plan where she thinks Caden will chose his freedom over her. Plus, yeah, I am not a huge fan of how jealous he gets of Adrian, but I guess it is fair as well to have that little voice in your ear connecting dots that aren't there. Yes, he has complete faith and love and devotion for Ember, but Ember hasn't completely accepted that fully. Plus it doesn't help that her special skill as a soldier is to distract and her success rate is 100%. Plus, her secret meetings with Adrian don't help the situation and there is always the fear that if Cadan can't protect Ember, but Adrian can, she will see him as useless. Not saying that is what's happening, but it is a thing.
I loved this book because not only was it about them escaping, but it was about them falling in love with one another all over again, and actually getting to know each other outside of their missions and the project. If this book was only about escaping, sorry, I would have given this a 3. But this book was paced extremely well and I fell in love with all the characters and my jaw dropped more than once, and I think I cried reading the last few chapters.
I hope that Laura Thalassa decides to finish this series up. I completely understand what it is like to write a series, but then run into a slump where you aren't motivated or cannot find the words to finish writing this story. This series is worth so much to the author and reader and I believe Laura took a break, waiting for those words to come to her, but sometimes it does take some time, and sometimes, other stories come into your head and you have to that that opportunity to explore that. I hope that this book does come out in Winter of 2018, because as much as I knew what was going to happen at the end of book 2, I still want to see how it will play out and how they were fight it.
And throughout this book, I was so set on giving it a 4/5 stars like the first book, but then they FINALLY escaped and it tested Caden and Ember's relationship and I was here for it. Don't get me wrong, I loved their relationship in book 1, but it seemed too much of insta love for my taste. This book on the other hand tested their feelings for one another and I saw how deep of a connection they had. In the beginning, it was a little too intense for me, but I understand. Ember was in a coma for 8 months in which Caden thought she was dead (he went back and forth and couldn't accept it), until the moment they revive her and she teleports to his bedroom. It was an amazing way to start off this book with Caden seeing her and holding her and not believing that she was truly there, but holding her as if he got one last chance to see her before she was gone for good. After they reunite, he was very intense and I could understand why Ember pushed away a little, but I believe it had more to do with her own trust issues and not completely understanding Caden's motivations. And that is the main reason why I gave this book 5/5. We got to see Caden and Ember's growth with one another, almost like they both knew it was insta love in book 1, but in book 2, they really didn't "know" one another and didn't know their motivations. Which also blew my mind that Ember didn't know what drove Caden. Yes in book 1, he would stand up for her, but when the leader of the organization told him to back off, he did, but with hesitance. Then in book 2, after Ember had been spliced, Caden took on a whole new demeanor. Now, there was no hesitation. He knew what it was like to lose her pair and he couldn't go through that again. Ember saw this, which is why it blew my mind that she hesitated. In book 1, he agreed to help her escape because it was what she wanted, but in book 2, he wanted to help her escape because he wanted to keep her safe and also because HE wanted to keep her safe. He knew that the organization set her up. It was always for her, never for him. Shoot, if he had to give up his freedom in order to keep her safe, he would. He would rather be with her, but he always put her before him. So when Ember decided to come up with a different plan during their escape which scarified her freedom for Caden and their two other friends, I hated how Ember thought that Caden would have left without her. That she made a sacrifice for their freedom and it they would understand. It was at that moment where I fell in love with Caden and how Laura Thalassa created this character that was completely straight forward. I knew that Caden wasn't going to leave her behind, so I am surprised that Ember thought he would have taken the opportunity. Then continuously after that when she expected to wake up naked on the side of the road alone, but Caden was always there to care for her. And it did break my heart with Caden started to have doubts about Ember's feelings for him, but it is completely fair! Caden has shown nothing but love and devotion to Ember, and what does she do? She straight out creates this plan where she thinks Caden will chose his freedom over her. Plus, yeah, I am not a huge fan of how jealous he gets of Adrian, but I guess it is fair as well to have that little voice in your ear connecting dots that aren't there. Yes, he has complete faith and love and devotion for Ember, but Ember hasn't completely accepted that fully. Plus it doesn't help that her special skill as a soldier is to distract and her success rate is 100%. Plus, her secret meetings with Adrian don't help the situation and there is always the fear that if Cadan can't protect Ember, but Adrian can, she will see him as useless. Not saying that is what's happening, but it is a thing.
I loved this book because not only was it about them escaping, but it was about them falling in love with one another all over again, and actually getting to know each other outside of their missions and the project. If this book was only about escaping, sorry, I would have given this a 3. But this book was paced extremely well and I fell in love with all the characters and my jaw dropped more than once, and I think I cried reading the last few chapters.
I hope that Laura Thalassa decides to finish this series up. I completely understand what it is like to write a series, but then run into a slump where you aren't motivated or cannot find the words to finish writing this story. This series is worth so much to the author and reader and I believe Laura took a break, waiting for those words to come to her, but sometimes it does take some time, and sometimes, other stories come into your head and you have to that that opportunity to explore that. I hope that this book does come out in Winter of 2018, because as much as I knew what was going to happen at the end of book 2, I still want to see how it will play out and how they were fight it.
nyxshadow's review against another edition
3.0
Beaucoup d'aller et retour pour une histoire qui ne progresse que dans les dernières pages voir même l'épilogue ! C'est dommage
http://www.nyx-shadow.com/2015/06/the-vanishing-girl-t2-decaying-empire.html
http://www.nyx-shadow.com/2015/06/the-vanishing-girl-t2-decaying-empire.html