spicy_penguin's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
paperbackmo's review
3.0
Took me an absolute age to read this book. This entire series was rubbish, however - this book is better than the other in the series and is completely different in terms of plot etc
darkchocolate's review
4.0
I'm not surr how i feel now that i'm finished. The idea is quite topical for the times we live in. After all that the characters have been put trough these series and then ending - it felt a bit fast and a bit easy-to-achieve in the last pages. Yet, it was a good book for this genre. In case you are a fan the books/movies of The Hunger Games and Divergents you'll probably love this trilogy.
chloereadsbooksyoutube's review
3.0
A good end to the series, just not the way I was expecting the series to go! It’s good, but books 1, 2 and 3 all feel like different dystopian worlds.
daysed's review
5.0
She's done it again. Queen Gemma Malley has once again written one of the best trilogies I've read in my life. Everything she writes just makes me so so happy
paulinazim96's review
3.0
I am in two mindsets about this last book in the series. I expected more and was handed something else.
The story continues where it left off, with Lucas back at The City with proof that the System was wrong and unneeded, where as Evie, Raffy and Linus are being held captive by Thomas all the way in Paris and are on a deadline to mass produce the System for the rest of the world.
Once again, we are introduced to various other characters throughout the book, the main being Frankie- in a new sculptured world by Thomas after the horrors everybody is watched and is needed to “check in” every 15 minutes. There are those who are watched and the watchers, Frankie being one of the most popular watched individuals. A new kind of celebrity where they are not praised by their talents but for the way that they live. The more followers and watchers you have the more luxurious life you lead, but in turn gives you more watches. It reminded me of an episode of the Black Mirror where people are judged on a scale.
Frankie’s fame quickly collapses, and she is in danger of her life, because this new Big Brother world is not all it seems. As the readers we of course know that Thomas and his ideology of the perfect world is wrong, and Frankie learns more than she bargains for when she posts a blog post about the UK not being completely destroyed like the whole world claims.
The majority of the book centres around Frankie, which I found enduring, I enjoyed the new added characters and being able to see the story unfold through different pairs of eyes. As for Frankie she was a welcome addition and her character development from watcher obsessed to a humble and truth-seeking girl was nicely captured throughout the pages.
As for the ending to the series, I thought it was good. It wrapped up the series nicely and the characters each got what they deserved. It wasn’t perfect but it was a good storyline. There are of course many plot holes that I could think of in terms of this dystopian idea however I do think most of them stem from the fact that it’s hard to imagine society and the world we see as now to something different.
The reason why I mentioned being in two minds over this last book, and in fact the series is that although I enjoyed it, it definitely was missing something. I’ve spoken about how the characters are very two dimensional and that has stayed true throughout the series, the plot was carried forward with enough mystery and wanting to know what was going to happen next. And yet there was something missing.
My main pet peeve with Gemma’s decision in her series was Raffy’s character. In the second instalment we witnessed how he did a complete 180 as a character and became obsessive and jealous of Evie and in this final book he once again completely transforms from his characterisation in the second book to somewhat of the character we were first introduced to. I know that the main reason for his complete change in the second was to drive forward the love triangle between Evie and Lucas however I can’t help but hate the fact that this character had to suffer so much because of it. The love triangle itself was not needed, I don’t understand how after having completely no feelings for Lucas in the first book, apart from their one kiss they were able to fall in love while separated and without being in contact with each other. I cannot root for someone’s relationship when I don’t exactly know about it!
The story continues where it left off, with Lucas back at The City with proof that the System was wrong and unneeded, where as Evie, Raffy and Linus are being held captive by Thomas all the way in Paris and are on a deadline to mass produce the System for the rest of the world.
Once again, we are introduced to various other characters throughout the book, the main being Frankie- in a new sculptured world by Thomas after the horrors everybody is watched and is needed to “check in” every 15 minutes. There are those who are watched and the watchers, Frankie being one of the most popular watched individuals. A new kind of celebrity where they are not praised by their talents but for the way that they live. The more followers and watchers you have the more luxurious life you lead, but in turn gives you more watches. It reminded me of an episode of the Black Mirror where people are judged on a scale.
Frankie’s fame quickly collapses, and she is in danger of her life, because this new Big Brother world is not all it seems. As the readers we of course know that Thomas and his ideology of the perfect world is wrong, and Frankie learns more than she bargains for when she posts a blog post about the UK not being completely destroyed like the whole world claims.
The majority of the book centres around Frankie, which I found enduring, I enjoyed the new added characters and being able to see the story unfold through different pairs of eyes. As for Frankie she was a welcome addition and her character development from watcher obsessed to a humble and truth-seeking girl was nicely captured throughout the pages.
As for the ending to the series, I thought it was good. It wrapped up the series nicely and the characters each got what they deserved. It wasn’t perfect but it was a good storyline. There are of course many plot holes that I could think of in terms of this dystopian idea however I do think most of them stem from the fact that it’s hard to imagine society and the world we see as now to something different.
The reason why I mentioned being in two minds over this last book, and in fact the series is that although I enjoyed it, it definitely was missing something. I’ve spoken about how the characters are very two dimensional and that has stayed true throughout the series, the plot was carried forward with enough mystery and wanting to know what was going to happen next. And yet there was something missing.
My main pet peeve with Gemma’s decision in her series was Raffy’s character. In the second instalment we witnessed how he did a complete 180 as a character and became obsessive and jealous of Evie and in this final book he once again completely transforms from his characterisation in the second book to somewhat of the character we were first introduced to. I know that the main reason for his complete change in the second was to drive forward the love triangle between Evie and Lucas however I can’t help but hate the fact that this character had to suffer so much because of it. The love triangle itself was not needed, I don’t understand how after having completely no feelings for Lucas in the first book, apart from their one kiss they were able to fall in love while separated and without being in contact with each other. I cannot root for someone’s relationship when I don’t exactly know about it!
bookmarked642's review
4.0
I finally got round to reading the conclusion to The Killables trilogy!
It's been quite a long time since I read the first books, so I had forgotten some of the details. But as I read, I started to remember what had happened previously and was able to appreciate the current story.
After escaping the City, Evie, Raffy, Linus and Benjamin are now trapped in a world where everyone is being Watched. People actually made a living off of being Watched by strangers around the world, by having people see their daily lives and every thought. But Thomas, the leader of Infotec, isn't satisfied; he still wants Linus to create the System he had originally thought of.
Frankie is one of the most Watched girls; her boyfriend, Milo, is high-up within Infotec and has really boosted her Watcher numbers. But an anonymous message encourages Frankie to write a blog post about the UK, and Milo suddenly turns pretty hostile. Suddenly Frankie is being thrown in the back of a van, her ID chip removed and given to some random doppelganger now claiming her identity. Frankie isn't about to go down without a fight, though, and with the help of the anonymous messager, she escapes the Infotec enforcers.
There are a lot of switches between the POV this story is being told by, but after few chapters, the characters start to come together in one story.
A group of people are determined to tell the rest of the world about the UK - which was believed to have been destroyed by the Horrors. But Thomas is not going to let that happen easily - he's more than happy to dispose of anyone threatening his company.
The future Malley has created is, in my opinion, quite plausible. Vlogs on YouTube are already super popular, and this isn't that big a step up from that. And the System Thomas wants from Linus is probably not too far-fetched, either.
Frankie and Milo are probably the most important new characters in this book. Frankie was developed pretty well throughout the story, slowly discovering the truth and realising how she had been manipulated by Infotec. She's not a big fan of Evie when they first meet, though, and I kind of thought Malley emphasised that more than was necessary. Milo also developed a bit, but with more of a sudden switch being flicked later in the book.
This was a good conclusion to the trilogy, and I enjoyed reading it. It maybe tries a bit too hard to be edgy, with swear words being thrown around and things like that. Still, I liked it. I felt a bit of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies coming through at times, but not enough that it felt samey or anything. 4 stars for the final Killables book.
It's been quite a long time since I read the first books, so I had forgotten some of the details. But as I read, I started to remember what had happened previously and was able to appreciate the current story.
After escaping the City, Evie, Raffy, Linus and Benjamin are now trapped in a world where everyone is being Watched. People actually made a living off of being Watched by strangers around the world, by having people see their daily lives and every thought. But Thomas, the leader of Infotec, isn't satisfied; he still wants Linus to create the System he had originally thought of.
Frankie is one of the most Watched girls; her boyfriend, Milo, is high-up within Infotec and has really boosted her Watcher numbers. But an anonymous message encourages Frankie to write a blog post about the UK, and Milo suddenly turns pretty hostile. Suddenly Frankie is being thrown in the back of a van, her ID chip removed and given to some random doppelganger now claiming her identity. Frankie isn't about to go down without a fight, though, and with the help of the anonymous messager, she escapes the Infotec enforcers.
There are a lot of switches between the POV this story is being told by, but after few chapters, the characters start to come together in one story.
A group of people are determined to tell the rest of the world about the UK - which was believed to have been destroyed by the Horrors. But Thomas is not going to let that happen easily - he's more than happy to dispose of anyone threatening his company.
The future Malley has created is, in my opinion, quite plausible. Vlogs on YouTube are already super popular, and this isn't that big a step up from that. And the System Thomas wants from Linus is probably not too far-fetched, either.
Frankie and Milo are probably the most important new characters in this book. Frankie was developed pretty well throughout the story, slowly discovering the truth and realising how she had been manipulated by Infotec. She's not a big fan of Evie when they first meet, though, and I kind of thought Malley emphasised that more than was necessary. Milo also developed a bit, but with more of a sudden switch being flicked later in the book.
This was a good conclusion to the trilogy, and I enjoyed reading it. It maybe tries a bit too hard to be edgy, with swear words being thrown around and things like that. Still, I liked it. I felt a bit of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies coming through at times, but not enough that it felt samey or anything. 4 stars for the final Killables book.
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