We find ourselves with Shifter, Scott Tyler on the ride of his life in Control (Shift, #2) by Kim Curran. Control also plays with the "time travel" idea but on a very different level. Our main protagonist is a shifter which means that by the power of thought he can change the surrounding reality. This concept is really something very intriguing and something that Curran does an excellent job explaining. Also, as a side note, and more and more seemingly rare to the YA genre, this novel is told from the male POV which I really enjoyed.

Just by looking at the cover art for Control you can instantly tell this will be a high-def read! What a dynamic cover that really pulled me in from the get-go!

Control is another second in a series that can also act as a standalone but let me be honest when I say, that after you finish this book you will want both the first (Shift) and the third! This is a fast-paced, action-packed, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of book and boy, what a ride! Curran plays with similar ideas to the Butterfly Effect...eventually you need to stand by your decisions. What is the truth when you keep changing the past and the present alters? The outcome might not be all you wished for...You will not be disappointed as you join Scott and girlfriend, Aubrey on their grand adventure that will uncover a world filled with amazing as well as truly frightening and suspenseful moments! ( )

Originally posted at Thinks Books: http://thinksbooks.blogspot.com/2013/07/review-control-shift-2-by-kim-curran.htm...

I requested Control from Netgalley and didn't even realize it was a sequel until I went to add it to my Goodreads shelf. I had already started reading Control by this point and was worried I would be lost since I hadn't read Shift.

Not the case at all!

I never felt lost or confused reading Control. Kim Curran has a writing style that definitely holds your attention. She re-visited important plot points from Shift which kind of made me feel like I read two books in one!

I loved the characters in this book. Especially Aubrey because well...she's Aubrey. LoL Scott was awesome too with all his mind blowing powers but I'm for the girl power!

I really enjoyed this book. If I ever have time, I'll go back and read Shift. I know I will definitely be reading the next book in the series!

4 stars to Control. ( )

Control by Kim Curran is the sequel to Shift which I reviewed last year. I also recently posted an interview with the author to celebrate the launch of this book. You can read it here. Incidentally, if you haven't read the first book, I suggest you do before reading Control, as it's really the kind of series that requires linearity. The blurb from Goodreads:

Scott Tyler is not like other teenagers. With a single thought he can alter reality around him. And he can stop anyone else from doing the same.

That's why he's so important to ARES, the secret government agency that regulates other kids like him: Shifters.

They've sent him on a mission. To track down the enigmatic Frank Anderson. An ex-Shifter who runs a project for unusual kids - as if the ability to change your every decision wasn't unusual enough. But Anderson and the kids have a dark secret. One that Scott is determined to discover.

As his obsession with discovering the truth takes him further away from anyone he cares about, his grip on reality starts to weaken. Scott realises if he can't control his choices, they'll control him.

Control opens with Scott and Aubrey cleaning up the mess they uncovered at the end of the first book, tracking down the people who had been involved in a dodgy operation they uncovered. In the course of events, they (well mostly Scott, since Aubrey can't remember past timelines) uncover bigger problems with the state of the world. And being super-powered teenagers, of course they try to fix them. And by-golly does this one have an excellent ending. (Consequences: they are things that exist.)

One of my major qualms with Shift was that it was not complex enough in terms of taking advantage of the crazy stuff that could be done with changing timelines. Control does a much better job of this. There is much more weird and slightly confusing (in a good way) stuff going on. In the first book a lot of the focus was on Scott's shifting abilities but in Control, because he can remember past timelines, other people's shifts come into play with much more significance. I appreciated the added complexity. (A possible trade-off is there were two small continuity errors which bugged me a little but which weren't important enough to ruin the story for me.)

The new villain was much better than the first book's villain, partly because being fat wasn't part of their evil ick factor and partly because there were (eventually) shades of grey to their choices. And I do like me some shades of grey. Also the nature of the villain allowed the author to introduce some interesting minor characters with unique shifting abilities or quirks, which helped to flesh out that aspect of the world-building.

One of these minor characters was trans and while their situation was definitely interesting, it was also problematic and might annoy some readers. I don't feel qualified to comment further, but you have been warned.

Overall, Control was a fun, action-packed read. I enjoyed it more than the first book and I would definitely recommend it to readers who enjoyed Shift. I am eagerly awaiting the final book in the series, which should be out next year.

4 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog. ( )