Stephanie Judice

I was approached by the author with the second installment of the Setti trilogy, which started with the Rising. I thought Judice was promising then, but was waiting to see what else she would come up with. I was not disappointed. These two books have the same number of stars awarded by me, but I believe this second book is stronger than the first.

In Resistance, we meet up with our band of Setti again, after a confusing and long first chapter (I'll get to that in a moment), and it's a great reunion. I loved the characters in the first book, and we get to see them all again in the aftermath following the first book. We still get alternating perspectives of Clara and Gabe. Clara is still grieving and Gabe tries to give her space. Soon the gang travels and finds another band of Setti, which makes everything more difficult, once the characters realize they have a connection with those Setti with the same power. This leads to some romantic twists and turns. It's interesting because I was not that enamored with Gabe in the first one, but this book (mostly because of some plot twists) has me firmly in his camp. He's still not the most enigmatic character-- that title goes to Jessie, and I hope none of you remembers who she is yet, because I love how she comes back into the story.

So the things I loved: the plot twists, getting to see familiar characters that I really enjoyed the first time around, some solid writing, and a re-introduction of a terrific character and side plot. I love the world building of the Setti and their different powers. I have to say, I rarely get sucked into a book to the point that I don't put it down. This was one of those.

That said, this isn't a perfect book. The first chapter is very distracting because it is a long flashback to their ancestors, and honestly, that was the point where it was hardest to get into the story. If you get stuck here, just scan to the next chapter where you get the characters back. Secondly, I totally do not like Clara at this point. That's okay, it's the second book, she has some time to redeem herself-- but can be a dangerous move, since she was so awesome in the first book. Lastly, Judice falls into a partial trap where a lot of authors do-- since her character numbers are tripling with the meeting of other Setti, it's hard to keep everyone in scenes for us to remember who they are and what their power is. I found myself not remembering or caring that much, but she does do a good job centering the story on the two main characters.

Overall, Judice gets stronger with every book, and if the trend continues, the third should be the strongest of all.… (más)

I was asked by the author to read and review her book Rising, the first in a trilogy (Saga of the Setti).

Rising by Stephanie Judice is a riveting read about two main protagonists, Gabe (the token hot guy) and Clara, the outspoken girl. We are first introduced to Gabe who has the power to sense others emotions, and he falls for Clara. Together, they realize something ominous is heading their way and they work together to figure out how to save their loved ones and their town.

I don't want to give away too much because the secrets of this novel are very fun to figure out. I loved Clara as a protagonist, and there are a strong set of supporting characters, including the terrific Jeremy, the ever happy Ben, and the fiercely intellectual Mel. I have to say that I was less enamored with Gabe, possibly because the other characters are more interesting when placed in direct comparison. I thought the first half of the novel was extremely strong. We have great development of the world and the characters, and a self contained plot even though it is a trilogy. We have growth and development of both protagonists through their relationships and what they learn. The darkness that they fight is scary indeed-- maybe a combination of dementors from Harry Potter and demons from Buffy.

There were a few minor issues I had with the book. First, while I do love smart teenagers, I felt that the parents were painted as extremely one dimensional especially Clara's mom, which becomes more important later on. Also, I felt like the first half was stronger than the second half, as it was more centered on the characters than the action.

That said, this is a very strong first novel, and I really enjoyed reading it.… (más)