Review: Settling by Shelley Workinger

Released: July 4^th, 2011
Published by: CreateSpace
Series: Solid, #2
Star Rating: 5 out of 5
Source: For Review
Edition: Kindle
Page Amount: 242
Age Group: Young Adult

If you have not read the first book in this series, Solid, I strongly recommend to not continue reading this review. Although I try not to include spoilers of the previous book(s), the summary and/or my review may spoil the previous book(s) in the series.
Summary

At the beginning of the summer, Clio Kaid was one of a hundred teens brought to a secret Army installation. But it was no ordinary camp and they weren’t ordinary kids…

Picking up where “Solid” left off, Clio and her friends realize that they aren’t ready to go home; they’re determined to stay on campus and continue their journey of self- discovery. But someone doesn’t feel the same way and will do anything to drive them away – even kill.

Friendships will be tested, abilities will evolve, and more secrets will come out as the teens race to stop the killer before he sets his sights on one of them…

Review

If you have been a fan/around my blog for awhile, you most likely know that SOLID, the first book in this series, was the first book I received for review (if you’ve been around for that long, props to you). I was excited when Shelley asked me to review SETTLING, because that means I didn’t totally butcher the SOLID review!

First of all, this book takes place right after SOLID ended. It goes right back into the character’s life as if SOLID never ended, which I liked very much because that means there is no “catching up” that is needed to be done, which I really liked.

I loved the investigation part of the novel. I’m very much into crime scene investigation so I was so into that part of the novel.

Looking back onto the book now, I can see a few similarities between Clio and I. We’re both not afraid to speak our minds sometimes, very much insecure of ourselves, and don’t think we deserve a lot of the things we have. Clio is a very interesting character to read about because I can see similarities between the two of us, in most Young Adult books I don’t see similarities between myself and the characters a lot of the time.

I loved the relationships that are formed between the characters. In the time duration of both books, the characters have really only known each other for a few month’s time, but their friendship is as though they have known each other all of their lives. They just seemed to have bonded so fast, and even though they all have very different personalities and you think they would clash to each other and they wouldn’t get along well, I think that’s what makes them such a great group of friends. I also enjoyed the relationships between Calliope and the people that work the army base, such as Ford. Especially Ford, actually, it’s such an odd relationship between the two and their banter was just so hilarious and adorable.

I still love the whole idea of the Army campus setting. I find the whole science experiment that was used on the characters in this novel really interesting, and I could really see something like that actually happening in the future. Maybe not necessarily the whole “superpower” thing that the kids get from the experiment, but something like it. It’s like a realistic fantasy type book, which I find really interesting.

I’m just going to say I was NOT expecting how the end of the novel turned out. I was so shocked when the end of the novel came about. Another thing was I did not know what to expect or know who the killer was through the whole book so it was a really big mystery to me, but when it was revealed I was very shocked.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and it was exactly the kind of book I was in the mood to read. It was the perfect read, not too heavy but not exactly a chick lit light read.

Cover Comments

I think the cover of this novel fit’s the book perfectly. It also matches the first book, Solid’s cover very well. It’s artistic and different from a lot of young adult book cover trends. I also love how it matches a scene in the book, which is near the end.