.After escaping from the Nirvana commune, twin sisters Jade and Peaches must adapt to life on the outside. Living with their grandmother is new and exciting, but Jade soon realizes she misses her friends and family back home. The last thing the twins want to do is return to the Nirvana community, where they will have to go through an eye surgery on their seventeenth birthday. After agreeing to visit a different commune called 'The Site', Jade and Peaches realize that there is no such thing as a perfect commune, and must decide if they want to return to Nirvana, or stay on the Outside.
I was so excited to find a request in my inbox to review the sequel to Kristy Feeltenberger Gillepie's brilliant novel “Jaded” that I was half tempted to abandon the book I was reading at the time so that I could get started! I adored Jaded and found the dystopian world of Nirvana original and interesting, so I had high expectations for “Hunted.” The story continues right from where it was left in “Jaded” so I was easily able to fall right back into the story of twin sisters Jade and Peaches.
This book constantly kept me on my toes, and there was rarely a dull moment throughout the entire story. I loved the new characters that were brought in such as Grandmother Goldenrod and Hunter. However I was slightly disappointed that Ty was not physically present for the majority of the book, as he was one of my favourite characters from “Jaded.” I loved how the twins had to learn about life on the outside. Jade and Peaches struggling with using mundane every day items such as mobile phones was funny as well as interesting, as we take these items for granted and expect everyone to know how to use them, so I loved that they had to learn how to do simple every day tasks.
I loved that the story focused on the relationship between the sisters, and the romantic elements were only a subplot. The majority of requests I get for fantasy or dystopian YA novels disappointingly focus more on romance than the interesting world the author has created, so it's refreshing to see two female characters who realize that there are more important things to be worrying about than boys.
Jade and Peaches staying in another commune was interesting, as they slowly realized that there was no such thing as a perfect commune, and that they were all politically corrupt in some way. I felt this showed a very realistic view of how this is the case in all societies, and that with human nature being as it is, we will never achieve a Utopian society.
Although I overall preferred “Jaded,” I thought “Hunted” was a strong sequel to a very promising book series. I would love to continue reading The Nirvana Series and find out what happens to Jade, Peaches and Ty once they move back to the Outside.
Hunted is available to purchase HERE
Thanks so much for your review, Rachel! Love it!
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