Review Detail

Wren and Callum have escaped the HARC and are headed to a Rebbot Reservation for safety. Once there, they soon find out it isn’t at all what they expected. The leader, Micah, is more interesting in waging a war against all humans than finding a way to live peacefully together, and he wants Wren and Callum, especially Wren, on his side. Wren wants to get Callum and run far away but Callum wants to help the humans so they end up plotting against Micah, putting their lives in danger should he find out.

This follow-up to Reboot is told in a dual POV, both Wren and Callum, as opposed to just Wren like in Reboot. I thought it worked well, especially to show to contrast between someone who rebooted at 178 and someone at 22. Also, the switching between the POVs was done in a way that kept the tension the previous POV built, which was nice to see.

Rebel picked up pretty much where Reboot left off and there was no info-dumping recap, which was also nice. The dual POVs worked well to show both main character’s reactions, as well as their take on the other’s reaction. We got to learn a lot more about Callum through his POV, he was still the same peace-loving, sweet boy from Reboot but with this snarky personality that had me laughing at times.

Wren grew a lot in Reboot but she still had some growth left for Rebel. All her life she was told how impressive her 178 was, how much less human she was, and watching her breakout from the mindset HARC had her in for so long was so great to see. Callum, in Reboot, didn’t get as much growth but he definitely went through his own arc in Rebel. He had to find his own place without relying on Wren all the time. Together, they really did bring out the best in each other. I liked that the romance was always there but it never overshadowed the plot.

We got introduced to some new characters in Rebel and minor characters from Reboot are back, some in a more expanded role. I really enjoyed all the new additions, even the villains. Riley, Wren’s trainer from HARC, was my favorite. He was adorable and it was easy to see how much he cared for her, almost like a little sister. Micah, I thought, was a great villain in so many ways. When he talked, it was actually possible to see where he was coming from in his beliefs and understandable as to why people would follow him.

The plot was action-packed. If there was so fighting, there was plotting or surviving. Something was always going on. It made for a hard to put down read. Rebel edged out Reboot just slightly for my favorite of the duology, but it was definitely close.