Quick & Dirty: Starts off slow before an action-packed ending. This dystopian novel illustrates how bleak and horrifying this terrible world can be.

The Review:
True North is the second in the True Born Trilogy by L.E. Sterling. I would highly recommend reading True Born first since a lot of the story revolves around the previous events in this story. If you like dystopians then you will really enjoy this series set in a dying world where humans must learn to evolve or die. Lucy and her sister Margot may just have the key to saving the human race within their DNA but first they must figure out what exactly they are in a world valued for the DNA splicing.

True North starts off not too long after the events of True Born. There may be some spoilers for the first book so stop reading if you don’t want anything ruined but I’ll try to be as vague as possible. Lucy is still reeling after her sister Margot was whisked off to Russia. She has never been away from her sister for so long. The strange bond that they share has seemingly disappeared but Lucy still believes that Margot is in trouble and needs to find her and rescue her.

Nolan Storm is Lucy’s current caretaker. He is the leader of the True Born, a group of evolved “humans” who all have some kind of power. Nolan is using Lucy to further his own ambitions to rule and change the world for all True Borns. True Born’s are still seen as lower than low even though they could wipe out everyone if they so choose. Nolan has told Lucy that he will help her find Margot but so far he has done nothing to help her. Lucy decides she is the only one who can save her sister so she takes off for Russia on her own. Only, Lucy is not alone. Her green-eyed True Born protector follows her on her risky journey.

True North is a dark dystopian with a really good mystery carrying the story. I feel like I have it figured out but I could be wrong and I can’t wait to find out. The first half of this story is a bit slow as it kind of recaps the first book then gets into the politics of Nolan Storm and what he is trying to do to this world. Lucy doesn’t even start traveling to Russia until about halfway through the story. When that happens the story does pick up and get quite a bit more action-packed.

Lucy is the sole point of view in the novel. Lucy is an interesting character. I’m still not sure if I like her or not. I don’t envy the situation that she is having to go through. She makes a lot of risky decisions without thinking them through. She is proud to an extent but she knows her limits. She laments the loss of her sister a lot and she will stop at nothing to get her back.

A potential love interest/triangle is introduced. I found this character completely intriguing and I really hope that this character goes in a direction that I hope will happen. I figured out he was something different long before Lucy did though. For those of you who hate love triangles, don’t worry, it never goes that far just some things are said to help add a bit of potential conflict.

Overall, True North is an entertaining bridge in this trilogy. It sets up some stuff for what I hope will be an epic showdown. Everything is still very much a mystery and I can’t wait to find out how this series will end. Can they defeat the plague destroying humanity? Will the True Borns finally have a place in this world? I am really excited to find out in True Storm.

Yet another book that suffers from second-book syndrome. Y'all most of the time I can push through this. If the start of a series is intriguing enough for me to keep reading, I'm likely to push through a bad second book to get to the end (Ice Like Fire, anyone?). Unfortunately for True North that wasn't happening. True Born showed a lot of promise and so I was expecting a lot from its sequel. Maybe too much…

The book opens pretty much where it left off. Lucy has made a deal with Nolan Storm: his protection and help in finding her twin sister Margot for her card into the elite, first-class society world. Basically she is his ward and he parades her around like a showgirl to get into these fancy events and talk to people (that's really dumbing it down, there's more to it than that, but you get the picture). However when Storm doesn't deliver on his end of the deal, Lucy gets impatient. With the help of her new friend Alistair (y'all I may like him more than Jared and that's saying something), she boards a ship set for Russia to find her sister. Of course her True Born bodyguard Jared is not far behind.

So why did I not finish this book? Y'all, I was bored to tears. It dragged SO much. I need a fast-ish moving plot. It doesn't have to move at lightning speed or anything, it just needs to move. Unfortunately, True North doesn't. It's extremely slow plot, the kinda love triangle (not really love triangle), and the large sections of info dump was too much for me. I put this book down around the 60% mark and never picked it back up. As a result I won't be finishing this series. Sadly the only thing I'll miss is if Lucy picks Jared *shrugs*

I just had trouble getting through the book. It just did not hold my interested as the first book did. I can see others enjoying the book and the series. It’s not the first book or series I would recommend. I did enjoy the world the author created and the descriptions but the story just had problems for me. This might be something I might look me later in future after rereading it.

I enjoyed this second book of the series and I look forward to the next. If you like dystopian YA it is a good series.

2,5 stars.
Although the writing was pleasant and pretty, this sequel felt forced, as though the author wasn't sure where to take her story, but decided to write something just for the sake of writing. You get a couple answers, but all in all, Sterling was scratching the surface of the first book to reveal a tiny bit more of her world. The narrative dragged on, and the romance was infuriatingly childish and cliche.

Thank you to the publisher for a review copy.

Thank you netgalley for providing a galley for me to review, all opinions are mine.
This book truly made me fall in love with dystopian fiction once more. This is book two, of the True Born trilogy, and by far my favorite of the three. This book is so fast-paced , and so intense that you don't want to look away. I loved lucy so much, my favorite character by far. We get to know her so well in this book, her vulnerability made her a bit relatable. That helped me be able to connect with her character.

So "True North" is the second instalment in this fascinating dystopian YA Trilogy.
And out of the two, this was hands down my favourite.
This just seemed to have a much more intense vibe overall than the previous book.
The action here was amped up and pumping from the get-go and it stayed constant throughout, with no actual let-up in sight.
So this started not long after "True Born left off.
With Margot god knows where after being voluntary kidnapped by her parents and the mysterious Leo Resnikov.
More than likely to somewhere in Russia.
Meanwhile, Lucy herself is beside herself, worried sick and determined to bring her twin home where she belongs.
So, Upon realising her tempory guardian Storm has a hidden agenda and is, in fact, pulling his feet in regards to the help he promised.
Lucy now decides she only has herself to rely on and sets out to accomplish her goals herself.
With the assistance of the enigmatic Alister who upon saving Lucy from a child street gang takes it upon himself to aid her in her future endeavours.
And also understandably the protective "True Born" Jared Price also along for the foreseeable ride.
These three young individuals set off across oceans and unfamiliar terrain all to attempt bringing Lucy's sister Margot back home to Dominion where she belongs.
So in True North, we finally get answers to some of those all important questions.
But for every one actually resolved another seemed to pop up in its place.
We also get to see a much closer relationship develop between Jared and Lucy with the former practically imprinting on her.
One niggle I do have know with this particular storyline is that I just don't get why Jared won't take his relationship with Lucy further.
And Lucy does she think she's holding out for something better?
What does it matter if Jared goes all beast on her, is there someone else in her crosshairs?
That would be my one annoyance I took away from reading this.
I just don't get the point here of staying apart.
when everything is turning to hell in a handbasket a constant would really be such a comfort.
Keeping your options open is a rather unromantic prospect as is saving someone from themselves.
Lucy should have turned around and told Jared to get over himself.
Why is she using her parents as an excuse as well, geez she should be disowning these un-natural rents.
This was also slightly more handsy than the previous book.
It was all very mild in nature though with just some light kissing and touching, nothing to stress over it was still very clean and suitably YA.
So I found this such an engrossing read and I am really looking forward to the final piece of this trilogy.
if you are looking for a good dystopian YA read this one really was a winner for me.
So I was kindly provided with an ARC of "True North" By Entangled Teen Publishing and Netgalley of which I have reviewed voluntary.
All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

GAH! I feel like a complete fangirl with this series but I can't stop gushing over and over about it. This was my favorite novel of the series. SO MUCH happens in this book. It brings the plot really to the top of the read and throws you into the deep end.



Not only do we get new characters in this read but we also get a lot more answers than we had before.

BUT BUT BUT
We also get some of the feels guys and my heart hurt a bit. You knew that at least at SOME POINT THE FEELS were coming, but I survived and it made this book all the more impactful.

True Storm and explosive, this novel was a catastrophic series of events that turns the tide with our heroes. L.E. Sterling shines with not only her character development and story, but with the world building. I felt like I was watching a movie while I read.

Could. Not. Put. It. Down.

1 ½ ★
I really was hoping this series would get better but sadly I thought it got worse.
While in book one we still got some plot , this book most of it felt forced and as pages fillers. I couldn’t really connect to the story at all this book.
Lucy was just TSTL the entire book, and really it seemed like she kept thinking she is ever so smart and trying to outsmart people when she really was just dumb. And that was her without having Price around and with him. Omg there are no words.
If that is even possible he as even a bigger a$$ in this book and I didn’t think there was anything sexy about him. He was just creepy, controlling and over all a jacka$$.
I had to force myself to finish it which wad sad because I really wanted to like this series.
I rated it at 1 ½ ★ and with hat will not continue with the series.

First off, I recommend reading the first book as the second is not a stand-alone novel. There is just too much information in the first book that you can't go without to understand the second book. There is definitely a lot of tension between Jared and Lucy as she is trying to leave Dominion city to find her sister, against his (and other True Born bodyguard's) wishes. I appreciate the genetic treatments of disease (even though there is no in-depth explanation) combined with the paranormal suspense of the story. This is a new variation on shape-shifters. I wish Jared and Lucy would just get to it already!!

When her parents take her sister to Russia, Lucy has nobody except the True Born Storm. Lucy agrees to be a pawn and allows Storm to use her to gather information. In return, he will keep her safe and help get her sister Margot back.

In a world where a plague is wiping people out and everyone is looking for a cure, Lucy doesn't know who to trust. There's something different about her and her sister and it puts the two of them in danger. Lucy feels lonely and lost without Margot, so when she realizes Storm isn't going to help her any time soon, Lucy takes matters into her own hands.

TRUE NORTH focuses on Lucy's journey to find her sister and bring her home. It's full of the same amount of politics and drama as the first one, but more secrets and answers are starting to emerge. I have to say there wasn't as much action in this one though. Lucy also discovers a man named Alastair who will help her get to Russia. He quickly became one of my favorite characters, especially since Jared, the romantic interest, isn't very likable. I hope to see a lot more of Alastair in the next one.


Final Verdict: I would recommend this one for fans of politics, genetics, and drama. The romance is a little lacking, but the secret-driven plot will hold your interest.

Another Fantastic book by L.E. Sterling. Well written with a great plot and characters. I was engrossed from start to finish. On the eve of Lucy and Margot's reveal, Lasters attack her home and Lucy is forced to run. Margot's has gone missing, Lucy is living with True Born Nolan Storm, unorthodox magic has been set loose upon the land, and Lucy is all mixed up when it comes to her fierce protector, Jared True Born Price.
Even though Lucy is upset about her circumstances, she still helps Storm navigate the Upper Circle. Wanting nothing more than to find her sister, Lucy finally makes some choices of her own. She tries to get help with where he sister might have been taken by a child in a kid gang. The child sets her up and it doesn't look good, but she is saved by Alistair. They wind up friends and he helps her try and find Margot. I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Netgalley.

True North is the second book in the True Born series. The story is continuous but does contain catch up information. I would recommend starting with Book One.

Lucy is left in the hands of True Born leader Nolan Storm. Her family have completely disappeared. Lucy is desperate to get her sister back but the trail is cold.

Nolan Storm has his own plan. He wants to become established in the socialite spotlight. He needs Lucy's help. He has promised to help her get her sister back but is too busy with his own agendas.

Jared is still keeping a close but distant relationship with Lucy. She finds him so frustrating.

Lucy knows Margot is in Russia and when she makes a new friend a plan is formed. She has a travel companion and a destination in mind. This is a rescue mission and we uncover more of the mystery. The plague is still killing people and the world is still dysfunctional.

This series is boarder line horror with some of the undesirable events. It's also an intense will they/won't they romance. I'm really enjoying this series. Lucy is an interesting character. The mystery keeps me guessing and Jared is a brooding alpha male.

4 stars out of 5.
*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

‘True North’ is the second book in the ‘True Born’ dystopian trilogy. Book 1, ‘True Born’ does an excellent job introducing readers to the characters, their societal hierarchy and history, and the overarching plot of the series. Click here to read the book or my review.

Lucy spends half this book aiding True Born Nolan Storm with infiltrating and gathering information from the elite Upper Circle at various social functions while waiting for him to help rescue her twin sister, Margot. She spends the later half of this book traveling to Russia to find her sister and discovering secrets of their blood and DNA. This book ends with both girls back safely in Dominion City, with more information, but even more new questions that need answering. Among them, the motives and intentions of two people close to them that seem to want to help them, but hold secrets close to their vest.

And then there’s her True Born body guard Jared Price and all the mystery and intrigue that follows.

Look out for the series’ conclusion, ‘True Storm’ on May 1st.

I received an e-copy of this book from Entangled Crush (via NetGalley) in the run up to the publication of the third book in this series, True Storm, and in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts and opinions in this review are entirely my own.
So first book in this series is just mind-blowing. This one was more of a go-between/ bridge to the third book. Though I do usually find this, a series is captivating when book 1 can stand on its own if necessary, providing thrill and entertainment. In this book Margot has accompanied her parents to Russia, but Lucy knows that it is not all innocent and sets off after her sister.
Because of Margot’s absence, we don’t have the same connection between the two sisters that we did in the first book, and whilst Lucy’s story isn’t un-interesting, the addition of her twin makes it that bit more… engaging. That being said, I did love the complete change of scenery, and glimpse into the life of what is could be like to be a Laster, and additionally the horror behind splicing.
Again this book is written incredibly well, and although I didn’t find the plot as fast paced and appealing as book 1, it still keeps the reader hooked and hungry for more. It’s just such a fabulous premise you can’t help but love the thrill of the series. It’s like money power vs raw power and one of the most intriguing battles you’ll read. I also love the air of mystery that still surrounds the True Borns, and Lucy and Margot themselves; since their reveal party was crashed, they – like the audience – are still searching high and low for answers.
Due to Lucy’s new situation, we see more of the True Borns which allows so much character development on their part! I didn’t see much in terms of development from Lucy, though compared to the very first pages of book 1 she has come so far already.
Overall I’m awarding this book 4*/5. It didn’t carry the same excitement and intrigue for me that the first book did, but this ending… there’s going to be big things occurring in book 3! I would recommend this to anyone with a love for fantasy and after a thrilling story to keep you on the edge of your seat.

True North, by author L.E. Sterling, is the second installment in the authors True Born trilogy. The story picks up four months after the ending of True Born which introduced readers to a dystopian world where a major plague tore through the world creating three separate but unequal factions: Splicers, Lasters, and True Born. Splicers are those who are able to have DNA treatments to lengthen their lives; Lasters are those who have been infected with the plague, and whose days are numbered; True Born's are those who are not affected by the plague thanks to some evolutionary advantage.

The protagonist of the series is 18-year old Lucinda (Lucy) Fox who, last we saw her, had her world upturned and has no clue what her reveal was supposed to show her. Everyone in this world is supposed to know what they are before the age of 18. Lucy's reveal was destroyed by a radical sect of Lasters. Lucy was born identical and conjoined with her sister Margot Fox. Margot has been missing for the past 4 months along with her parents and a Russian oligarch who wanted both sisters. Lucy and Margot have an interesting connection as well. They can both feel what the other feels.

We once again return to the fictional city of Dominion, but we won't be there the entire series. This time, the author takes Lucy for a little ride. With her world in ashes and her twin sister Margot carried off to Russia, Lucy has no choice but to rely upon the kindness of her True Born friends. But Nolan Storm, mysterious leader of the True Born's, has his own agenda: by leveraging Lucy’s connections, he intends to infiltrate the powerful Upper Circle. When Storm backtracks on his promise to rescue Margot, Lucy takes her fate into her own hands.

With the help of a new but mysterious friend, Alastair, and one spitting mad True Born bodyguard, Jared Price, who is his own world of complications; Lucy sets off for Russia, with its whispered rumors of Plague Cure and an introduction to a group known as the GILT who may have the money to remake the the world to before the plague. When Lucy and her friends arrive on the new shore, the trio discovers not all is as it appears. Things are truly bleak and it appears as though Lucy is being hunted. As they say in Dominion, sometimes it’s not who you are. It’s what's in your DNA.

This book is NOT a standalone. You must have some sense of where the story has been so that you can know where the author takes her characters from here. You can also expect a kind of cliffhanger ending to the story. There is lots, and lots of unanswered questions. Questions that I am hoping that the author reveals in the third and final installment called True Storm. I need to know about the attraction between Lucy and Jared. Is it animalistic, or is it really true love? Also, Alastair is a character who is very, very intriguing, but we are left with more questions than answers as to why he helps Lucy and seems to be an ally of hers. There is obviously an end game with Nolan Storm. I have some ideas, but let's see what the author has to say about it.

Very intriguing second book in the series! I enjoyed the continuation of the story. And can’t wait to read the last book in the series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Ever since I read True Born last year, I was anticipating book two, curious to see how the story would continue. After reading True North I can safely say that I wasn't disappointed and that the wait was definitely worth it. Now the only problem I have is that I'd like to read book three right about now.
Since this is a second book in a trilogy I don't want to say too much so I won't spoil anything, so I'll start off by saying that I love the cover. It's just as amazing as the cover of True Born, so I can't wait to have both books on my shelves sooner or later to show them off.
Okay, let's go into plot and character thoughts but trying to stay spoiler free, of course.
I loved following Lucy throughout the story once more as she tries to find Margot and figure things about with Jared. They are amazing together and their tension is off the hooks. She remains an amazing and interesting character which makes following her and her thoughts a lot of fun once more. True North is full of mysteries and also a few answers, though leaving a lot of them still unanswered and thus the reader hooked and thirsty for more and more. The world building continued to amaze me in this one, adding more details to the world L.E. Sterling created. Also the fact that we go to Russia made me happy because I love books that play there in any sort of way.
All in all True North is a worthy successor to True Born, fast paced and amazing beginning to end. I am definitely looking forward to the final book in the series and seeing how everything ends, even if saying goodbye to this trilogy will be a sad moment.

This book had just as much action, WTF-is-going-on-???-!!!-???-ness, brain exploding revelations, plot twists, and enough swoon worthy moments to keep a fangirl on her toes as the first book. Some people find all those qualities to be a bit overwhelming in a book. I feel sorry for them. The only thing I was angry about at the end of this book was the fact that the third one wasn't out yet.

After reading and loving the first book in this series, the sequel was a bit of a let down.
It had a strong beginning which recapped book 1 and helped you get settled back into the world. After that however, I felt that everything went downhill. The pacing was incredibly slow, and there was no real character development that I could tell. The plot of the novel hinged on one small event, which we didn't see until the very end, and the other 'events' in the plot made it feel as if virtually nothing happened. Even the romance, which I hoped would develop more, didn't.
Overall I wasn't impressed by this sequel, and it just wasn't for me. 2/5 stars.