I taste blood from a blow that split my lip. “There can be no winner between us.”
Mykal releases my arms. “Then it’s a good thing we’re not at war with each other.”
We’re together. A team. The three of us.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me an arc of this! This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2018 and I was ecstatic when I got the mail! Moving on to the review - It doesn't disclose any more information than the synopsis above does except for the obvious hidden part below.

The concept of the book was really interesting and original. It's something I didn't come across in SciFi before and I was immediately intrigued. The story is set in a world where people can find out the day they die with the help of advanced technology. This has a great impact on their role in society. The story revolves around three characters who outlive their death day.

The Raging Ones features a unique group of characters (you don't hear me saying this often about books) who're really well written. My heart ached for them when their backstories were revealed and it wasn't long before I was attached to them.

Court reads the challenge in my features, asking him to say it all again.
Unwavering, he tells me, “You are loved by two boys.”
“Just two?” I joke with a tearful laugh.
Court rolls his eyes, but there’s a smile attached.
Their friendship is the strongest I’ve ever had.

Mykal, Franny and Court are a dynamic trio. After they outlive their death days they become linked to each other. This bond brings them together and is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. It's raw, pure and intense, unlike any other.

The romance in this book was the cutest. I ship it and I ship it so hard. (view spoiler)

My only issue with the book was that it was a little slow for my liking and I found myself losing interest at some parts but the friendships kept me going. Seriously, I'm not exaggerating when I say that their friendship is to die for. Another thing I noticed was the vague explanations or the lack of explanations for certain things but I guess it's not a stand alone for a reason.

By the end of the book, I was left me with so many questions and I can't wait for them to be answered in the sequel. I also hope we get more of the secondary characters, especially kinden and gem (whose banter was so entertaining). The authors did a pretty good job with their first Sci/Fi and I can't wait to see what they have in store for us in the next one!

"He threw his arms around me like I'd been his long-lost friend. I hugged him like I was meeting my soul again. There are some moments and some feelings that I can't even explain. I'm a young man of medicine and science and logic, but the sentiments I wield for Mykal transcend all three."

“Why do you call me little love?”
“I extend an arm around her shoulders, my lips curving upward. “My pa talked a lot, and he’d often tell me”—my mouth brushes her ear—“Beyond the mountains, Mykal, the old say that those who die young find little love. No time for more, yeh see, but if that’s so, then I’ll be surrounding myself with a little love over a great big love any day of the week.”

I'm so impressed! I am obsessed with Krista and Becca's romance books and they are my all-time favourite authors, so it's so different reading a sci-fi fantasy of theirs, but this was amazing! They took such a different route than what most YA books would take, and I'm so happy with the result. The concept of the entire book was so cool and interesting. I was emotionally invested immediately from the dedication, each character's introduction, and I had tears in my eyes reading the acknowledgments.

As always, I love Krista and Becca's characters. Franny's sass, Court's seriousness, and everything about Mykal. The bond and connection between those three was so interesting and beautiful, and the only trio I can think to compare it to is Tessa, Will, and Jem from The Infernal Devices. That being said, the romance in the book was different, and what most would not expect when a YA book has two boys and one girl as its main characters.

Mykal really stole my heart, because here you have this big, muscular boy with a crooked nose and hard-hearted eyes who loves to kiss Court's cheek and pester Franny while also calling her 'little love'. He was so sweet and protective. His relationship with Court was adorable and so full of love, and I appreciated that in this world no one batted an eye that they were two boys. Zimmer really surprised me, and I love how he came back and was rooming with Franny. That scene where they first shared a bed really changed how I felt about him because we actually got to know him, and I loved the friendship that he and Franny are forming. I was so happy when he showed up on the starcraft! Court's relationship with his brother was complicated and sad, and I loved how much Court loved his brother. I'm happy with how the truth came out, and I'm so interested in how it's going to continue to develop in the next book.

That ending! So many questions! Bravo to Krista and Becca, because I was not expecting it at all.

My only complaints about this book would have to be that some of the scenes that were heavy on space stuff or the planet history were kind of slow, some topics regarding the deathdays weren't entirely explained (which actually might have to do with what was revealed in the ending), and made up swear words take some getting used to. It didn't bother me after a while, though, since to be fair, this book takes place very far into the future, and with the ways that their society has so completely tried to separate the age groups, it is believable that they would use different words.

The strongest part of the book was the characters and their relationships. I genuinely loved the characters so much in this, and as usual, Krista and Becca are so strong in writing multidimensional characters who don't follow any a specific trope. They all feel and express a wide variety of emotions that I really appreciate in all of their books.

So looking forward to reading the next one, and the wait will be a long one! Huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC!

I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
Wow wow wow. This fantasy debut from the Richie sisters (queens of steamy romance) was absolutely perfect! Mykel, Court, and Franny are such vivid characters and their bond is simply brilliant. I loved everything about this book and was enraptured from beginning to end. Bring on the sequel!

I found it to confusing and couldn't connect with the plot or the characters. It's too bad, because plot line is very interesting. Not he right book for me.

WOW, I really loved this. The story is romantic which can totally be a hit or miss for me in sci-fi, but this one felt interesting. The plot is super fun, engaging and interesting. The book does not feel too long, but almost too short. I love the idea of "hey, you... so here is your death date, good luck". Well, more or less. How they divide up the people are very interesting and I want to say you can drag some relevance into todays society..

One thing that can be a bit frustrating is that you really are just thrown into the book. You don't get "HELLO SO MY NAME IS EPJDIJ AND THIS IS WHAT IS HAPPENING". I don't mind that at all, but I know for some readers it can be a challenge.

I'd absolutely recommend this one further to friends. It's such a fun and great read.

The raging Ones is kind of an odd duck: in many ways, it is completely original and in other ways, it hits every cliche tree branch in a freefall of logic issues and plot holes. Even though we aren't given much in the way of world building, I don't see how the authors are going to write themselves out of some issues that became glaring by midway through the story. The story does hinge on you falling for the characters; if you don't, it will be a slog through a rather stale mire. But if you do fall for them, you'll be rooting for them all the way through to the end with enthusiasm.

Story: Franny's deathday has come, as foretold at her birth. She's ready to die but can't line up the resources to make her last wish come true. Instead, she finds herself left out in the snow, scavengers tearing off her clothes and bums urinating on her as she waits to die. But she has unknowingly established a connection with two other individuals; saved by them, she finds that all three have somehow lived past their expected death days and now must learn to survive and continue in this new world. Court and Mykal and Franny are all linked mentally somehow - able to feel what the others feel. Into this confusion, Franny discovers that Court has a plan: they will apply for the Stardust program in an attempt to get off the planet. It gives them a goal in a world that now is terrifying: they could die at any moment and won't know it is coming.

The plot device of being able to feel each other's emotions/feelings was very underwritten and underdeveloped. They could feel some things but not others, sometimes feel something and sometimes not. It was all so convenient for the plot but I wish the authors had spent time developing hard and fast rules as to when/how something could be felt so as to be more believable and organic. They 'felt' each other at pretty random times - deep hurt, physical pain, emotional pain, touching a seat, tasting blood, swallowing, sitting on something soft - it ran a gamut of senses that really didn't seem to have a clear boundary of rules to make it logical.

Then, we had the really bad part: the 'tests' to get into the space program. All three not only need to learn to speak/talk/walk/look like the Influentials (those who will live long lives and so live differently) but one would imagine they would have had to have some kind of science training to go into space? In this world, all you need is money to pay the entrance exam, and then to memorize a card with a word on it, take some zero g tests/centrifugal force tests, some random piloting and lo: the 30 left get the positions. The 'tests'/trials were laughable and I can only imagine showing that to an actual astronaut. Imagine if all it took to pilot a space shuttle was some simple training and random "survival of the fittest' tests?

The characters are the three cliche archtypes that you find in every genre: brainy, gutsy, physically powerful (e.g., mage, rogue, warrior in fantasy). That most of the story focused on what one of the other main characters was feeling meant that we never really got much into the characters themselves until very late into the book: I have to admit to being very disaffected. On one hand, the characters were distinct (somewhat, though, considering they were archetypes) and had unique voices. But on the other hand, I never really liked any of them or was given a reason to want to follow them or root for them to succeed. I wanted each to have their own character development rather than trying to quiz it through the thoughts of the other two.

There is a cliffhanger at the end and a 'big reveal' that, although I didn't see coming at all, felt disingenuous: it's a surprise because we weren't given any world building. Some things are explained at the end but it all started to fall apart at that point when it did. Instead of being in awe of the great surprise, I couldn't help but feel disappointed: the book was written for the reveal rather than the reveal being a natural progression of the story.

In essence, the ending is a giant reset of the story with a completely new avenue to explore in the next book. But it once again looks like the typical YA of teens fighting the establishment a la the third Hunger Games book. I'm kind of over it, at this point, since I had high expectations of something different (at least it wasn't a typical unique snowflake female lead and some love interests....oh wait, never mind). So in all, not a terrible read but perhaps most disappointing in that it didn't meet expectations. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital ARC of “The Raging Ones” by Krista Ritchie and Becca Ritchie. I was really impressed by this book. It has fantastic adventure pace with great characters. I really enjoy the sassiness of the characters. This book has great atmosphere. If you enjoy well rounded characters in a fun and exciting environment this is a book to check out.

I've never really read anything in this genre, but The Raging Ones quickly became the book I didn't know I needed.

How would you live your life if you knew when its end was coming?

The imagery created by the Ritchie twins takes you to this futuristic, mystical land completely wrapped up in a class system based on someone's predetermined death date. You can close your eyes and see clouds of lilac smoke and snow as far as the eye can see.

I'm not accustomed to writing reviews for this genre, but as usual, Krista and Becca nail the character develop and the connection between our trio, Franny, Court, and Mykal. It's insanely heartfelt and bone-deep. They are all 3 connected by something they have in common which causes this irrevocable link to each other.

I was so moved by the arc created for this story, and I'm so excited for its sequel. I also have a new outlook on the genre, thanks to Krista and Becca, whose writing I crave.

Unfortunately this book just didn’t hit me the right way. I could not get into the story, the characters, or the world that was attempted to be built around me. I suppose I am just not a fan of the way these authors write. It felt very drawn out and too laden down with unnecessary facts and traits, which made for a dragging pace and some confusion about this new world.
I did like the idea and premise that the story is based on. There were great moments and some fun adventures, they were just too bogged down for me and I needed more to get me through. This could be a good book for the more dedicated sci-fi reader, but with this genre exploding right now, there are too many other titles out there that simply do a better job engaging more readers that will overshadow this title on our shelves.

Thank you for the chance to review this book! A full review will be posted closer to release day.

I was a little confused as to how and what to expect from this book.. Three teens, linked in emotions? Deathdays? I just had to find out more..

There's a lot going on in this book and much of it doesn't feel worth mentioning in a review like this.. Though a few things stood out for me.. The mission to space, the 'old friend' that Court seems to forget to mention a few times.. Their emotional bond..

I liked this book a lot and I'm looking forward to more of the raging ones!

I don't read many YA/Scifi novels, however I trust Krista and Becca unconditionally so I didn't hesitate picking up this book. I was not disappointed! The world they created was very original and intrigued me a lot. I was looking forward to learning more and more about the characters and their lives. I loved the idea of a bond/link between Court, Franny and Mykal. But I also enjoyed that all three had a very different personality. They come from different 'worlds' and grew up in different circumstances. The characters grow significantly in this book, and I am looking forward to seeing they grow even more.

One of my pet peeves in Scifi or Fantasy books is that the world-building is too complicated, and that the author dumps a lot of information at the reader at once. I was glad that the authors didn't do that in this book, however there were times that I wanted more information. For example, I wanted more details on how the worlds were created and how the people differed from one another. So that left me a bit wanting more, however I am hopeful that Krista and Becca will go more into depth in the next book. The twist at the end was super unexpected, and I am so excited to get my hands on the sequel and to see what will happen next. The Raging Ones is a successful YA/Scifi novel by Krista and Becca Rithie, and I can't wait to see with what they will come up in the future.

Franny, Court, and Mykal are connected. I admit in the beginning their ability to feel each other's feelings and such was confusing. As much for them as for me the reader. The idea of having a deathday is a bit unnerving to me. Did like all the characters, even the secondary ones. Also liked that who you thought were the bad guys weren't truly bad, no real villian (except for one you don't really see much) in this story. No big evil that we know of. Very unique story and I liked the premise although to be truthful we don't really get the whole story in Book #1. Did end on a HUGE cliffhanger so I do need the next book like now! I received an ebook at no charge for which I voluntarily provided an honest review.

Thank you for providing me with a copy of this book.

Unfortunately, I couldn't connect with the characters or the story-line at this time so it was a DNF at 36%

This book is weird. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I will say it took me quite a while to really get into it. The base premise was intriguing, but I did not realize they were on another planet until like 3/4ths of the way through. I just thought it was incredibly far in the future in a dystopian kind of way. Court, Mykal, and Franny all live in a world where they know when they are going to die. It's not a maybe, it is definite. After they somehow avoid their death days they need to find a way to survive, which leads them to StarDust and a plan to travel in space to avoid the government finding out about them. What I found so interesting about this book was the level of detail on the culture. Each societal tier had their own language and mannerisms, which is often lacking in world building books. My major complaint is the end. I won't give away any spoilers but I invested so much time in these characters and now I feel like the story is really getting started. Overall, this book is definitely different and interesting, but I was disappointed at the pacing and I hoped for more insight into the main characters.

4 stars - Futuristic, sci-fi YA novel with amazing friendships/relationships.

Authors Krista Ritchie and Becca Ritchie provide excellent world building. The story takes place on a frozen planet, centuries into the future. Over the course of many chapters, readers are slowly exposed to the religious beliefs, scientific explanations, social structure, norms and customs of this planet’s inhabitants. I really enjoyed learning about this planet and appreciated the lack of info-dump.

‘The Raging Ones’ is told through alternating points of view of Franny, Court, and Mykal, which blend together to provide readers with a more complete picture of the story than any character has on their own. When the story begins, Franny is working on plans for her upcoming deathday. Court and Mykal, having both inexplicably dodged their deathdays, are making arrangements to lie, steal, and deceive their way into the highly coveted and limited positions aboard a space shuttle.

After the boys rescue Franny from nefarious thieves, she joins in their preparations. Of the three, only Court has experience with the upper-class Influentials whom they need to imitate in order to gain positions on the space mission. Lessons in etiquette, posture, speech, writing, reading, eating, and dressing help to bring Franny up to speed and reinforce Mykal’s understanding. Meanwhile, all three teenagers adjust to various aspects of living with their new bond.

Once the trio arrives at the space mission training center, they must compete with over a thousand other applicants. The connection shared between them differentiates ‘The Raging Ones’ from other YA competition books such as The Selection or Hunger Games.

The beginning of the book might seem a little slow to some readers, but I’m very glad I stuck with it. These three characters are far more interesting once they meet up and slowly share their secrets. The friendships/relationships that build between them are wholly unique experiences, and what really makes this book shine in my opinion.

Join Franny, Court, and Mykal on their adventure, starting August 14, 2018. #TheRagingOnes #NetGalley

I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s.

Three teenagers sharing a mystical bond in a YA book isn’t abnormal. In fact, some would say it’s downright cliché. What isn’t cliché is how the bond isn’t romantic. At least, it’s not romantic in terms of a love triangle featuring two boys fighting over one girl. In fact, the boys are much more interested in each other than the new girl.

Okay, so I have to be honest. I was intrigued by this book not because of the main synopsis, but because of the LGBT characters plus the sci-fi element. Too often in YA, LGBT characters are relegated to contemporary stories only, and I’m not here for it. I want some SFF diversity. So when I started this one, I wasn’t totally sure what I was getting into. And by the end of it, I was just like “Huh?” and “What in the world did I just read?” And not necessarily in a good way.

The plot of this book starts out weirdly, but the characters are what lead the story. Court is kind of a more emotional Kaz Brekker. Mykal is… well, he’s Mykal. I don’t know of very many characters like him. He’s a gruff, simple, outdoorsy dude. He’s like a younger, hotter Ron Swanson on an ice planet. And Franny is pretty simple in terms of lifestyle as well. She does what she wants. She’s unique, but she’s got a little Tris and/or Katniss in her.

These characters’ backgrounds are fascinating, but—and this is a big BUT—those backgrounds could have been explored way more than they were. All three of the characters’ backstories were just summed over like they didn’t really matter. This was very frustrating. I don’t like it when readers don’t get the emotional impact from a previous event and instead are just told a very summed up, quickie version.

This problem transferred over into plot as well. Any time something remotely interesting happen plot-wise, two pages later, it would be wrapped up. Any fight or conversation took two seconds to fix. There was just a lot of showing and not a lot of telling. Everything was summed up instead of slowed down for dramatic effect, including relationship dynamics. This made the subplots dull, and it lessened the impact of the primary plot. Also, a lot of crying happened in this one. I was a little confused as to why the characters’ emotions were all over the place.

Okay, so those are the negatives. There are quite a few. However, I was sucked in about 15% of the way in, so the beginning is good. The middle is where things get hard to wade through, and then the ending, the very end, is where things pick up. The Raging Ones finally turned into the space story I was promised. Now, I want to see what happens in book two. I’m not dying to know, but I am curious.

All in all, this book could have been The Hunger Games meets The 100 (in space!) with its own super unique twist, instead, it went a totally different direction and kind of just floundered there. The relationships were meh and the plot was too summarized 90% of the time. I’d suggest going into this one with caution.

3/5 stars

*Note: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

This book was so different from what I was expecting, but I still loved it. I’ve been a fan of Krista and Becca Ritchie for a few years now, and this book followed their signature writing style, which I LOVE. However, it is a much different genre than what I’m typically used to reading from them. I’m not used to reading sci-fi, but I really enjoyed this book! The world building in this book was incredible. As soon as you pick up this book, you get thrown into the world of Saltare-3, and there is no detail missing. The distinction between the Influentials, Fast-Trackers and Babes was easy to pick up on, and such an interesting twist on class divisions. There are so many other elements that make this world so distinct from anything I’ve ever read, and somehow completely plausible.

Every person in this world knows their death day, and the authors take into account how this would influence the way a person lives, and apply it to their characters. The link between the three main characters is the only piece of the puzzle I have not yet completely figured out, and I’m hoping we’ll get answers in book two! My only complaint is that there were a lot of little intricate plots and I wasn’t sure why they were all relevant, but I promise, by the end it all makes sense and they were all necessary to reach the conclusion! Just be patient, you’ll see!

Of course, this book contains a love story just as wonderful as KB Ritchie’s other books, just on a YA scale. The love story was no where near the main focus of this book, which I really appreciated because it is not that genre. It was a nice, natural addition that really benefitted the story and provided great representation. The one canon couple by the end of the book is so sweet, I can’t wait to see more of them (and all the other characters!) in the next book. I have to say, besides the main three characters, Zimmer was my favourite. He was so funny, and parts of his story were heart wrenching. His mischief was one of my favourite parts of the story! I was unsure of him at first (you’ll know exactly why when you read it) but by the end I was totally invested in his story and I can’t wait to learn more about him, as well as the other side characters.

I would definitely read this book to any fan of YA, sci-fi or even fantasy, as well as those who already love Krista and Becca Ritchie’s writing! Definitely check it out, the book is so well written and it draws you in with lovable characters and an entirely new world. One of my top reads of 2018 for sure!