GR Reviewer #1

I want to get something off my chest first, Tony generously allowed me to read this for free to review. In an effort to seem unbiased and fair, I generally try to point out a positive and a negative about the work so that I don't seem pandering.

I've even held back stars because of it. But no longer. Tony's work just wont let me do it anymore.

I deeply enjoyed The Annihilation of Foreverland and was anticipating this release. I was worried, given the big reveal in AoF, that I might enjoy this installment less. I was gladly proven oh so very wrong.

Tony has remarked multiple times that it is not necessary to have read Annihilation to read Foreverland is Dead, and that is entirely 100% true. But you know what, you should. Not only because Tony did a great job with it, but because it gives it that extra layer of gravity on top of some already engrossing situations.

To the legit review part:
FiD starts with 6 girls waking up in a dingy cabin and a brick house only one of them has access to. They have no memories, no names until they read labels in their jeans, and no clue where they are or why. Some possess useful everyday life skills that aid in prolonging their survival, but they have no clue where they learned them.

Each girl is to contribute to the group to try to survive the winter, but in typical human fashion, someone never seems to pull their weight. And one girl is different from the rest, but no one knows why.

The conflict gets borderline Lord of the Flies on more than one occasion, and Tony beautifully portrays a group in flux, united, annoyed at each other, united, don't make me kill you, united, etc.

The girls deal with increasingly harsher weather conditions, intra-group turmoil, and the looming mystery of where they are and why they are there. A stranger claims to have the answers, but the girls aren't sure they want them.

While the story is told predominantly from the perspective of two girls. Not only does this show the great diversity in how people perceive and develop different opinions about the same thing, it provides the reader the chance to get at the full mystery of the tiny settlement in the woods.

I want to remain spoiler free, so I'll leave out remarking on some of my favorite bits, suffice to say, the girls are dealing with the direct aftermath of the annihilation of Foreverland.

And those last few lines...holy crap. Holy crap. Holy Crap.

GR Reviewer #2

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for a review. It didn't influence my opinion in any way.

To put it simply, this book is freaking awesome. It's the second in a series, and the first was great, but this one leaves the first one in the dust. It does "sequel" right, that's for sure--building on the events of the first book without getting repetitive but also manages to give enough information that the first book isn't something you have to read. I think that I could have read this and understood it fairly easily without having read The Annihilation of Foreverland first, but I also think that reading the two of them together made this one so much better. More horrifying, in a way, because I had insider information that the girls didn't have.

While I was reading this, I completely lost track of time and got caught up in the story, and I probably missed a lot of detail because I plowed through it like I did, but I'm completely all right with that. It was still shocking. The last 10% or so had me literally on the edge of my seat, and I reread that part twice. The last couple of sentences? Oh my god.

I usually try for some constructive criticism or something. I really don't have any. This is a wonderful book. READ IT. If you don't like sci-fi, read it anyway; you will be pleasantly surprised.

GR Reviewer #3

WHOA! I am totally blown away.

The story is fantastic – it sucks you in from the start. There is this feeling of mystery and suspense throughout the whole book. While we don’t know much about the girls, the story never lacked for anything. I was aching to know more (in a good, page turning way), and I was so invested in the girls that I kept rooting for them and holding out hope that there would be a happy ending. There are some surprises that I definitely didn’t see coming and there are some twists that definitely make me think there will be a third book.

While this book the “sequel” to The Annihilation of Foreverland, both books could easily be stand-alone books (a talent that I believe notes a great author). The books tie together nicely but there is not that “pick up where you left off” feeling. You could easily read the books alone or in either order, but I suggest reading them in the order they were written. Reading The Annihilation of Foreverland and knowing the boys’ story definitely made things interesting.

Another reason why I loved this book, is because it was not at all what I expected. I read The Annihilation of Foreverland first (and loved it), I thought that this book would be a female version of that, as in more of the same. I was totally wrong and was happy that this book was so totally different, but still gave me the same feelings (heart racing, creeped out, dying to know what happens next, and so on). The concepts in this book about dreams and advanced science/medical technology get my gears spinning.

The author truly has the gift of storytelling: I loved this book and highly recommend it.

I received a copy of this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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