Review - Guardian by Alex London

Guardian
by Alex London
Release Date: May 29th 2014
Published  by Philomel
Hardcover, 352 pages
Goodreads
My Rating - ✯ ✯


Description

 The pulse-pounding sequel to Proxy! Inspired by The Whipping Boy and Feed, this adrenaline-fueled thriller will appeal to fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent.

 In the new world led by the Rebooters, former Proxy Syd is the figurehead of the Revolution, beloved by some and hated by others. Liam, a seventeen-year-old Rebooter, is Syd’s bodyguard and must protect him with his life. But armed Machinists aren’t the only danger.

 People are falling ill—their veins show through their skin, they find it hard to speak, and sores erupt all over their bodies. Guardians, the violent enforcers of the old system, are hit first, and the government does nothing to help. The old elites fall next, and in the face of an indifferent government, Syd decides it’s up to him to find a cure . . . and what he discovers leaves him stunned.

My Review


 First I would like to say that I adored reading Proxy, the first book in the series. It was the first LGBT book that I've ever read and I had never read anything quite like it before. A world where good standing citizens "patrons" has designated poor folk "proxies" to take their punishment when they broke the law. Interesting right?

 I did like the introduction of the new character, Liam. He seemed like a pretty decent guy and made an interesting addition to the story. He was entirely devoted to keeping Syd safe. But it never really went into depth and explained why he was so willing to protect Syd in the first place, besides the obvious crush he had on him. Something else that I did like about this story was how Syd was willing to stick up for the Guardians (who developed a sickness resulting from the Machine being shut down) when no one else was willing to help them. He saw the humanity still in them that no one was willing to take a second glance at.

 Something about this book that I did not like, was that the world building felt incomplete, as well as the characters. This story was more about a revolution that happens during a revolution and veered off track from what I thought was an interesting enough storyline. As hard as I tried, I could not feel that "magic" that I had felt before.

 I was extremely excited to read this sequel, unfortunately for me the Guardian did not live up to the expectations that I held after reading Proxy. I found that the world building as well as the character development fell short in this story, and the plot became questionable. There were still a few exciting moments in this book, but I have to say it's one that wasn't really for me. I don't know if I will be continuing on with the series are not

I give this a 2 out of 5 stars.