Review: Wanderers (Wasteland, #2) by Susan Kim & Laurence Klavan

Wanderers by Susan Kim & Laurence Klavan

Series: Wasteland, #2
Release Date: March 25^th 2014
Publisher:  HarperTeen
Format: egalley
Pages: 352
Genre: Young Adult – Science Fiction, Dystopia
Source: Edelweiss
Author:  Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads

The Emmy Award-nominee and Edgar Award-winning duo bring readers back to the Wasteland in this thrilling sequel.

Karin Slaughter, bestselling author of Criminal, called Wasteland, "A Lord of the Flies for future generations. An irresistible page-turner."

The former citizens of Prin are running out of time. The Source has been destroyed, so food is scarcer than ever. Tensions are rising…and then an earthquake hits.

So Esther and Caleb hit the road, leading a ragtag caravan. Their destination? A mythical city where they hope to find food and shelter - not to mention a way to make it past age nineteen.

On the way, alliances and romances blossom and fracture. Esther must rally to take charge with the help of a blind guide, Aras. He seems unbelievably cruel, but not everything is as it seems in the Wasteland.…

In this sequel to Wasteland, the stakes are even higher for Esther, Caleb, and the rest of their clan. They're pinning all their hopes on the road...but what if it's the most dangerous place of all?

*This is a review of the second book and it may contain spoilers.*

Nope, just Nope. I will start right off the bat saying that I will not be picking up the next book in the trilogy. I tried to give the second book and a chance and it just didn’t do it for me either, although it was slightly better than the first book. I almost didn’t pick it up at all because someone put a spoiler in the capital letters on Goodreads and I saw it as I was skimming through to see what people had rated it. I was super bummed about that spoiler too.

The book starts with Esther hunting using the techniques that her variant friend Skar had taught her. She has not really seen Skar since she was partnered. Skar is acting very distant and Esther can tell that something is wrong. Joseph, Caleb, Kai, & Esther all live in a crumbling apartment together above a Starbucks. Everyone in the town is starving and they all blame it on Caleb since he took down Levi and caused “the source” to burn down. Leaving the town to provide for themselves.

Caleb and Esther try to talk the town into leaving but of course no one wants to go. Then quite conveniently, later that night a giant earthquake hits and destroys the town and kills half the people in it. This forces everyone to have to leave. Rafe, who had stepped down from being the town leader but still likes to be the leader, tells everyone that they need to go to a place called Mundreel (Montreal), which they have only heard rumors about. Everythign there is supposed to be great, but Caleb and Joseph try to tell them they haven’t heard anything true about it, or anything that can be verified.

After certain events happen that I won’t spoil, Skar ends up leaving town with the group also. People are wary of her but welcome her because she can hunt. I would also like to say that no one knew that edible plants grew in the wild. They thought it had to be dried out and packaged in order to eat it. I found this a little unbelievable. New friends are made in this book and some people die., including ones that I was not expecting at all. Caleb also mentions having a child with Esther. Why would someone want to bring a new child into a world that you can’t survive in?! Now, don't get me wrong, there are a couple scenes that are worth reading but a couple scenes out of an entire book just aren't worth it to me. 

The writing is not the best in this book which was a major problem for me in the first book. There are plot holes and things happen and then never get spoken of again. As with the first book this one changes different points of view, however, it changes in the middle of a chapter with no warning what so ever. Multiple times I had to try and figure out who was narrating. There is a certain death scene that could have been written really well and I felt like the entire thing was over in a couple of pages.

Like I said, I will not be going on to the next book and I really can’t recommend either book to anyone. IF you read the first one and didn’t like it, don’t waste your time.

My Rating:

*This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.