The Soultakers (The Treemakers, #2) by Christina L. Rozelle

A Dystopian/Sci-Fi Adventure Novel published by A Spark in the Dark Press (12/03/14)

Summary:

Joy led the Treemaker children to the oasis, Zentao, in book one. They have settled in, but Joy is burdened with a terrible secret about the solace they thought they found and they must once again abandon this familiarity to find rest and freedom elsewhere.

 

Keywords:

Children, Orphans, Survival, Death, Exploration, Dystopian World, Polluted Air, Evil Intentions, AI, Motherliness, Help, Underground, Paradise, Fighting, Strength, Resilience, Spirit, Refuge, Power-Hungry, Keys, the Wall

My Review:

Joy is, once again, my favorite character. She is a hero and a mother to all the children. There is only one path for Joy in life, she must do or die trying and these are high stakes. Everything about Joy is exciting as she is solidly in the middle of a powerful adventure. Joy didn’t have to step up to be the hero, she already is everything a hero is, she is brave and willing to sacrifice to save those she loves. There are so many to save.

The villain in this book, book two of the series, is made more clear and given a visible personality and face. He is very evil. His depravity will make you cringe. He is stereotypical for a villain but made even more villainy and evil than your average bad guy who is power hungry and corrupt. The things he does in this book will make you shiver. Rozelle does a very good job of creating her villain and making him the most despicable person you’ve ever known.

The society in this book, Alzenei, is much like the Capitol in the Hunger Games, much like Lord Daumier the villain is like President Snow. There was a detail in the Treemakers that really made me cringe, almost as much as the despicable scenes with Joy and Daumier where he shows his true nature and how evil he is to the very core. I wish that beauty wasn’t the same in this future/dystopia as it is in present day, that there was a different possibility. Lord Daumier wants Joy to be blonde haired and blue eyed. For their ‘special night’ she must be beautified with no body hair, lots of makeup, plucked, primped, moisturized etc, dressed up. Why can’t beauty be something different in this society?

I thought the big ‘twist’ could have been layered in better as it was very abrupt and hard to handle reading such a different thing entirely in the middle of the book. You get entranced in the main story and continuation from book one, plunging down the rabbit hole of Joy’s life until suddenly, poof, you’re somewhere else entirely. This is not a twist, it’s a different book and almost different idea into the middle of the Soultakers and took some time to get used to.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review

This novel was published by A Spark in the Dark Press on December 3rd, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.50

Links for more information:

About the author:

Christina L. Rozelle, author of the YA Dystopian-Scifi-Romance-Adventure, “The Treemakers,” is a mother of four currently residing in Dallas, Texas. She enjoys fiction that shines a light in the dark; has emotion, intensity, verve, depth, and truth. She writes what she’d love to read. Though her focus is currently YA speculative fiction, she dabbles in other genres as well, including adult speculative, fantasy, addiction/recovery fiction, and other general fiction. To find out more about her, as well as links to her other social media outposts, please visit her fan-site: http://christinalrozelle.com/