#Review - Ruthless by Sarah Tarkoff #YA #Dystopian

Series: Eye of the Beholder # 3
Format: Paperback, 368 pages
Release Date: March 31, 2020
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Source: Publisher
Genre: Fiction / Dystopian

A brave young woman risks everything to expose a conspiracy controlling her world in this heart-pounding finale to the Eye of the Beholder series, a thrilling sag set in a near-future dystopian society.

Grace Luther grew up believing in the Revelations: the moment when Great Spirit “saved” humanity and transformed the world into a place where pious behavior is rewarded with beauty, and wrongdoing results in ugliness and even death. But at eighteen she learned the truth: the Revelations were a lie meant to manipulate and suppress her society.

Joining the resistance, Grace heroically struck a major blow against the government of the prophets. Now many in the rebellion believe that “Prophet Grace,” is the champion who will lead them to final victory. Grace isn’t so sure. The battle has cost too many lives—including those closest to her. Devastated by all she has seen and endured, she fears she cannot command anyone—much less an entire movement.

As the government’s reign of terror intensifies, rebel after rebel is targeted and killed. Yet there is one last hope. With the future at stake, Grace must overcome her fears to expose and destroy the government’s false prophets forever. Though she has many doubts, there’s one thing she’s certain of: she will lead the rebellion to victory . . . or die trying.

Prophet is the third and final installment in author Sarah Tarkoff's Eye of the Beholder trilogy. This story picks up right where Restless left off. 10 years ago, a world wide phenomena called the Revelation, united the entire world under one Universal Theology. So called Prophets rose to prominence. Almost everyone believed that those like Joshua are a direct mouthpiece of the Great Spirit. Thanks to a network of tiny nanobots in everyone's brains, there have been no wars or large scale conflicts for 10 years.

But, there has been a steep price to pay for humanities new utopia and not everyone is happy with the new status quo. Those who are “good” are blessed with beauty, while those who are not suffer horrifying consequences, disfigurement, or even death under what is called Punishment. It is hard for Grace, who is a daughter of a cleric who was front and center of the Revelation, to come to terms with any other realities. She's had years of religious fundamentalism drilled into her brain. 

But, since she went undercover to expose the hypocrisy of the Prophets, especially Joshua, Grace has pushed the boundaries and decided to go to war against the Prophets expose them for their hypocrisy. After naming herself Prophet Grace and escaping from South Africa, Grace and her friends end up in Brazil. Grace has a few loyal friends still alongside, including Dawn who is the overall leader of the rebellion. But, plenty of enemies including one who was supposed to be dead; her own mother, are eager to see Grace fail spectacularly. 

 

The battle will be costly. Lives, including those closest to her, may fall. After so much devastation and loss, how can Grace survive against all odds? Grace must overcome her fears to expose and destroy the false prophets forever and if her mother gets in the way, she goes down as well. Plus, Grace has to choose who she trusts. Can she trust Zack who claims to be a double agent? Or, how about Jude who she holds her heart? The ending left me puzzled for reasons I can't spoil. Grace has pushed and shoved and knocked down and treated like crap but when all is said and done, does it really matter what she tried to do? 

 

This book, as with the previous installments, is written into a bunch of minor books. Kind of like episodes of a series. Which shouldn't be surprising since the author has been writing for TV series.  

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#Review - Fearless by Sarah Tarkoff #Fantasy #Dystopian

Series: Eye of the Beholder # 2
Format: Paperback, 384 pages
Release Date: January 15, 2019
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Source: Publisher
Genre: Dystopian

In a near future society in which morality is manifested through beauty and ugliness, a young woman will imperil her future and her world to expose the global shadow network that uses its power to play God and control humanity.

A decade ago, Grace Luther’s life was changed by the Revelations: the moment when Great Spirit “saved” humanity and transformed the world into a place where pious behavior is rewarded with beauty, and wrongdoing results in ugliness and even death.

Now, at eighteen, Grace knows that everything she believed about the Revelations is a lie—a myth constructed by the government of the Prophets to force its citizens into model behavior . . . and one that led to her mother’s death. She is determined to expose the deception and bring down the Prophets, even if it means aligning herself with the resistance, a group she doesn’t entirely trust.

 

Fearless is the second installment in author Sarah Tarkoff's Eye of the Beholder series. This story picks up approximately 6 months after the ending of Sinless. 10 years ago, a world wide phenomena called the Revelation, united the entire world under one Universal Theology. So called Prophets rose to prominence. Almost everyone believes that those like Joshua are a direct mouthpiece of the Great Spirit. Thanks to a network of tiny nanobots in everone's brains, there have been no wars or large scale conflicts for 10 years.

But, there has been a steep price to pay for humanities new utopia and not everyone is happy with the new status quo. Those who are “good” are blessed with beauty, while those who are not suffer horrifying consequences, disfigurement, or even death under what is called Punishment. It is hard for Grace, who is a daughter of a cleric who was front and center of the Revelation, to come to terms with any other realities. She's had years of religious fundamentalism drilled into her brain.

After insinuating herself into Prophet Joshua’s inner circle, Grace gets closer to fulfilling her mission to destroy his mind-influencing nanotechnology. Grace is now a double agent for a world wide resistance that we, as readers, will get an in-depth look into as Grace makes her way across the world trying to stay one step ahead of Joshua and others like him who rose out of the so called Revelation. Thanks to shocking discoveries in Sinless. Grace has chosen her own path.

While attending NYU, she has to deal with Dawn, and the resistance who she doesn't full trust. She has to deal with Joshua, who has his own agenda when it comes to Grace. But, the one person who she is seriously questioning is Zack, the boy who seems to be everywhere she goes. Is Zack an ally, or just another pawn in the Prophets game? Zack is a secretive government agent (which will be brought to life in this story) who is sometimes an enemy and sometimes a friend has been shadowing her every move. 

Is he protecting her—or hunting her? And Jude, her first love, has returned from hiding to aid her—a task complicated by their history. In a dangerous world filled with lies and betrayals, Grace can’t trust anyone. And the choices she makes will either save her friends, the resistance, and the hope of attaining free will—or secure the Prophets’ power and ultimate control.

I am kind of unhappy with Grace. She's a pawn to everyone from the Prophets, to the Prophets people, and of course, the Rebellion who wants her to do what they say or end up in even worse trouble. Each side wants more and more from here. Each side really doesn't care what happens to her when all is said and done. Plus, Grace has to choose who she trusts. Can she trust Zack? Or, how about Jude who she left behind in the previous installment? The ending leaves hope, but after reading the opening, I'm urious as to how the author is going to wrap this story up.

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Thursday #Review - Sinless by Sarah Tarkoff #YALit #Dystopian

Series: Eye of the Beholder # 1
Format: E-Book, 304 pages
Release Date: January 9, 2017
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Source: Edelweiss
Genre: Fiction / Dystopian

With shades of Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies and Ally Condie’s Matched, this dark, cinematic dystopian novel—the first in the thrilling Eye of the Beholder series—is set in a near future society in which “right” and “wrong” are manifested by beauty and ugliness.

In Grace Luther’s world, morality is physically enforced. Those who are “good” are blessed with beauty, while those who are not suffer horrifying consequences—disfigurement, or even death. When the cleric’s daughter stumbles onto information that proves her world is more complicated than it seems, she finds herself at the center of an epic battle where good and evil are not so easily distinguished. Despite all her efforts to live a normal teenage life, Grace is faced with a series of decisions that will risk the lives of everyone she loves.

Chilling and thought-provoking, Sinless is must reading for fans of The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner, The Giver, and Delirium.

Sinless, by author Sarah Tarkoff, is the first installment in what appears to be a trilogy called Eye of the Beholder. Set in the year 2031, where a supposed Revelation took place 7 years before that brought about the arrival of the Great Spirit, Grace Luther’s world is a place where morality is physically enforced. Those who are “good” are blessed with beauty, while those who are not suffer horrifying consequences, disfigurement, or even death under what is called Punishment.

Grace is the daughter of Paul Luther, a cleric who was at the center of the Revelation and knew it was coming. After Grace lost not only her mother to the Revelation, but her best friend Jude in a accident that he had nothing to do with, she stumbles upon information that proves her world is more complicated than it seems. After meeting the mysterious Ciaran who claims to be blessed, being followed around by her best friend's brother Zack, and getting a rather shocking surprise that opens her eyes, Grace finds herself at the center of an epic battle where good and evil are not so easily distinguished. 

Especially not with the Prophet Joshua and his disciplines leading the way. Despite all her efforts to live a normal teenage life and being thought of the girl who has it all, Grace is faced with a series of decisions that will risk the lives of everyone she loves. She continues to be told that the world is not what she thinks. It's hard for Grace as the daughter of a cleric to put years of religious fundamentalism behind her. She has to open up her eyes in a new and different way of thinking and believing if she is to get to the bottom of what is actually happening, and surviving what is to come. 

Sinless is a fast pace novel with an intriguing concept and an appealing and identifiable protagonist sure to draw both YA and adult readers. With each page, Tarkoff masterfully tightens the screws in this electrifying debut novel that plunges us into a nightmarish and all too plausible future. Full of high-drama and pulsating tension, Sinless explores essential questions teenagers wrestle with every day: What is beauty? What is faith? Where does friendship end and love begin? Do we take our world at face value and accept all that we have been taught—or do we question the mores of the society into which we are born? 

Sinless is Tarkoff's debut novel. She is also a writer for the CW series Arrow.  

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