Encender (The Enertia Trials #2) 

Author: J. Kowallis 

Genre: Dystopia, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, YA

Published: February 29th 2016

Publisher: Ingram Spark 

They say you feel cold when you die. 

The people I’ve killed would beg to differ. 

For twenty-something Ransley, the adopted daughter of famed street fighter Estevan Benitez, fighting is all she knows. One hidden detail separates her from the endless string of her pathetic opponents: she can craft and influence heat and fire. 

When she’s pitted against the strongest fighters at the infamous Argolla, Ransley faces something she never expected:

A man like her. 

Roydon can duplicate himself. When the two collide in the ring, a chain of deals turns Roydon over to Public Four and he’s taken away to undergo the disturbing process of the Nexis. What it is, or what it does, no one outside of The Public knows. 

Driven by guilt and a desire to release the only person she’s ever met who’s like her, Ransley isn’t about to leave him for dead—not when he might hold the answers to her missing past. Now she must trust a pair of strangers: a former military man out to collapse the system, and a woman whose premonitions could tear them all apart.

               

I voluntarily read and reviewed a free copy of this book provided by Xpresso Book Tours and the author. Thank you so very much for the reviewing opportunity!

I have no type of scale that could describe the magnitude of love I have for this series. Having read Afterimage, no doubt that I had developed a sense of what to expect from the author, but I should have learned my lesson not to ever underestimate the dystopian mastermind. J.Kowallis once again stunned me into a mental stupor and left me incapable of words for my review. 

 

Book 2 started off with the introduction of new characters, mainly Ransley and Roydon, who like Reggie herself is part of a genetic experiment aimed to create the perfect human to save the race. 

"In order to create an environment capable of cradling new thinking, one must first purify imperfection with a cleansing fire.". 

As if the post-apocalyptic world couldn't be more brutal, both Ransley and Roydon survived the years by making an earning using the way they knew best - underground fighting. However, when each fight gets tougher and losing means death, it also gets harder for them to keep their powers a secret. Until one day when Ransley and Roy were forced to a face-off, things turned ugly for the two strangers when they learned the truth about each other. Now Roy was taken by the Public and it is up to Ransley to save him, with the help of a precognitive and a former military man we embarked on a journey once again inside the Public to learn more about the truth behind the Nexis. 

I was rooting for Nate and Reggie's return since Afterimage and they are the reason why I can't wait to dive into the sequel, but I emerged from the book with another two characters that I can't wait to explore more. As always, the writing was impeccable and the world building was amazing, but it's the originality of the plot that drives me to continue with the series. Call me a nerd but I'm absolutely geeking over the technicalities of the Nexis system, especially when it's told through the POVs of one of the workers, Carmen. The attention to plot details was admirable! 

On the romance aspect, just when I thought Nate and Reggie could finally have the happy ending they both desired, a heart-wrenching plot twist happened and I'm torn yet excited to jump into the third book! Did I also mention how cool I think of the supernatural powers are? 

I liked that the author played around the taboo theme of genetic engineering and created a novel that touches on the humanity aspect of it, it's the best kind of science fiction. 

I'll cut my review short because I am full of nerves to read the next one, there goes my sleep!

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