Deceptive by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Grade: A-
Release date: July 14, 2015
An e-galley was provided by Little, Brown for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: You don’t belong with us. These are the words that echo through the minds of all immune Americans—those suffering the so-called adverse effects of an experimental vaccine, including perfect recall, body manipulation, telepathy, precognition, levitation, mind-control, and the ability to change one’s appearance at will.
When immune individuals begin to disappear—in great numbers, but seemingly at random—fear and tension mount, and unrest begins to brew across the country. Through separate channels, super-powered teenagers Ciere, Daniel, and Devon find themselves on the case; super criminals and government agents working side-by-side. It’s an effort that will ultimately define them all—for better or for worse.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: It is a truth universally acknowledged that I love superheroes. Tell me a YA book involves superheroes/superpowers and chances are good that I'll read it. And Emily Lloyd-Jones has expertly woven one of the better YA superpower books out there. Both Illusive and Deceptive made my most-anticipated release lists for their respective years, and I'm here to say that they didn't disappoint. Albeit, I didn't remember most of Illusive when I read Deceptive but Lloyd-Jones does a nice job of reminding her readers of details without making them feel like idiots. She even lists all the abilities and their names again (very useful). And speaking of those abilities, Lloyd-Jones chose some good ones. She limited the choices so readers aren't overwhelmed and she expanded and used each one nicely. They all have their weaknesses and strengths. Additionally, Ciere, the lead protagonist, learned how to develop and train her ability as an illusionist, which was trippy and cool.
One change from the first book to this one is the addition of Devon as the third narrator. I never got confused because all of the chapters are third-person, and Devon was away from Ciere for a lot of Deceptive so knowing what he was up to and how he was playing a part in the bigger plot was important. The plot worked pretty well, although at times, it just...I don't know, it felt weird to me. Everything fit together nicely but it wasn't always exactly what I wanted. There's also still a lack of female leads which is kind of sad. Although Sia, who works with Devon, is pretty darn cool.
Some foul language (f-words and s-words), but not too much that it distracted me. Very little romantic content. There's violence, of course.
The Verdict: Really good, but I'm not satisfied with that ending. Will there be a third book?
Will I be adding this book to my library?: Yes!
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