The Last Hope (The Raging Ones, #2) by Krista & Becca Ritchie [Blog Tour: Review]

Hello! Welcome to the next stop on the The Last Hope blog tour hosted by Wednesday Books. I'm thrilled I get to share my thoughts on this book with you!

Title: THE LAST HOPE
Author: Krista & Becca Ritchie
Series: The Raging Ones, #2
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Pub. Date: August 13, 2019
Buy Link: Click here

Goodreads: Click here

A stunning conclusion to the sci-fi romance duology by writing duo Krista & Becca Ritchie, The Last Hope is filled with twists and turns you'll never see coming.

Sacrifice all you have to survive.

Imprisoned for weeks on an enemy starcraft, Franny, Court, and Mykal have sat with an unfathomable revelation. But as they fight to stay alive, escaping prison means trusting a young mysterious stranger. He knows everything about their lost histories, and when answers aren’t given freely, the bonded trio are forced to join a mission. One that will determine the fate of humanity.

Legend says, a baby—the first of her species—has the power to cloak and teleport planets. Tasked with retrieving the infant, Court fears the baby is just a myth, and if they fail, they’ll never find the truth about their origins.

As Court and Mykal grow closer, their linked bond becomes harder to hide, and dynamics change when Franny begins to fall for someone new. Vulnerable and with no choice, the hunt for the baby sends the trio on a dangerous path to Saltare-1: a water world where their enemies can’t die and survival comes at a high cost.

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I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.

The Raging Ones (the first book in this series) ended with a major cliffhanger that left me reeling. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with Franny, Court, and Mykal, so their less-than-stellar circumstances had me worried for their safety and sanity. The Last Hope was everything I wanted it to be and more. It was a sequel I was eagerly anticipating, and I'm happy to say it exceeded my expectations.

Initially, I was worried I'd feel lost. The authors have created something futuristic and entirely new, with different planets and galaxies that have their own customs and languages. In the first book, I felt like there were a few cracks in the story that didn't always add up, but that wasn't the case with this one. All of my questions were answered, and the intricacies of the story were explained in a way that was both believable and authentic.

The characters! The characters are my favorite aspect of these books. Court is stoic and the rock of their group, and his relationship with Mykal made my heart swell with happiness. Mykal's dialect is a little different from theirs, but it suited him perfectly. When he started calling someone "baby brother" without a second thought, I thought my feelings would explode. He's physically the strongest of their group, but is capable of being unbelievably gentle. He and Court balanced each other out beautifully. Franny is equally happy for their coupling, and encouraged them to be together even if she had to avert her attention through the bond. They're all so willing to make sacrifices for each other, and their friendship was sincere and something to be aspired to. Franny is the one that desires answers about their link and their pasts, and the boys are willing to risk their lives for her questions. Seriously, these characters... so amazing.

Outside of the group, the secondary characters from the first book play a smaller role, but we're introduced to Stork in The Last Hope. I wasn't sure about him at first, but he quickly found a place in my heart with the others. He's hurting, like soul-deep wounds, and feels torn in two directions. He can either respect the dying wish of the people he loved, or share their secrets with the people he feels deserve those answers. He struggled to maintain a balance between the two, and it broke my heart to see him suffering to do the right and honorable thing. Stork was a very complex character, and he added another layer to their group dynamics. I enjoyed seeing him and Franny slowly learn to trust one another, and how he slowly became a significant part of their lives.

Zimmer, Kinden, Padgett, and Gem are still around, and their presence only improved the overall story. They have a history with Court, Franny, and Mykal, and it was nice seeing them grow together as a group. They've all been through so much, and they genuinely care for each other. Zimmer might be my favorite of those four, and I enjoyed his easy friendship with Franny. They understood what it was like to be Fast Trackers, and found comfort in each other's company (purely platonic).

Even with everything going on, the authors manage to further develop their already complex and complicated characters, and still move the story forward. There are a few small time skips (a few weeks here, a few days there) that helped with how long the book felt, which isn't long at all, and I never felt lost or confused within the story.

There are some darker aspects to this one... there's cruelty and violence, some bloodshed and fighting, and very clear divisions between the wealthy and the poor. Influentials are willing to pay Fast Trackers for their bodies, knowing they likely need the money to survive. It's a setting that is both foreign and familiar, and is was interesting to see how the characters navigated their ever-changing surroundings.

The Last Hope is a book I would've willingly sacrificed sleep for. The characters were lovely and fantastic, the story was unique and remarkable, and I am so glad I took a chance on this series. I know these characters will always have a place in my heart, and I look forward to reading more books by this author duo.

About the authors:

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Krista & Becca Ritchie are New York Times Bestselling Authors and identical twins, one a science nerd, the other a comic book geek. With their shared passion for writing, they combined their mental powers as kids and have never stopped telling stories. Graduates from the University of Georgia in Biology and English & Journalism, the twin writing duo now lives in Atlanta. The Raging Ones is their first young adult novel.

The Raging Ones (The Raging Ones, #1) by Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie

Synopsis (via Goodreads): In a freezing world, where everyone knows the day they will die, three teens break all odds.

Franny Bluecastle, a tough city teen, dreams of dying in opulence, to see wealth she’s never known. Like the entire world, she believes it’s impossible to dodge a deathday.

Until the day she does.

Court Icecastle knows wealth. He also knows pain. Spending five years in Vorkter Prison, a fortress of ice and suffering, he dreams of life beyond the people that haunt him and the world that imprisoned him.

Mykal Kickfall fights for those he loves. The rugged Hinterlander shares a frustrating yet unbreakable connection with Court—which only grows more lawless and chaotic as their senses and emotions connect with Franny.

With the threat of people learning they’ve dodged their deathdays, they must flee their planet to survive. But to do so, all three will have to hide their shared bond as they vie for a highly sought after spot in the newest mission to space. Against thousands of people far smarter, who’ll live longer, and never fear death the way that they do.

First of all, the quote on the cover is inaccurate. It says, "ONE predetermined day to DIE. THREE who choose to DEFY." Franny, Court, and Mykal didn't choose to defy anything. They expected to die like everyone else on their predetermined day, but for reasons unknown to them, they did not. It wasn't like they'd found some way around their deathday. Second, and this one is completely personal, I'm not a huge fan of the cover. I don't feel like it represents the story at all. I've read the book and I'm still not sure why the R looks like a sunbeam.

Initially, The Raging Ones made me think of They Both Die at the End. However, people knowing when they die was the only similarity. In They Both Die at the End, people get a phone call on the day they're going to die. The people in The Raging Ones are tested at birth and placed into one of three categories based on how long they'll live.

There were a few inconsistencies throughout the story, things that were out of place or contradicted other facts, and a few threads slipped through the cracks. However, I was really impressed with the world Krista and Becca had created. It was easy to overlook the small holes in favor of the overall story. It's unlike anything else I've ever read, but I still felt like I endured the harsh and unforgiving environment of their world. I felt connected to the Fast Trackers, and hated that people's worth was dependent upon their lifespan. If you were going to die soon, you were less likely to make valuable contributions to society, so you were afforded less in life. 

The world isn't a pretty or comfortable one. The people are hardened and cruel, and they don't think twice about taking advantage of those less fortunate or unable to defend themselves. There is a lot of fighting and slang, so if you don't like stories steeped in humanity's darkness, this might not be for you. Franny, Court, and Mykal will do whatever it takes to survive. They will do even more to protect each other, and I was sick to my stomach at some of the things they gave up to ensure their safety. Their bond—their friendship—felt tangible. It was a living, breathing thing that really drove the rest of the story.

I loved all three POVs. I honestly cannot choose a favorite, and it was easy to discern who's perspective I was reading from. I only confused Court and Mykal's POVs once, and that's probably because I wasn't paying close enough attention. It took me reading just a few sentences to realize I had missed something, so it didn't detract from the story. I think the authors did a wonderful job making each of the characters stand out, even the secondary ones, and I enjoyed learning about their pasts while being with them in the present. 

A lot of time passes, but the story doesn't drag. We skip ahead by weeks sometimes to get through thicker parts of their lives. Like, when Court is trying to educate Franny to be an Influential. We don't get detailed descriptions of all of her lessons with him, but we get enough to see the impact they are having. During this time the authors were able to solidify their bond and set up the second half of the book. I do wish some of the second half had been elaborated on, like their training exercises, because the brief explanations we receive made the ending look a little too easy. I'm still not entirely convinced they would have been able to do what they did with the inadequate amount of training they had.

Finally, you cannot end a book that way! Argh! It was a gnarly, ugly cliffhanger that has me jonesing for the next book which hasn't been written yet. How is that fair? Other than that, I am mostly satisfied with the rest of the book. It's a little rough to read a the start, but I quickly found myself absorbed in the story. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough, and then there was nothing left to turn. I cannot wait to read more!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.