Etherworld by Claudia Gabel and Cheryl Klam // Please Take Me to the Future

Etherworld (Elusion #2), by Claudia Gabel and Cheryl Klam                               Publication: March 31, 2015, by Katherine Tegen Books                                                 Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Science Fiction, Dystopian, Romance                               Pages: 352                                                   Format: Hardcover                                     Source: BEA/Publisher                           Rating: 

In this sequel to Elusion, three teens fight a virtual reality program that threatens to destroy their minds. Dangerous secrets and lies add up to a thrilling futuristic fantasy with an Inception-inspired twist.

Elusion was hailed as an exciting leap in technology—until users began to disappear amid rumors of addiction. Regan’s search for the truth led her and her new love interest, Josh, to Etherworld. Etherworld is a dimension hidden deep beyond Elusion’s firewall, where players can hide, and ultimately fight back. Regan’s father and others are here working to destroy Etherworld, but the longer they stay the less likely they’ll be able to return to the real world alive.

Escape means attacking Elusion from within the program. It’s dangerous and it’s a puzzle. And even if they manage it, how will they be able to stop Orexis from distributing Elusion to the masses when the people who run it are corrupt?

Sam’s thoughts:

I often find myself wishing that I could be part of some kind of new project that’d totally change the world and its history. Make a new discovery or whatsoever. A girl can only dream, right? Reading Etherworld, the sequel to the magnificent Elusion that captivated me so much when I first read it made me feel that I was part of this new ‘project’ and ‘discovery.’ Gabel and Klam’s inner vision of what the human race may turn into, by looking at personality and intelligence, of the future seems to be perfectly on-point, especially as the knowledge of everything and the universe expands and strengthens. I seriously loved this.

After reading dystopian hundreds and hundreds of times in the past, you know that you could possibly get sick and tired of the same subject over and over again. Although this was a sequel to a duology that readers loved from the first page to the last, and although it features the same characters and problem/issue, it’s not something to get tired of. Yes, Gabel and Klam feature aspects of dystopia that sounds so cool and realistic both at the same time, and yes you’re going to want to read about it. This is like a virtual reality, reading about a completely alien planet and universe that may seem perfect at first. But everything has flaws. 

“When I returned, things between us felt uncomfortable and weird, as if we weren’t sure if what had happened was the result of how we really felt or a product of artificially stimulated euphoria.” (257)

Klam and Gabel are masters of diction, of literature. Their descriptions of the setting that Regan is introduced to is utterly fabulous. It’s not like you’re just reading a book, it’s more like you’re living it. You know how George R.R. Martin wrote about readers living thousands of lives? These authors’ work truly exemplifies that saying. They can multitask and make everything that a reader looks for right.

This starts off straight from where the magic of the first book left us off at, I’m telling ya. Regan and Josh, her new beau (a hot one, too) are in Etherworld, where Regan discovers that what people have been telling her about Elusion and her family are all complete lies. There are other people there, too, and alongside the help of the new couple, everyone’s trying to destroy the weird atmospheric world and get back to their normal lives where people who they love are left behind, struggling to get by life without them. When Regan heads back to reality, people, including the people she love, suspect that she is crazy and going through nano-psychosis. I’m not trying to sound like an actual summary, but… Will she be able to destroy the world and be back with her family once again?

Everything was practically the most action-filled that it could get. And seriously, the authors surprised me with the fact that Josh and Regan did have the ability to head back and forth between two worlds, trying to figure out hints and answers to all of the issues around them. Everything expanded and turned out better. The first book had expanded on the issue of Elusion not being safe, and this one has truly unfolded into the works of Elusion and what the actual founder has to go through. Get ready for scientific explanations and kick-assness coming from Regan.

Regan supported her family. After all of the lies that her father has told her to keep her safe and happy without any troubles, she’s still fine and has a great relationship with him. Thank the book lords that we don’t have a bratty teenage girl who only cares about her boyfriend and them kissing and hating her father, because I’m sure that we wouldn’t have had a great turn out. Her character and perspective is certainly entertaining and more protagonists should definitely be like her. Please, authors-to-come, learn from this advice.

YOUR SHIP DREAMS WILL COME TRUE. Regan and Josh are the ultimate one true pair, I promise. Perhaps you’ll even adore watching them go through battles and discovering the truth, as well as make the right or wrong decisions. It’s kind of awesome to be in love when everything around you is falling apart, actually.

 

 

Claudia and Cheryl have totally blown me away with this epic finale. I just had to write my thoughts down after I completed and flipped the last page over because this story means so much to me and my perspective of dystopian fiction. Etherworld captured me, threw my emotions around and left me aching for more of their indulging, descriptive writing. But hey, I guess you’ll realize that by simply taking a peek at the gorgeous, stellar covers of this series. You know you want all of it.

*A finished copy was provided by the publisher via BookExpo America in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!*

What do you think of virtual realities and how technology is expanding? what is a ya dystopian novel which you believe the subject it focuses on may turn into our planet someday? do you enjoy books with evil villains turned good? lemme know it all in the comments below!