Alenna has escaped from the wheel, against the odds. The wheel is an island where criminals are sent, with orders from the UNA -- a totalitarian country that is made up of United States, Mexico and Canada. Alenna and her boyfriend, Liam have escaped, but their safety is still at risk. Here's the problem - to destroy the UNA they have to have control of the wheel. Now there's a new Monk with an even better army of Drones. Soon Alenna and Liam are in over their heads. Alenna knows she must save them all.

I read THE UPRISING, the second installment in The Forsaken Trilogy, without having read the first book. Having said that, I was kept enthralled enough to want to read the first book immediately after having finished this one, and also, more importantly, wasn't held back too much as a new reader to the series. There's a pretty high level of intensity throughout. The plot is taut, and there is a lot of action with many twists.

THE UPRISING can function as a stand alone, but I suspect there will be more understanding and more meaning behind certain things once I do read the first. It's always a gamble not to read a series from the start to finish, and admittedly not my usual way to go about things, but the premise of this story sounded so intriguing that I jumped at the opportunity to give it a perusal. The author, Lisa M. Stasse, provides enough information in the beginning to effectively catch up new readers to the series. Science fiction and dystopian YA fans should check THE UPRISING out.

Book Summary

In this dystopian sequel to The Forsaken, Alenna has survived the brutality of life on the wheel—and now she’s going back for more.

Alenna escaped. It was expected that she would die on the wheel, the island where would-be criminals are sent as directed by the UNA—the totalitarian supercountry that was once the United States, Mexico, and Canada. But Alenna and her boyfriend, Liam, made it to safety. Except safety, they will soon learn, is relative.

In order to bring down the UNA, they must first gain control of the wheel. If the mission succeeds, the wheel will become a base of revolution. But between betrayals, a new Monk leading a more organized army of Drones, and the discovery of a previously unknown contingent, Alenna, Liam, and their allies might be in over their heads. One thing Alenna knows for sure: There will be a reckoning. And not everyone she loves will make it out alive.