Review: The Sun Dwellers by David Estes

The Sun Dwellers by David Estes
Series: The Dwellers #3
Source: Bought
ISBN: 9781301176496
Release Date: November 27, 2012

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With those she's closest to dying around her, Adele embarks on a secret mission to the Sun Realm to assassinate the President. Along the way she'll uncover secrets about her relationship with Tristan that she might not be ready to face.

Tristan has a secret, too, one that's been eating him up inside ever since he met Adele. Will he reveal all, and risk the loss of friendship and love at a time when he needs it the most?

At the same time, Adele's mother, General Rose, must lead her soldiers into battle to face the sun dweller army in the hopes of holding them off until Adele can complete her mission. Can she outlast the strength of President Nailin's elite fighting force?

There's only one truth in their world: someone must die.

This series just keeps on getting better and better with each book. The Sun Dwellers picks up after The Star Dwellers, and Adele and her crew are on a mission to kill the President, a.k.a. Tristan's father. Adele has collected quite the eclectic group with Trevor, Roc, Tawni, Ram, and Tristan, each with their own unique abilities to bring to the table. You know not all of them are going to survive, but that didn't stop me from getting attached to them. That is the part I hated the most about this book. I became so connected to all of the characters, even Trevor and Ram, who just joined their group. The entire first half of the book I was like who is going to die?

There was so much action and suspense built into the story. Everything up to this point has been leading to this final stand-off. Tristan and Adele both have secrets that they must come to terms with before the final showdown. Will it change their relationship after they are honest with each other?

Adele's mother dropped a bomb on her at the end of The Star Dwellers that might change her relationship with Tristan. Neither of them knows where the other is at in terms of their relationship. They both know they like each other, but haven't had a chance to put a label on it, which is hard to find time to do during a revolution in the Realms. Both Adele and Tristan are still sorting through their feelings. I love Adele and Tristan together and as individuals. Together they are stronger. Both have their weaknesses that allow them to lean on each other for strength, which they definitely needed to do in this book, because stuff goes down that is game changing. They are strong individuals, but work beautifully together.

I love every single character in their group and even though going into it I knew not all of them would survive it still broke my heart. I knew that the odds were against them, but I was still naïvely believed they would all make it out okay.

There were finally some answers to questions I had that in the first two books, but now I have even more questions! Tristan’s secret was of no surprise as it was hinted at since the first book. Tristan confided in Roc a long time ago about it, but he needed to tell the rest of them before they faced the President. He wanted everyone to know what they were up against before they put their lives on the line. His story made me want to know more about his mother and what happened to her before she disappeared.

Finally the moment that the series has been building up to is here. Tristan and President Nailin face off, and it was everything I was hoping for. President Nailin was sadistic and cruel. I don’t think I even took a breath the entire time I was reading this section. It was intense! Each character had a purpose in the end, even Tawni who isn’t a fighter and went on this mission even after she knew it was a suicide mission. She thought she has nothing to contribute, but that was not true. She may not be a fighter, but even she has something to bring to the table.

I can’t wait to read The Earth Dwellers to see how both series collides. I just have to get my hands on the Country Saga first!

My Rating:

Review: The Star Dwellers by David Estes

The Star Dwellers by David Estes
Series: The Dwellers #2
Source: Bought
ISBN: 9781301963881
Release Date: September 30, 2012
Pages: 278

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After rescuing her father and younger sister, Adele is forced to leave her family and Tristan behind to find her mother in the cruel and dangerous realm of the star dwellers.

Amidst blossoming feelings for Adele, Tristan must cast his feelings aside and let her find her own way amongst the star dwellers, while he accompanies Adele's father to meet with the leaders of the moon dwellers and decide the fate of the Tri-Realms.

Will Adele be able to rescue her mother and make it back to the Moon Realm before the President and the sun dweller soldiers destroy her family?

Can Tristan convince the moon dweller puppets of the error of their ways?

Was Adele's lost kiss with Tristan her one and only chance at love?

In her world there's only one rule: Someone must die.

The Moon Dwellers was an amazing book and The Star Dwellers is equally (maybe even more) amazing than the first book. It's jammed packed with intrigue, adventure, and action. I have so many more questions about their past after finishing this book.

The Star Dwellers picks up with Adele and Tawni sneaking through the tunnels to get to the Star Realm and Tristan is with Roc, Elsey, and Adele's father in the Moon Realm. Most of the book is split between the two storylines, I loved them both equally. Each had their own struggles and missions to complete.

I liked how in this book the love at first sight wasn't so much love, but Adele and Tristan were crushing on each other. They both realized they just met and didn't know where each of them stood. I found this to be a bit more realistic than in most YA where it's insta-love and the couple can't live without each other after five minutes.

All the characters are so driven and completely devoted to the Resistance movement. Ben, Adele's father, was a great mentor and friend to Tristan. He really needed a nurturing father figure in his life and Ben filled that void for him. Elsey's character could have been so easily annoying, but I adored how she talked and saw the world. She was just this bundle of happiness in the middle of a war.

I loved how the author included a little history of before humans lived underground. The young girl's diary had me in tears. She was one of the lucky chosen ones to live underground before the earth was decimated by an asteroid. You could feel how frightened and young she was and how everything was falling apart prior to the asteroid.

Adele's family is finally reunited in this book and that moment was worth the wait. Adele's family is so close and as you are reading you could tell how much they care and love each other.

By the end of the book so many of the characters have anger building in them and I hope they are able to deal with it. Their next mission will be crucial to winning the war against the Sun Dwellers and hopefully they can control and deal with their misfortunes that happened in the book.

My Rating:

Review: The Moon Dwellers by David Estes

The Moon Dwellers by David Estes
Series: The Dwellers Saga #1
Publisher: Self
Source: Bought
Release Date: June 27, 2012

In a desperate attempt to escape destruction decades earlier, humankind was forced underground, into the depths of the earth, creating a new society called the Tri-Realms.

After her parents and sister are abducted by the Enforcers, seventeen-year-old Adele, a member of the middle-class moon dwellers, is unjustly sentenced to life in prison for her parents' crimes of treason.

Against all odds, Adele must escape from the Pen and find her family, while being hunted by a deranged, killing machine named Rivet, who works for the President. She is helped by two other inmates, Tawni and Cole, each of whom have dark secrets that are better left undiscovered. Other than her friends, the only thing she has going for her is a wicked roundhouse kick and two fists that have been well-trained for combat by her father.

At the other end of the social spectrum is Tristan, the son of the President and a sun dweller. His mother is gone. He hates his father. Backed by only his servant and best friend, Roc, he leaves his lavish lifestyle in the Sun Realm, seeking to make something good out of his troubled life.

When a war breaks out within the Tri-Realms, Tristan is thrust into the middle of a conflict that seems to mysteriously follow Adele as she seeks to find her family and uncover her parents true past.

In their world, someone must die.

I have been wanting to read this book for awhile. I have read some really great reviews on it.

Finally, one of my book groups choose it as a monthly read, so it moved up on my TBR list.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The first few chapters I had a problem getting into the book as it was a bit slow. I realize it was a lot of character and back story building, but those chapters just didn't captivate my attention. But, I took a break, switched books, and when I picked The Moon Dwellers back up I finished in under a day.

The Moon Dwellers is the first in a trilogy. The main character Adele (named after the author's wife) is a middle class citizen in the Moon Realm. Mankind was forced underground generations ago due to a disaster that made the Earth's surface unlivable. The underground world is split into three Realms, called the Tri-Realms, the Sun Realm, the Moon Realm, and the Star Realm. The Star Realm is the poorest and the furthest underground, with their citizens living in shanties and crime is everywhere. The Moon Realm is the middle class realm, but their citizens still struggle to live, as the Sun Realm taxes everything so severely, the citizen can barely afford to live. The Sun Realm is the closest to the surface and holds the rich and elite of the society.

When Adele's family is taken by the Enforcers, the Sun Realm's police, Adele is unjustly thrown in jail, she must break free and locate her family. Along the way she meets two inmates with their own dark secrets.

This book had a nice balance of plot, action, and great characters. I loved that Adele was a total badass who could take down anyone with a roundhouse kick. The only part I had trouble connecting with was the whole love at first sight. While the concept is great for this book, I'm not sure I totally can believe it.

You can tell that the next two books are going to slowly unravel the mysteries and secrets that were presented in this book. I can't wait to read The Star Dwellers.

My Rating: