Secondborn

By: Amy A. Bartol

Narrated by: Kate Reinders

Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's Summary

Firstborns rule society. Secondborns are the property of the government. Thirdborns are not tolerated. Long live the Fates Republic.

On Transition Day, the second child in every family is taken by the government and forced into servitude. Roselle St. Sismode's eighteenth birthday arrives with harsh realizations: she's to become a soldier for the Fate of Swords military arm of the Republic during the bloodiest rebellion in history, and her elite firstborn mother is happy to see her go.

Televised since her early childhood, Roselle's privileged upbringing has earned her the resentment of her secondborn peers. Now her decision to spare an enemy on the battlefield marks her as a traitor to the state.

But Roselle finds an ally - and more - in fellow secondborn conscript Hawthorne Trugrave. As the consequences of her actions ripple throughout the Fates Republic, can Roselle create a destiny of her own? Or will her Fate override everything she fights for - even love?

Please note: The audio references supplemental material that is not included with the purchase of this audiobook.

©2017 Amy A. Bartol. (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Bella Swan's Cousin

I was really hopeful that this would be a good read. The world of it was intriguing, and I kept hoping throughout that it would get better...For the lead character to become someone! Didn't happen. The characters are bland and plastic, except for just a few, and the lead is annoying and superficial (and yet, every single male in the book is drawn to her and pledge their loyalty and devotion to her at every opportunity). I finally had to just give up at Chapter 25. I couldn't take the weird plot shifts and the idiotic response of the lead, Roselle. Decent performance, interesting world and premise...awful characters and cringe worthy dialogue.

Plot with enough holes to make a fishing net

I've never read/listened to a book that made 'the willing suspension of disbelief' so difficult. It's like that moment in a horror movie when you wonder, "Why aren't they just using their cell phones?" Except it's a constant assault of those moments, which makes the book almost unreadable.

great for a teen

If I were 15 years old I would have loved this book. but at my age I found it predictable and wanting

waste of time and $$

Same old story about a strong woman whos life revolves around the many males who worship her. Sure she has female friends but they aren't that important to her. She even admits to using them just to get closer to a guy.

Im so sick of these kinds of books. They are just cheesy damsel in distress tales masquerading as a strong female.

Formulaic, predictable but still mildly entertaini

Covers the same basic ideas as lots of dystopian fiction. Not lots of novelty in the plot or characters. But entertaining enough. Good enough to help pass the time during long commutes.

Very different

This is a really unique idea for a Society. Although we already know that cultures exist where firstborn children are preferred, in this society, secondborn children exist only to be servants and soldiers - and to be heirs if a firstborn dies.

But this has a downside, as some secondborns decide to kill older siblings in order to improve their status. This, in turn, has created a society that fears secondborns, and this treats them even more badly.

Creating a society where the most denigrated citizens make up your army? Yeah, that’s just setting yourself up for a rebellion.

The YA novel I've been waiting for!!!

The only book series that truly hooked me from the beginning to the end were Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and Twilight. I have read many other books and series but just haven't found another great page turner until now. It's too bad we have to wait until 2019 for the series to be completed, but in the meantime I will absolutely be picking up some of this author's other books. I highly recommend Secondborn if you're looking for a really good Young Adult genre novel!!!

Nice audio

Ending a little dissatisfing but overall great story and naraation. One of the best purchases.

Great narrator!

I struggled to put the book down. Kate is a great narrator and I enjoyed the influctions and her voice. there are a few narrators out there I'm not as big a fan of. the story is good, with a mix of power struggle, love, and finding oneself.

Story okay, performance was good

Repeating signifiers: He/she murmurs, growls, orders, was irritating to me personally. The story had an overall interesting concept but was handled with lopsided grace. It doesn't leave me wanting to read the next book, but if I didn't have anything else to listen to, I'd try it.