Secondborn

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.

137 of 143 people found this review helpful

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.

62 of 65 people found this review helpful

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.

55 of 58 people found this review helpful

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

80 of 86 people found this review helpful

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.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

Amazing Story

I honestly was reluctant to read this book because I wanted Bartol to focus writing more books related to the Kricket story. I'm glad I gave in. This is an amazing book. I cannot wait for book 2 to come out. I think that it'll be released sometime in 2018 🙁.... It's too long of a wait!!

18 of 23 people found this review helpful

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.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Creative, but just okay for me

Very imaginative, but ended kind of abruptly. I realize it's the first in a series, but this first installment didn't have a conclusion or a cliffhanger. It just ended. Also, this story was a bit more YA than I expected - not a bad thing, but might be important to potential readers. The narrator was fine.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

What a good book.....

Would you listen to Secondborn again? Why?

I'm not used to plain modern day Sci Fi / Fantasy,but...... I was intrigued by the short summary of this book and decided to give it a try. I was inno way disappointed. The plot line is new and original. The action is mostly fast paced. The suspense is palpable. Bravo!!!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Secondborn?

The end is very surprising.

Which scene was your favorite?

Again I would say the ending. Although as with most books I TrueType enjoy,I wanted it to go on and on....

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Hard to say. I'm not much of a movie buff..

Any additional comments?

Exceptional story and narration.

14 of 18 people found this review helpful

Good story, female heroine, politics

I enjoyed this story line so far. Roselle is a pawn and a hero but soamy sides are using her you aren't sure what side she will settle on. The only annoying thing was that the monikers could be blocked with lead and it annoyed me that no one had figured that trick out.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

First class not second

A very good story. Exciting with a continuity of thrills and adventure. Very plausible story line had me unable to put my iPhone down and keep on listening. First of a trilogy ifbyhr other two books are as good it'll be money well spent . Narrator is top class and makes everything more enjoyable .

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Great kick ass female lead

This book has a great lead and lots of twists and turns so many possibilities have been built that you just don't know what will happen next !

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Different

Not my usual genre, I purchased this on a whim and am glad I did. I found this book interesting, almost addictive, albeit a little reminiscent of Hunger Games. It is relatively fast paced and this first book was well worth the credit.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

amazing

definitely exceeded my expectations. I haven't read/ listened to a book this interesting in a while. the plot and the whole world of Roselle is enthralling.

Interesting enough

I think the plot for the book is an interesting one, however it should have been thought though better as i can already see a few plot holes, parts that didn't make sense and parts could have been written better.
The way the romance part of the story is written sucks, it was too rushed and there was no real chemistry between the characters.

I can't put my finger on it, but I felt something was missing, I didn't feel the excitement of wanting to know what happens next that i felt when listening to "The gender game" or "The children of Eden".

I am interested enough to want to know what happens next, hopefully the next book in more interesting.

loved it

fantastic story. i think this could be the next hunger games, it would make a fantastic film!!

Surprisingly good!

Was a little put off by the whole first born second born angle however really enjoyed the story.

I can't believe I bothered to finish this.

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if it was up to me, this review would just be sick emoji's, but apparently you need "words", too. Nonetheless, my choice of words is: "this book = sick emoji".

2 of 11 people found this review helpful