The Labs

The GEOs, Book 2

By: Ramona Finn

Narrated by: Alexandra Hunter

Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's Summary

She survived the virus and the Acceptance trials. But can she survive the lies?

Tylia Coder is the bridge between worlds. Born of the GEOs underground, she’s one of only two known victors of the Acceptance trials - a survival contest that promises to prevent infection from the GM virus that nearly wiped out humanity, decades ago. Now with precious antibodies in her blood, she may finally hold the key to finding a cure.

Leaving her dark home in the GEOS behind as well as her blossoming relationship with Skylar Two, Tylia is determined to invoke change as she moves up to the Greens - an area in the Labs with floating sky cities, bright lights, and lush forestry. But the life she envisioned living here is far from the reality she faces on arrival.

Access to information is restricted. Questions she asks are left unanswered. Communication with her family in the GEOS is cut off. And someone’s spreading lies about the Rejs, a group of outlaws living on the surface, who now claim her as one of their own.

Worst of all, members of the Farrow family are tormenting those who threaten their way of life. And when Tylia is overheard defending the Rejs, the Farrows set their vicious sights on her. To shield herself from yet another “accidental death” in the labs, she has no choice but to accept a partnership proposal from the only Farrow willing to befriend her: the too-perfect Ben.

But Tylia soon realizes she’ll need to act fast if she’s to save not only herself and her loved ones in the Rejs and the GEOs, but what also remains of the human race.

©2020 Relay Publishing (P)2020 Relay Publishing

Great Storyline

I didn't read the first book in this series, but after reading the summary I thought that I might be able to catch up quickly. I was right. It seems that there is a clear divide between the first and second books in the series. I like stories in which the main character is transported from some undesirable living situation to a new and seemingly superior setting. There's something about their transition and struggle that is appealing. I also like world-building and these type of stories tend to be rich in that area. I've heard this compared to the Hunger Games, but aside from what happened in the first book, I can also see similarities to Red Rising. Tylia (great name!) is a coder from the Geos, an underground society, and has won the Acceptance trials, which gives her a first class ticket to the Labs. I sense duplicity fairly early in the novel, but some of that comes from reading so many books in this genre. As I said, I didn't list to the first part of this series, but given the change in setting and characters, I didn't feel lost at all. The author did a good job of going back to integrate important information from the first novel. I still can't say with certainty how I feel about the main character. Tylia sometimes seems like one of those people that does stupid things and then gets away with it because someone else sacrifices themselves for her. But for the most part, she struggles to come to terms with the fact that she is living in luxury while her family and friends suffer in the Geos. She wants to help, but doesn't know how. I don't know how old Tylia is but I would assume 17 or 18, the way she is written. There are at least two instances during the book where I find the actions of the main and/or supporting character to be completely unrealistic, but while they are bothersome, they didn't take away from the story. As far as the storyline, I would say that this is a standard YA dystopian novel. You know that things aren't as they seem, but you're not sure about the ulterior motives, the depth of the deception, or who is running the show. I can say that the motivation of the deception in this book was a surprise to me, so it has that twist. It gets a little intense toward the climax of the book, to the point that I was nervous to keep listening at times. However, I like the way it ended without a cliffhanger by tying off some loose ends, setting a solid foundation for the third book. One of the things that stood out to me was the mention of a prophecy, which I thought a little out of place in this type of book. I think that the narrator did a good job with certain characters. I didn't like that she made two of the boys have voices higher than the female characters. I initially thought that this was because she didn't have enough variation in her voice. However, I noticed right away that one male character has a deeper voice and that she may have deliberately made this choice to denote maturity. In a way, it served its purpose because it made those whiny sounding characters unlikeable.
 In general, The Labs is a good YA dystopian novel. Because of the intensity in this novel, I'm not sure that I want to go back and listen to the first one. The characters seem a little one dimensional and two in particular have very black and white thinking, which is annoying. If you're bothered by indecisiveness and reckless action you might want to avoid this book, but all in all it's a good listen. (I was given this book for free in exchange for a voluntary and honest review)

I Liked It Better Than the First Book

This is really getting good! While I feel like Tylea and her friend Kev must be blind when it comes to the Elites, this is still a really good book. I’m eager to find out what happens in the finals book of the trilogy. While it didn’t quite end with a cliffhanger, it definitely leaves you wanting to find out more. The narrator didn’t an awesome job. She was pleasant to listen to and voiced emotions well. I received this book for free at my request from Audiobook Boom in exchange for my unbiased opinion.