Us Deadly Few

Us Dark Few Series, Book 2

De: Alexis Patton

Narrado por: Raquel Beattie

Khalani Kanes never imagined surviving Braderhelm Prison, let alone escaping to the desolate surface they had been told was uninhabitable.

Haunted by the Governor of Apollo's dark secrets, Khalani and her crew of criminals embark on a new perilous journey.

Now, the true test begins as Khalani ventures through the treacherous Death Zone toward the nearest underground city, Hermes. Abandoned relics of a once-great nation are not the only threats on the barren road. Violent storms sweep across the Death Zone, the deadly Takeshi Steele has resumed his cold detachment, and unsettling signs suggest they might not be alone on the surface.

To survive in this unforgiving world, Khalani must draw on her strength and harrowing experiences from Braderhelm. For a new kind of prison awaits in the corrupt city of Hermes—one where she finds herself trapped with the man who aggravates her the most. But this time, they'll likely perish before escaping alive.

©2024 Alexis Patton (P)2025 Podium Audio

Rushed Story, but Good Plot

Generally, I like the plot, the fallout style books always peak my interest. I loved Divergent, the 100, the Fallout franchise, the Silo, etc.. This hits the mark on that note, but it felt like unauthentic, taking a lot of content/ideas from the 100 and Divergent. The ideas are not original, which isn’t an issue in and of itself, people can share the same story in real life. It is a little underwhelming though, but the author told a story and regardless of where the ideas originated - it was a good story.

What got to me the most, was the lack of build-up. It was the same for Book 1, just not enough world-building in my opinion. A lot of communications and events go unwritten and often are implied - I think the book would’ve benefited greatly with this written in the pages, not just as an implication. For example, there’s 1-2 positive interactions between Winnie and Takeshi and they use nicknames for each other ONCE. When Takeshi gets left behind, Khalani goes into why he was a good fit for their group and mentions how Winnie is maternal for him. Girl, when?

I won’t even get stared on the juvenile back and forth between Khalani and Takeshi, when he says he will protect her until his death, she says “he hates me”. Um, okay. I love a slow burn, but this… didn’t really hit the mark.

Finally, Takeshi being “brainwashed” and holding a knife to Khalani’s throat - that’s STRAIGHT out of Divergent Book 1. This book started straying from the Dystopian genre to Sci-Fi with the insert of insane medical tech, that came out of NOWHERE. It reminds me of the TV series when it started straying from the books (and in my opinion, went downhill).

I hope Book 3 has better world-building and uses AS MANY pages as it needs to tell the story, not sitting at a 320 page count. There’s a lot of story left to tell (with their future travel to California, taking the weapons back, curing Takeshi, etc.) for the Trilogy, and it would be a shame to rush it and only gloss over what’s been building up through the series.

100% worth the read

This book was exactly what I was looking for to get out of my reading slump. The plot was intriguing and the relationship developed between the two main character had my feet kicking. I can’t wait to read the third book!

So good

I can't wait for the next one! I love the storytelling and pacing of the series. I also enjoy the other characters!

Brilliant. Riveting. 10/10 recommend

A BILLION stars! This book, this plot and these characters all made my teenage-self rise from the dead just to put her back in her grave. She will only be revived again when book 3 comes out. THAT ENDING?! NO. WORDS. Super excited to see where this next book takes us! The narrator is amazing. I couldn’t imagine anyone better for this book.