Guardian Blog Tour {Review}

The Guardian Blog Tour is stopping by once again with my Review...

Guardian

(Proxy #2)

by Alex London

May 29, 2014

Philomel

YA/Dystopian/LGBT

The pulse-pounding sequel to Proxy! Inspired by The Whipping Boy and Feed, this adrenaline-fueled thriller will appeal to fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent.

In the new world led by the Rebooters, former Proxy Syd is the figurehead of the Revolution, beloved by some and hated by others. Liam, a seventeen-year-old Rebooter, is Syd’s bodyguard and must protect him with his life. But armed Machinists aren’t the only danger.

People are falling ill—their veins show through their skin, they find it hard to speak, and sores erupt all over their bodies. Guardians, the violent enforcers of the old system, are hit first, and the government does nothing to help. The old elites fall next, and in the face of an indifferent government, Syd decides it’s up to him to find a cure . . . and what he discovers leaves him stunned.

This heart-stopping thriller is packed with action, adventure, and heroics. Guardian will leave you breathless until the final page.

A fast-paced, thrill-ride of novel full of non-stop action, heart-hammering suspense and true friendship—just as moving as it is exhilarating. Fans of Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series, James Dashner's Maze Runner, Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking series, and Marie Lu's Legend trilogy will be swept away by this story.

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Last year, Alex London’s Proxy enthralled me with its electric premise, compelling world, and thought-provoking layers, and I was more than thrilled to return to this story and characters in its sequel, Guardian.

Picking up several months after the explosive and devastating ending of Proxy, in Guardian we find our reluctant hero, Syd, in a transformed world. With the networks disabled, the Patrons have lost all power and the Reconciliation is in control. Using the manpower of the Purifiers, the Reconciliation has either killed or imprisoned the once wealthy and powerful. But this new world is just as corrupt and dangerous as the old one, and now people are falling very ill. When the Reconciliation does nothing to stop this disease from spreading, Syd decides he must find the cure. But what he finds could change everything once again!

Guardian has a slower burn than Proxy, but is just as intensely felt and smartly written. I found Guardian to be less of a constant thrill ride and more of a palpable emotional journey for its characters. The complex and fascinating dystopian world laid out in Proxy has been completely deconstructed and turned upside down in Guardian. London does a great job of exploring this new world and giving it intriguing depth and meaning. And like Proxy, Guardian is filled to the brim with thought-provoking and poignant material. These are books that not only entertain and captivate, but really make readers think.

The world Syd and his friends fought so hard to save has drastically changed and this has had a profound effects on the characters I grew to really care about in Proxy. Syd has never been your common hero, in many ways he isn’t a hero at all. But that’s what makes him so compelling. Syd must fight with many personal demons in Guardian, deal with painful grief, self-doubt, and fear, and I felt his struggle immensely. There’s a character who didn’t survive Proxy (I won’t say who), and I was surprised by how much I, too, missed him/her and felt his/her absence throughout Guardian. Yet, London does a wonderful job of infusing so much of this character’s essence and spirit throughout Guardian.

There is a romantic plotline in Guardian between Syd and a new guy, and London explores this relationship in some absolute breathtaking and startling ways. This isn’t a swoon-a-minute, over-the-top, in-your-face romance, but it is electric and real and consuming and made my heart ache.

Proxy’s ending left me reeling, while Guardian’s ending left me hopeful!

My Final Thoughts: Guardian is an utterly compelling, intensely felt, smartly crafted sequel! Readers looking for a series that is as thought-provoking as it is entertaining, should definitely give these books a read!

MY RATING

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Alex London writes books for adults (One Day The Soldiers Came: Voices of Children in War), children (Dog Tagsseries; An Accidental Adventure series) and teens (Proxy). At one time a journalist reporting from conflict zones and refugee camps, he is now a full time novelist living in Brooklyn, NY, where he can be found wandering the streets talking to his dog, who is the real brains of the operation.