Review: The Legacy (The Declaration #3) by Gemma Malley

Synopsis from Goodreads:

When a Pincent Pharma lorry is ambushed by the Underground, its contents come as a huge surprise - not drugs, but corpses in a horrible state. It appears Longevity isn't working and the drugs promising eternal youth are failing to live up to their promises. A virus is sweeping the country, killing in its wake, and Longevity is powerless to fight it. When Richard Pincent of Pincent Pharma suggest that the Underground has released the virus, something has to be done to put the story straight and once and for all alert everyone to the truth.

Review:

After thoroughly enjoying The Declaration and liking The Resistance, I was excited to read The Legacy, the third and final book. I had doubts as to whether it would have a fitting ending to the trilogy nonetheless, I started reading it. 

Immediately, I was happy to realise that it was an improvement on the second book as this one stayed close to the plot and didn't deviate from the path too much. In this book, the longevity drugs aren't working anymore (though not everyone knows this) and people are dying in hideous ways.

Richard Pincent blames it all on the Underground who he claims have tampered with a shipment of the drugs (though this doesn't explain why hundreds of people all around the world are dying). Everyone believes him and starts to attack the hidden Underground.

Anna and Peter are living idyllic lives in Scotland with Ben (Anna's baby brother) and Molly (their baby daughter). Anna is very happy to be away from all the conflict in London and wants to remain in Scotland whereas Peter is restless and wants to be a part of the Underground.

The other two main characters are Jude (Peter's half-brother) and Sheila who work as part of the Underground, helping the leader, Pip. I did like how active Jude was in helping others but I was annoyed by his constant need to compare himself to Peter and therefore putting himself down in the process. I kept thinking get over it.

Richard Pincent's main concern was tracking down the original formula for making longevity drugs. The logic is that the formula he has now isn't accurate and therefore the drugs have stopped working. This was Richard's only concern in the book and he would go to any lengths to track the formula down-even hurt his own family. It was unbelievable that the whole world would accept Richard's reason for why the drugs weren't working any more. 

I thought his lies would be found out sooner because Pincent Pharma can't possibly be the only place with scientists. Every other country has their own scientists who would realise what's happening to people and who would question him. Furthermore, whole goverments would be in uproar as deaths are very rare in this global society. For the most part, Richard is left alone to get on with his own hunt for the formula. 

The only person who ever questions him is a member of the authorities called Hilary. Like in the other books, Hilary is lied to and is gullible enough to believe it. The chapters alternate between many characters; Anna, Peter, Richard, Jude, Sheila, Derek, Margaret and numerous sufferers.

I enjoyed this because Malley was able to do this without repeating information again and again. Futhermore, it made the story seem to go by more rapidly. Also, this meant that I was able to see the wider effects of the breakdown of the society due to the failure of the longevity drugs.

The fate of Margaret Pincent was especially interesting to me as throughout the trilogy the reader gets to see her downfall from the esteemed position of Matron of Grange Hall. I liked seeing the relationship between her and her father and learning about her regrets. She felt like a very real character.

The ending held some surprises. Some things that I was certain about earlier didn't play out the way I expected. Though I enjoyed some of the plot twists, the main plot twist (which I won't reveal here) felt wild and unbelievable as it could all have been sorted out much more easily beforehand. Furthermore, the ending was rushed and it would have been better if it was slowed down. One or two major questions that I had were left unanswered and I couldn't understand some of the characters' logic.

Overall, I did enjoy The Legacy. It was a vast improvement on The Resistance, but couldn't quite match The Declaration. It was a fast and easy read with a plethora of interesting characters. I would recommend everyone who enjoys the dystopian genre to read this, after The Declaration and The Resistance, of course. 

Rating: 4/5

Concept: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Author: Gemma Malley

This review is part of Dystopian February at Presenting Lenore.

Review: The Resistance (The Declaration #2) by Gemma Malley

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The year is 2140. Having escaped the horrors of Grange Hall, Peter and Anna are living freely on the Outside, trying hard to lead normal lives, but unable to leave the terror of the Declaration — and their experiences as surpluses — completely behind them.

Peter is determined to infiltrate Pharma Corporation, which claims to have a new drug in the works; "Longevity+" will not just stop the ravages of old age, it is rumored to reverse the aging process. But what Peter and Anna discover behind the walls of Pharma is so nightmarish it makes the prison of their childhood seem like a sanctuary: for in order to supply Pharma with the building blocks for Longevity+, scientists will need to harvest it from the young.

Shocking, controversial, and frighteningly topical, this sequel to Gemma Malley’s stellar debut novel, The Declaration, will take the conversation about ethics and science to the next level.

 
Review:
 

I was very excited to read The Resistance as I enjoyed the first book, The Declaration. In The Resistance, Anna and Peter are finally in a position where they can enjoy some freedom as they have become legal through a tragic event at the end of the first book.

Though Anna and Peter are living together and are both legal now, Peter still wants change and is therefore still working for the Underground. For this reason, he works as a spy when he goes to work for his grandfather whom he hates. His grandfather, Richard Pincent, offers him the job at Pincent Pharma and wants to make amends with Peter.

Anna, meanwhile, is busy raising her baby brother in the hostile neighbourbood and finds it hard to make friends or acquaintances. No one seems to like the sight of the young. One day, a woman approaches her and they become friends. Anna believes that she is different.

The Resistance was an enjoyable book to read, but I found it slow and frustrating because of the lack of communication between Anna and Peter. The story is told in alternating viewpoints between Anna, Peter and a new character, Jude.  Their seperate storylines come together very nicely for the finale.

Jude was an interesting new character but I found what he did on a day-to-day basis-hacking into big companies' networks- somewhat unbelievable as he was sixteen years old and self-taught.

Some aspects of the storyline and the characters' questions and dilemmas were repeated throughout the book. I thought a lot of the problems would have been solved if only Anna and Peter communicated with each other more. The honeymoon period was definitely over in this book.

The story picks up pace towards the end and there were some shocking truths revealed which I felt horrified by. Overall, I did enjoy The Resistance. Though it wasn't as strong as its predecessor- The Declaration, it was still a thought-provoking story.

The story definitely gets more interesting towards the end and I looked forward to reading the last book in the trilogy, The Legacy. If you enjoyed The Declaration, I would recommend you continue. Furthermore, if you enjoy the dystopian genre and questions on ethics, you should pick this one up.

(Okay, I read this about three months ago so forgive me if the review's not that good:)

Rating: 3.5/5
Concept: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Author: Gemma Malley
 
This review is part of Dystopian February at Presenting Lenore.

Review: The Declaration by Gemma Malley

Summary from Goodreads:

In the year 2140, it is illegal to be young.

Children are all but extinct.

The world is a better place.

Longevity drugs are a fountain of youth. Sign the Declaration, agree not to have children and you too can live forever. Refuse, and you will live as an outcast. For the children born outside the law, it only gets worse – Surplus status.

Not everyone thinks Longevity is a good thing, but you better be clear what side you’re on. . . . Surplus Anna is about to find out what happens when you can’t decide if you should cheat the law or cheat death.

Review:

The Declaration was a great, dystopian novel which offered valuable insight to what would happen if people could live longer-centuries longer. Malley’s writing style was easy to understand, non-convoluted and always included me, the reader. In short, I enjoyed her writing and the concept of the story.

At first, I didn’t like Anna because I knew that her writing everything down in her journal and hiding it away would lead to trouble for her. I knew she would be caught. However, as time passed and she became less stubborn and more accepting towards Peter, I liked her slightly more. For the most part, Anna was a good character.

Anna was known as 'Surplus Anna' in the Surplus hall where she lived. Her life's aim was to be a good Surplus, so she can go out and serve a 'Legal'. She was made to feel lower than low.

Peter was an interesting character and throughout the novel, I didn’t know whether I could trust him or not (much like Anna). I liked that Peter kept me guessing as to his true loyalties as it made the story much more interesting. Peter felt like a wonderful contrast to Anna-he was much more rebellious while she was much more rule-abiding, owing to the way she was brought up.

The plot was mostly fast-paced for which I was glad. Anna’s road to discovery was interesting to observe and I felt sorry for what had happened to her and those like her at the hands of greedy adults.

Mrs Pincent was the most horrible, evil character I came across and I was happy with what happened to her in the end. However, this was tinged with a slight sadness at what others had done to her. The more my hate grew for her, the more sympathy I felt for both Peter and Anna.

The ending was very rushed-all the concluding events occurred in a rush. Anna only knew her parents for a few days before they killed themselves to make her and her young brother ‘legal’. Her parents weren’t that well-developed as characters for me to have felt sorry for them.

The savagery of what Anna's parents had to do in contrast to what a civilised society everyone else thought themselves to be living in really shocked me. As a young person myself, I felt very sad about what happened in this book, but know that it could be a very real possibility one day.

Overall, The Declaration was well executed and I enjoyed it. The novel asks questions that society may be afraid to answer. What would we do if we could all live hundreds of years longer? Would we still have children? And if so, what would we do with them? In this age of constantly developing science, it may not be too long before we really do have to answer these questions.

I really enjoyed The Declaration and was eager to read the next book, The Resistance.

Book Rating: 4/5

Cover: 4/5

Concept: 5/5

Author: Gemma Malley

I wrote this review as part of Dystopian August which is taking place at Presenting Lenore.