Restart: Dawn of Shadows – Book 2, by Drew Samuelsen, picks up where its predecessor left off, plunging readers into a world teetering on the edge of chaos. The story follows a band of survivors who, against all odds, work to reclaim humanity’s future from Queen Eve, a merciless antagonist who embodies both a personal and a global threat. The narrative sweeps from the cold vacuum of space to the teeming streets of post-apocalyptic Earth, intertwining high-stakes missions with intimate character conflicts. It’s a story of resilience, hope, and the staggering cost of fighting for freedom.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this book is its pacing. The action doesn’t just move, it rockets. Take the sequence where the protagonists escape a collapsing space station while fending off an attacking drone. The tension is palpable, and I felt myself gripping the edges of my chair as the crew scrambled to survive. Samuelsen’s imaginative world-building is something to appreciate. The descriptions of life aboard the space station the floating chaos, moonlight-induced trances, and cryptic symbols immersed me fully. The scene where Ulysses experiences a hauntingly vivid memory of his childhood thanks to alien technology was particularly striking. Some of the fantastical elements, while engaging, sometimes made the story feel more like a series of dramatic vignettes than a cohesive whole.

The dialogue shines in this book. It’s sharp and natural, often laced with humor. I chuckled at Uly’s exasperation with Xavier’s penchant for dramatic quips. But the heart of the story lies in the emotional exchanges, like the fraught conversations between Max and her father about her altered mother. These moments hit hard, revealing the emotional toll of their fight for survival.

Restart: Dawn of Shadows – Book 2 is an exciting, imperfect gem. I highly recommend this read for fans of action-packed, character-driven sci-fi with a dose of moral complexity. If you enjoy stories like The Hunger Games or Divergent, this book will be right up your alley. It’s an emotional rollercoaster with enough twists to keep you guessing and enough heart to make you care.

Pages: 206 | ASIN: B0DNQY2RVV