ARC review: The Raging Ones by Krista & Becca Ritchie

The Raging Ones by Krista & Becca Ritchie
Series: The Raging Ones #1
Rating: ★★★★☆
Links: Amazon • TBD • Goodreads
Publication Date: August 14, 2018
Source: ARC from publisher (via Netgalley)

In a freezing world, where everyone knows the day they will die, three teens break all odds.

Franny Bluecastle, a tough city teen, dreams of dying in opulence, to see wealth she’s never known. Like the entire world, she believes it’s impossible to dodge a deathday.

Until the day she does.

Court Icecastle knows wealth. He also knows pain. Spending five years in Vorkter Prison, a fortress of ice and suffering, he dreams of life beyond the people that haunt him and the world that imprisoned him.

Mykal Kickfall fights for those he loves. The rugged Hinterlander shares a frustrating yet unbreakable connection with Court—which only grows more lawless and chaotic as their senses and emotions connect with Franny.

With the threat of people learning they’ve dodged their deathdays, they must flee their planet to survive. But to do so, all three will have to hide their shared bond as they vie for a highly sought after spot in the newest mission to space. Against thousands of people far smarter, who’ll live longer, and never fear death the way that they do.

Back in the day, I used to read a ton of YA sci-fi and fantasy. I think I kind of burned myself out on it because, recently, I really haven’t had much of a desire to read most books that fall into that category. But it’s no secret that Krista & Becca Ritchie are two of my favorite authors of all time, so The Raging Ones ended up at the top of 2018’s most anticipated list. I honestly wasn’t expecting to be approved for an ARC of this book, but it happened and I can’t thank St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley enough for the opportunity. I also went ahead and preordered it anyway because this is a book that I need to have on my physical bookshelf.

To start off, let me just say that I love the aesthetic of this world. It’s freezing cold, it has a lilac sky, and everybody knows exactly when they’ll die. Half of the world lives in opulence while the other half is fated to live fast and die young, all of this decided by their predetermined deathdays. This is such a concept and not one that I’ve really seen before. Leave it to these authors, I swear to god. Everything they write is gold.

One thing that I really dislike in a sci-fi/fantasy book is a lot of infodumping. It’s overwhelming, it takes me out of the story, and it’s often just unnecessary. I much prefer to be immersed in the new world and left to figure it out for myself. That said, I might’ve preferred a bit more information here because even after finishing the book, I’m unclear on how exactly a lot of things work. I mean, no spoilers, but I’m not sure that I 100% understand why the Saga 5 thing had to be a competition, how the emotional and physical link between our three main characters works, and how the whole deathday thing came about. Really, though, that’s a pretty minor criticism when you consider how much I truly enjoyed this book.

If you’ve read anything else by the Ritchie sisters, you’ll know how talented they are at writing three-dimensional characters. They could make me care about anybody, and that’s really saying something. I loved Court (I got a bit of a hybrid Moffy/Farrow vibe from him) and Franny, but Mykal was my favorite. I always root for an underdog, and I just wanted to protect this big, burly kid from all of the pain and suffering in the world. I love that this book focuses on a friend group of two males and one female and there’s no love triangle whatsoever. THANK YOU.

It’s so weird to me that this is considered Krista & Becca Ritchie’s debut novel when I’ve previously read fifteen of their books, but I guess that’s how it goes since this is their first traditionally published novel. For me, this really showed in the editing. It’s not that Krista & Becca’s books are usually poorly written or anything (they’re really not!) but everything in this book felt so much more polished. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s traditionally published and has therefore probably gone through a lot more rounds of edits or if it’s just because I’m used to reading a totally different style of book from them.

My mind is blown by that ending and I don’t know if I can reasonably be expected to wait until next year for the sequel. This book completely reignited my spark for fantasy and I honestly can’t recommend it enough.

Previously: Addicted To You • Ricochet • Addicted For Now • Thrive • Addicted After All • Kiss the Sky • Hothouse Flower • Fuel the Fire • Long Way Down • Some Kind of Perfect • Damaged Like Us • Lovers Like Us • Alphas Like Us • Amour Amour • Infini

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Have you read The Raging Ones? Are you a fan of Krista & Becca Ritchie?
Let’s talk in the comments!

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