Rogue by Julie Kagawa (Review)

Genre:	Young Adult, Paranormal
Publication Date:	April 28, 2015
Pages:	444
Published By:	Harlequin Teen
Website	Julie Kagawa Website
My review copy:	Purchased

Buy it:
Amazon ~ B&N ~ Chapters

Synopsis

Deserter. Traitor. Rogue.

Ember Hill left the dragon organization Talon to take her chances with rebel dragon Cobalt and his crew of rogues. But Ember can’t forget the sacrifice made for her by the human boy who could have killed her—Garret Xavier Sebastian, a soldier of the dragonslaying Order of St. George, the boy who saved her from a Talon assassin, knowing that by doing so, he’d signed his own death warrant.

Determined to save Garret from execution, Ember must convince Cobalt to help her break into the Order’s headquarters. With assassins after them and Ember’s own brother helping Talon with the hunt, the rogues find an unexpected ally in Garret and a new perspective on the underground battle between Talon and St. George.

A reckoning is brewing and the secrets hidden by both sides are shocking and deadly. Soon Ember must decide: Should she retreat to fight another day…or start an all-out war?

Quotes

  "That's not true!"  I remembered Garret's face that night, the intense way he'd look at me, the remorse and determination and guilt.  I'm done, he'd told me.  No more killing.  No more deaths.  I'm not hunting your people anymore.

  I couldn't keep going like this.  It was dangerous; for me, for Ember, for everyone in my underground.  she was a distraction, a fiery, tempting, intriguing distraction, and I had too many people counting on me to keep them safe.  I had to get away from her, for both our sakes.

I knew the answer, of course, why I hadn't left.  It wasn't because of St. George, or Talon.  It wasn't because I owed these dragons my life, or that I felt I could fight the Order raised me.  It wasn't even guilt, the memories of blood and death that kept me up at night now.  It wasn't any of those reasons.

My Thoughts

  What I love and hate about picking up a book by Julie Kagawa, is that I know I am always going to feel some sort of emotional turmoil.  This is actually putting it lightly as my love affair started with tears, and a horrible ache in my chest while reading The Iron Fey series.  Reading this series I felt like things may be different, and technically they are.  Not the part where I get sucked in and everything around me doesn't matter, because life ceases to exist...  That's no different and still is happening, but the torn emotions is different is different this time. 

  There is no denying that this book gave me the majority of what I had wanted/expected.  Not saying that the plot was predictable, but more that after reading the first book that I had certain expectations.  The problem with expectations is that things also have the chance to go a complete other way.  So, when I say that I got the majority, what I mean is that there were so many things that went differently than I had expected.  There were moments that I found myself wishing things could be different.  Maybe not so much for the plots sake, but for the characters sake.  This being said this is also the first book I can remember reading by Kagawa that I felt had some stalls in the pacing.  They weren't unnecessary and the information or happenings were needed, but  I couldn't help but want to push forward to experience some more action.  This feeling of pushing forward is also due to reading three different points of view, and my obsession with getting back to certain ones.

  Ember is unique.  I can't say that she is so different from so many heroine's out there, but I enjoy her and her unique mind.  She is stubborn and yet she is willing to see things that most people (err... dragons), in her world are not willing to see.  Her honor and desire to right the wrongs is admirable, and I can actually understand some of the inner conflict that she experiences.  She has to deal with feelings that she has been told she should never experience.  The things is that Ember does, and breaking free of everything that she knew now means facing everything she doesn't.  This doesn't create a smooth path, this is the path of most resistance and it isn't easy.  Ember makes mistakes and sometimes they are irritating as hell, sometimes her emotions drive me crazy but when it comes down to it she is a great character for being able to make me feel those things.

  Riley/Cobalt is the character that I both love and hate.  He doesn't hold anything back, but in his position and some of his opinions make him that way.  Well, I guess that there is one thing that he holds back but it isn't uncommon for any guy to do so.  When it came to Ember, Riley didn't always keep his strict rules and back up, but to let those things go he also risked so much.  One of these decisions almost cost him more than he should have risked, but Ember would not walk away from it.  Garret would be that risk, and for all of his faults Garret is a great character.  Like Ember he has learned that just because you were raised to believe something, doesn't mean it's right or true.  This isn't saying that he is perfect but he is trying his best to adapt to his world being turned upside-down.  Occasionally this means he makes Riley's life a little more difficult, but he learns and is helpful in unexpected ways.  These two guys aren't really all that different, but at the same time they are worlds apart.

  Though this will be short it will not be sweet.  My heart breaks the chapters that we hear from Dante, Embers brother.  He is the perfect example of what Talon wants, and although he loves Ember he is unwavering in his faith in the people that dictate how him and every other dragon lives.  This means we watch as Dante lives up to the expectations that those around him have set.  I know every story needs a bad guy or a bad situation, but with Talon and the Order slinking around I had hopes for Dante.  Hopes that were swept away and crushed.  Dante still remains not quite as developed as other characters, and my feelings for him are the same: not quite developed.

  Where Talon was a captivating start to a new series, Rogue was an intriguing follow up.  I can't help but wonder where Soldier will take us, and how the end twist will change the current relationships.  Rogue was the wave that I want when picking up one of this authors books, with a twist that compelled me to want more.  I will be pre-ordering Soldier for two reasons:

1. It's Julie Kagawa

2. This series already has me completely captivated!

  This series is great for people that are already fans of Kagawa and enjoy a highly addictive paranormal/fantasy read.

Posted by Tiffany