Review: False Sight

Book Two in the False series
By Dan Krokos
Available now from Disney-Hyperion
Review copy
Read my review of The Planet Thieves and my interview with Dan

FALSE MEMORY, the first book in the False series, ended with a pretty big revelation.  FALSE SIGHT is basically one crazy revelation after another.  It's absolutely nothing like I expected, but it's incredibly fun to see how things move from point a to point 8.  And the hook at the end of FALSE SIGHT has me eager to see what craziness is in store for book three.

The opening of FALSE SIGHT is deceptively innocuous.  Miranda and her fellow Roses are attending normal high school, pretending to be normal students in order to hide from those who would use their power to spread fear.  But they make a big mistake, one that starts an all new search for answers.

I would almost say that this science fiction thriller series is okay for elementary readers as well as teens, but only those who can handle death.  The False books are easy reads, but there are major character deaths and the protagonists kill to save their own lives.  And no, these are not bloodless kills.  At the same time, I know I would've enjoyed this series when I was younger.  There's a cool girl at the center, there's more action than romance, and there's a convoluted plot involving clones.

(If I have one objection, it's that there is a scene with three sets of people with the same names and, although Dan Krokos does his best, it quickly becomes confusing who is doing what and who is getting what done to them.)

As for that "cool girl," Miranda is both extremely comfortable and uncomfortable with herself, which makes sense given that she's skilled, competent, and confident, but has serious memory issues (that only get worse).  (Okay, second objection: why does new girl Nina not lose her memories?)  I like that Miranda makes bad decisions, but generally recognizes afterwards that they were bad decisions and there were things she could've done better, but keeps going on.  (There is a lot of emphasis in FALSE SIGHT that Miranda's persistence in adversity is her defining attribute.)

I recommend FALSE SIGHT to those looking for a quick, thrilling read.  This book gets very dark indeed, but it never stops being exciting.  There's always another twist coming.