I absolutely love this series and how this story ends. There are some of my favorite characters and I actually have read it twice!

Redux is a fantastic book in the Tricksters series with lots of twists. I feel like Davroe completely upped the stakes since book one. I already loved the world building and how the pace really get you gripped until the end.

Ella has such a brilliant mind but after the events of book one she carries a lot of guilt and she knows she has to fix her mistakes in order to not repeat them. What I loved about this was the change in pace with the romance. I was so eager to discover more about Quentin and wow did this deliver!! Quentin was such a fantastic character, getting to know about his backstory was so enlightening, knowing about how much pressure he was under and his own personal struggles made me appreciate him all the more.

So after the explosive and frankly what the hell ending to Nexis, Redux is finally here! Nexis left me with more questions than answers due to Davroe’s cunning plot twist so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Redux and dig in.

Fans of the Tricksters series will be delighted to know that Redux picks up straight where Nexis left off. Ella completed her mission; she released a virus on the city of Evanescence, only it didn’t bring peace, it brought war. With the city in ruins and it’s people either dead or on the run Ella must find a way to save her home and loved ones.

Ella continued to grow in Redux, I loved that she was able to show weakness and come back stronger. She’s able to learn from her mistakes and continues to sacrifice herself to save her people. When Ella finds herself with the rebels and Disfavoured who live outside of Evanescence, she’s determined to join forces, take charge and ultimately take back her city.

What I really loved about this book was the romance, after the mystery and intrigue of book one I was left with some suspicions and a whole lotta’ hope. And let me tell you, Davroe delivers! I was very happy with what happened and thrilled for Ella to finally have some happiness. The romance was slow and consuming and I found myself flying through the pages.

Redux was an excellent follow up and readers will enjoy this from start to finish. Davroe weaves are brilliantly complex plot in a unique dystopian world. I am so excited to see what Davroe comes up with next as I'm sad to see this amazing series go.

Ultimately,I was unable to really get into this, even after stopping and coming back to it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for giving me this book to review.

Redux is a really great second book in the Tricksters series with lots of twists. It was fast paced, with good world building. This book was more intense than the last as it is set in the real world and when the characters die, they actually die, but I did miss the fantasy element of the Nexis. While I am not a fan of love triangles or squares, I found this one interesting as it did not go on too long and it had the extra element of who was in the Nexis with Ella.

Ella is intelligent but also wracked with guilt, and she is willing to do anything to fix her mistakes. I wish we got to see more of Gus but he is loyal, resourceful, conflicted and daring. We got to learn more about Quentin, how persuasive he is and how much responsibility was on his shoulders, which made me like his character as he was so interesting. I enjoyed how we got to know new characters as well as established ones becoming more developed.

Like the last book I was a bit confused at the ending but I also enjoyed it as all of the main questions were answered but it was also left open enough for another book, which I would enjoy as I liked reading about this world. I would recommend Redux to fans of the first book Nexis.

From the moment she set foot in Nexis, Ella never imagined just how much her life would change. The game has helped her deal with the loss of her father, as well as the betrayal of those who should have taken her best interests to heart. With the city in shambles, and its citizens scattered, she and a group of survivors are banding together in the hopes of finding a sanctuary that will sustain them. Though none of them know what lies on the horizon, none are willing to give up the little that remains amongst them.

A wonderful addition to the Tricksters series, Redux picks up where book one left off. In this book, however, we get to see how Ella and the others coexist amongst the chaos that she inadvertently created. AL has a way with words that truly captures the reader's attention. Every word she writes vividly paints the world and its environments for the reader, allowing him or her to imagine everything that happens throughout the story.

It's wonderful to see Ella assert herself through everything she and her friends go through. Mind you, they've all been thrown together because of a necessity to survive. Ella never imagined what was in store of her and her friends when she made the decision to delve further into the secrets that surrounded Nexis. How was she to know that someone else was truly pulling her strings? Nevertheless, she's doing her best to fix the mistakes she's made. She's willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure everyone's survival, even if it means that she may have to die in doing so.

This series is honestly refreshing. I love, love, love the unique take on all things gaming. The constant twists and turns make you wonder as to what is truly coming next. I so can't wait to see what AL has in store next for Ella and the rest of the survivors. Will they be able to finally stake a claim on the world around them, I wonder? Only time will tell.

Nexis, the first book in this Duology, was one of my first five star reads of 2016. It was brilliantly crafted in a futuristic world and the ending had me sitting in the same spot, slackjawed and ready for book two already.

For some reason, despite getting approved to read an eARC of Redux on NetGalley, it took me a really long while to tap on the book on my Kindle app and start reading.

It's been a year and a half and well, apart from the basic story and the main characters, I'd forgotten everyone else. This is why the first 10% of the book saved me as it refreshed my knowledge about this series.

In simple short words, Nexis was better than Redux.

After the first ten percent that functioned like a recap to me, I was so confused by the world. Without a map or clear descriptions that functioned like a map, I had this feeling of being lost in my bookish surroundings that I couldn't take. I had no idea what the plan was - was it to try and go to the NEXT dome (I remember that being the plan from the last book?) And if so, why did they never try and only wanted to go back into the dome the destroyed? How many undertunnels are there? What's the plan? I spent most of the book wondering what everybody in it was doing, to be honest.

I can't review this book without spoilers, BUT, despite the death of hundreds of thousands of people at the hands of the “Tricksters” I felt not even a single amount of GUILT or I'M WRONG WHAT CAN I DO from any one of them. They pretty much had made peace with their actions, damn the consequences and moved forward, and were STILL TRUSTED to be leaders of the Rebellion. Or the refugees. I don't know how they were and how NOBODY blamed them but it made the book feel artificial.

Let's also talk about Ella's parents. They were at the top of my list of people who didn't CARE that thousands had died, their “uploaded minds” merely saying “Oh, well, that was only a slight miscalculation” They used their own DAUGHTER to give a face to Rebellion without so much as ASKING her and then made her a Saviour. SIGH.

Apart from that, there were two death scenes where a certain somebody ALMOST died but HAHA HE DIDN'T BECAUSE HE'S THE MAIN CHARACTER AND HOW COULD HE?

I did have a lot of problems with this book, but there was a lot to like too. I still loved the sheer genius of the technology that made up Evanescence. It takes a SPECTACULAR mind to come up with ideas like the one in the book and I loved it. There were also certain gritty and romantic twists that I couldn't see coming but loved when they did because they added a lot to the book.

Mostly, I just wish this book had been better. I wish Ella's parents had asked and not attempt to brainwash an entire population. I wish Ella's wasn't such a NOBLE person and that she wasn't portrayed as a Saint/ Saviour but more like a normal girl.

I love this series, and I definitely recommend it. I just wish that certain elements were better executed. 3 stars.

The world has fallen apart, androids have killed most of the rich and conceited population of Evanescence, and out of the survivors, the rebels kill most of them. All that seems to be left are Ella's small band of people, and she desperately wants to protect them and keep them alive, along with the boy she learned to love in Nexis, the one that helped her accidentally release the virus that caused the whole massacre in the first place. Tasked with saving what's left, Ella has quite a road ahead of her, and quite a fight for survival as well. She must venture out into the wastelands if her and her group are ever going to even have a shot at survival. Throughout all of this, she must deal with her love for the boy in the game, and whether or not he can also love her outside of the game, or if she will have to loose his heart forever.

I found Redux to be dark and sad. It was by far not what I would describe as a "fun" read, but it had some of its own merits. It continues off from where the previous novel in the series finished off at. Different from the first novel, Redux is a dark and gritty apocalypse novel, where as the first novel in the series was like a futuristic Cinderella story. A girl being abused by her horrible step mother and sister, with tragic parental death, pretty dresses and balls with handsome men and princes. Redux lost that friendly-ish feel that the first novel had, it also lost most of its virtual reality aspects, which seemed to be the main part of the first book. So in the end Redux was meh and was missing a lot of parts I enjoyed most about the first novel, so I give it the rating of THREE AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE!!!

The second book in the Tricksters series, “Redux”, left me feeling somewhat let down.

The plot is fun and kept my attention, but there were large info dumps throughout that could be quite confusing. I understand that the characters were not aware of the situations, so it was like they were finding everything out all at once, but for the ease of the reader it could have been handled better.

“Redux” is still a good escape type of book, and I encourage those who enjoyed “Nexis” to continue with the series.

I thought this was a great sequel. I loved that it picked right up where things left off in Nexis. Ella is still one of my favorite main characters. She is such a strong female lead and I love that she didn't take any crap this time around and she took charge of the situation she was forced into. Honestly all of the characters are pretty great in this story. The story itself really picked up action wise in the last 20% of the book. That part of the story had me hooked and not wanting to put down the book at all. I am hoping we get a third book because I would love to see where things end up after the events that happened in this.

Thank you to Entangled Teen and A.L. Davroe for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.

Redux is the amazing concluding book in the Tricksters duology by A.L. Davroe and let me tell you now, it's absolutely fantastic. While I am sad to see this series end (for now) I am so satisfied with the ending! I was worried it wouldn't end nice and clean and would have a lot of lose threads (that's clever, I promise) that wouldn't be tied up, but it was quite the opposite. While there are several things that at completely wrapped up, they're left in a very satisfying way to where things end but can also easily be picked back up in the future to continue the story. I definitely enjoyed the first book, Nexis, but did have a few small reservations about it. Going into Redux, all I knew to expect was the continuation of the story, but never thought I'd get such a satisfying conclusion. This world that A.L. Davroe has so masterfully crafted from the ground up is one that I would gladly get lost in again and is a book that should not be missed!

Plot:
This book picks up just minutes after the end of Nexis- with Evanescence in ruins and the Aristocrats on the run. One thing that I really enjoyed about Redux is that while you're reading a new book, you get loads of backstory about what happened in the first book so that you don't feel lost. I felt as if I got enough information that I would have been able to pick up Redux with no problems and would not have felt like I missed out on anything. However I would sill recommend picking up Nexis just because it's a good beginning to the series! Despite this book being a rather big one (428 pages!) it does move quite fast. You finally get to see the world outside of the dome and its inhabitants, both the Disfavored and Cannibals, and even get to see the game that the Disfavored play- Redux. There is a lot of action, and the question of who is the "real" Gus is finally answered. Trust me, you won't see the answer coming. There are twists and turns and truths are revealed that are pretty unexpected regarding Ella and her life. Also, the ending is pretty fantastic! While things do get wrapped up pretty nicely, they are also left open for potential future installments with Ella and her world and I am so excited at the prospect of more books in this series. I was on the fence about Nexis (although I did enjoy it) but Redux stole the show and is definitely my favorite book of the two, and I would love to see what direction the story can go from here. Redux is everything I could have wanted in a sequel/duology, and I am incredibly satisfied at the state of things after finishing the book.

Characters:
In the first book, I wasn't a huge fan of Ella. I was constantly frustrated that she was being held hostage and refused to ask for help from Gus in Nexis because she was afraid of what he would think of her in the real world without her legs. She definitely annoyed me whenever that issue would come up and I just found myself so...annoyed! But Ella in Redux is a completely different person. She's strong and loud and not afraid to be bold/take chances. I loved the huge growth difference from Nexis to Redux and I felt like a proud mom watching Ella grow up, basically. That may sound silly but I just absolutely adored Ella in this book and I could not get enough of her. I was so happy to see her take charge and lead people the way she wanted to, not in the way that others tried to tell her. Ella Drexel for president, am I right? Speaking of presidents, let's talk about Quentin and Gus. But not too much because spoilers. I loved the relationship between Ella and the two boys and I literally screamed when the "reveal" happened because I was so happy. I think there was more growth for Quentin compared to Gus but it was great to see Quentin kind of grow up as well. He gets a few twists thrown at him and it's interesting to see how he handles things as more of an adult rather than a teenager. Other characters, such as Quentin's Dolls, Delia, Bastian, Carsai, Violet, etc. are well-written but don't really stand out to me when I think about this book. They're good characters, especially Violet, and I liked the mini story arcs that they went through, but I like them as background characters and as possible main character story progression plots more than anything. But every character in this book was definitely well-written and I feel like this book is a great blend of both strong main characters and strong story lines.

Writing:
As a gamer, I loved the idea of a video game that you basically insert your consciousness into and play. Nexis introduced that idea and while Redux didn't expand heavily upon it (it was more about Ella's growth and realization of her purpose) it did reintroduce that concept again and we get to see the Disfavored version of Nexis, which is Redux. I loved that the writing was very balanced and never fell into too much detail and got boring, but never left the reader wondering just what was going on. It was beautiful, brutal, and scary, and I found myself flying through the pages and getting lost in the world that A.L. Davroe has created. There was so much more going on than I initially realized and I actually found myself enjoying the subtle political aspect that was woven in. Not only was there noticeable growth with Ella, but you can really tell there was a huge growth with the author from Nexis to Redux. A.L. Davroe quickly grew to an insta-read author for me, and I would definitely put her on my "you need to read this author" list!

This is a fantastic concluding book in the Tricksters duology that wraps up nicely while still leaving a potential opening for future books. I was so pleased with the beginning, ending, and everything in between. Have I mentioned that enough? If you're looking for an action-packed science-fiction/dystopian series with twists, turns, and creepy spider references, then Redux is the book for you!

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Veronica – ☆☆☆☆☆
Droids have destroyed Evanescence and Ella, Quint, Gus, and a group of residents manage to escape the city alive. Ella feels responsible for the deaths of so many people and is ready to do whatever it takes to keep the survivors alive.

Life outside of Evanescence eventually leads them to come into contact with the disfavoured and we start to learn that there is far more going on than we thought. Outside of the walls of Evanescence, Ella sees people she thought she'd never see again.

The side story of the romance provides a good dollop of teenage drama and angst alongside their fight for survival. But what I loved most about this story is it doesn't really go where I excepted and it is full of surprises. In the end, it is clear that Ella is an amazing heroine and she is willing to make huge personal sacrifices for the greater good.

I was completely engrossed in Redux every step of the way and I can't wait for book three.


Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
At the start of Redux, I was afraid I'd have to reread Nexis. It had been over 15 months since I read the debut in the series, and had read 500+ books in the interim. While I can't say it wasn't a bit of a struggle in the first few pages to situate myself into the universe, characters, and past events, Davroe did a fabulous job leading the reader to remember bits from Nexis, without devolving into an info-dump rehash. So I applaud the author on the seamless delivery of past information.

With that being said, if you enjoy rereading, and you read the first close to its release, I'd suggest rereading prior. As I read Redux, I had moments where I thought it would have been nice to reread to capture the subtle nuances that may otherwise be lost on the reader. Those heart-tugging, gut-wrenching moments, and bits of foreshadowing, where the reader murmurs, "ahhh..." on a reread.

I do not recommend this being read as a standalone or out of series order.

From this point on, to avoid spoilers, I'm going to have a difficult time formulating a cohesive review. It truly would ruin the journey.

Redux was a page-turner, where I found myself getting snippy when torn from the story. I just wanted to sit down and devour it from page one until the end. This fast-paced read is filled with intriguing world-building, adventuring, love and loss, which hit all my emotions.

The opulent, domed city of Evanescence is powered down, with its inhabitants scattered in the wind, and/or no longer among the living. Ella and company try to save the few remaining aristocrats by seeking to locate a sanctuary. There's no real comfort and security, so Ella has to have the backs of her companions. Nothing goes as planned, including all the machinations plotted by the original Tricksters, which put them into the mess they are dealing with now. Lives are lost, friendships are made and tested, and relationships die while others bloom.

Ella is still a strong role model, making good choices with both her head and heart. In a world where the cast of characters is either vapid – and only thinking of their wants and needs – or logical to a fault – where they are missing empathy and compassion, only seeing people as tools, even loved ones and friends – Ella stuck true to her roots, as the perfect mix of both personality types. Ella bridges the gap as the Savior.

Ella does her best, making sacrifices for the good of all the people.

There are several romantic entanglements, adding a nice dose of teenage angst, but they are far from insta-love and do not subtract from the very involved plot. While I wasn't surprised by the direction the author took Ella's romantic interests, I was shocked by another twisty plot point. Young adults and the young at heart will find the romance in Redux to add to the overall enjoyment, give us a reason to root for specific characters. It truly is complementary to the story arc, not propelling it but giving everyone a reason to hope in a desolate situation.

Redux was well worth the wait. Usually when I'm floored by an amazing debut novel, it all goes downhill in the sequel. Nexis and Redux are both equally worthy of a 5-star rating, which I never give lightly. I can't wait to see what the author has in store during the next book.

Recommended to fans of Young Adult, Fantasy, Science-fiction, Dystopian/Utopian fiction, MMORPG video game based novels.

Young Adult age-range: 14+ Adult Language. Violence. Kissing & fade-to-black sexual situations.

What can I say except that A.L. Davroe has blown me away once again. This book picks up right after where book one, Nexis, left off. Which is good, because it left off at a pretty suspenseful part. If you haven't read the first one, I can't promise no spoilers in this review, so you should click on my linked title of book 1 above and go read that review first maybe.


We had so many interesting revelations in the first book. And now we're back with Ella, and her love from within the game of Nexis, Gus. But maybe outside of the game, the true love that they had isn't going to work quite the same. Not only that, but the president's sun, Quentin, seems to be interested in Ella as well, and he keeps kissing her, which irritates her to no end. Partly because his kisses are something she can't seem to resist. However so much is going on, not only are all the robots and other machines within their dome of Evanescence killing anything alive that they find, the rebels from outside the dome have come in and been attacking the Aristocrats as well. So Ella and Gus, Quentin and his Dolls, along with some other Aristocrats left after the big catastrophe have gone below into a tunnel that will connect to the next dome over. Where they hope to make it to in order to get help.


However when they go to open the crates of what should be full of food and other much needed supplies in this disaster, they find them empty. So now there is also the mystery of who had been into this secret room. Now they now they are going to have to go up into the cities outside the dome to try to find the food they need in order to make it all the way through the tunnel to find the next dome and hopefully a new life. However when the virus that caused the dome to crash took over, many things happened that as far as Quentin and Zane and the other people in on it with Ella's uncle had no idea would happen. The machines rising up as they did, and now the atmosphere is being destroyed with what little protection it did give outside the dome.


Out in the "real world" Ella and her group must fight with the people that have good reason to hate the Aristocrats who lived in the dome. Well, everyone but Ella, because of who she is, she is considered their savior. Not only that, but there are the cannibals, the failing atmosphere, and the food shortage to keep them struggling. Ella also is dealing with the fact that Gus seemed to have a life outside of the game that she did not know about. One that includes Ella's former best friend. Her former best friend who tells Gus exactly what Ella used to say about him before she knew him. She also is learning that people she thought had died, may not actually be dead. And was it really Gus or Quentin that she fell in love with during the game?



So many secrets and twists in this story that I kept gasping when something new was revealed or something else happened that I didn't see coming. I love the way it all went in this book. The way the author ends this is really perfect. While I had to skim a bit to finish in time to post my review on Amazon, I am still actually finishing up going back and getting all the details that I might have missed as I sped through. I suggest when you pick it up that you have lots of time so that you don't have to put it down, and that you take that time to read through all the descriptions and story arcs so that you can fully appreciate how great this book, this series, really is.

This second book in the Tricksters Series was possibly even more intense than the first. In this book, Ella and company are fleeing the city, but things don’t go as planned. Ella still struggles to figure out her role in the revolution—both what it was meant to be and what she wants it to be. And she finds that her relationship with Gus isn’t simple now that they’re in the real world. Add to that the fact that the legs that Ella has been given have been damaged, leaving her feeling less than whole once again and the fact that pretty much everyone wants to kill them … it’s a bumpy ride.

There’s a major revelation in this book that completely threw me, even though it made complete sense once I knew. I’m incredibly pleased with the way that things played out in the romance department, despite the fact that I was more than a little unhappy in the beginning. And Nexis comes back into play (somewhat), which I was happy to see as well. This book puts poor Ella through the ringer and makes her dig deep and decide what kind of world she wants to live in—the answers aren’t as easy as she once imagined.

This is an exciting sequel that reminds me why I fell in love with this concept to begin with. I’m looking forward to more! I give this book 4.5/5 stars from me.

Redux (Tricksters #2) by A. L. Davroe is book two in her YA dystopian series about Ellani Drexel.

Continuing right where book one, Nexis, ended, Redux takes us into the Undertunnel as Ella and the remaining survivors try to get as far away from the domed city of Evanescence as they can and the coming horde of killer machines and Disfavored that have taken over the city.

When they realize the food stores that would help them get to their sister city, Cadence, is gone. They have no choice but to risk going topside to The Waste to find supplies. Here is where it gets even more exciting, as danger arises, secrets are revealed, and we find more about the Tricksters, and the game of Nexis than we ever knew.

Ms. Davroe's writing is wonderful and filled with imagery and words that pull at the senses and your emotions. I also enjoyed the twists and turns, and learning more about the Disfavored, the Tricksters, and the virtual game her parents created.

The character of Ella really grew as a character for me and I enjoyed seeing her in Real World, and dealing with the different revelations that came up now that she was no longer in the game, especially with her relationships to family, friends, Gus, and Quentin. Quentin is also another character I absolutely adored. He won me over and he plays a big role within this novel.

Overall, Redux by A. L. Davroe is a well-written novel that entertains you from start to finish and keeps you on the edge of your seat as you wait to see what happens next. I enthusiastically recommend.

(I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book I received from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my open and honest review.)

Redux is the second book in the Tricksters series by A.L. Davroe. In the first book of the series, Nexis, we met Ella Drexel who lived in the domed city of Evanescence with her father who was the creator of a virtual reality game. When Ella and her father are in an accident Ella’s father was killed and Ella herself lost her legs. This left her in the care of a woman that kept Ella trapped with everyone thinking she had died too so Ella turned to her father’s virtual reality game for escape.

Redux picks up exactly where the end of Nexis left readers with Ella and a small band of survivors fleeing to the Undertunnel below their city. The group is tested with the malfunctioning androids and angry rebels on their journey trying to find safety. Ella also finds that the boy she thought she found love with in the virtual reality world of Nexis isn’t who she thought he was and now she questions just what had happened between them.

The Tricksters series is really turning into an amazing read with twists and turns at every corner that has again left me with no idea as to what to expect when this story continues. The author has created a wonderful post-apocalyptic society with just enough unrest along with interesting characters and situations within.

The setting in this series reminded me a lot of The Hunger Games when reading the first book in the series. The residents of the city of Evanescence are the elite in the world that spend their time in different indulgences and do strange things to themselves in the name of beauty. While outside of the city you have what are known as the disfavored who seem to be the lower class citizens that aren’t allowed into the dome with the clean air so they are dying off due to the pollution.

As with the first book of the series there is a bit of virtual reality in this one but not quite as much. Ella is learning just what the game Nexis meant to her father and what it will mean to her now. Even after reading the two books in the series I have no idea what the author will have in store in the next installment since there always seems to be twists I don’t see coming. Will definitely look forward to seeing just where this series end up next though.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Like the first book in this series, Redux continues the story and makes for a perfectly fun thrill ride of a novel!

This is as good a time to write this review as any, given how much furor Harlequin Teen has received over The Black Witch lately... I read Nexis with full intentions of reading the sequel, Redux in time for its release, but I can't in good conscience read Redux, let alone finish Nexis. Which I feel really terrible about because I received Redux not just in exchange for an honest review from the publisher, but I got it as a granted Wish on NetGalley... If anything, I hope this post raises awareness as to the types of things publishers should be aware of when considering sensitivity reads.

This series has an interesting enough premise. It's set in a post-apocalyptic world (called Evanescence, by the way. I hope that sets the tone...) where humans have let the Earth fall to ruin. The poor are left to rot in the toxic air of the outside world while the elite literally live in their own bubble of ignorance. It's essentially a cheap imitation of The Diabolic. The elite pat themselves on the back for doing a favour to the poor by creating virtual reality video games that allows people to essentially live a second life. (So basically, virtual reality Sims.) Fine. Cool. The author says to just roll with it and let it happen.

So I do.

In amongst this dystopian world is Ellani, who happens to go by 500 different pet names, half of them cringe-worthy. She's a stuck up, bratty teen obsessed with boys and disrespectful to her father, who tries so hard to teach her how the Earth once was and all the terrible things human beings have done to it in their selfishness. I can see where Davroe is going with this. It's heavy-handed, and you expect Ellani to get it at some point and realise she has to do something about it. But nope.

In one ear and out the other.

While her father's busy trying to teach her empathy for the world that once was, she's too preoccupied with begging for plastic surgery for her birthday because she's the only one who hasn't been altered in some way. She also happens to solely accept validation in the form of how many boys notice and fall in love with her. So vapid is she, she's apparently "in love with" the prince, who never gives her the time of day, never said a word to her, and doesn't even know who she is. Not only that, he owns what Davroe is calling Dolls, who are basically slaves he uses to experiment cosmetic surgery upon... If this were, say, The Hunger Games, this would be making all sorts of really intense social commentary on just how corrupt and beauty-obsessed the society has become. But no, this, just like everything else, is treated as the norm.

Not only is cosmetic surgery completely normalised in this world, so is assimilation of culture. It's explained early on that black people were completely weeded out of the gene pool. They're literally extinct. At this point, I have to put down my ereader and whisper eugenics to myself, which is never a word I want to associate with books I'm reading unless it's something making important statements against it. This book is not, and in fact, is so blasé, I almost miss when they use the actual word eugenics to explain the way people look so homogenous. And it's not in a "eugenics happened and now the world is fucked up" way. But in a "yeah, eugenics" way. Casual as you please. As if the reader's just supposed to accept it and move on. Because that's exactly what the characters do...

So, Ellani enters the game, which takes all its world-building from how the world used to be before mankind destroyed it. And for 4.5 seconds, she's taken with how beautiful it is and what a shame that the sky and wildlife and trees and rain are gone. And I think, thank god, maybe she'll be motivated to do something about it in the real world.

But then a boy comes along. And it's instalove, so everything else she was inspired by has instantly been wiped clean from her brain (not literally, but wouldn't that be interesting?) because clearly boys are more important than stopping planetary extinction...

Just when you think I'm done describing the offensive things being so casually name-dropped in this novel, I have one more horrifying tidbit. The big, instigating plot device that gets Ellani into the game in the first place is this big crash which (spoiler alert), kills her father. Fine, you could see it coming from miles away. Alright. But then she loses her legs. And given how poorly Davroe has handled literally everything else in this novel so far, you can maybe see where this is going. Two or so chapters later, she enters the game and discovers she can have her legs back. Well, I was looking forward to seeing a disabled character kick ass in a dystopian world (again, please see The Hunger Games!), but sure, this isn't a horrifying, ableist alternative at all...

I can now glean a couple messages Davroe is leaving with this:

Attention from cute boys is all the validation girls need.
Being beautiful is all girls should aspire to be.
God forbid, if you wind up disabled, you're better off dead.
You know what was a good idea? The Holocaust.

Cool. With that, I have absolutely no interest, or intention of reading the rest of this series. I sincerely hope Entangled Publishing reads this review and strives to do better next time.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Redux by A.L. Davroe! Redux is more action packed than Nexis, the previous book in the Tricksters series. Ella is on a tumultuous ride between virtual reality and actual reality and her friends keep flip-flopping so she feels completely alone. Her society is in shambles and she wants to do everything she can to make it better and to make up for the problems that she feels she caused. The story is smoothly transitioned between the events taking place and the reader is given concise background information from the first book. The action has been pumped up to even include cannibals! Creepy, sci-fi dystopian fun. 4 stars!

Redux is the second installment in author A.L. Davroe's Trickster's series. Redux picks up immediately where Nexis left off. To summarize, Tricksters is a series that is set in a far off future where Global Nuclear War has torn the world apart. The survivors built themselves Dome Cities like Evanescence. In doing so, they separated into two classes: Aristocrats who enjoy all the benefits of Modification and Alterations, & the Disfavored who were born outside of the domed cities and have held resentment against the Aristo's.

Protagonist Ellani (Ella) Drexel is what one would call a Natural. She hasn't had any modifications, or alterations and that is mostly due to her mother's request that she remain who she is and not jump into the deep end of the pool at the first chance she gets to alter her appearances so much so that she can't recognize herself in the mirror. Ellani has been portrayed as a highly intelligent programmer and designer. Her programming part is what has brought us to this point in the series. But, as the author made a point of saying, Ella is stupid smart.

If was Ella's actions in planting a computer virus into the city's artificial intelligence that made it rebel, and begin a killing spree that forced Ella, Quentin, Gus and others into seeking shelter from not only rebels, but also those who were built to protect the city from outsiders. Ella's actions have had far reaching implications for everyone involved, and Ella's own parent's may hold the answer to what really happened, and why.

While Nexus took place mostly in Virtual Reality, this story expands to include Disfavored rebels like Mac, Cairen, Aaron & Delaney, as well as Stormy who I believe we will see even more of if there is a sequel to this story. But, it is Violet who I truly loved. She is a character who is an encyclopedia of information, and is the oldest human being alive. She actually has been there, and done that over the course of her long life. She was the perfect character to add to the story that made Ella feel both alive, and curious about all the knowledge that Violet has to teach the rest of humanity.

Redux gets down to the nitty gritty and answers some pretty important questions as to why Ella was used in such a way that brought so much pain and suffering to a whole lot of people. It also answers a question that has been chafing at my skin since Nexus was released. Who did Ella actually fall for in Nexus? I really like Ella. She is human who makes mistakes. She breaks down emotionally, and then picks herself back up and carries on. Ella could have left the stage at any time, especially after being held prisoner, losing her father, and then losing her legs.

Instead, she's become a leader. She puts a face on the troubles that lie ahead by facing them without shrinking away in disgrace. She doesn't agree with anything that's happened, including her unwitting part in destroying Evanescence, but she know that she has to become the bearer of a whole lot of responsibilities if Aristocrats and Disfavored after going to survive an even more diabolical challenge. She has also clearly found the person she is supposed to be. I dare hope that the author and publisher are working on a sequel to this book. I would love to read about what happens next.