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Contained by rj Crayton.
Virus series #3.
A good read. I did find this series slow. I loved the cover. 3*.

I'll just give a quick overview of my thoughts since I kind of spaced these novels out in between other books I've been reading. First and foremost, I think RJ Crayton did a great job with world-building in this short dystopian setting. Locations are clear and familiar (set in a post-apocalyptic US), yet intriguing in their futuristic and technological ways. The main characters, Elaan, Lijah and Josh are well depicted and each have important strengths that drive the story. Elaan, being the female lead of the trilogy is both dependent on the boys, while also being independent and strong on her own. The virus plot is really cool, not really something I have read before because most dystopian stories are set in a world where the apocalypse is over and the world is dealing with a totalitarian state in the aftermath. In this story, the apocalypse is still currently happening and our main characters have a large part in fixing things so that a post-apocalypse totalitarian state can be avoided. I liked this spin on a classic dystopian plot more than I expected to! I also love that Crayton decided to split this into 3 shorter books rather than throwing it all into one long book that would be harder to digest. The first two books left me wanting more, and I was curious about how Elaan, and her family (and Josh) would right this topsy-turvy world.

My main criticism has to do with the very last book. While I liked how Crayton wrapped up the story, I felt as though Contained was rushed and could have used more editing. The ARCs I have are 2 years old at this point, so maybe some of the editing mistakes were fixed in the fully released versions on Amazon, but the story itself also felt rushed and full of convenient plot twists that authors tend to lean on when they need to wrap up a story quickly. Overall, I think this was a pretty cool trilogy, and I feel like fans of dystopian YA fiction will enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I received these books from netgalley. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3/5

Publication Date: May 21, 2016

Genre: YA Dystopian

Recommended Age: u/n as DNFed

Pages: 204

Author Website

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Synopsis: They said it was extremely hard to get. They said it wasn't airborne. They said there was nothing to fear. They were wrong. Seventeen-year-old Elaan Woodson was supposed to be one of the lucky ones. She got one of the few spots in the subterranean protection unit designed to keep select scientists, military officials and their families safe from the deadly virus ravaging the world above. But, how lucky are you really when the people in charge and those you love keep secrets from you? While Elaan has heard that what you don't know can't hurt you, she's beginning to think otherwise. And she should...

I had to end up DNF-ing this book because I just felt that the book moved too slowly for me and I just couldn’t connect with any of the characters. There was a lot going on in the book as well and in my opinion I just wouldn’t be happy with the book if I forced myself to continue it. Unfortunately I also requested the other books in this series so I’ll have to DNF them too.

Verdict: DNFed

I was not disappointed in the third and last installment in the series except that it seemed to end too suddenly. I was immersed in the story and felt like the ending should have tied things up a bit.

For the finale of this series I was quite disappointed with Contained. In this instalment of this series, we are in between two facilities. The one with Elaan's mother and brother, and the one where herself and Josh now are. A facility full of immunes with a President crazy enough to do experimentation on those that didn't quite fit the bill, all for 'God's plan'. It had a great start and lots of potential and it didn't entirely disappoint.
There was a little bit of action that was the only things that kept me from DNFing this book as it was a lot slower than the other two and I just kept hoping that something, anything would happen. It took me a lot longer to get through this book because of that, and I was saddened to still see the kids pondering over the mother's one lie. And this book just wasn’t up to scratch with the other books in this series. This should have been the book where Crayton really knocked our socks off but for me she used up all the best plot points and twists in the first novel.
However, I would still recommend this series to dystopian lovers despite the failings in this last book the overall series is very good, with great characters and interesting plot and so much more. If you can overlook some of the issues in this series then I guarantee you will love it but being as picky as I am when it comes to books I could unread some of the major issues with this series.

There was some action that kept me reading, but a lot of the story for this book was a lot slower with more things just happening to the kids then things that they were doing to cause more of an action packed pace. It took me a lot longer to get through this book because of that, and I was saddened to still see the kids pondering over the mother's one lie. Seriously? Get over it! Still drove me crazy. And it was still quite vague on many details again, just like the second book. Still great though, just not up to par like many of the other dystopians I have read. Much more potential than it realized.

But all-in-all, I would still recommend this series to dystopian lovers, with those details in mind. Maybe you can look past some of the stuff and enjoy it. I mean, I still did enjoy it, but those things just bothered me.

The story centers around 3 teenagers; brother and sister Lijah and Elaan and their friend Josh. After the world is plagued by a deadly virus, their mothers are now dead and their scientist fathers are desperately trying to save the world in a now post-apocolyptan planet.

I love any dystopian/speculative fiction, it's definitely my go to genre. Be it zombies, robots, virus or natural disaster I am their with a front row seat and this series didn't disappoint.

With the world in pieces and the select few survivors being immune or carriers the friend must travel across the country to try and save themselves.

To cut a lengthy review short the series was a great choppy dystopian read. With each book being about 200 pages long part of me felt it could be condensed into one large book or expanded into 3 much bigger reads.

I found that all the books lacked a massive amount of world building. In fact, there was next to no world building. But there was huge amounts of inner monologue from Elaain... too much. I just wished that the massive chunks of book taken up by Elaain's rambeling thoughts had been used to create a better picture of the world. As the series went on I began to find Elaain more and more annoying. So there were certian occasions where I too would of been asking questions just not continually and constantly the whole way through.

However, it was nice to see 3 main'ish characters for a refreshing change, and I like that fact that the whole storyline wasn't taken over by a soppy love story.

As a side note, Lijah's storyline about his sexuality was a non issue.

In summary it's a great series for any dystopian lover. They are choppy, exciting, fast paced easy reads.

REVIEW
As I revealed at the end of my review of Exposed, I started reading this book straight away! I have really felt hooked all the way through these books. I'll be sad to come to the end of the last book.

The cover of this book looks quite stone like which does fit one of the settings in the book really well. The symbol appears once again, this time a brighter orange shade, does that indicate a possible vaccine or even a cure? The byline on this cover says "No place is safe" which again fits this book very well on more than one occasion.

In this book the teens are once again reunited and are with the person/woman their father sent them too, but once again they are being hunted down. What they had thought would be a safe place has once again been discovered. So now there is the person who their dad sent them to, a teenage friend the person has made called Amadu. It's the university that Amadu would have attended that they make for. The person/woman thinks she may have discovered the final missing element that James and Kingston have been missing in their efforts at making a vaccine. Before approaching the University they set up "camp" at the home of one of Amadu's tutors. Then go to the University. . . sadly someone seems to have pre-empted their journey and they soon find themselves captured. The person/woman soon reveals they have been caught by an old boyfriend of hers that still seems to be very obsessive over her. Can they use it to their advantage. Will Alex, the man in charge, be persuaded to allow them to hide in his underground complex or will he just hand them over to the government.

Sadly the immune Elaan and Josh (who on paper is logged as an immune due to false paperwork been done by Dr Kingston Wells) end up being sent to the Virginian complex that is under the direct rule of President Thoreaux. It is Thoreaux great plan to kill off any people that are carriers of the virus. Thoreaux wants a perfect, elite race. Hence the author comparing President Thoreaux to Dr Mengele. Thoreaux has a breeding plan which involves him wanting to "love" match immunes, then have them marry and reproduce. Eventually creating a healthy population. Which possibly may sound a good idea to some. One of the other things Thoreaux wants to implement is his very own version of religion too.
Once again it is Dr James Woodson trying to manouvre test results so that Elaan and Josh are "matched". It is Dr Kingston Wells that has this weird hate for Elaan. We never find out why he dislikes her so much. Unless it is that he thinks his son better, or a higher class person to Elaan. Dr Woodson's plan is scuppered but is soon back on track. If Elaan and Josh do escape the complex in Virginia it will be down to Elaan's father and not Josh's!

Whilst all this is going on for Elaan and Josh, Elijah is still trapped with the very woman his father sent them to thinking she could keep them safe. They are both still in the underground complex at the mercy of Alex. Alex's only weakness seems to be that he professes love for the woman he loved and lost all those years ago. Will that give her enough power over Alex to keep herself and Elijah free. It seems at one point she will not be able to keep Elijah safe when Alex has him locked up in quarantine. Will Alex send Elijah to be killed? Just when you think all is lost both the "woman" and Elijah get help from an unexpected source.

The author has written the characters so well that you can visualise them and you genuinely care about them. Even when Elijah is being obstinate, and not liking the person his father has sent him, Josh and Elaan to for safety. You can see the situation from both points of view. It's difficult to say much more about this book or series without spoiling the reading experience. I have honestly been hooked all the way through the whole series. I've loved both the pace and amount of action in this book. RJ Crayton created great characters such as the teenagers Elaan, Elijah, Josh, and Amadu. She also formed some brilliant adult characters, that you liked/loved and disliked/hated, such as liking Dr James Woodson and Nina (the generals wife). I enjoyed disliking Dr Kingston Wells and Alex, and of course hating President Thoreaux and his experimental basement. In fact there was a very relevant and realistic comparison of President Thoreaux (in the book) to Dr Mengele (who worked for Hitler and was a very real, destructive, twisted scientist that ordered, and took part in some horrific experiments). I could go on and on about this book, but as I've said I don't want to reveal spoilers that should be revealed slowly within the context of you reading the book/series.

So what was I thinking immediately upon finishing this book . . . Well my very first thought was when can I read the next one! Then realised this book was the, last, book! I honestly really, really, enjoyed reading this book, lots of edge of the seat moments. I guess you could look at the fact I still have a few questions about the characters within the book as the series ending badly as it was left 'unfinished' not 'totally resolved' but my opinion is I look on the fact I have a few questions still unanswered as the authors way of letting the individual reader come to their own conclusions.
In fact I thoroughly enjoyed the whole series. So much so I'd love there to be a spin off from this series, or an add on novella maybe to catch up with some of the characters of this series.
There is one thing for sure, I will be taking a close look at the other titles RJ Crayton has written and most likely adding most of them to my "must buy" list as well as my "must read" list.