Quick Stats
Age Rating:
Overall: 4 stars
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4/5

A special thanks to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an eARC of Devil in the Device! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.

This review covers the series as a whole and does not contain any spoilers for either book!

I really enjoyed this series and I think more people need to read it!
When Andra wakes up in her cryotank almost 1000 years later than she was supposed to, everything is absolutely crazy. Everyone she had ever known is gone, and the people who are there think she’s some kind of goddess—and if she doesn’t manage to convince them that she is one, they’ll kill her.
The premise and plot of this series sounded SO GOOD and I was so excited to pick it up. At first, it was hard for me to get into the first book. I was really interested in what was going on, but the writing threw me off, and I worried that I wasn’t going to be able to enjoy the book because of that.
Because this book takes place some 1200 years in the future, the author decided to give the native people a new dialect. Now I read a decent bit of fantasy and scifi. I’m used to a bit of new slang thrown around. This was not that. The grammar rules changed. Not a single sentence written in Zhade’s POV was in correct modern day english, and any time anyone other than Andra spoke, it was in this fictive dialect. It was an interesting choice. I was able to get over it, but it took me the majority of the first book to get to that point. When I was about 1/3 of the way through I had a small crisis because I couldn’t remember how real English worked for a second.
An example of the dialect:
Instead of the words “okay/right/etc” the Erensedians used the term “evens”.
Many words were shortened, letters were changed so that words still sounded similar enough but were spelled differently, and some words were combined.
Any word ending in “ly” was replaced with “ish”. For example, “she laughed loudly” would be “she laughed loudish.” Merely = mereish. Quietly = quietish.
Any word ending in “ous” instead ended in “ful”. Ie: dangerous = dangerful.
There was a change to the suffix of words ending in “ful” too but I forget.
There were other changes to grammar structures of sentences, word makeup, and more that I can’t even get into.
It was a lot, and definitely an interesting choice. I can’t say it was my favorite. But, because the premise sounded so good, I pushed through and eventually was able to be mostly immune to the writing, and I’m very glad that was the case, because this series was really good. I loved Andra, Zhade, Lew-Eaden,Doon, Lilibet, and Kiv. I loved the plot and every plot twist had me shocked and excited and was executed so well. The books were so great once you get past the weird dialect of the Erensedians, but I know for a lot of people, that’s going to be a deal breaker and I find that unfortunate, because truly, it is otherwise a great book.
There is great plus-sized rep, which is rare in YA, but especially in the SFF genres. Andra is also 1/2 South East Asian. I’m not sure if the author is half Asian as well. I couldn’t find anything that says she is, but I can’t be sure. In the second book we are also introduced to a d/Deaf character. He is good rep in general, but objectively speaking, I’m not sure how adequately one can be a guard if you can’t hear anything? Wouldn’t that cause you to miss some things much easier than your hearing counterparts? I’m not sure, but I still absolutely adored his character as well as the handling of disability and/or d/Deaf representation. (Some d/Deaf people consider themselves a part of the disability community and some do not).
Zhade and Andra’s relationship, at first, felt a little unnatural to me. I didn’t feel any chemistry between them, and it felt like it was just there because “YA books need romance to be marketable” or something, but I did become invested in their relationship and could sense the chemistry between them in book two.
I definitely recommend this book, and I recommend that you at least try to push through the awkward language choice if it throws you off at first—the story is worth it.

The twisty YA sci-fi Goddess in the Machine, about a girl frozen in time who wakes up a thousand years in the future to find herself being worshipped as a goddess, was one of my favorite reads last year. I tried to temper my expectations for this sequel, because second books are never as good as the first.

Well y’all, I am officially eating my words, because this book was EVERY BIT AS AMAZING as the first — maybe even better!

The new twists kept me turning the pages like lightning, and a couple of bombshell reveals totally blew my mind! The characters continued to develop beautifully, but I will always have a soft spot for my favorite ambitious disaster boy Zhade, who was just as disastrous and brilliant as ever.

The ending was beautiful and devastating and left me flattened in a puddle of my own emotions. So if you’ll excuse me, I need to go pick the pieces of my heart off the floor and then make a bunch of content recommending this duology to everyone on the Internet.

Oh my gosh. That was INSANE.

I'm sitting here trying to assemble my thoughts to write a review that makes sense and all I can think is "what did I just read?!".

Goddess blew me away and so I expected some of the same in this one, but the level that Devil takes the story is mind blowing. This might be my favorite sci-fi books EVER. The way it's written and the way the world building almost blurs the line between sci-fi and fantasy just makes for a story that immediately sucks you. I felt like I was THERE with the characters. The world building is so well done, there's a different dialect of English for the characters and at this point, I'm fluent.

An absolutely stunning ending to the duology! The plot was fantastic and the character growth was *chef's kiss*. Consider this my pledge to read everything Lora Beth Johnson ever writes.

This was an an incredibly enjoyable read. Devil in the Device is a stellar conclusion to this duology. FRTC

3,5 stars

Devil in the Device is the sequel and conclusion to A Goddess in the Machine. I love it when series are duologies these days because there is not going to be a middle book syndrome. That doesn't mean that this book lived up quite to A Goddess in the Machine here.

Now it might be because we start on such different footing here. A lot is known now. We know who Andra is and how she came to be. We learn things along the way but it felt like we were dragging our feet around the information twists and turns we get thrown. The miscommunication between Andra and Zhade was normal, as were their insecurities regarding each other, but it slowed everything down so much. Because they didn't tell each other things we ended up with a big ass fire at the end there.

On the other hand, diving into Andra who has discovered that she is an artificial intelligence, she questions her humanity. A stark difference to the other AI around her who continues to shout she is human because she needs to believe that to not fall down. And once more we question where does it stop? How far do we develop AI and how far can we create something that starts living for their own? And what then? When they are sentient, do they become human? Do they have to be to be able to be on their own?

Also I am happy that she didn't just take Zhade's appology when he made it but that she told him he had to work for it.

I also loved how other characters got different roles to play like Maret. But also Tsurina (where I wanted to shout at Zhade to not be so stupid). There is still a lot to be developed with Maret. He doesn't know what was him or what was the crown/Tsurina. The epilogue hinting at a story with him made me happy. Seeing more of this world through very different eyes I would love.

Despite the slowness in places there is still a lot left to be discovered in this book and overal I do think it is a worthy conclusion to the duology.

Picking up nearish where we left off, it's been revealed that Andra is an AI (artificial intelligence) and is in hiding, Zhade has taken over and taken Maret's face, Maret is currently imprisoned, and we have found the second goddess - Rashmi - and all the colonists. 

The ending of book one sent me into a spiral. Goddess in the Machine was a really good book, but it has a learning curve. We have a revised English language with new words and different grammar and it can be hard to get into. Once I started to get the hang of things, I thought it was kind of cool. I had to kind of reacquaint myself with book two, just because I hadn't read the first book in over a year, but it was much easier for me to get into it this time. 

We have so many new layers to this story that all kind of build on top of each other. I would seriously recommend reading book one again before reading book two, because I forgot like everything that happened in the first book and almost all of the characters. I have bad memory when it comes to books, so that's not unusual for me, but it definitely made things harder jumping in since we pick up right where we left off. 

As we're gliding through the story, so much happens! I honestly couldn't believe that so much happens in this book without feeling rushed or jumbled. The structure and plot progression was paced so perfectly, even though there was a lot going on, it was really easy to follow along. 

As Andra is dealing with her revelation and working to save the human race, Zhade is just trying to stay alive. Pretending to be Maret isn't easy, especially when he doesn't know how to use the Crown. And, while he's trying to figure out how to use it, the angels and other magic starts turning on their owners. People are being murdered by their tech and Zhade can't stop it from happening. One thing I liked about this book is we finally get some backstory on the Crown, Tsurina, and Maret - we got some backstory on them in the last book, but we get a more rounded out image and more understanding on the two of them and their background. 

If you are someone who doesn't like several plot twists in one book, you're not going to like this book. It's one twist after another and all of these revelations just made my head spin! In a good way. By the end of this book, and the epilogue especially, I'm desperate for another book. A spin off. Something to continue this story line and what happens after ... everything.

It sucks because there's so much more I want to say, but I can't, because it's all spoilers! Like so many spoilers! So instead, I leave you with this:

If you like earth destroying, end of the human race, science fiction madness, sprinkled with an electric, forbidden romance - then you will love this ending, and the sequel of Goddess in the Machine: Devil in the Device!

So, if you've read Goddess in the Machine and want to know what happens next, then pick up Devil in the Device! You will not expect ANYTHING that happens in this book, I promise you! Enjoy!

Such a highly anticipated sequel! It took me a minute to get back into the groove of the post breakdown of society language that Johnson has created for her characters (I still admire that she tackled that--such a big undertaking) but once I got into the groove of it, it was easy to see she really raised the stakes for her characters, especially Andra and Zhade. There was a lot going on, very high stakes, and a constantly moving plot. Things got even crazier than the last book because now we know the environment and kind of what the situation is so we can jump right in. I loved seeing the almost reluctant, fraught romance between Andra and Zhade but couldn't help wanting to yell at them to just COMMUNICATE with each other and avoid so many issues!

Lots of action, some romance, betrayal, and thought-provoking parts, as well as, let's say, some really emotional moments. and leave it at that!

Overall, as you're reading these books, it's really thought-provoking because you think about what it would be like to live in a society like this -- a place that is at once both futuristic but also having fallen into the past and the dark ages. What it would be like to live in a society where you think technology is magic or spells because you can't understand it and have never seen it before. Johnson really makes you think.

Without getting into any spoilers for the first book OR this one, definitely read them if you are into post-apocalyptic/post breakdown of society sci-fi stories, definitely check it out. I think I mentioned this in my review of the first one but this is also a good book for people who are into more fantasy/royal fantasy type stories but maybe want to start trying sci-fi or futuristic books, because it still has those royal intrigue and betrayal vibes and some romance which makes it feel a bit like a fantasy, while ALSO being sci-fi/post breakdown of society, so it's good for a wide audience.

Thank you so much to Penguin Teen for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really really enjoyed this sequel, wow! It was so explosive and did so much in 400 pages.

I feel like the world in this book expanded so much in this second book which I really appreciate it. There was so much that I still didn’t fully understand from the first book and this one answered those questions for me. I loved how science-y this book got, it was so fascinating! I loved the conversations on humanity and the possibility of AI in the future (which kinda terrifies me, especially after reading this book!)

The one downfall of this book that I found was the use of the miscommunication trope. I hate this trope in every book that I read it in and this was no different. If the two characters would have just spoken to each other, a lot of issues would have been resolved! But I understand it as used to up the drama and make it more interesting (or so it seemed) but it still annoyed me SO MUCH.

Otherwise, this was a great sequel that was so action packed. I would definitely recommend reading the first book and then diving right into this one so you don’t forget any details, I certainly needed a reread of the first book in order to read this one. It was really good and I can’t wait for more people to check this series out and read it!

I enjoyed reading this sequel! Lora put in so many plot twists in this book that I didn't expect and made the story AMAZING. I do have to say that the story was a little hard to get into for me probably because it has been a while since I read sci-fi and getting back into the technology world. The pacing was also a little slow in my opinion but then again the plot twists made up for it. I also loved coming back to this world and seeing the author develop it more after the first one. The plot structure was well done with this book just like the first one!

I enjoyed visiting Andra and seeing her grow after so much she went through! She is such a brave character! Then there is also Zhade who I kind of like in the first book but in this book I loved him. He too had great character development in this book. I also enjoyed the side characters in this book and enjoyed how there were many involved in the book. There is also some great romance in this book which is a slow burn trope!

The ending was just omg why did this happen and WHY?! Like bruh! I can't say anything just for spoilers but that ending kind of made me mad but it was also kind of good. I feel like with the ending, the author might pick up the story again with a different character so for those who loved this book and were sad to see it end, don't worry, I think more is coming! I did have some minor problems with the ending but overall this was such a great book! I totally recommend reading this duology and potentially a series if you love Divergent.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars … I think.

Thanks to PenguinTeen for the free digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Personally, I think I would have rated this book higher had I gone into it with a fresh re-read of the first book. I did, however, end up skimming the first book and re-reading the last couple of chapters of Goddess in the Machine to help me.

This is definitely a solid sci-fi read and if you're looking for the same plot twists that GitM had, then you'll find it in this book. I really love Andra, who discovered in the first book that she is not human, but rather an AI. She is still trying to figure out how to leave Eerensed to Holymyth, the one mission Dr. Alberta Griffin left for Andra. But things become...sinister. Andra faces an internal struggle between believing she was human and knowing she is AI and how those two work in tandem. She deals with a lot, but she also has a pretty good group of friends to bounce ideas off of. (The roles of most of these friends were a little lost on me because I forgot who they were.) Andra really takes the initiative though and her desire and loyalty to those around her is bar none despite everything she has gone through because boy, does the author take her through the ringer, lol!

As for Zhade... Again, this is where I felt lost. I know in the previous book he betrayed Andra in order to steal the crown from his half-brother, Maret, whom he thought was running Eerensed into the ground and causing the citizens to suffer. The problem is I couldn't remember exactly what Maret did, only that I should be angry at the Tsurina (for good reason). But even here, we eventually see the connection of those that existed 1,000 years ago in Andra's time to what they are doing now. I liked that and of course, my dislike and anger toward Tsurina remained.

The revelations regarding the true purpose of the Crown, Tsurina, and Dr. Griffin is a lot to take in. But that's what I found so compelling about this story. Even the romance between Andra and Zhade was adorable, and I like how they turned out in the end.

Also, can we talk about that epilogue because wow, where do we go from there? It felt like there is another story to tell, but I'm not quite sure if I'm willing to follow especially since I feel so indifferent to that particular character.

This was such a great book! I enjoyed reading this one a lot. It got me out of my reading slump! Thank you netgalley for this copy.

What a doozy of a sequel!

Goddess in the Machine was one of my favorite reads last year so let me tell you how excited I was to be able to dive back into the world. And, holy wow, it did not disappoint!

Lora Beth Johnson has written an absolutely fantastic ending to the Goddess in the Machine duology. She hit with twist after twist after twist and I didn't expect any of them. To be able to write a story and throw surprise after surprise at the reader is a rare talent considering most YA novels are terribly predictable (though, that's not necessarily a bad thing :)).

If you enjoyed Goddess in the Machine, DEFINITELY pick up Devil in the Device. The story is thrilling, action-packed, and will most likely keep you on the edge of your seat while reading way into the wee hours of the night.


Big thank you to Penguin Teen via NetGalley for the e-ARC to read, enjoy, and honestly review.

Meh. This book was just okay. I was super impressed with Goddess in the Machine, but by the time I got to this book, I was over the quirky language and mediocre romance. The big scientific reveals were pretty good, but the plot was a little too slow to begin with, and a lot of the dialogue was cringy and cheesy. Interesting too how the epilogue sets up a possible third book with a side character. I don't think I'll be reading it though. I'm happy to leave this story behind.

Devil in the Device by Lora Beth Johnson is a sequel that steps up. After the end of the last book, the reader is left at a serious cliffhanger. Andra has learned that she is AI, Zhade had taken over the thrown and the face of his brother, Maret and Tsurina have been imprisoned, and the colonists are all in stasis waiting to leave earth. While Andra is assumed dead, she must stay underground and work on building a rocket to finally save the colonists. As leader of Eerensed, Zhade must take on the task of controlling and fixing the problem of the tech turning on his people.

Through many twists and turns, Devil in the Device packs adventure, character development, and world-building into a great finale. If you enjoyed Goddess in the Machine, you are bound to love the second installment into the world.

First of all, thank you to Penguin Teen for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I received an ARC of Goddess in the Machine last year, so I've been waiting for some answers for some time! Following the events of book 1, I really wasn't sure what to expect, but I think this was not it.

I love sci-fi. Don't get me wrong, i love a good made-up language and all the twisty twisty plot lines you can imagine. I think the YA genre is seriously lacking in sci-fi at the moment, so I was really excited for this sequel. But like many YA sequels, Devil in the Device just didn't hit the same high notes as book 1. This felt like the typical sophomore book, and it was really disappoiinting.

I struggled to get through it. The slang was as annoying if not more than the first time, and the plot was so... weird? I dunno, I was really disappointed and just wanted to get it over as soon as possible. I didn't like any of the characters, either (the only one I did was killed off in book 1).

Overall, pretty meh. So disappointing!

Devil in the Device is the action-packed sequel we've been waiting for!

I really enjoyed the first book in this duology, and author Lora Beth Johnson does not disappoint with this sequel! The world building is just as amazing as book one, and the twists keep coming in this book too! Zhade is as charming and frustrating as before, and I really liked seeing him grow into himself more in this book. Not to be outdone, Andra is compelling as ever as she deals with her fate and finds her own way.

Again, the language is hard to get used to, and the author really throws is into it this time around, but if you keep going you will soon be impressed in an unforgettable world.

Highly recommend this series for YA fantasy fans.

Thank you Netgalley for this ebook arc to review.

While I was blown away by the first book, this one didn’t quite captivate me as much. The odd thing is that the first 75% of this book felt very filler-y and I was getting bored, but then SUDDENLY things took a crazy turn at the 75% mark and I was very absorbed by the rest.

I have so many other books I need to read but I HAD To instantly read the sequel to one of my favorite books - Goddess in the Machine. The sorry picks up a couple months after the huge cliffhanger events of Goddess. Andra is trying to fulfill her destiny and complete the rocket and help the colonists. Zhade is attempting to use the crown and help his people. Zhade and Andra are both failing and failing in communicating to each other. But Andra finds out some information that will change and complicate everything she’s been trying to do and will possibly push Zhade farther away.
This book has so much going on - of course some crazy twists that will blow your mind! I felt like Zhade was completely underutilized and there was almost too many big revels that we didn’t get enough time to process. I still absolutely loved the world and our kick butt Andra. And then the epilogue!!! Give me more!!!

Goddess in the Machine was one of my favorite releases last year, and I was anxiously awaiting the sequel after that ending! As soon as I got this ARC, I moved it up my TBR list immediately. Devil in the Device is packed with action and twists, as the characters uncover secrets and plots.

This review contains spoilers for book one.

After the events of book one, Andra is hiding underground, trying to figure out plans to save the world with the limited resources she has. Meanwhile, Zhade is struggling to hold his power and his disguise as Maret. The two of them are avoiding each other after his betrayal, but soon, different forces come into play that force them to confront their feelings for each other.

As in the first book, I was thoroughly engrossed in the plot. Johnson has a way of hinting at twists, only to surprise you with one that you never saw coming. I will say, though, that you can see a couple of the major plot twists coming, but not the full extent of it. You might see how something will pan out, but not the full details of it, if that makes sense.

While I liked following Andra and Zhade, their character development felt stagnant. I think we got to see most of their growth in the first book in a way that it didn’t feel like they grew in this book. That’s not necessarily a bad thing! I just think this book was more focused on the plot than balancing that with the character arcs like the first book did.

I did enjoy seeing more of the side characters, such as Lilibet, Rashmi, and Maret! It was fascinating exploring Rashmi’s and Maret’s characterizations. The summary suggested that this book would explore identity and what it means to be human, which I thought would be with Andra’s character. However, we got to see that more in Rashmi, which I liked, but again, made Andra’s own arc feel flat. It was also nice to see that while Maret is slightly redeemed, his horrible actions aren’t entirely excused.

Before starting this book, I had read Goddess in the Machine again to refresh my memory, so it was easier for me to fall into the patterns of speech. Seeing our English against the High Goddess dialect was interesting, especially how Andra begins to integrate their slang into her own speech throughout the book.

While I did enjoy this book, I was a bit conflicted on how to rate it. This is primarily because the book felt so unbalanced; like I said earlier, you can see a couple of the plot twists from the beginning. Even though I didn’t entirely know how it’ll pan out, it grew a bit boring building up to the twists, which took almost half the book.

Also, since Andra and Zhade are avoiding each other, their chapters follow entirely different plot lines for a decent portion of the book. I hate to say it, but I was more invested in Andra’s plot than Zhade’s, so switching between the perspectives felt more noticeable than with the first book. Their romance also felt really rushed to me and didn’t develop enough for me to be more invested in them.

In the end, I think my biggest issue with this book is that the series might have benefited from being a trilogy. Sure, the middle book might have been a bit boring and the finale more exciting, but I think this book compressed a sequel and a finale in a way that wasn’t as satisfying as the potential it had. But don’t get me wrong! I did like this book and couldn’t put it down in the second half. It’s just that some parts felt extremely developed while others were barely expanded on.

Devil in the Device uncovered answers to the questions I didn’t know I had. While I had some issues with the pacing and the plot, I still enjoyed this sequel and found it a good finale to the duology. I’m also intrigued to see if the ending intentionally set up a future spin-off book or series. If you’re looking for a thrilling science-fiction series, I definitely think you should check out this series!

I went back and forth on my rating for this one for a while.

Lovers of the first book will absolutely be just as enthralled by this sequel, which packs just as many futuristic, technological, plot-twisty punches as its predecessor. It just takes a bit more work to get there.

Although the world building is fairly well-established in the first book, newer concepts introduced in this sequel don't really get the time to sink in and earn their place among the technology that we're already accustomed to, and it almost feels like some of these plot threads should have been introduced earlier on in the series. The late additions makes it seem a little too convenient for the massive roles these new concepts play in the overall plot.

Zhade and Andra's romance had been iffy to me in Goddess, and the conflict that we left with is teased to be a major player in the events of this book and possibly make things more interesting, but I felt just as "meh" about their interactions this time around. Particularly, I felt that Zhade as a whole didn't get to shine as a character as much, which is unfortunate.

It really took until about 70% of the way into this book for the plot to really pick up and get me invested, and though the payoff and climax were quite satisfying, it's always a bit frustrating to have to wade through lukewarm waters for ages before finally catching a wave.

As with the first book, the sci-fi futurism is the standout appeal of this series. It's fun and nerdy in all the right ways and I love just how much more we get to play around with the tech this time around.

All in all, Devil In The Device was a pretty satisfactory conclusion to the duology and stands on an even playing field with the first book. This world is fascinatingly unique and Andra is one of the most interesting protagonists I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I'm happy to have picked up this series.