This was a strong sequel in the Futureland series, it had everything that I enjoyed from the first book and from H.D. Hunter’s writing style. The characters were everything that I was expecting from this story. I enjoyed getting to continue this series and the characters in this story. It left me wanting to read more in this series and from H.D. Hunter.

This is a well written book, with some fine lines and a few well-conceived set pieces. That said, try as I might I found neither the characters, nor their situations, nor the overall narrative engaging enough to arouse or hold my curiosity and attention. As a consequence, it doesn't seem fair to write much more of a review, apart from encouraging inquisitive readers to give the book a try.

E ARC provided by Netgalley

After losing his best friend, the rev Dooley, Cam Walker is glad to have the friends Yusuf, Rich, Angel and Earl, with whom he was solving mysteries. Their school has a research project, so they all start planning to work on that. His parents and uncle are still very busy running Futureland, and they have a surprise for him: they are leaving Atlanta because of all of the public relations problems caused by Blaise Southmore and his evil plans and are heading to New York City. Cam is devastated, but knows there is fighting it, and is at least glad to be back in New York. When his friend Yusuf shows up wanting to stat in New York, Cam agrees to hide him, and the two sneak into Futureland. Yusuf has an odd wristband that he claims came from his mother's work and is just for fitness. Uncle Trey has a new technology that he is debuting; kids can wander around the theme park with Holo-pets to accompany them. When things get glitchy, Cam starts to think that maybe Yusuf's wristband is not what he claims it to be. When Cam takes it and starts wearing it, he can feel that it is changing his brain waves. How is HavenTech involved in the strange things happening in Futureworld? When Cam eventually comes clean to his parents about his knowledge of the problems that are arising, will they be able to help him with the threat posed by evil forces?
Strengths: Who doesn't want to spend time in a theme park that travels around to different cities and has Holo-pets and revs (like androids)? Cam is making a good transition to being friends with real people after Dooley was put out of the picture, and the move to New York made sense. Something is clearly up with Yusuf, and the prominent position of the wristbands is the book is pretty prescient; I've seen a LOT Of my students with smart watches, and people are clearly invested in them.
Weaknesses: Fantasies are skewing more and more dystopian. It would be great to bring back some of the optimism of the 1950s and 60s science fiction instead of having everything be evil villains trying to wreck everything. George Jetson is a year old in 2023; can we have a happier, shinier future in some books?
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like fantasy books with technology in them, like Team Chu, Jinxed, or Hana Hsu and the Ghost Crab Nation. Sadly, I'm having trouble getting my students to read fantasy SERIES to such an extent that I'm not buying some sequels. I'm debating, since the first book of this could stand alone.