April Read: Recruit of Taloinis

I received this book from a lady in my Bible study, and honestly, Recruit of Taloinis by C. J. Milacci was well worth the read! In fact, I personally believe this indie-published book is one of the few I could see as being traditionally published, if the author had wanted!

The Synopsis (Taken from Goodreads)

“Forget where you came from. Forget the life you knew. You are now recruits of Talionis!”
A teen with a dark past. A secret military force that kidnaps new soldiers. Can she survive as a Recruit of Talionis?
America has fallen.
Seventeen-year-old Bria Averton grew up in a small town of survivors near the ruins of Portland, Maine. It’s all she’s ever known — until she’s kidnapped along with hundreds of other teens and brought to the city of Talionis. A city no one knew existed.
The soldiers tell them the intense trainings are for the good of the survivors, and Bria resists being forced into a new life as a recruited soldier. But she soon finds the dangers in the city are greater than she imagined.
Escape is impossible, and Bria fears drowning in the evil of the city… and the guilt from her own past. But can she find hope, even here?

Personal Review

After last month’s read, I was a little hesitant to read yet another Christian YA, and this one an indie published one with a female lead. But this book pleasantly surprised me at how much I enjoyed it! I’m not usually a huge fan of dystopian, post-apocalyptic settings in the real world, much preferring a medieval setting and fantasy world. But Recruit of Talionis had great writing, an engaging plot, and mostly likable characters. Even the hinted-at romance was tolerable.

Of course, I found myself liking the villain, Demetrius Ark, as usual. I’m hoping for a redemption arc, honestly–no pun intended. I wouldn’t say he was my favorite, but his characterization was very compelling and is the type of character I like to read and follow. The prologue definitely pulled me in, but it also gave me the impression the villain was younger than he actually was. Which I personally would have also enjoyed (I feel like that would have been a good way to contrast the main character from him, especially in a YA novel) but it was also good as was, and I do get there were probably reasons for him needing to be an adult, as well.

All the characters were pretty well done–I can’t say I really have a favorite. Maybe Cai, the mentor. I liked the way he was portrayed. All the allies were likable as well, and most of the villains you loved to hate, with a few intriguing ones in the mix. The setting was well described, and plot fast paced and mostly held my attention. The author also described teen soldiers and the thought-processes they might go through realistically, in my opinion. And the Christian salvation message and message of forgiveness was well integrated.

If I had one complaint, it would be the main character sometimes got on my nerves. Like, she knew what she needed to do to escape, what was smart to do, and yet would act rashly and stupidly instead–even after knowing better. She would act stupidly by resisting the bad guys because she didn’t agree with them, knowing that in order to escape from them and halt some of their activities, she needed to trick them into thinking she was on their side. This eventually gets someone killed, but honestly, I never really thought I saw a change of heart in her rash actions. Maybe this was her character flaw, which is fine, but I never thought I saw it redeemed, so to speak. Of course, there are more books in the series, so perhaps in the following books she will learn better. And this wasn’t such a huge thing that it made me hate her–it just made me mildly irritated with her. At least her other friends seemed to have a better grasp of what being undercover actually meant.

Overall, however, I enjoyed this story, a lot more than I thought I would. I would recommend this for readers who enjoy dystopian, futuristic, post-apocalyptic America settings, child-armies and propaganda, and Christian YA literature! If you liked The Hunger Games, consider giving this book a try! It’s a little different, but quite similar in high-stakes, theme, and setting.

Rating: 4.75/5 Stars

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Thank you for reading my review! Have you read this book? Do you plan to, if you haven’t? What genres do you mostly read? Do you ever stretch your reading-wings to try new genres? I highly recommend doing so, at least every so often, in case you find a hidden jewel like I did with this one! ~ Kay Adelin