This review contains affiliate links, which earn me a small commission when you click and purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my small business and allowing me to continue providing you a reliable resource for clean book ratings.
After a short stint back in civilization, but most of it as a prisoner, in Pandemonium, Lena is back in the Wilds, fighting for survival. She and the group, which now includes Julian and Alex (yes, a very uncomfortable and confusing situation for them all), are trying to figure out where to go to find some safety and security. But the Scavengers are a constant threat, as are the regulators from the government. Since the resistance has caused more problems in the cities, the regulators, who once largely left the Wilds alone, are now burning down outposts where Lena and her group could stay.
Meanwhile, readers get to know what’s going on in Portland thanks to the every-other-chapter point of view of Lena’s old friend Hana, who is now cured and engaged to marry Fred Hargrove, who has just become mayor in his late father’s place and is indicating his intent to “get serious” about making the city safe again. Though she’s cured, Hana is a little worried to find she still has some feelings about Lena and the life she had before the procedure. And she’s rightly a little nervous about the marriage to Fred.
Requiem is a story about scrabbling for survival under the worst conditions and of a few people trying to make the world a better place, one where being able to love is an option. I enjoyed it but found it a little confusing because it seemed that the whole book was about Lena’s group just trying to find safety, not necessarily pushing for revolution, and then the book (and series) just kind of abruptly concludes in just a few pages at the end. The series would have been better served, I felt, if it had had a more fleshed-out and satisfying conclusion.
Rated: High, (particularly for young adult readers) for five uses of strong language and lots of moderate language. There are pretty much no sexual references, though it could be assumed there is some sexual activity happening. Violence is frequent and sometimes fairly detailed.
