Review: Surrender (Possession #2) by Elana Johnson

Surrender (Possession #2)
By Elana Johnson

Hardcover, 480 pages

Published June 5th 2012 by Simon Pulse

Average Rating: 3.93

Forbidden love, intoxicating power, and the terror of control…

Raine has always been a good girl. She lives by the rules in Freedom. After all, they are her father’s rules: He’s the Director. It’s because of him that Raine is willing to use her talent—a power so dangerous, no one else is allowed to know about it. Not even her roommate, Vi.

All of that changes when Raine falls for Gunner. Raine’s got every reason in the world to stay away from Gunn, but she just can’t. Especially when she discovers his connection to Vi’s boyfriend, Zenn. Raine has never known anyone as heavily brainwashed as Vi. Raine’s father expects her to spy on Vi and report back to him. But Raine is beginning to wonder what Vi knows that her father is so anxious to keep hidden, and what might happen if she helps Vi remember it. She’s even starting to suspect Vi’s secrets might involve Freedom’s newest prisoner, the rebel Jag Barque….

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Disclaimer: Minor spoilers from the first book!! Read at your own discretion!

I paused this trilogy for 3 years. THREE FREAKING YEARS. I had to reread Surrender to write this review and after reading it, I want to kick past-me in the damn shins for not reading the last book any sooner, especially after reading Book 2’s ending. I’m so flipping STUPID.

In Surrender, Johnson introduces two new characters, Raine and Gunner. At first, I was very confused and angry because how were these characters going to be connected to Vi and Jag?? After that damn ending in Possession, I thought it was very cruel of Johnson to not write Surrender in either Vi, Zenn or Jag’s point of view.

I guess that was her way of torturing the readers even further.

When it comes to series and when the characters change from each book, I have trouble connecting with the new ones because I’m still attached to the previous main characters. In these cases, I either grow to love the new characters eventually or end up abandoning the next books in all.

By the end of this novel, I happened to grow very fond of Raine and Gunner. 🙂 I’m rooting for their happy ending in Abandon, the final book in the Possession trilogy.

Raine is hardly a good girl. She is the daughter of the Director, the one who is the head of the Possession world, the one who wants to control all. Raine just so happens to work for the Resistance. Yup, the one that Jag is in charge of. Ding, ding, ding. This is where Raine connects to the first book. What better main character than a traitor? And one to her own father? Raine is a badass heroine, a Free Thinker, like Vi and an amazing liar. Her dad has no clue what she actually does. Not only does she have a connection to Jag, she also has a connection to Vi…who happens to be her roommate. Vi is now brainwashed and Raine has to watch over Vi for her father. Yup, you know it’s going to be exciting.

Gunner is also freaking awesome. His abilities are out of this world!! He is no stupid male character either. With this type of character that has the skills, the smarts and the epicness, it makes for an interesting read. Gunner is requested to be tutored under Thane Myers, the Director’s right-hand man, to hone his ability to control. And boy does Gunn has a powerful affinity to control. Thane orders Zenn to watch over Gunn, which results in these two boys being roommies; dun-dun-duh! a link to Zenn!! It’s not a secret either that Zenn is Vi’s match too, so more drama and fun.

My little bookworms, these characters are just a important as Zenn, Jag and Vi. Even though Surrender is in Raine and Gunn’s POV, all our favourites from Book 1 made an appearance. I’m so glad I got to see Zenn, Jag and Vi again!!

With this book, reading each chapter was like lifting the flap off of a Christmas Chocolate calender! (You know, the ones that count down the days from Christmas, and underneath each day, there is a chocolate surprise?) One little secret in this chapter, another in the next. How Raine and Gunn were related to Zenn, Jag and Vi were a joy to figure out, page by page, chapter by chapter, making this a great read. It was mysterious and it built loads of anticipation for me as the reader! It’s a privilege the readers get while reading Surrender. You gotta figure out everything for yourself. 😀

Now, the plot moved slowly but surely. By the last quarter of the book, my heart was in my throat. Elana Johnson pulled out her big guns in the last 250 pages of the book. Twist after twist after twist. It was written beautifully.

Think of all the things authors do to torture their characters. That’s exactly what Johnson did. She didn’t hold back.

Raine, Gunner, Vi, Zenn, Jag, the Director, and Thane Myers all suffered impeccably.

Once I finished the nocel, I wanted to cry. I was devastated!! I just can’t believe Johnson did that!! That last scene was like, Oh shit. Oh shit, oh shit. No. Nonononono. No. This cannot be happening. Shit. Why?? Shitshitshitshit.

My heart was in little pieces that had fallen across my bedroom floor. *deep breath* THAT ENDING.

You get bet your life that I’ll be reading the next book, Abandon very soon!

I recommend reading this after finishing Book 1. Seriously, go read it now. It just gets better. This book is for the sci-fi, supernatural, romance and action lovers. If you haven’t read Possession go do that now. I’ll link to my review on that book below.

Keep calm and read on,

Review: Possession (Book #1) here