The Enslaved Series (Laurie)

Vanquished, Deliverance, and Redeemer by Katie Clark

 
Here, at last, is my post about Katie Clark's Christian dystopian Enslaved series (if you're unsure about the dystopian genre, check out Erin's post). Why do I say at last? Because I have mentioned this series in no less than three prior posts (in Your Turn and What We're Reading here at Lands Uncharted, and a guest post at Speculative Faith). Let me tell you, it's worth the wait!

The series was well-written, fast-paced, and included a heart-wrenching love triangle, causing me to finish it in record time (at least for me - caring for my 2- and 4-year-olds sure cuts back on my reading opportunities!)

In Clark's dystopian world, every citizen is ranked as Greater, Middle, or Lesser. The main character, Hana, was born into a Middle family, but begins to question the government and social structure when her mom is diagnosed with the mutation (cancer) and is refused chemotherapy because she lacks Greater status. As Hana searches for answers, she discovers more and more flaws in their rigid society and just how much information the government is keeping from its citizens. Along the way she develops a close relationship with Fischer, the medic caring for her mother, which complicates her long-held assumption she would marry her childhood friend, Keegan. In the second and third books, Hana's journey continues as she probes further into the government's secrets, breaks more rules, and eventually takes part in a revolution, all while growing in her new faith and trying to discern whom she wants to spend her life with when the fighting is over.

While these books followed the pattern of typical dystopian literature in many ways, I really appreciated the Christian thread, which added a refreshing element of hope, especially to the ending. I also found Hana very easy to relate to throughout. She's bold and intelligent and makes some risky decisions, but lacks the hard edges found in characters like Katniss from The Hunger Games.

I don't always like love triangles, but I thought this one was very well done. Hana was in an understandable position in the way her relationship developed with each love interest, and she was highly aware of her confusion as things progressed, which prevented her from coming off as heartless or seeming like she was toying with them. Plus, I was quite pleased with how it worked out in the end :)

If you're a dystopian fan, I would definitely check this series out!

Has anyone else read this series? What are your favorite books in the dystopian genre? Can you think of a love triangle you thought was especially well done? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for reading,
Laurie


P.S. If you're interested in finding out more about this series or would like to purchase any of these books, click here.