I didn't realize this was the second book in the series at first so it was a bit to get caught up with the story overall it was a goodread.

The story continued on with Carter's journey outside the Community where he learned about people who had survived the Storms and the Industry, and he got to know his truth. Personally I just didn't enjoy this as much as the first but I would still recommend it if you enjoyed the first book.

The Girl in The Storm is the second book of the Paradigm Trilogy by Ceri A. Lowe. I have read and reviewed the first book The Rising Storm back in April this year and really enjoyed it.

One of the many perks of this trilogy is that we don’t have to wait years for the next instalment. As they are working on getting all three books out in 2018. There is no ‘Oh, has been too long now and can’t remember what happened in the previous book’.

There is a tendency for sequels to not be as good as the first book in the series, I think with The Girl in The Storm we have a sequel that is equally as good as the first instalment of the series, maybe even better? If this is any indication of what is to come our way, the third book is going to be freaking amazing.

Funnily, enough with the first book, I preferred Alice over Carter. However, with The Girl in The Storm Carter really grew on me and actually at times I saw myself screaming at Alice to open her eyes and see the truth right in front of her. She just a bit naive and too trustworthy.

I feel that things get grittier as we get to know more about The Industry and their practices. It’s that point in the story where you and the characters start to figure out that not all is as they have been told.

One of my biggest expectations coming to this book was, if we will finally find out how Alice’s and Carter’s story lines will finally crossover. We do and Oh My! That wasn’t what I originally expect it. All has been set up to make the third instalment some dystopian awesomeness and I can’t wait.

If you want to read some great YA dystopian series that is actually set in the UK and not in the USA this is the series for you.

I can’t wait for the last instalment and the conclusion to this brilliant series, good thing I would only have to wait a few months.

Rating: ★★★★☆

The Girl in The Storm by Ceri A. Lowe is available as an e-book and you can get it now on Amazon (affiliated link).

Thanks Bookouture and Noelle Holten for sending me an e-copy of The Girl in The Storm in exchange for my honest review.

I'm sad that I wasn't able to read this book, because it was too much at the same time. I guess that his book was amazing and I would love to try and read it.
Now i will have to buy one!

I would like to thank Bookouture Publishing and the Netgalley website for this partnership.

I loved the first volume of this one even more.

We find Alice 15 years old trained by Paradigm industry to reach the highest level of command. She is a rebel who has never felt comfortable with future plans. She's investigating Paradigm's secrets and will come across something shocking. Experiences on the new life to come.

Outside the barricades she will meet a young boy who has answers for a better world.

A captivating, addictive story full of suspense and twists and turns. Young Alice will brave all the dangers and her life to discover the truth.

Can't wait for this trilogy to be released in its entirety.

Thankypu to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author, Ceri A Lowe, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of The Girl In The Storm in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
I enjoyed reading this book. I thought the storyline was well written with engaging characters. I was kept on the edge of my chair with the twists and turns. It was impossible to guess where the storyline was going to go next.
Well worth a read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy of this book to me. This is book 2 in a dystopian triology. The story continues with Alice Davenport questioning the perfect world being created by the community. Lots of suspense and twists in this book. Nothing is as it seems. Asking questions and not doing what you are told can prove dangerous. The story kept you hooked throughout the book. Looking forward to reading book 3 when it comes out.

This is book 2 in the series, and for once I would recommend reading book 1 first as this does rely on previous knowledge of the world and what has happened in the past.

This book jumps straight back into the lives of Alice and Carter and uncovers a lot more secrets and goes into a lot more depth than book 1 did.

The story follows them and switches seamlessly between the two with a lot of chapters ending on a cliff hanger making you want to read one more page and before you know it the book is almost finished.

The book is a brilliant dystopian novel, with so much going on throughout that I was hooked from the start.

The characters were interesting and relatable. An entertaining read look I forward to reading the next installment.

I really enjoyed the author’s previous book and was delighted to see that the follow up had been released and couldn’t wait to get stuck in!

I love the writing style in this book, it is well planned out and has a great pace. There are just the right amount of twists and turns to make it a gripping story that had plenty of suspense. It was a complete delight to read and the author has this genre down to perfection for me.

I would recommend that you read the books in order so you get the most out of the series too – this will be ideal for any fans of books like the Hunger Games series or Maze Runner – it is a brilliant new series!!

5 stars from me – a brilliant story and very highly recommended!!

Highlights

The plot thickens... 😏

the sequel is better than book 1 🤷‍♀️

Overall

You are constantly drip-feed information about the characters, the storyline and the world building. This makes you constantly question what is what and who is who, and who is what. It's great :)

The Story

The story continues as Carter and Alice deals with their new situations, worlds and watching their worldview crack, but will they break?

Book 2 picks up straight from the ending of book 1 with Carter then Alice's narrative. However, this sequel quickly takes turns the first book didn't. There is more twists, more emotions and it's darker than the first. I didn't realise how mild book one was before I read book 2 😁 and I do love a dark story.

I secretly hope book 3 is even darker... 😈

There are again two narratives at two different place in time, 90 years apart. The direction of these stories was fairly similar in a way but at the same time quite different. I'm trying not to spoil anything here... it's not fun

There are quite a lot of surprises along the was but I, unfortunately, anticipated most of them... I did anticipate the ending in chapter 8 🤷‍♀️ but I still enjoyed the trip there.

World Building

 Again with the slow step by step building of the world. I enjoyed the complicated world of Alice, and the twist and turns it took. Also with Carter's world, it was nice to have the real world back and see how it actually is after 90 years.

The Characters

It's a dual narrative as the first book between Carter and Alice, future and past.

As with the previous book, I prefer Carter as a character and person. In the previous book I prefer Alice's world, but in this book, I found them equally interesting.

Both Alice and Carter grow as characters and people throughout the story. Carters honest and true personality properly comes through on several occasions while Alice's intuition and feeling of unease properly shows and leads her right everytime.

LGBT+?

Yes, there are some LGBT+ couples in here in both narratives but for none of the main characters.

 Writing

The writing is great, I have zero issues with it. Obviously, I had an ARC and the writing might differ from the final version.

The pacing was just right, not too fast and not too slow.

There was the occasional event where things just felt too easy for the characters, but these things will always occur even though I'm not a big fan.

 Summary

I really enjoyed it as I did with the first one, but the second was different than book 1. I felt this sequel was better than book 1 and I have only once read a sequel that was better.

If you have read book 1 The Rising Storm I highly recommend continuing the series. Like ASAP!!! 😁😁

Highly recommended to readers who are fans of YA dystopian novels.

Can't wait for book 3!

This follow up to The Rising Storm takes everything I thought about the characters previously and turns it on its head. Alice has always stood out to me as a passionate caring young girl whereas Carter seemed to be an unemotional overachiever who frankly walked around blinkered. Yes it's a tricky thing getting two separate timelines to work but this author does that with style and panache making it easy for the reader to keep up with what's happening. Alice is part of those who created the society that Carter hopes to lead but in this book Carter is outside in the Deadlands . I honestly thought that the story moved along astonishingly well and can even say I actually liked Carter a lot more but for this reader it was what Alice experienced that kept me on the edge of my seat. I think most readers can see perhaps where this story is going but as the next episode approaches there's still an awful lot to play for.
I read a copy that still needed a few edits so unfortunately my copy had errors but nevertheless I did understand what was happening and more importantly enjoy this story.
This voluntary take is of an advance copy and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

Thank you to Bookouture for letting me take part in this tour. I am a big fan of dystopian so when I heard there was a trilogy being published  got myself on that list pronto. Now if you haven't read Rising Storm I suggest you don't carry on with this review as it could ruin the first book (do however feel free to click on my review of Rising Storm above).

This book picks up exactly where Rising Storm left off. Again the book flicked between Alice and Carter's POV 90 years apart. I always love a dual POV so this was an aspect I really enjoyed. It was interesting to see how the world had changed in those 90 years and how much it hadn't. How much of it had been planned from the very beginning. 

I actually found Alice quite irritating in this book. She acted very entitled through a lot of it and I'm not sure why. She wanted everyone to be equal but then she kept saying 'I'm Alice Davenport' as if it meant something. Like it gave her special privileges. All it did was get her into more trouble than she was in before. The thing that was hard to remember is that they were all children. They had gone through so much that you forget that they are 14/15/16. 

Carter really came into his own in this book. He has grown so much since he was unfrozen. He has had his eyes opened about the way the community really is and what they have been doing for the last 90 years. I really enjoyed his parts of the book. 

I loved how the characters are actually connected and a family tree would be a fab addition for the next book to help keep things fresh. 

Ceri did a great job of flicking between the timelines smoothly and had little links between the two that threaded them all together. I really liked the ending of this book and it has left me hanging a to where the third book will go.

Having loved the first in The Paradigm Trilogy (The Rising Storm) by Ceri A Lowe, I was delighted to be asked to read and review The Girl in the Storm. It was fantastic to catch up with Alice and Carter and see where they were at in their separate voyages of discovery! Carter has been cast outside the safety of the Community and is at the mercy of whatever exists in the Deadlands. From strange creatures to delicious fruit and the mysterious Others, there is much to occupy him and force him to reconsider what his life has really been like up until this point. Alice is also having her eyes opened to strange truths back in the past and the origins of the Community which she helped to create. It appears that she isn't being told the full story behind what Dr Barnes is actually up to in the labs beneath the surface and when she discovers what is happening her life may be in danger. She comes to the realisation that the Community is dividing people not uniting them.

As I have mentioned before, Dystopian/YA is one of my favourite genres and certain parts of The Girl in The Storm reminded me of The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. The Industry is intent on creating new life and if that creation is not perfect it is cast out into the Deadlands like a piece of rubbish. Carter discovers this when he is taken to a village in the Deadlands and is disgusted by the behaviour of those he once respected.

Alice and Carter are both fantastic characters and I've enjoyed the process of getting to know them; imagine what they could achieve if they were in the same timeline....

A fantastic addition to the trilogy and I can't wait for book three!

"What we have is a new beginning, something we could never have dreamed of in the old world. This is a world where hope does not exist. It is a world where we already have what we could never have hoped for. Whatever went before is now gone. What we create here is what we want for ourselves and our new lives. We are The Community."

Rating 3.75/5

The Girl in The Storm is a post-apocalyptic story of how survivors create a community devoid of all forms of art and creativity to ensure prosperity and re-population of the new world. It meshes two timelines of protagonists who both see the lies for what they are and try to fight the system. However, rebellion to the ideas of The Community leads to drastic and unethical methods to maintain their control over the masses.

"It's just different and different doesn't always mean bad."

- Characters -
As I mentioned, the author uses two timelines as viewpoints for our protagonists - Alice Davenport (who's timeline occurs 5 years post-Storms) and Carter Warren (who's timeline is Present Day). Both are young teens. Alice belongs to the First Generation and is responsible for the creation of a new community but she finally begins to distrust those who have raised her underground and begins to think for herself and make her own decisions. At first, I thought we lost who she was as a character because she was completely different from the first book but in the middle she finally *reappeared* and started to become the strong person I believe she would be. Carter is a Contender foretold to become the next Controller General of The Community and has been raised to be a rule-follower at all times with no exceptions. He discovers one of the outside groups and learns how corrupt The Community really is and becomes one of the main rebel leaders. He isn't as strong a character as Alice is and in fact I believe Alice will overcome him in the final book. He acts and reacts younger than his age and that's one of the problems with this story.

- Setting/World -
I greatly disliked a lot of aspects of the setting/world. First off that made me really upset was that any form of art and creativity was seen as the cause of the destruction of the world. How can music or drawings or books ever be destructive? Without all of that, life in itself would be so boring and insignificant we wouldn't actually be *living* because its what makes us all passionate about something worth living for. Which leads me to the next issue I had - pregnancies were planned and lacked passion; meaning NO SEX. A form of IVF became the norm and only with people who were perfectly matched in skills and importance to the community. Any defects or imperfection of a baby immediately was discarded and babies left out for dead. To top it off, pregnancies were started at a VERY young age - 14?! How is this ethical or even considered a *benefit* to anybody? Yes I understand the need to repopulate but how about maturing a little first? Lastly, I had an issue with the concept of love and hope in any form being banned. I don't see how a post-apocalyptic world can even survive without love and hope - it is hope for something better that encourages us to keep going.

- Writing -
There is absolutely NO WAY that you can understand this book without having read the first one. And even then, it's still so slow and unprogressive that I had difficulty maintaining focus. I know dystopia in itself forces you to think and imagine outside of the box but the crossover between two timelines added to the confusion and lack of excitement. To be honest, I only became interested at the ending when Carter discovers frozen Alice. I'm stuck in between recommending it because of that cliffhanger and not recommending it because it was so slow.

"A threat to our rules is a threat to us all."

I was excited to read this book after reading the first in the series. While I was still invested in the characters and what happened to them, this book went a little slow for me. The action was smaller throughout the novel but I still enjoyed it. Lowe has created an interesting and captivating world. Where is book number 3?!

After thoroughly enjoying 'The Rising Storm', the first book in the Paradigm Trilogy, I was eager to read book two. I recommend reading the books in chronological order otherwise you may be rather perplexed at the storyline as it is heavily dependent on previous happenings.

This is an excellent and exciting dystopian world, and I was very happy to return to it. Lowe's worldbuilding is pretty darn incredible, her characters three-dimensional and easy to care about, and her storylines truly gripping. There are far more layers to this book than the first and many more shocking surprises, secrets, and peril aplenty. The plot is both intriguing and suspenseful, I had a difficult time putting it down. In the end, I resolved to abandon my chores and finish it! I absolutely love Alice, she is truly fearless, I had much admiration for her.

Well, what an intense and majestic read. I am already looking forward to the third book, although I am almost frightened what to expect with it being the last title in this magnificent series. I guess the old adage - all good things come to an end - applies here. Still, I will be waiting for the follow-up. It certainly isn't a series I will forget anytime soon. Recommended for fans of 'The Hunger Games', The Divergent series and Bella Forrest.

Many thanks to Bookouture for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Received an advanced copy of this book through net galley,for a fair and honest review.
This is the second book of the series,think it would be a good idea to have read the first book to get a complete picture of the events of Alice and Carter and their progress.After saying that the second book gives you some insight of the previous one.
Liked the timeline of Alice and Carter,and the way it was divided up,for each chapter.
Can't wait for the third and last book to be published.
The book will appeal to a wide variety of readers.

I enjoyed book one in the Paradigm Trilogy but I thought this book had so many more layers! The pages are filled with secrets, surprises, danger and intrigue that made it so addictive. I want to talk about so many things but I would hate to ruin anything so I'm going to be as vague as possible surrounding the plot. There were quite a few times where I was sat bolt upright reading as Ceri A. Lowe weaved so many tense moments that at times I felt as if I was holding my breath!

The story is told from both Alice and Carter's perspective it made everything even more intriguing wondering what would happen next to each character. Both of their stories completely pulled me in and I was desperate to see the characters reactions to certain situations. They are strong personalities and equally bring something very special to the story. The characters go on quite a journey and with this being book two I felt that their personalities really shine through.

I will say that I think it would be beneficial to read book one just so that you can fully understand the characters backgrounds. However if you do start with this book certain things are explained so you won't be completely in the dark.

I absolutely raced through this story, it grabbed hold of me and wouldn't let go. I'm sat here waiting as patiently as I can for the next book, I really need to know what happens next!

A compelling and powerful story!

Five stars from me!

With thanks to Noelle at Bookouture for my copy via Netgalley.

This book had fantastic imagery and wonderful foreshadowing. The journey through this series stays with you.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.