The third and final book in the Outside series, this is definitely best read after the other two novels. We're back with Riley and Luc, as they fight for vengeance for Skye's death in this dystopian version of Britain. This is another one to race through, ideal for the YA audience but I felt something was missing - I'd hoped for a plot twist or more detail by the end. In all, I enjoyed this series.

The finale of an outstanding trilogy! I was worried that the third book wouldn't live up to the enjoyment of the first two, but I was completely wrong! The final instalment contained just as much drama, emotion and suspense as the first two. With Riley's civilisation being threatened by James Grey's cult and his army, extreme measures are needed. Not only this, but Riley is on a mission of humanity to rescue survivors. This final book in the series was heart-breaking in parts but this added to the overall storyline. The book also ended brilliantly and I was left with no questions unanswered. An outstanding trilogy which I was left feeling lost when I finished reading it. I cannot recommend highly enough!

The third and final instalment of the Outside Trilogy was action packed and fast paced. The most readable of all three titles.
It was great to see Riley's progression along side the unique story line.

The Perimeter is an action-packed conclusion to the Outside series, and Boland adds new interest by including the point-of-view of Skye's mysterious killer, bringing the story back full-circle to the series' inciting incident. In this finale, Jamie is a compelling character with a meaningful arc, and giving him substantial narrative real estate was a good choice.

While Boland's writing style and narration (first-person still being a noticeable weakness) is still distracting at times, with certain developments or character's thoughts somewhat coming out of left field and a slew of single scene chapters that feel wholly unnecessary appearing towards the end, the story is overall more coherent than its predecessors and comes to both a climax and reasonable conclusion.

Just read the last of the three book series and feeling a bit breathless. Totally lost in this exciting dystopian tale for a few days. Thoroughly enjoyed the books, feeling a bit bereft that I am finished.

Sixteen years ago the country collapsed leaving Riley in a protected community while Jamie was left homeless on the outside of The Perimeter. Two young individuals who had to learn the new ways of life both believing the world was a dangerous place due to riots and attacks. Their biggest fear was from a man known as James Grey.
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The Perimeter is a young adult dystopian read with a slight romantic setting. In this new world danger lurks from every corner. A terrorist attack on the world caused chaos amongst the people sending them scrambling to survive.
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Riley lives a decadent life in a safe and secure community in a world of poverty. Talbot Woods Perimeter is a protected community with guardsmen keeping watch. Another community is threatening the outside and the inside. The once safe gated community, home to lucky people who lived within the secure walls are no longer feeling protected. Life for Riley has been one of privilege being John Culpepper’s daughter, but that safety is about to be destroyed.
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Jamie lost his parents when he was fourteen during a terrorist attack leaving him alone. He never belonged anywhere living his life on the outside of The Perimeter as a vagrant. Jamie felt haunted and lonely and in need of healing and comfort. Jamie found a new family and a new life within The Close.
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There are three types of communities in this dystopian world: The Close, The Outside, and The Perimeter. Life in each community offers something different for there people. The Close is a religious community. The Outside is a place for people who don’t want to live behind gates. The Perimeter is a guarded gated community of privileged individuals who get to roam around the community freely.
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The Perimeter is a character driven story about three different communities and the dangers imposed upon each. This is a young adult dystopian story with a splash of romance and a snippet of danger. Mostly it’s about them preparing for war. The progress is slow and tedious as the communities prepare in different ways.
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I absolutely loved the first book in this series. I remember inhaling that book. Then book 2 came along and I remember thinking where did that same feeling go that I had when I read the first book? I’m thinking along those same lines with the concluding book. It’s a necessary read to understand how all the pieces fit together. What I like is that these books introduced me to Shalini Boland. Since reading The Outside series I read through her backlist where I found her psychological thrillers and I couldn’t stop reading each one of them. Shalini found her writing voice in the thriller genre. This became her wheelhouse. While this trilogy set the groundwork for what became her most prominent work I still appreciate this trilogy for its simplicity. I remember devouring The Outside book 1 years ago. It’s been too many years since I read book 2 yet here I am reading the final book. It’s not the same series I had grown to love with this concluding book being slower in its delivery. The book is comprised with points of view from Riley, Jamie, and Liss. All key characters who are about to embark on a dangerous journey of self discovery in a chaotic world where religion has a huge impact on survivalism. This story is filled with young adults making adult decisions and taking on responsibilities during a difficult time.

This was a book I had high expectations of and I was not disappointed. This genre is particularly popular in my library and I am always keen to find new and interesting titles which will appeal to students. The writing is brilliantly evocative and draws the reader in surprisingly quickly. The characters are particularly well rounded and the reader is really invested in them.

I really enjoyed being a part of the characters world no found myself wondering about this book afterwards
Which is always a sign of a good read.

I would recommend this for our book club but also to our adult readers.

3☆

Thank you to Netgalley and Second Sky for the arc! All opinions are my own.

This was really disappointing. I disliked the first book and liked the second quite a lot and the third book was again not good in my opinion.

The author's writing style has definitely improved a lot and I could somewhat connect with the characters. I wasn't a fan of Jamie's chapters and felt like they didn't bring that much into the story. Riley was acting really stupidly throughout the whole book and I feel like she didn't learn anything because she got out of her troubles very fast.

I wasn't a big fan of the pacing or structure in this. There was a lot of build-up to the battle and when it finally happened it was really quick and the book was done. I feel like the build-up could have been a hundred pages shorter and those pages could have been used for the explanation of the aftermath.

All in all, I would still recommend this series to some younger readers or to people whole like a slow pace. But if you tend to focus on details a lot, I feel like this series is not for you.

Book Review 📚
The Perimeter by Shalini Boland - 4/5 ⭐

Boland has achieved the impossible - a trilogy of books that are all equally phenomenal! Boland has made her way to my "must buy" list. She has such a creative way of writing her books and they are all incredible.

Still following Riley through book 3, still as daring as ever, and although there is not as much character development (not sure how there could of been as there's only so much one can develop) she's still an awesome MC that I love reading about. Her journeys never cease to amaze and she has such a daring attitude.

The third book has just as much adventure, thrill, excitement and I got equally as nervous as I did throughout the first 2. The story and plot just has a way of helping you to escape your own reality and join Riley on her own adventures. The entire trilogy is an epic adventure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Second Sky for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great series ending. It wrapped everything up nicely and was a fitting conclusion. The series as a whole was wonderful.