The Raging Ones - Review

Book Review:
Title: The Raging Ones
Author: Krista & Becca Ritchie
Publisher: Wednesday Books

“You keep saying that you make my life dismal and bleak. But my world never felt as bright, as worthwhile and full, until I met you.”

In a freezing world, where everyone knows the day they will die, three teens break all odds.
Franny Bluecastle, a tough city teen, dreams of dying in opulence, to see wealth she’s never known. Like the entire world, she believes it’s impossible to dodge a deathday.
Until the day she does.
Court Icecastle knows wealth. He also knows pain. Spending five years in Vorkter Prison, a fortress of ice and suffering, he dreams of life beyond the people that haunt him and the world that imprisoned him.
Mykal Kickfall fights for those he loves. The rugged Hinterlander shares a frustrating yet unbreakable connection with Court—which only grows more lawless and chaotic as their senses and emotions connect with Franny.
With the threat of people learning they’ve dodged their deathdays, they must flee their planet to survive. But to do so, all three will have to hide their shared bond as they vie for a highly sought after spot in the newest mission to space. Against thousands of people far smarter, who’ll live longer, and never fear death the way that they do.

I can't tell you how excited I was for The Raging Ones! Krista and Becca Ritchie are one of my favourite NA authors, having loved ALL of their previous books and reread them numerous times. So when I found out they were traditionally publishing a YA novel I was ecstatic!

My favourite thing about KB's books are their characters and the relationships they share, both platonic and romantic. They seem to write the most amazing characters, that you can't help but get emotionally attached to and constantly root for despite any obstacles that come their way. The Raging Ones was no different. If you've already read and loved their previous work, then I guarantee you'll love this too, because it contains all the best aspects of a KB book. And if you've never read any of their previous work, this is a great starting point, especially if you're on the younger side and are not ready for the content of their NA books.

From the minute we were introduced to them, I fell in love with Franny, Mykal and Court. As I said previously, KB's characters and the relationships they share are my favourite aspect of all their books. Franny, Mykal and Court all have different personalities and are all flawed in a way. But I love how they learn to accept, embrace and learn from their flaws, and then through that, become closer together.
Separately they're great characters, but together they are everything!
They share this bond which allows them to feel each others emotions, so you'd expect them to be extremely close, but reading this book you can tell their close relationship goes well beyond that link. They grow to understand each other on deeper, more personal levels, which is just beautiful to read about.
I also loved a lot of the side characters like: Kinden, Zimmer, Gem and Padgett. They may just be side characters, but I also got attached to them. I never really get attached to side characters, but when it's a KB book, I'm emotionally bonded straight away. 

Truthfully, I'm not the biggest fan of sci-fi. Occasionally I will read and enjoy a sci-fi book (e.g. Illuminae,) but I don't go out of my way to pick it up. The main reason for that is because I can sometimes get confused with all the sciencey jargon, but I think The Raging Ones had the perfect amount of sciencey talk. I wasn't sat there like "whut??" for the entire book, thankfully. It was relatively easy to follow everything, in my opinion.
I also loved the concept of this novel, where everyone knows the day they're going to die, but then our 3 main characters survive their death date and have to try and stay low so they are not figured out (while applying for a space program where they are constantly scrutinised heavily.) 
  
There is a bit of romance in this book, but it's not overbearing and doesn't interrupt the flow of the story. The romance is really sweet and I actually wanted to see more of it, so hopefully the romance will progress and develop further in the sequel.
So who is the romance between? One may think it's a love triangle where both boys are pining for the girl, but that would be a wrong assumption. There is absolutely no love triangle and the romance is actually between the two boys, Court and Mykal. It's refreshing as hell to not see two guys going after the same girl.

Overall, The Raging Ones is a fantastic book that leaves you turning the final pages screaming for more and wishing it wouldn't end. It has amazing characters, that you can't help but fall in love with and root for against all the odds! Would totally recommend this to YA sci-fi readers!
I'm am ridiculously excited for the sequel, The Last Hope. August 2019 cannot come quick enough, especially after that killer ending! I neeeeeeed to know what happens next.

4.5 Stars
Goodreads