Early Review – Island of the Sun (Dark Gravity, Book 2) by Matthew Kirby (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN-13: 978-0062224903
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Dark Gravity series
Source: eGalley from Edelweiss.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Eleanor and her friends have shut down the mysterious Concentrator in the Arctic, but their mission is far from over. The earth is still spinning out of its orbit and growing colder by the day. Their only chance is to find the other Concentrators embedded around the world and deactivate them before it’s too late.

But doing so won’t be easy. The Global Energy Trust has branded Eleanor, her mother, and their friends international terrorists and is tracking their every move. The G.E.T. will stop at nothing to harness the power of the Concentrators in order to preserve the select few people its leaders deem worthy, and Eleanor is soon forced to ask herself whether it’s worth risking the lives of the entire human race for a slim chance to save it.”

I have really been enjoying this series a lot. I love this idea of an ice covered Earth with humanity on the brink of extinction. I also really enjoyed that this book had a lot of adventure with tomb-raiding and scuba diving and other interesting activities.

This book is very fast paced and ends up being a very quick read. The characters are constantly fleeing from one site to another trying to find the Concentrators and stop them before the G.E.T. gets its hands on them. I really enjoyed this story and found it hard to put down.

I did have a little trouble relating to the characters; I just don’t like Eleanor and the people she is traveling with all that much. There are a lot of new people introduced in this book which is probably adds to the difficulty I had in engaging with the characters.

The books takes an interesting twist at the end and ends at a bit of a cliffhanger. I am very curious to see where things progress in the third book.

Overall I really enjoyed this book; it is a quick and fast-paced read. I think the world presented here is interesting and enjoyed all the action and adventure. I am very curious to see where things end up in the next book. I would recommend to those who enjoy fast-paced stories that are a blend of sci-fi, aliens, and adventure. I think middle grade and YA readers will enjoy this story more than adults and be able to relate to the main characters easier than I did.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– New Release Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge