Review: Middle Ground (Awaken #2) by Katie Kacvinsky

Middle Ground (Awaken #2) by Katie Kacvinsky

Note: This is just to tide you over so I can finish reading a few books. :-)

"For four weeks Maddie has been living in Los Angeles, trying to be good. 

But no matter how hard she tries, something inside her won't be sated. 

She can't live a life of half-truths and false pretenses. 

So one night, she says how she really feels.

That's all it takes. One night. One bad decision, and Maddie is 
thrown into a detention center where she's forced to undergo 
secretive treatment meant to squash her rebellious streak. 
The powers that be call it rehabilitation. Maddie calls it torture.

Alone, Maddie will not survive. But if she can find something to hold 
on to - an image of Justin, their love - maybe she can fight. And if she's 
really lucky, maybe she'll even win."

Thoughts:

And then I was like......

Katie Kacvinsky is an artist with words. The whole story is truly beautiful, and has just about as much imaginative language as you can get with any book. The story was beautifully crafted, and the character growth in this book was amazing.

I started off knowing that she was going to be taken to the LADC (Los Angeles Detention Center). It was the timing of this book that really had me off my rocker. When she goes to the DC, the time she takes in the place is just so unexpected. The plot was compelling, and the way Kacvinsky describes Maddie's whole journey is just AWESOME!

Maddie is just about one of the most strong-willed characters I have ever read. She chooses to stay at the DC, but along the way you are cheering her on. Kacvinsky is amazing at writing pain, torture, and suffering (emotional and physical) without making the reader feel like Maddie is weak or pitiful. I loved how she kept her strength through the whole way, and through that experience she learned and discovered herself. I also loved how Justin grew as a person. The way their relationship developed was great, and I was not expecting any of it (that's what I loved about it!).

I think one of my favorite parts of this book was the moral and philosophical subjects this book discusses. I love how there is a big contrast between the DC and Digital School. At times I felt it was a little extreme, and Maddie got a little too heated at times, but I can sympathize with that. 

I have an idea about what she chooses at the end, but you aren't expecting what I'm expecting. She is very loyal to her friends, and I think that will contribute greatly to the next book. I think it is a trilogy, and what I'm thinking might be a little hard to squeeze into only one more book. 
Either way, if you haven't read Awaken, then you need to get it now so you can read Middle Ground!

5 out of 5 stars

-M
P.S. One of my favorite lines:
"'Romeo was a pussy' Justin grabbed his coffee cup....."

Link to the first book Awaken here.

And Middle Ground here.