Review: The Collection by Shannon Stoker

THE COLLECTION

The Registry Series #2

by Shannon Stoker

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (Feb 2014)
Genre: Dystopia, Young Adult
Format: Paperback (368 pages)
Source: Free book from publisher for honest review
Find It: Goodreads | Amazon
Rating: ★★★½☆ (3.5 stars)

Summary
How far would you go to control your own destiny? Mia Morrissey has escaped: America, the Registry, and the role she was raised for— a perfect bride auctioned to the highest bidder. She’s enemy number one to the world’s largest power, and there’s no turning back now.

From the moment she and her friends Andrew, and Carter cross the border into Mexico it becomes clear their troubles are only beginning. The young men are immediately picked up by a violent and omnipotent militia—The Collection—and it’s Mia’s turn to rescue them.

With time running out, her ex-fiancé’s henchman on her trail, and a dangerous tide shifting back in America, Mia will do whatever she has to. Even if that means risking everything and putting herself back on an auction block. The price of freedom is never too high…but what if the cost is her life?

At A Glance
I loved this book, but the believability was not there.

The Good
Let's bullet point it out!

- I just love Mia. She is so strong and is growing stronger with each book. She has come far from the accommodating, vain girl she once was. She is a straight up fighter now with her own means of defense. Even though she loves Andrew and Carter, she doesn't need them to survive.

- The storyline interested me. Mia, Andrew, and Carter have just escaped from America into Mexico, and right away the boys are captured and forced to become soldiers, while Mia must train her mind and body for what's to come when she rescues them. I loved the role reversals, and I loved experiencing the brainwashing both Andrew and Carter had to go through in the militia. I could feel their minds being messed with. Eventually they finally get to the 'safe place' in Guatemala and that's just makes thinks more interesting.

- Grant is his same nasty, evil self. I have never loved a bad guy as much as I love him. He is straight up monstrous. We learn a lot about his past and why he is the ways he is. We alternated between his, Mia's, Andrew's, and Carter's POV and it really added something to this book.

The Bad
- I found a lot of the book to be unbelievable. Too many convenient scenarios, like an Irish chick saving Mia just in time and training her in a couple weeks to break out her boys from a well guarded town/army base. I mean, really? How am I suppose to believe Mia could do all that by herself with so little training? And then when we get to Guatemala, Mia kind of loses some of her badassery and I couldn't understand why.

- Thing are too oversimplified in this book. Like, "If we could just take down the Registry, then all of America would be saved." Ummm, no, the government is still corrupt so.... Or how about, "If we just make it to the Guatemalan border we will be saved." Um yeah, things don't work out like that. Even though that's exactly what this book wants us to believe, that the 'safe place with the good people' are right there to save the group in the nick of time. No searching for them, just poof! Okay, we are back to the believability. I guess all my issues tie into that.

The Snuggly
Mia and Andrews grow closer as Carter and her grow further apart. There's not much romance, but it was not needed.

Final Thoughts
I loved The Collection as much as I loved The Registry. They both have their problems, but together they are making up one hell of a series. I am sucked in every time I start these books and never lose interest. Recommended.

Excerpt
“I need to find my friends,” Mia said.
Mia pulled the blanket off of her and saw that her knees were covered with bandages.
“What’s your plan?”
“What do you mean?” Mia said. “You can’t keep me here.”
“Nobody is keeping you anywhere,” she said. “But if you need to find your friends, what is your plan?”
“I don’t know,” Mia said. “Follow the tracks from the car that took them?”
“Is that a question?” she asked. “Because the answer would be, what time did the car leave? What direction did it head?”
“I don’t know,” Mia said.
“Well, sit and have some tea,” she said. “What’s your name?”
Mia was uncomfortable. She didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t understand so much of what had happened.
“Where’s your husband?” Mia asked.
The woman let out a small laugh. “Are you a mind reader?” she asked.
“No,” Mia said.
“I’ve never seen an unmarried woman live like this.”
“In a one- bedroom shack?”
“Alone,” Mia said.
“You are an American refugee,” she said. “That’s what I thought. In most parts of the world— not all, but most— women can live with or without whoever they want.”
“Are you from Mexico?” Mia asked.
“Ireland,” she said. “Where women aren’t equal to men— they’re slightly better."