The Hangman's Revolution: A Review

Goodreads (description):

Young FBI agent Chevie Savano arrives back in modern-day London after a time-trip to the Victorian age, to find the present very different from the one she left. Europe is being run by a Facsist movement known as the Boxites, who control their territory through intimidation and terror. Chevie's memories come back to her in fragments, and just as she is learning about the WARP program from Professor Charles Smart, inventor of the time machine, he is killed by secret service police. Now they are after Chevie, too, but she escapes--into the past. She finds Riley, who is being pursued by futuristic soldiers, and saves him. Working together again, it is up to Chevie and Riley to find the enigmatic Colonel Clayton Box, who is intent on escalating his power, and stop him before he can launch missiles at the capitals of Europe.

My Review:

Well, I can honestly say that this one was FAR better than the first! There was still POV jumping, but it wasn't as disorganized like the first one. It was clearer and easier to follow. I even enjoyed seeing beyond Chevron and Riley's POV.

Also, because we get to see so much from the bad guy's POV--who is trying to conquer the earth--I am convinced that if Eoin Colfer really wanted to, he could rule the world.

Seeing this book from all points of view created a huge sense of dramatic irony. I have a love hate relationship with dramatic irony. It makes me want to jump into the book and just tell the characters everything that is going on, so that I can save them from all the crap that they go through. Meaning, that it really kept me hooked in this one.

In this one, Chevron's future is changed and we see her struggle with two personalities. It's actually kind of humorous and sad to read about. Then she is thrown back into the past where her original personality takes over--though her new one hasn't entirely disappeared--and she is reunited with Riley. I began to actually like her in this one. Not that I didn't in the first, I really should say that I began to connect with her. She is simply a orphaned teenager trying to do what's right, and she's fighting against huge government traitors in order to do so.

I actually began to love Riley in this one. He's so cute and freaking clever. He's a magician/assassin assistant, thanks to his old mentor Albert Garrick. Yet, he uses the skills that psycho maniac taught him for good. He remained strong, despite the evils that Garrick did to him, and fights for the good guys. I think that's awesome. Plus, he owns his own theater and he's only fourteen. He is wickedly good at his magic tricks which always help him get out of tricky situations, even when he's fighting against futuristic technology.

There are several surprising allies in this one. I can honestly say that I didn't see them coming. I only saw one, but Colfer was subtle enough about it that I was slightly unsure as to which way this character would fall.

There was one thing I found a bit disturbing, but it fit along with the characters and why they did what they did. The bad guy in this one twists religion in a way that makes him look like a god. The Bible is even quoted and references to Stalin and Hitler, about how they twisted religion to get people to follow them, are even compared in there. It made me shiver and want to to curl in a ball. I am a religious person, so seeing religion twisted in this evil way made me shudder. We saw into the minds of the brainwashed followers, they one-track mind they had. Freaky. Totally, and absolutely creepy. Yet, that's how it happens in the real world, and Colfer caught that scariness perfectly.

I really liked this one, a whole lot better than the first. It was cleverer, funnier, more intense, and simply a great ride. I'm glad that I stuck with this series!

I give this a 4.5 out of 5!