Me on Obsidio

Title: Obsidio
Authors: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Release Date: March 13, 2018
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (Random House imprint)

Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they'll find seven months after the invasion? Meanwhile, Kady's cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza's ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha's past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall, and hearts will be broken.

Obsidio is the end of a journey both epic and seemingly impossible. It's the conclusion, the race back to where it all began. Back to Kerenza IV and a chance at getting back home, a chance at saving so many lives. A chance to show the universe the consequences of corporate greed, the number of lives lost, and the strength six people found in order to keep moving forward.

Kady and Ezra are alive, Hanna and Nik are back together, Nik's cousin Ella is somehow hanging on, and both groups have come together to make some tough decisions. The jump station is gone, resources are limited, and everyone is desperate to make it back home, make it out of the sector. So the decision is made: head back to Kerenza IV, hopefully survive long enough against BeiTech, and use their jump platform. What they don't know is that Kerenza IV isn't a smouldering crater, that some of the colony survived the initial attack, keeping quiet and compliant in order to survive. What they don't know is that a resistance is slowly acting, waiting for a chance to break free. What Kady doesn't know is that her cousin Asha is alive.

There was something about this third book that made it especially harsh, especially brutal. There's a glimpse into what it means to sign up for service, military or otherwise, and not have it turn out how you thought it would. What it means to be part of an occupation from both sides, the despair and the weariness of being a civilian under control, and the grating of horrific actions against conscience for a soldier. The sleepless nights and the days of numbness that follow. There was definitely a lump in the back of my throat during some of those sections.

As a whole, this trilogy is expansive and epic, packed with stories of humanity and resilience, of survival, of hope and fear. Of the evils that exist and those who hope to stand tall against them, reveal their secrets to the eyes and ears of the unsuspecting. Against all odds they have survived again and again, hoping that everything they do will count in the end. That their actions will make a difference. That BeiTech will pay for every single death they caused. The way this series is told, through found footage and e-mails, audio files and classified reports and posters, makes it all the more powerful. And AIDEN, of course, was AIDEN. Fans of the previous books will definitely enjoy this conclusion, this end to a journey full of danger and hope.

(I purchased a copy of this title.)