Unique
Ordinary Series Book 2
by Starr Z. Davies
Genre: YA Sci-Fi Dystopian
He lost everything. His dad, his best friend, and the woman he loves.
Ugene and the other test subjects escaped Paragon. They thought they were finally safe. But the battle for freedom is far from over.
When a rouge group calling themselves the Protectorate offers to help Ugene, he worries that his friends are falling into another dangerous trap. The struggle for freedom becomes a desperate fight for survival. Ugene is determined to stand up for what’s right and save the oppressed citizens of Elpis from persecution by Paragon and the Directorate.
The deeper Ugene digs, the more he uncovers about the Directorate's sinister secrets, the Protectorate's true goals . . . and the dangerous game he is about to play.
It’s time for the deception to end. It’s time for the truth to finally come to the surface. And it’s time for everyone to finally learn that being Powerless isn’t weakness.
Goodreads * Amazon
The clean, crisp scent of earth and stone fills the small room I’ve been living in for what I can onlynassume to be days. I haven’t felt the warmth of the sun or watched the stars for so long and I yearn for their comfort. Occasionally, I catch a whiff of rotten eggs, but the smell is so fleeting and rare I’m not certain if it’s real.
Where am I? This is a prison. Did we even escape Paragon? Maybe this is all part of the same simulation, giving us hope then isolating us to see how we react.
Since waking up here, I’ve only spoken to two people. A woman who told me through the door in a very reassuring tone that I would be released soon. They simply had to make sure that everyone was safe, and with so many people itn could take a while. I asked her a million other questions, but she didn’t answer any of them. Instead, she offered the same assurances that all would be revealed soon.
The second person is the guy who delivers the meals. But he doesn’t say any more than, “It won’t be much longer.” Sometimes, I swear I can hear the sympathy in his voice. Am I imagining it?
The last thing I remember is that we escaped Paragon and I followed the address Mom gave me to Lettuce Eat, where for nearly two days Harvey gave us food and a place to rest while he arranged our escort to safety. Those of us who remained—forty-two of us out of more than one hundred—climbed into the back of a cold transport truck on the second day. Harvey reassured us that we were being taken to a safer location and that my mom would meet with me soon.
But then I woke up here, in this cell. Alone.
Did he sell us out to Paragon?
Or maybe none of it actually happened.
I lay on my single bed, atop worn flannel sheets, and run my fingers along the smooth gray stone walls of the cell, carved out with Powered hands. The bed and a toilet are the only furnishings.
The door is made of reinforced steel with a small window revealing a brightly lit stone hallway and a panel in the center of the door where the food comes in. More than once, I’ve tried forcing it open by pushing on it, or digging at the cracks until my fingers ache. It never budges.
Where am I? This is a prison. Did we even escape Paragon? Maybe this is all part of the same simulation, giving us hope then isolating us to see how we react.
Since waking up here, I’ve only spoken to two people. A woman who told me through the door in a very reassuring tone that I would be released soon. They simply had to make sure that everyone was safe, and with so many people itn could take a while. I asked her a million other questions, but she didn’t answer any of them. Instead, she offered the same assurances that all would be revealed soon.
The second person is the guy who delivers the meals. But he doesn’t say any more than, “It won’t be much longer.” Sometimes, I swear I can hear the sympathy in his voice. Am I imagining it?
The last thing I remember is that we escaped Paragon and I followed the address Mom gave me to Lettuce Eat, where for nearly two days Harvey gave us food and a place to rest while he arranged our escort to safety. Those of us who remained—forty-two of us out of more than one hundred—climbed into the back of a cold transport truck on the second day. Harvey reassured us that we were being taken to a safer location and that my mom would meet with me soon.
But then I woke up here, in this cell. Alone.
Did he sell us out to Paragon?
Or maybe none of it actually happened.
I lay on my single bed, atop worn flannel sheets, and run my fingers along the smooth gray stone walls of the cell, carved out with Powered hands. The bed and a toilet are the only furnishings.
The door is made of reinforced steel with a small window revealing a brightly lit stone hallway and a panel in the center of the door where the food comes in. More than once, I’ve tried forcing it open by pushing on it, or digging at the cracks until my fingers ache. It never budges.
Ugene along with the other test subjects escape Paragon but their
battles are far from over. The battle for freedom is still on. Ugene
and his friends meet up with a group who call themselves the
Protectorate. The Protectorate is a group of people who are rising up
against the Paragon and the Directorate fighting for freedom. After
everything he has been through Ugene is having a hard time trusting
anyone. Ugene is determined to save all the people and fight for what
is right and if that means fighting alongside the Protectorate then
that is what he will do.
Ugene is unique in that he lives in a world where everyone but him
has some sort of special power. Ugene has learned to live with
knowing that he is different than everyone else and has learned to
find other ways to fight his battles and to help his friends without
any kind of special powers.
A friend of Ugene’s has his powers taken from him and has a hard
time dealing with it. Losing his powers has caused Miller to become
very depressed. He is having a hard time dealing with his lost. He
thinks he is worthless now and can’t do anything to
help them fight against Paragon and the Protectorate but Ugene tells
him that he can help out in other ways. Ugene tries to explain to him
that he has a special talent he just has to figure out what that may
be.
Unique is a fast paced read that will pull you in from the beginning
and never let up until you have read the last page. It is a very
intense read that will keep you on the edger of your seat as battle
after battle is fought. Unique is about power, fighting and standing
up for what is right and not letting someone take control and
dominating their power over others. Unique is about fighting evil and
not letting evil take over and not letting evil in.
I highly recommend Unique to all science fiction/dystopia fans who
are into futuristic worlds. But I do suggest that you read the first
book Ordinary in the series before reading Unique.
Ordinary
Ordinary Series Book 1
Fans of Powerless, The Testing, Hunger Games and the Maze Runner will crave this world of iniquitous secrets, intrigue, and desire to find a place in society.
Divinic. Somatic. Psionic. Naturalist. Who will you be?
Having a superpower is ordinary. Your Power determines your job, social class, and future success.
But Ugene doesn’t have a Power. The only thing special about him is that he isn’t special at all. Ugene is Powerless.
So when the most prominent biomedical research company in the city offers Ugene a solution, he jumps at the possibility to be ordinary. All he has to do is agree to allow them to use him in their research. But the longer he stays at the research facility, the more he realizes something isn't right.
Friendships are forged. Trust is broken built and broken. And everything Ugene thought he understood and believed is called into question.
Who can Ugene trust in his search for answers? What is he willing to sacrifice for Powers?
Goodreads * Amazon
Three days define who a person will be for the rest of their life. The day they are born. Testing Day, where their abilities are determined. And, of course, Career Day, where social status, wealth, and future prospects are decided for them by an exhibition hall of employers.
I passed my birth with great pains. According to stories Mom told me, my labor gave her particular difficulty. After arriving too soon, too weak to survive on my own, I lived in an incubator for the first six weeks of my life in a struggle to survive. It’s why she sometimes—annoyingly—calls me, “tough guy.”
Up until Testing Day, everyone—from my teachers to my neighbors—called me a late bloomer and constantly reassured my parents that eventually I would fall into one of the Four Branches of Powers. They said it as if doing so was something I would just stumble over on the sidewalk one day and say, “Oh look, there’s my Power!”
Testing Day came early in my ninth year of schooling, alongside everyone else in my class. Those who had already developed their ability were divided into groups based on their Branch of Power: Somatic for Powers relating to the body; Naturalist for those with organic Powers; Psionic for the Power of the mind; and Divinic for those with Powers outside our world. Mostly, this division left me and three other kids—Mo, Dave, and Leo—uncategorized. By the end of the day, only I remained unclassified. Testing Day was a bitter disappointment for everyone in my family— including me.
Ordinary people have Powers and prospects. I have neither.
Now I face Career Day, where I get to parade around a convention center with all the other doeeyed, eleventh-year students and try to convince businesses why my Power is worth employment. Except I still don’t have one, and probably never will.
I’ve dreaded this day for years. Now, there’s no escaping it.
Miraculously, my parents haven’t given up on me. They still hold on to the hope that everything is about to change.
For all our sakes, I hope they are right.
I passed my birth with great pains. According to stories Mom told me, my labor gave her particular difficulty. After arriving too soon, too weak to survive on my own, I lived in an incubator for the first six weeks of my life in a struggle to survive. It’s why she sometimes—annoyingly—calls me, “tough guy.”
Up until Testing Day, everyone—from my teachers to my neighbors—called me a late bloomer and constantly reassured my parents that eventually I would fall into one of the Four Branches of Powers. They said it as if doing so was something I would just stumble over on the sidewalk one day and say, “Oh look, there’s my Power!”
Testing Day came early in my ninth year of schooling, alongside everyone else in my class. Those who had already developed their ability were divided into groups based on their Branch of Power: Somatic for Powers relating to the body; Naturalist for those with organic Powers; Psionic for the Power of the mind; and Divinic for those with Powers outside our world. Mostly, this division left me and three other kids—Mo, Dave, and Leo—uncategorized. By the end of the day, only I remained unclassified. Testing Day was a bitter disappointment for everyone in my family— including me.
Ordinary people have Powers and prospects. I have neither.
Now I face Career Day, where I get to parade around a convention center with all the other doeeyed, eleventh-year students and try to convince businesses why my Power is worth employment. Except I still don’t have one, and probably never will.
I’ve dreaded this day for years. Now, there’s no escaping it.
Miraculously, my parents haven’t given up on me. They still hold on to the hope that everything is about to change.
For all our sakes, I hope they are right.
STARR Z. DAVIES is a Midwesterner at heart, and lives in Wisconsin with her husband and kids. From a young age, Starr has been obsessed with superheroes like Batman and Captain America, which inspired her novel, ORDINARY. If Starr had a superpower, she would be an Empath, because she is an emotional sponge and easily relates to how others feel.
While pursuing a degree in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin, Starr gained a reputation as the “Character Assassin” because she has a habit of utterly destroying her characters both emotionally and physically.
In her free time, Starr loves watching Doctor Who or anything with superheroes, reading books (duh!), writing about her favorite fantasy stories (Song of Ice and Fire, Mistborn, The Wheel of Time), and staring out the window as she dreams up more stories. Oh, and sometimes she steps out the door.
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1 comments:
Thanks once again for a great review! I'm so glad you enjoyed the book. It certainly was a bittersweet moment to finish telling Ugene's story. I grew quite attached to him.
To anyone who is interested, you can also get an autographed copy of Ordinary (Book #1) by ordering it directly from my website. I only have about 20 copies left, so the offer is valid until they are gone. You can get all the details about the offer here: https://starrzdavies.com/autographed-copies-of-ordinary/
You can also watch a reading from Ordinary on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ3vCampnEM&t=4s
If you subscribe to my Youtube channel you will be notified when I upload new videos, trailers, and more.
To those of you who love audiobooks, the series is currently in production. I am hoping to have the audiobooks available in time for the holidays. If you subscribe to my newsletter, you will receive a notification when it is available. You can sign up here: http://eepurl.com/dDNZWL
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