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Book Review: Outcasts by Jill Williamson



             
            Coming off Captives, I was excited to read Outcasts. Jill set up amazing conflicts and characters in book one and kept them going in book two. 

            One of my favorite aspects of this book was the value of life. I loved the way the characters fought for the lives they loved and even the ones they didn’t. Without spoiling anything, I’ll say that there were times were killing would have been appropriate, but the characters chose not to. They saved lives without ending others. 

            The beginning of the story was a little slow. It seemed harder to get into the story than book one, but I’ve read much slower stories. By the last third of the book, I couldn’t put it down. 

            Lastly, I appreciated the consequences that were revealed for people’s actions. The Safe Lands people (and even some others) do bad things and their sin is not glorified. That said, this would not be a book I give young teens because of the extensive presence of those bad things. The worldviews displayed would fit better analyzed by older teens. 

            Though I felt some events dragged a little, I eagerly wait for the last book of the series. Outcasts was a complex, thought—provoking story for older teens. I frequently asked myself, “What decision would I make?”

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