Vortex audiobook

This was me reading VortexCan't wait to read the next one!

5 stars to this underrated but extraordinary series. I'm not gonna lie, I had some issues with the first book, a lot of issues if I'm being honest but let's focus on Vortex. Just know that I'm not rating this out of how perfect the story or narrative is or not even how well is the characters development but how much I got involved with the characters and now they have a piece of my stone cold heart. I get it. Tom doesn't seem to have an ARC at first sight, that's because he's supposed to be stubborn as hell and I'm kinda glad that he's loyal to his more inner self. He is very truthful to his believes and is really hard for him to grow out of them. That's why we don't see to much change in him from Insignia to Vortex. He had to deal with a lot of problems as he was growing up with his father than most of people at their twenties. He was raised not to 'live the day' but 'survived it'. Now that he is this superhuman government weapon (wich really sounds like a cliche, doesn't it?), He's having a hard time accepting that the only way for him to survive is to let him be corrupted by a government who goes all the way contrary to his believes. Besides that, I've said it in the past and I'll say it again, this is a really 'cool' story, I had a lot of fun reading it. I found a lot of resemblance with 'Harry Potter' at first, but then as I kept going I realized how well and unique was on its own. I repeat it, this series is so underrated.

Quick reaction:So good. SO GOOD. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.also oh my god my name was in the acknowledgments holy crap thank you so much SJ i

This, right here? Yeah, its almost better than divergent.So throughout the book I had this uncanny feeling that I was reading some other version of HP. The spire was Hogwarts, Tom was Harry, Enslow was Hermione and Blackburn was a weird combo of Prof, Solomon from GG series ad Snape from HP. But you know what? It made it a thousand times more epic! Because HP was a cultural phenomenon and this might be next!it started off as Tom being this prideful idiot! But by the end, I UNDERSTOOD why he was a prideful idiot. And the end. Whoa! Just whoa! Thing is I kind of figured out a part of the plot since the beginning and it was pissing me off that Tom was being so hard headed. But I figured the show must go on and all, so I was pleasantly surprised when things actually added up in the end. Plus there were so many hilarious scenes e.g. that Snowden and Yousaf Saide simulation. God I laughed my ass off.so the thing is, no matter how much Tom hates Blackburn I an never seem to reciprocate his urge to tear him apart. Truth is, tom's stupid and hardheaded. He doesn't have all the facts and as far as I can tell, Blackburn really is trying to help him—in his own twisted way. And I believe Tom's distrust in him would ultimately lead to his downfall. And Tom darling has waaaay too much pride—which isn't a good thing but it makes a hell of a book. And he seems to throw waaay many empty threats. Barking dogs, right?Medusa. Huh. She was such a unique heroine. Most people portray the heroin as slightly less kick ass than the hero but Medusa was waaay more skilled and awesome than Tom. I was so happy when they finally found each other—but then the end happened. Which isn't really a bad thing but aw, it took him THAT long to get there. Now he'd have to start over again. See, boys are stupid. So utterly guileless and easily distracted that it pained me to read Tom. He was the most clueless of them all. Sigh.Elliot is such a giant sweetheart! I wish he'd play a bigger, better role in Insignia 3. I hope he helps Tom take all those freaks down—and DOESN'T DIE in the process. It made me so happy when he finally did that thing that he did near the end! And to be honest I'm still in a little bit of fangirl-ish love with him..And somehow I end up imagining Joseph Vengerov as this slim medieval guy who wears stockings and ruffles. And then I imagined Lucious Malfoy. Huh.Throughout the end of the book I was living through Harry Potter and Percy Jackson again. The will, the sheer stubbornness, the utmost stupidity of even the most well thought-out plans was so familiar it made me giddy with excitement! Optical camouflage was very much like Harry's invisibility cloak huh?All in all, it was just as kick ass as insignia and I LOVED it and I really, really wanna time travel to 2014 to read the 3rd part! >.<

Reread August/September 2020I'm loving revisiting this world and these characters. Tom is excellent and I love his friendships with Wyatt, Uri, and Vic. They're such a good friend group and it's great to see them grow together, fall apart, and find each other again.I like that there is romance but it's not the focus of the story. And it's more about the friendship than the romance, even with Tom's love interest.Such a fun sci-fi and I'm really excited to reread Catalyst now!Original ReviewThe second installment in this trilogy left me just as impressed as the first one. Kincaid has created a cast of characters that consistently make me laugh and have me rooting for them every step of the way. Tom is able to surprise me with his antics, even after how he handled everything in the first one. He can be abrasive, but I appreciate the fact that he doesn't want to bend for the corruption around him. There were so many great moments in this book. And the ending was incredible. It definitely leaves me eager to continue with book three.

Book 2 in the Insignia series   That was the thing about real life. Video games could be reset. There were second chances.- Chapter 14 Book two in the World War III Insignia series is as thrilling as the first book. This series explores themes of power, corruption, friendship, and loyalty. Evil cooperations control everything, from the water and food to the war. Tom and his friends have computers in their heads and they are controlled by the government (which is controlled by the corporations). Tom is rebellious but loyal. In order to continue in his training, Tom has to get corporations to sponsor him, but he is incapable of hiding his real feelings, incapable of being political. This is an exciting story. I loved the first book, and this one even more. I am starting book 3 right away! Watching Tom try to act political was so funny. There are some pretty tense moments and it is hard to know who to trust. I sort of guessed who was the leak, but I knew it would involve another twist.

4.5 stars

BookNook — Young Adult book reviews3.5 Stars Vortex didn't quite have the same magic for me that Insignia did. It was still a good book, it just didn't have me screaming and shrieking like an excited, insane girl. Vortex had a bit of a slower start and I didn't get fully sucked into the book until half way or 3/4 of the way through.I kind of had a love/hate relationship with Tom in this book. He definitely came across very immature at times. It almost made me wonder, Was he always like this and am I only now noticing it? Or is this just a new thing in Vortex?Tom could just be so arrogant, so cocky, and not consider the consequences of his actions. His teachers would specifically tell him, "Don't do this, it's dangerous." Then he would turn around and do it, and something bad would happen (as promised). Another example: now that he is no longer a plebe, he and Vik got together and chased the plebes out of the common room area so they could have it all to themselves, just because "they could". He just acted like an arrogant prick a lot of the time.But on the other hand, I do really admire how he refused to suck up to the big corporate guys. Many of those guys were legitimately bad people, and I really appreciated that Tom didn't kiss their asses just for the sake of his career. Instead, he acknowledged that they were bad guys and didn't let them push him around, and didn't take any crap from them. He told them exactly what he thought of them, and it was awesome.My other frustration was with Medusa; her relationship with Tom was like whiplash. It was an annoying cycle of: they're fighting, they don't talk for weeks, they make up, later in that conversation Tom screws it up and they fight again, they don't talk for weeks, etc. Rinse and repeat. As a result, it felt like Medusa was barely in the book and just popped in and out at seemingly random times. At least whenever Medusa did make an appearance she was kicking some serious ass.Although the beginning of the book was only 'okay' for me, things really picked up at the end. The corruption and conspiracies finally started to unravel, driving some excitement into the story. There was more defiance, rebellion, and more "big reveals". Those were the bits I finally loved!Overall, I guess Vortex had a stronger focus on the politics. We learn more about the corporations that sponsor the fighters and what stakes they have in the war. It's interesting information, but it wasn't always the most exciting.I am a bit bummed that I didn't enjoy Vortex quite as much as Insignia , but it was still a pretty good book.

Tom Raines is now a Middle at the Pentagonal Spire. Along with it comes many roles and responsibilities. He is exposed to an armoury filled with suits and weapons. He faces meet-and-greets with the multinational corporations in attempts at obtaining a sponsor. His meetings with Medusa are becoming more dangerous as they risk revealing what they can do. There are mysterious security breaches at the Spire. A new power-hungry foe is introduced and he will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Vortex is filled to the brim with new and exciting challenges for Tom. It's a feat for the second book in a series to live up to the first (because usually the first is the best) but Vortex did just that. It continued to deliver a load of fast-paced action, with comedy and mystery. The plot was incredibly unpredictable and I loved it! Tom is a loose cannon that can't and will not be stopped!

Actually a 4.5 because I felt like Tom was too stubborn sometimes but the plot was once again amazing!

I'm enjoying this series even though its meant for the Y.A and I don't normally go for theses sort of books four out of five stars