Review: Settling

Title: Settling
Authors: Shelley Workinger
Date Released: July 4th, 2011
Pages: 242
Rating: 4 out of 5

Description:
At the beginning of the summer, Clio Kaid was one of a hundred teens brought to a secret Army installation. But it was no ordinary camp and they weren’t ordinary kids…

Picking up where “Solid” left off, Clio and her friends realize that they aren’t ready to go home; they’re determined to stay on campus and continue their journey of self- discovery. But someone doesn’t feel the same way and will do anything to drive them away – even kill.

Friendships will be tested, abilities will evolve, and more secrets will come out as the teens race to stop the killer before he sets his sights on one of them…

Review:
The story continues with Clio and her friends in Settling as they settle into their new lives that they have come to terms with while at their camp.  However, mystery continues to surround the camp and a new murderer is on the rise. 

Settling was definitely pretty thrilling since there's a murderer going around the camp and there are no possible suspects.  Clio and her group of friends are also finding out more about themselves, especially Clio herself.  She comes to realize that she might possibly not just have the power to become invisible, but she might also have traces of other abilities, such as those of a "heavy" which are the really artsy/musically talented people. 

Clio also changes in personality significantly.  I really, really liked Clio in Solid, but in Settling, this life for Clio started to go a bit downhill as she had this change of personality that I really didn't see coming and it kind of upset me.  She started questioning her once untainted relationship with Jack and started to grow a bit distant from her friends.  I guess you could describe her new personality as "dark?" And I love Jack!  He seems so sweet and thoughtful and just absolutely perfect, so I really didn't get why Clio started to not like Jack as much.  All of Clio's friends really bring a variety in personality to the book as well since you have Garrett, the funny/athletic guy, Miranda, the perfectionist/sort of snobby one, Alexis, the artsy/slightly dark one, and Bliss, the slightly naive but nevertheless adorable one.  A couple new people are also added to the gang, too.

The ending was absolutely an adrenaline rush.  It was kind of rushed, which is what made it pretty intense, but the intensity was good.  The murderer was unmasked, and his/her's motives were revealed.  Everything was wrapped up pretty nicely mystery wise, except Clio's relationships were left on loose ends, but hopefully in the next book she'll be able to repair those relationships.

Settling was a great sequel to Solid and was enjoyable.  There were many changes in Settling, like new characters, different personalities, new killers on the move... They all added to the story, making it much more interesting as it moved along.  I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who likes reading books about superpowers and a lot of mystery.  I'll totally be looking forward to the next book, Sound, to see what's going to happen next!!

Cover Review:
I really like how so far the covers have the same sort of theme and font!  When I first saw this cover, I never really understood why there were fireworks in the background and why the two people were facing away from each other, but as I read the book, it easily became apparent as to why this particular image was chosen.  It's a pretty symbolic image.

Cleo :)

*Description and cover from goodreads.com
**Review copy received from Shelley Workinger for review.