Tommy and Careen are no longer naive teenagers who believe the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense’s miracle antidote can protect them from a terrorist’s chemical weapons. After accidentally discovering the antidote’s real purpose—to control citizens’ thoughts and actions–they join the Resistance to fight back.
They soon realize that being part of the Resistance brings with it a whole new set of challenges. Not everyone working for change proves trustworthy, and plans to spark a revolution go awry, with grave consequences. Tommy and Careen’s differing viewpoints threaten to drive a wedge between them, and their budding relationship is tested as their destinies move toward an inevitable confrontation with the forces that terrorize the nation.
Where does love fit in when you’re trying to overthrow the government

The Resistance series is fast becoming one of my favourites, I desperately want to move onto book 3 straight away but alas there are already too many on my tbr!  When I read Counteract a couple of months ago I was left breathless by the fast pace of the ending and I was not disappointed when that pace continued on into Resist. For a story set mainly in a resistance stronghold, you could think that this would be a recipe for a story to drag, in a series 2 of The Walking Dead kind of way. However, if anything this keeps the pace up as the work on the compound is relentless in its attempts to bring down the OSCD, although there is very much a clash of ideas as to how to best accomplish this.

The OCSD is losing its grip after the death of its director, the public are confused about CSD but for Madalyn it remains her end game at all costs.  Madalyn truly stands out as a wretched character, and it seems like this really is a case for “better the devil you know” as her inexperience has catastrophic consequences.

For Careen, she finds herself in a very strange position, thrust into a limelight she didn’t ask for, she initially relishes her role and the respect that it gains her within the compound.  Although she soon learns that her message can be taken in ways other than intended and the weight of the responsibility her new role starts to take its toll.  It’s in these moment that it must be reflected on that Careen is still very young to have these types of responsibilities and I felt that the issues around Careen’s mental health were really well considered.  The thought that went into not only the initial impact but then the ongoing impact of her coping mechanisms.

I think it is also easy to forget just how few days have actually passed.  This is a group of people so unsure of each other still but yet having to place their lives and well being into their hands. I felt for Tommy in this one a lot too.  He has some real emotional upheavals and his struggles to find his place in Careen’s shadow are easy to understand.  Fledgling relationships are tough to maintain especially under scrutiny.  Tommy is left feeling eager to be part of things but because of his turmoil he is left very conflicted with which way to turn and with Wes taking advantage of that it can only be a recipe for disaster.

As with Counteract, I was left with a feeling of a not so distant future which could come to pass.  There are some upsetting scenes at a food distribution centre, which when you consider how busy those places are now, a need to attend them en masse is well… you can imagine. There is so much going on between the compound and OCSD headquarters but with everyone seeming to have their own agenda the collateral damage has nowhere to go but up. The great thing is the intertwining story lines never feel fuzzy or confusing with Eduardo continuing to be a kind of anchor across the pages.

The only thing that slightly jarred my was the hint of a triangle between the characters.  This is more a personal preference issue, I just don’t like them and found that it didn’t really do much to drive the story forward.  Everything still would have had the same impact without it in my view.

Resist however, is an outstandingly written book, full of great content, character development and topics that will really have you thinking long after you have put it down.  It really has a lot to say about society without being preachy or overly labouring a point. I thoroughly enjoyed it as a fantastic example of dystopia and don’t hesitate to give it 5 stars!