Wires and Nerve: Gone Rogue

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Title: Wires and Nerve: Gone Rogue

Author: Marissa Meyer

Series: Wires and Nerve, Volume 2

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Release Date: January 30th 2018

Rating:

Iko – an audacious android and best friend to the Lunar Queen Cinder – has been tasked with hunting down Alpha Lysander Steele, the leader of a rogue band of bioengineered wolf-soldiers who threaten to undo the tenuous peace agreement between Earth and Luna. Unless Cinder can reverse the mutations that were forced on them years before, Steele and his soldiers plan to satisfy their monstrous appetites with a massacre of the innocent people of Earth.

And to show he’s serious, Steele is taking hostages.

Cinder and Kai, Scarlet and Wolf, Cress and Thorne, and Winter and Jacin all feature in this epic new battle. But it is Iko who must face her deepest fears when she uncovers the truth about her own unusual programming.

– Blurb courtesy of goodreads.com

This review may contain spoilers for previous book(s) in the series.

My Thoughts On…

…The Plot

“At least one good thing seems to have come from Steele recruiting all those rogue soldiers. Is it true the attacks have stopped? No assaults and no murders for over a week?”
“Yes, it’s true. And I know I should be happy about it, but I can’t help but think Steele is lulling us into a false sense of security. He’s unifying the rogue soldiers from all over the world. I think he’s bringing them together for one focused attack.”

Gone Rogue picks up right where the first volume of Wires and Nerve left off. Having united the remaining wolf-hybrid operatives still hiding out on Earth Alpha Steele is determined to get revenge. He doesn’t believe that their transformation is irreversible and he believes Cinder should be the one to pay for the crimes her aunt committed. Steele’s first stop is Wolf and Scarlet’s farm where he manages to turn one of Cinder’s friends to his side.

With help from Kinney Iko knows she can track down Steele and stop him before any more Earthen’s are put at risk, but no one has any clue what Steele’s next move is going to be. With the first annual peace festival fast approaching, a symbol of better relations between Luna and Earth fast approaching, Steele shows how serious he is in his quest for vengeance by taking hostages, leaving a simple message for the Lunar Queen; their lives for Cinder’s.

“Aces, Cinder, would you think of your own self-preservation for once?”
“A royal title does not make my life more valuable than theirs.”
“Actually, it sort of does.”

Like the first volume Gone Rogue is a fast paced and addictive read. I don’t pick up a lot of graphic novels but I had no problem jumping into this one and becoming fully immersed in the story and the action once more. I do wish that this book had been longer, as much as I loved the story I thought certain developmental aspects could have been expanded on, but overall this was a great ending to Iko’s story.

…The Characters

“Linh Garan couldn’t have made you love Peony or Cinder or any of your friends. Which means… you must have done it on your own.”
“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but…the more you talk, the more I’m starting to like you.”

Iko has remained one of my favourite characters throughout the Lunar Chronicles series. However like I said earlier in this review I do wish this story had been longer because it felt like some of the development was a little lacking, almost brushed past to make room for a fast paced plot. Iko has always wanted to be human, and she has certainly has more humanity in her than other androids we’ve seen in this series, but in Gone Rogue she comes across some of Garan’s files which make her question what aspects of her personality are truly her and what is just a result of her programming.

It was the same with Kinney’s development. He’s always believed that everything about Iko is just a result of her programming and in this second volume he sees more to her that makes him question that belief, but again that side of his development felt a little rushed and I would have loved to see it expanded on more if the story had been longer.

“You must be nervous.”
“Nervous? Why would I be nervous?”
“Oh come on your Emperorship. There’s no shame in a little awkward uncertainty. After all, you’re about to see your royal girlfriend after months of separation. What if the spark is gone? What if you can’t think of anything to say? And all the while…every single person on this planet is going to be watching.”

We got to see more of all the characters from the original series. As well as Thorne and Cress, Cinder, Kai, Wolf, Scarlet, Winter and Jacin played a larger part in this volume. I loved seeing all my favourite characters together again, but I would have liked to see a little more of Wolf in this book; especially in light of how he struggled with the bloodlust that comes with being a Lunar wolf-hybrid.

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Overall, and despite everything I’ve said about how I wish certain characters and aspects had been developed more, I really loved this book. It was a fast paced and addictive read, I literally didn’t put down until I’d finished the last page, and while I’m not sure if Gone Rogue is the last book set in the Lunar Chronicles world if it is it was a brilliant conclusion to one of my all time favourite series.

What did you think of Wires and Nerve: Gone Rogue? Was it a favourite of yours or could you just not get into the story? Let me know.