I received this book via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.
The Decaying Empire by Laura Thalassa Series: The Vanishing Girl, #2
Published by Skyscape on 2015-04-21
Length: 329 pages
Reviewing eARC from Netgalley
Rating:
![](https://momwithareadingproblem.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/JDDiBooks-CBS-W-e1531416902596.png")
When eighteen-year-old teleporter Ember Pierce wakes up in a Los Angeles hospital, she remembers only the basics: she’s been trained by the government as a spy, she’s sent on dangerous missions, and her last assignment—the one that landed her in the hospital—was a setup.
Caden Hawthorne has spent the past ten months of his life grieving Ember’s death. So when she shows up in his room like an apparition, he can’t believe his eyes. But this Ember is different. Her hair is longer, her skin is paler, her gaze is haunted. She tells him what he’s already begun to suspect: someone he trusted betrayed her.
Now, uncertain who is friend and who is foe, Ember and Caden face the toughest mission of their lives—to stay together and survive, as they run from danger toward an unknown future.
The Decaying Empire by Laura Thalassa is a continuation of Ember Pierce’s story as she battles the Project to win her and her pair their freedom. Book one The Vanishing Girl ended leaving you with no warm and fuzzy feelings. Ember has been spliced, Caden believes she is dead, and the Project is behind it all. Flash forward ten months and Ember wakes up in a sterile hospital room and the ability, or curse depending on how you look at it, to teleport while awake. First place she goes is to Caden, inside the very facility that wants her dead. Together Caden and Ember piece together information about the project and work to escape. But escape comes at a cost and Ember must learn to trust others when she’s always relied on herself.
I don’t know whether to love Ember or hate her. She is such a contradiction, yet in this story I felt more sorry for her than anything. She is basically running scared the whole book. She’s survived splicing and the Project trying to kill her, she’s back with Caden in the facility that hates her, and she now has to escape or be forced to make babies with Caden. Not a lot of options for her and to top it off she has no control over her teleportation ability. She is now disappearing while awake, which proves dangerous when she does this while driving 😯
He was staring at me like I was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. A girl could get used to these kinds of looks.
The savior of this story is Caden. I him! He is Ember’s rock, but he’s changed too. He’s harder, leaner, and gone is his naive perception of the Project. In fact, he’s just as ready as Ember to leave them, he just didn’t have a reason when he thought her dead. His utter devotion and love for Ember is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. I mean he spent ten months believing her dead to have her show up alive in his bedroom. As I said heartbreaking!!! His faith and love for her though is what pulls Ember from her fear.
When I saw you scared, my heart broke. When I saw you angry, I wanted to fight your demons for you. The first time you snapped at me, I wanted to rejoice that the fire within you hadn’t been extinguished – but had it been, I would’ve worked at starting another. You cannot scare me away, angel. It’s impossible…
This story is just as fast-paced as the first. Ember and Caden are on a mission, escape the Project. It’s that simple, but not that simple 😉 First they need to trust each other, then they need to trust others and that’s just not an easy thing to do.
Also Adrian is back 😀 I was so happy to see him when Ember teleported back into his life. I’m still not sure what his place is in the story. He’s not an angle in a love triangle, yet he obviously has some feelings for Ember and she for some reason trusts him implicitly. He’s a big question mark in the series and I can’t wait to find out more about him and his role!
Overall I loved this story! Ember and Caden’s journey takes them all over the western United States and it’s fast-paced, full of action and of course a little romance along the way. Also a bonus in this book is that the author gives some POV from Caden’s perspective which I adored! I love getting into other characters’ heads 😀 Take note though that there are some sexual scenes and of course strong language so 18 and over only please 😉 If you enjoy science fiction and the new adult genre, I highly recommend you check this series out!
Review in a Gif:
Final Conclusion: & 1/2
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