Review: Fugitive Six

Fugitive Six by Pittacus Lore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think this might be the first time I've read a Pittacus Lore book and not been super-duper invested in it. Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoyed Fugitive Six for what it was worth, but it was considerably harder to enjoy at times than previous books in this 'verse. Even more third-person POVs clamor for dominance here, and just like Generation One, it leaves me feeling more than a bit disconnected from the characters compared to the original Lorien Legacies.

But there's one thing for sure about Fugitive Six - we're venturing into some seriously choppy, muddy waters here. The narrative gets super political at times, with jibes at in-universe "Wolf News" and "Jon Leary" as stand-ins for Fox News and Sean Hannity and, building on the previous book especially, a most welcome disdain for conservatives - look no further than Caleb's asshole brothers, who hit him with the homophobic insults and mock the concept of trigger warnings for good measure. They're bloody cartoons, but then again, one thing I've learned from writer Twitter is that the current crop of right-wingers is too one-dimensional and transparent for self-respecting writers to write. (Incidentally, I totally headcanon Caleb as bi. Just sayin'.)

What's really the selling point of this book is how much it turns things very morally grey compared to previous novels. Everyone's going behind everyone's backs, and there's not a lot of distinction between the good and bad guys sometimes. (Though there's one returning unfavorite who's pretty much the absolute worst, even more so than ever.) And by the end of this one...well, I won't spoil it, but it gets pretty Aveyardian, that cliffhanger. Not like the original Aveyardian cliffhanger of Glass Sword, but more like King's Cage in that you'll be begging the book, "Nooooooooooooooo..."

All I will say is this: I hope that Book 3 comes out by this time next year like scheduled.

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