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ejoys84's review against another edition
5.0
I just finished my ARC copy of Arbitrate. Fans of Daynight will not be disappointed! Arbitrate is full of surprises, and hard to put down. The story line deepens in Arbitrate and I fell more in love with some of the characters and out of love with others.
Note: the author provided me with an ARC (advance review copy) in exchange for an honest review.
Note: the author provided me with an ARC (advance review copy) in exchange for an honest review.
momwithareadingproblem's review against another edition
5.0
arbitrate by [a:Megan Thomason|6578897|Megan Thomason|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1353133187p2/6578897.jpg] is book two of the daynight series and one year has passed since the massive cliffhanger ending of book one. The SCI has overstepped their bounds and the Arbiters step-in to remind them of their original charter. The Exilers, under Blake, are preparing to bring down the SCI and established a new government. Kira's babies are in danger because of their heritage, and not just the ones that were implanted by force but the ones her friends carried as well.
I absolutely loved this installment!!!! There is tremendous character growth for the three main characters and lots of plot lines that literally come crashing together. Kira is broken at the beginning of this book. She's a new mother who gave birth under traumatic conditions (to say the least), her Cleave has been absent a whole year, and she's terrified about what will happen to what little family she has left.
After witnessing a man gut Kira to deliver his baby and kidnap him, Blake is on the hunt. He feels guilt for choosing exile over Kira, for not saving her (as he believes she's dead), and is determined to rescue his son even if he doesn't plan to be a father.
Ethan after hearing about Kira's death from Blake, spirals quickly out of control. Over the year apart he's been training with his real father as an Arbiter, but he's missed Kira. He's beyond angry with her when after three months he learns she's alive (no spoilers this all occurs in chapter one) and he's hurt. He goes from being Prince Charming in book one to this hideously unrecognizable jealous Cleave.
The action in this book is nonstop, along with the suspense. Told from the perspectives of Kira, Blake, and Ethan you get a full picture of what is going on, along with what's happened to each character over the last year through flashbacks. I have to admit that I read this book in one sitting, staying up til 4 in the morning to finish it. I just could not sit it down! And then the explosive ending where the different plots come together left me reeling. And I'll admit to a little crying as well.
If you enjoy dystopians with a lot of action and surprise twists, I highly recommend you check out this series. It is well worth the read (and the loss of sleep)!
I absolutely loved this installment!!!! There is tremendous character growth for the three main characters and lots of plot lines that literally come crashing together. Kira is broken at the beginning of this book. She's a new mother who gave birth under traumatic conditions (to say the least), her Cleave has been absent a whole year, and she's terrified about what will happen to what little family she has left.
After witnessing a man gut Kira to deliver his baby and kidnap him, Blake is on the hunt. He feels guilt for choosing exile over Kira, for not saving her (as he believes she's dead), and is determined to rescue his son even if he doesn't plan to be a father.
Ethan after hearing about Kira's death from Blake, spirals quickly out of control. Over the year apart he's been training with his real father as an Arbiter, but he's missed Kira. He's beyond angry with her when after three months he learns she's alive (no spoilers this all occurs in chapter one) and he's hurt. He goes from being Prince Charming in book one to this hideously unrecognizable jealous Cleave.
The action in this book is nonstop, along with the suspense. Told from the perspectives of Kira, Blake, and Ethan you get a full picture of what is going on, along with what's happened to each character over the last year through flashbacks. I have to admit that I read this book in one sitting, staying up til 4 in the morning to finish it. I just could not sit it down! And then the explosive ending where the different plots come together left me reeling. And I'll admit to a little crying as well.
If you enjoy dystopians with a lot of action and surprise twists, I highly recommend you check out this series. It is well worth the read (and the loss of sleep)!
breecreative's review against another edition
2.0
Though I enjoyed both Daynight and Clean Slate Complex, I unfortunately had a really hard time with Arbitrate. I really wanted to like it, but it wasn’t what I had hoped for in the delivery.
My biggest problem was that the book bounced around way too much for my taste. First, it was written from three different point-of-views: Ethan’s, Blake’s and Kira’s. On top of that, though, it also jumped back and forth between the present and a few months previous. Neither of these things are bad on their own, but together, it was confusing. I’d often forget who was narrating, and then a flashback would happen and I was lost. The flashbacks were always marked with how many months, but it was done SO often that I started getting everything jumbled up inside my head.
None of the characters were particularly likeable, save for Kira and Jax. Kira started to wear on my nerves after a while, though, with the way she talked about the babies. I’m a mom so I understand, believe me…kids are a lot of work and she had 3! But she was concerned about them one moment, and the next would run off and leave them behind to do something else. If she had just focused on one thing it would have been fine – she’d be out doing her thing and all of a sudden be worried about the babies. Jax seemed like the only decent, stable character in the whole book.
Be warned, there were love triangles upon love triangles here. Kira had babies with Ethan, Blake and Jax. Ethan thought Kira was dead, so started dating Alexa, who likes Joshua and Adam too. Blake was with Bailey (he doesn’t really like her, but she’s the crazy ex-girlfriend), but started going out with another girl, and Bailey is going out with Adam. Joshua likes Alexa back, so has a beef with Ethan. Ethan and Jax are jealous of eachother. Bailey is jealous of Kira and Blake’s new love interest and goes nuts. Seriously? One love triangle is enough, but there are like 10 different ones going on at any given time in this book.
So then there was the confusion about all the different groups in the book. There were SO many. The Ten, Arbiters, Genitors, Exilers, Second Chancers, Daynighters…after a while it was just a bit much. So, Second Chancers are the ones that died on Earth and went to Thera, the Daynighters are those with enough DNT in their system to move back and forth between worlds, while Exilers are Second Chancers that got kicked out of their respective cities and live in the harsh conditions outside. The Ten are the council, Arbiters are above them (and move Second Chancers to Thera, can teleport, and stay neutral until necessary), and Genitors are basically gods. Confused? Me too, and it wasn’t spelled out for me, I had to try to sort through all the terms to figure it out.
It seemed that the author bit off more than she could chew with this story. If some of the plot points were left out, maybe explored in other books, it would have been so much better. Sadly, it was too much all the time and it made my head spin. Assassinations, threats, conspiracies, bloodlines…after a while it was just overkill and I couldn’t enjoy it anymore.
So, while this book just wasn’t for me, other reviews are positive and enjoyed all the twists and turns that this book had to offer. If you’ve read the first book in the series, give it a try – perhaps you’ll like it better than I did. You’ll need to read Clean Slate Complex, the novella that comes between Daynight and Arbitrate, though…I wasn’t sure at the time I read it, but I know now that you’ll understand a little more if you read it.
My biggest problem was that the book bounced around way too much for my taste. First, it was written from three different point-of-views: Ethan’s, Blake’s and Kira’s. On top of that, though, it also jumped back and forth between the present and a few months previous. Neither of these things are bad on their own, but together, it was confusing. I’d often forget who was narrating, and then a flashback would happen and I was lost. The flashbacks were always marked with how many months, but it was done SO often that I started getting everything jumbled up inside my head.
None of the characters were particularly likeable, save for Kira and Jax. Kira started to wear on my nerves after a while, though, with the way she talked about the babies. I’m a mom so I understand, believe me…kids are a lot of work and she had 3! But she was concerned about them one moment, and the next would run off and leave them behind to do something else. If she had just focused on one thing it would have been fine – she’d be out doing her thing and all of a sudden be worried about the babies. Jax seemed like the only decent, stable character in the whole book.
Be warned, there were love triangles upon love triangles here. Kira had babies with Ethan, Blake and Jax. Ethan thought Kira was dead, so started dating Alexa, who likes Joshua and Adam too. Blake was with Bailey (he doesn’t really like her, but she’s the crazy ex-girlfriend), but started going out with another girl, and Bailey is going out with Adam. Joshua likes Alexa back, so has a beef with Ethan. Ethan and Jax are jealous of eachother. Bailey is jealous of Kira and Blake’s new love interest and goes nuts. Seriously? One love triangle is enough, but there are like 10 different ones going on at any given time in this book.
So then there was the confusion about all the different groups in the book. There were SO many. The Ten, Arbiters, Genitors, Exilers, Second Chancers, Daynighters…after a while it was just a bit much. So, Second Chancers are the ones that died on Earth and went to Thera, the Daynighters are those with enough DNT in their system to move back and forth between worlds, while Exilers are Second Chancers that got kicked out of their respective cities and live in the harsh conditions outside. The Ten are the council, Arbiters are above them (and move Second Chancers to Thera, can teleport, and stay neutral until necessary), and Genitors are basically gods. Confused? Me too, and it wasn’t spelled out for me, I had to try to sort through all the terms to figure it out.
It seemed that the author bit off more than she could chew with this story. If some of the plot points were left out, maybe explored in other books, it would have been so much better. Sadly, it was too much all the time and it made my head spin. Assassinations, threats, conspiracies, bloodlines…after a while it was just overkill and I couldn’t enjoy it anymore.
So, while this book just wasn’t for me, other reviews are positive and enjoyed all the twists and turns that this book had to offer. If you’ve read the first book in the series, give it a try – perhaps you’ll like it better than I did. You’ll need to read Clean Slate Complex, the novella that comes between Daynight and Arbitrate, though…I wasn’t sure at the time I read it, but I know now that you’ll understand a little more if you read it.
rosie_b's review
5.0
I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Just finished Arbitrate and I really don't think 'absolutely loved it' does it justice.
Like daynight it's told from three characters points of view but it is also told from past and present points of view which helps us fill in the gaps and helps develop the characters. I enjoyed the odd few chapters where you saw the same event from two characters points of view, it was interesting to see the same thing from two perspectives. It isn't confusing to switch perspectives and past and present as it's clearly labelled.
The characters were well developed in daynight but they get even better in Arbitrate and a smaller character from daynight becomes almost a main character in Arbitrate and their character develops really well. (I won't say who as I don't want to spoil it.)
I really didn't want to put the book down and Megan Thomason kept me guessing right until the end, it wasn't predictable at all.
The ending throws up a lot of questions so I can't wait for book three, Generate, which comes out some time next year.
If you've read daynight this really ought to make it's way to the top of your 'to read' list pretty quickly. If you enjoy Young Adult / Romance / Sci-fi books I can't recommend the daynight series enough.
Just finished Arbitrate and I really don't think 'absolutely loved it' does it justice.
Like daynight it's told from three characters points of view but it is also told from past and present points of view which helps us fill in the gaps and helps develop the characters. I enjoyed the odd few chapters where you saw the same event from two characters points of view, it was interesting to see the same thing from two perspectives. It isn't confusing to switch perspectives and past and present as it's clearly labelled.
The characters were well developed in daynight but they get even better in Arbitrate and a smaller character from daynight becomes almost a main character in Arbitrate and their character develops really well. (I won't say who as I don't want to spoil it.)
I really didn't want to put the book down and Megan Thomason kept me guessing right until the end, it wasn't predictable at all.
The ending throws up a lot of questions so I can't wait for book three, Generate, which comes out some time next year.
If you've read daynight this really ought to make it's way to the top of your 'to read' list pretty quickly. If you enjoy Young Adult / Romance / Sci-fi books I can't recommend the daynight series enough.
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