Blog Tour, Review & Excerpt: The Raging Ones by Krista & Becca Ritchie

The Raging Ones by Krista & Becca Ritchie releases next Tuesday and today I am thrilled to be a part of the Blog Tour! Check out all the book information, an excerpt, as well as my spoiler-free review. Thank you to Wednesday Books for the advance copy, which in no way influences my thoughts below.

 

The Raging Ones by Krista & Becca Ritchie

Category: Young Adult, Sci-fi
Publication: August 14th, 2018; Wednesday Books
Purchase: Amazon, Book Depository

From New York Times bestselling authors Krista and Becca Ritchie, comes The Raging Ones, an edge of your seat sci-fi romance with twists and turns that you will never see coming!

In a freezing world, where everyone knows the day they will die, three teens break all odds.

Franny Bluecastle, a tough city teen, dreams of dying in opulence, to see wealth she’s never known. Like the entire world, she believes it’s impossible to dodge a deathday.

Until the day she does.

Court Icecastle knows wealth. He also knows pain. Spending five years in Vorkter Prison, a fortress of ice and suffering, he dreams of life beyond the people that haunt him and the world that imprisoned him.

Mykal Kickfall fights for those he loves. The rugged Hinterlander shares a frustrating yet unbreakable connection with Court—which only grows more lawless and chaotic as their senses and emotions connect with Franny.

With the threat of people learning they’ve dodged their deathdays, they must flee their planet to survive. But to do so, all three will have to hide their shared bond as they vie for a highly sought after spot in the newest mission to space. Against thousands of people far smarter, who’ll live longer, and never fear death the way that they do.

 

Excerpt:

Chapter One
Franny

On the cobblestone walk of a city sheathed in ice and snow, I slam my frostbitten fist against a Plexiglas cashier win­ dow. “Excuse me!” I call out for assistance that never ar
rives. Five minutes till closing, and the bank has already snapped the blinds shut.

“Excuse me!” I shout again. “I’m dying tomorrow!” I bang harder, my frustrated breath smoking the chilled air. My wool coat, missing four buttons and brandishing more than a few torn holes, warms me less than my irritation. Which grows with the incoming silence.
I’m truly dying tomorrow, but death is normative. I die. You die. We all die. The only difference between the bankers and me—I will die at seventeen.

I die young.

They die old.

And so it goes.

I spot a bulky camera positioned on the brick of the Bank Hall’s outdoor window. You see me, don’t you? They just refuse to an­swer. “I’m allowed my Final Deliverance check! Do you hear me?!” I yell up at the lens while simmering in place.

Behind me, men in sleek tailored suits and fur-­lined wool coats amble along the alabaster­-white sidewalk. Their hot, disparaging gazes heat my neck. They can act all miffed by me, but Fowler Street, Avenue Thirty­Four contains every shop for every type of person: hair salons, dentists, pubs, quaint overnight inns, and most importantly for me—the only bank.

And all the grand streets—all the ones with cigar parlors and high­end fabric shops that smell of rose petals and fig—hug the grimy ones. The streets with cheap apartments, crumbling brick, and foul, pungent odors with each step past. So in the end, the rich­ clothed men have always seen as much of me as I’ve seen of them.

We just might not end up in the same place.

I watch some strut ahead, careful on slick cobblestone, scarves bundled up to their lips. They disappear past the warmth of a stone pub, nestled on the corner of Fowler. The opulent Catherina Hotel is only one block away, and by the men’s attire alone, I imagine that’s their true destination.

Really, they’re not a priority to me. Not today.

Most definitely not tomorrow.

With numb fingertips, I dig in my pocket for my identifica­ tion. I raise the card toward the camera lens. “I’m Franny Blue­ castle,” I declare, possibly speaking to no one. “Can you see my deathday?” I point at the print beneath my name. “I’m dying tomorrow.”

A shadow passes behind the window, someone stirring. Blinds rattle and I press my nose against the chilled glass, scraping my fingers down. “Please! I’m on time!” Backbiting insults and curses nip my tongue, and I swallow them, going down bitter like blood.

The blinds suddenly spring upward, and I’m met with russet curls, thin lips of boredom, and stern, auburn eyes.

I speak before the fortysomething woman can. “I need to collect my FD check. In bills.” I keep a watchful eye on the old me­ chanical drawer beside the window. She has to dispense my cash, and once the drawer opens, it’ll finally be in my hand.

Most plan out their deathday to the finest detail.

At six years of age, I watched my mom die.

I traced her steps around her bed, a single­room apartment above a butcher shop. The scent of slaughtered pig clung more to our well­worn clothes than to the musty air.

She lit candle after candle and hummed to the gods, casting smiles back at me. Youth sparkled in her gaze.

And I’d known, like any stranger could see, that we did not match. It wasn’t only my cool, beige skin and silky black hair— but the differences of our eyes, the heart shape of my face to her squared, and as I grew, I didn’t develop curves or a chest like hers.

Even knowing she’d die by twenty-­four, my mother found the will and courage to provide me a home when she was just eighteen. She adopted me as an infant, and I always knew that I’d say goodbye to my mother in only a handful of years. She prepared
me for the day, so I’d be at peace with her.

And I was.

Moments after her smile, she blew out the tender flames and crawled onto the squeaky bed.

“Be careful of how you die, my little Franny,” she told me. “You can set your terms but not the day.”

Without question, I nodded in reply.

When we’re born, we all know the day we’ll die. It’s been this way for over a thousand years.

Maybe someone solved a mathematical equation.

Maybe a scientist drummed up this revolutionary discovery.

I can’t recall our history front to back like an Influential. I never attended school or read their books, and I didn’t really care to listen.

I only have so much time to live, so why waste it on a history that won’t be mine for long?

My mom snuffed the candles, avoiding Death By Fire as her ending. In my country of Altia, people about to experience their deathday must follow Injury Prevention Laws. Like me tomorrow.

Stay indoors.

Stay away from large groups of people.

Relax. Stay calm.

Be at peace.

Defying the first two could lead to mass accidents.

A boy of fourteen dumbly and selfishly took a joyride around Bartholo’s packed and icy city streets on his deathday. The car spun out and collided with Mr. Rosencastle who was innocently locking up the butcher shop.

Since Mr. Rosencastle won’t die until he’s seventy­seven, all he lost was an arm. Not his life.

And ever since I witnessed my mom’s death—the serenity in her upturned lips, the warm flush in her cheeks before her heart slowed to a stop—I’ve dreamed of my own deathday.

I might have planned it poorly, but I dreamed well.

I imagined using the last of my money for a one­night stay at the Catherina Hotel. Where harpists welcome guests through re­ volving doors, men in tuxes offer gold­foiled chocolates and sweet liqueur, where feathered pillows and satin sheets blanket beds made for five bodies.

At the orphanage, I sleep on a narrow bunk, coiled springs bruising my back. Only with my Final Deliverance check can I afford this single­night luxury. I’ve only heard stories, never seen it with my own eyes, but I still dream.

I want to lie against those sheets and gaze up at the hand­painted ceiling mural and smile as I drift off, as my heart slows or as my brain shuts down, as the gods take me.

The banker presses a button, and her monotone voice crackles through the speakers. “We’ve closed out today. No more trans­ fers, deposits, or withdrawals until tomorrow at six o’morning.” She reaches for the cord to the blinds.

“No wait!” This is not how I end. “You can’t botch this for me! Listen to me. You have to listen to me.” My desperation curdles my stomach, and I claw at the window, my hot breath fogging the glass. “I need this money now. I could die at midnight.”

The banker scrutinizes my long hair: black roots growing in among vibrant blue and green knotted strands that contrast her natural hue. She homes in on my silver piercings: stuck along my black brow, a ring beneath my nose and another hooped around my lip.

It’s possible that she ignored me because of the bright dye and piercings.

Spoiler-free Review:

4/5 stars

The Raging Ones is a sci-fi adventure where 3 teens happen to beat out their death days. In doing so they become emotionally linked to one another, and if anyone knew they didn’t die when foretold, they will be killed. In order to escape their world, and the danger they are in, they work together to be chosen for a space program.

This world building is very creative and I really enjoyed the way the story unfolded. Told from multiple POVs, the reader learns more and more as the characters go through their narratives. It really kept me engaged as I honestly had to keep reading in order to learn anything I could about what the heck was going on. I have never read any of Becca or Krista’s romance novels, but I can see that influence in this story. Even though romance isn’t the main plot focus, I was enthralled with it.

The characters were all very different from one another. Franny is a Fast Tracker, meant to die before they are 29. She has had a vey hard life, and does drugs as most Fast Trackers to lighten the pain of her impending death. She is prepared to die, but has a vision of going out in style. She has no idea that surviving was ever an option. I loved her resilience.

Court Icecastle, (yeah…I know I laughed out loud too), is also a Fast Tracker but he never spiraled into depths of society. He was raised by wealthy Influentials, and even though he is not classified as such, he passes as one. Influentials live past 100 years so they have a lifetime to achieve greatness. Court has the most growth in the novel. He has built walls to survive, and will do anything to make it off this planet.

Then there is Mikal, who was a Babe, those who die before 12 years old. He has survived the longest and comes from another country. He is physically strong, loyal, and has a huge heart. He will protect his friends at any cost, and he has so much love in him. They do all have one thing in common…they are all alive past their death day and they all can feel each other. Pain, feelings, and all. Plus, there is nothing that can lessen the bond they share.

As a reader you get to experience each and every characters emotions and feelings no matter which POV you are reading as they all are connected. Their relationships were very complicated yet turned into something so beautiful. It’s really an unique reading experience.

The beginning is a little slow, a little confusing, but that is because you have to learn about each character and the world they are living in. Once the stakes are raised, you won’t be able to put down the book. You will NEED to know what will happen…and then there is a cliffhanger that really really shocked me. Like NEVER saw that coming. Book 2 will be a must read for me.

 

Author Bio: Krista & Becca Ritchie

Krista & Becca Ritchie are New York Times Bestselling Authors and identical twins, one a science nerd, the other a comic book geek. With their shared passion for writing, they combined their mental powers as kids and have never stopped telling stories. Graduates from the University of Georgia in Biology and English & Journalism, the twin writing duo now lives in Atlanta. The Raging Ones is their first young adult novel.

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