Review of Unbroken by Rachel Caine

Publisher: Roc
Series: Outcast #4
Release Date: February 7, 2012
Buying Links: Amazon    The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

*May contain spoilers for earlier books and also books in the Weather Warden series* 


For millennia, Cassiel was a powerful Djinn—until she was exiled to live among mortals. Now the threat of an apocalypse looms, and Cassiel is in danger of losing everything she has come to hold dear...

As the world begins to fall apart around her, Cassiel finds herself fighting those she once called her own—the Djinn. With Weather Warden Luis Rocha and the rescued child Ibby by her side, Cassiel struggles to find a way to protect those that are in her charge and come to terms with the leadership role she never asked for.

Cassiel is opposed by a powerful Djinn bent on raising an army of kidnapped Warden children to bring about nothing less than the end of the world. It will take everything Cassiel has to stop the Djinn from starting a war that will wipe all of humanity from the face of the earth. She knows that this might not be a battle she can survive, but protecting those she loves is worth any cost.

Teaser:

The child toppled over in a sudden, helpless heap.

I clawed up from the mud and flopped next to her, gasping and letting the rain pound me as it sluiced the grit from my face and eyes. Then I checked the child for signs of life. She was breathing, but unmoving. Her heart was speeding too fast, trying to fight me as I held her in that state. I put my palm flat on her forehead, closed my eyes, and eased her into a deeper state of calm and then, finally, unconsciousness. 

"Cass?" Luis lunged out of the rain. He looked frantic as he dropped to his knees beside the two of us. "What happened?"

"One of Pearl's," I said wearily, and almost pitched forward as I lost balance.

Reviewed By: Bea

*May contain spoilers for earlier books and also books in the Weather Warden series* 



Bea's Thoughts:

First, if you're reading or have read Caine's Weather Warden series, which this series spun off of, the events in this book occur simultaneously with the events in book 9, "Total Eclipse".

"Unbroken" is a kick-ass, don't stop for breaks (actually, Cass and Luis argue in the break about the appropriateness of taking a break while the world is ending), action and humor filled, ending to the Outcast series. I didn't like Cassiel much in the first book; she was arrogant, know it all, condescending, unfeeling, you know, a Djinn. :P But during the course of the series, she has changed as she learns to adapt to her human form and a human way of life. Now, humans certainly can be arrogant, know it all, etc., but Cass's perspective changes, as do her priorities, from Djinn to human, and several Djinn in "Unbroken" comment on it. By the time the series ends, I like Cass a lot. She's imperfect, as humans are, but she's trying and she mostly recognizes her flaws and weaknesses. Caine's Djinns on the other hand don't see or admit that they have flaws or weaknesses.

My heart broke for Ibby, Luis's niece, in this book. You thought Caine, via Pearl, tortured her in the earlier books? Have a big box of kleenex handy for this one. If I could have, I would have killed Pearl myself. That said, the changes that occur help move the story along while at times being just a little bit too convenient.


One thing I noticed, and I don't recall noticing it in the earlier Outcast books, or the Weather Warden series, is Caine's incredible optimism for and about the human race. I'm a pessimist, I'm pretty sure we're not as awesome, or redeemable, as Caine thinks we are. To each their own. Also, it's been months and even years since I read the other books so my memory may be faulty.


Overall though, "Unbroken" was touching, humorous, fast-paced, and a good read.



I received a paperback from the publisher for review.