There are certain rules you have to follow as an Obedient. 1. Live in darkness 2. Respect the Specials3. Always wear your mask Melia has lived her life following this strict regiment. The consequences of breaking them are worse than even death. But when Monseiur’s Show arrives, Melia is willing to throw them all out the window. Men who can light themselves on fire. Girls who can see into the … window.
Men who can light themselves on fire.
Girls who can see into the future.
Where the unexplainable occurs.
With her family’s life on the line, Melia becomes not only a bystander, but a performer as well. But as the Show states, “Nothing is as it seems.” What if the cost of admission…is your life?
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The Obedients: The Show by Macey Waters is Act One in her dystopian series. This book gives readers a mix of mystery, dystopian drama, and some budding romance. The world is not the same that it once was, now the people are divided into groups/categories. There are the Specials, the Soldiers, the Obedients, and the Unmasked. The Specials are the elite and rich, the Soldiers are the protectors and enforcers of the Specials, the Obedients are forced to cover their faces, and the Unmasked are the ones who have rebelled are hunted. Then there is a unique group called the Players. They are a step above the Obedients, but they are below the Specials. They are performers and one day, Melia, an Obedient, through a twist of fate catches their eye and is given the opportunity to save her family.
The Obedients: The Show – Act One is the first book that I have read by Macey Waters. When I read the blurb for this book, I was eager to start reading. I am an avid reader of dystopian novels and the author does a fantastic job hooking me in from the beginning. The storyline holds a lot of promise. You get hints of a war that tore the world apart. Your curiosity is piqued with the differences in the “classes” of the people. Each of the characters is unique and brings something different to the storyline.
This storyline has good moments and then it has dull moments. This story gives me a tiny glimpse into the past, but not enough to give me some back story on what transpired to bring the world to its current place and time with the current world order. The author leaves me curious about this fact throughout the story. This story has suspenseful moments, odd moments, tragic moments, and lots of moments that leave you wondering what just happened.
I wanted to enjoy this story more, but I feel like there is either something missing throughout to pull it all together or just something I’m missing as the reader. One minute the story is flowing well, and weaving toward a certain point, and then it seems to go off the rails and takes a path that makes little sense. Melia wants a better life for her and her siblings, but when she’s offered the opportunity initially she refuses. When faced with her brother becoming an Unmasked because he wants a better life, she still doesn’t act. Why? She’s supposed to care so much about them, and becoming a Player with the first offer would have given them that. But only when one of her sister’s life is in danger does she then decide to act. It leaves me puzzled and makes me almost think that she cared less for her brother than her sisters.
I hate to say it, but I struggled quite a bit with Melia’s character and attitude. When she’s prickly in defense of her family, to an extent I understand it. But when she’s quick to react in a negative manner regardless of the situation at certain points in the story, I can’t help but wonder…why? It doesn’t make sense. She wasn’t like this in other scenes, so why is she doing this now? I didn’t like that she has an attitude towards people a lot, and then wants to be upset when people cop an attitude with her behind her rude/impolite behavior. She softens a touch here and there, but it’s a rare thing. I kept waiting for an explanation as to why she’s like this but I really don’t get one. Not one that is truly plausible in my opinion.
This story has quite a few slow spots that I had to push through, but there are moments in the story of where you are hooked back in and eager to find out what happens next. These moments are what kept me going in reading this book. I wanted to piece the puzzle together to learn the secrets hidden in this story and the characters’ past. For readers who don’t like cliffhangers…sorry but this book has one…and it’s wild!
I am rating this book 4 out of 5 stars. I’m taking off one star because it seems like even the author at times had to figure out where she was going with the storyline, and then gained traction at key points. I’m hopeful that the author will give me more backstory with the next book in this series and the storyline will become more cohesive and flow together better.