New Review! Dissident (Bellator Saga, #1) by Cecilia London, 3.5 Cranky Stars

Dissident by Cecilia London
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 Cranky Stars!



She once was important. Now she’s considered dangerous.

Caroline lies unconscious in a government hospital in a New America adjusting under a brutal regime. Once a senator, she is now a political dissident, and enemy of the State.

"Dissident" is part romantic suspense, contemporary romance, political thriller, and speculative fiction. Partially told in flashback, filling out the backstory to how Caroline has come to be in the position she is.

There is a lot to like about this work: it's intelligent, well written, and grounded on some important theoretical concepts. The two leads are mature, making a nice change from the usual romantic fare of insta-love-groping-twenty-year-olds. I enjoy works told in a non-linear fashion that play with structure.

The main issues I have with this work are plot and pacing. The main plot, which starts in the prologue, is instantly intriguing, but gets diverted in the back story. I constantly read for answers or even hints to what drives the main mystery, but didn't get many. Also, there was a lot of material, which was repeated, and could have been used to tease out the main mystery at the center of this story.

The central plot of this story is a good one and I would have loved further explanation/integration in this first installment.


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