The Replaced

April 1, 2015

Gr 8 Up-Kyra, abducted by aliens and returned with enhanced abilities five years later, continues to evade government agents bent on capturing her and others like her in this intermittently exciting sequel to The Taking (HarperCollins, 2014). Kyra's wracked with guilt that she was responsible for her dying boyfriend Tyler, her father, and an agent being taken by aliens. Seventeen days later, she receives information that Tyler might be alive and held captive at a nearby National Security Agency facility. Kyra is determined to break in and rescue him. The rescue attempt fails, and Willow, another member of their group, is captured. Only Simon, the group's leader, knows the secret Kyra's afraid to tell everyone-she has unique abilities like telekinesis and superhuman strength. She's also freaked out about Simon's newly romantic interest in her. After Tyler, unsurprisingly, turns up alive, the inevitable love triangle develops-despite the fact that Tyler has no memory of their past relationship. Stolen NSA facility files reveal a devastating secret about Kyra. After a fast-paced start, this second series installment slows down considerably in the middle. Hopefully, readers will be rewarded with more action and answers in the concluding book in the trilogy. VERDICT Strictly for fans of the the previous volume.-Sharon Rawlins, New Jersey State Library, Trenton

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2015
The second entry in the Taking trilogy finds Kyra mixing it up with a group of fellow Returned and searching for her lost love. Derting wastes no time diving right back in to Kyra's journey, one that is just as physical as the first book's was emotional. This change of pace is a little jarring: Gone is the exploration of Kyra's alarming reappearance and what that means to those around her. In its place are missions, camp life, sci-fi hokum and a new love interest. The least interesting part of the series' prior installment was Kyra's growing attraction to Tyler, a character who has little to offer besides a nice smile and cut abs. The author improves this element tremendously this time around. Kyra's budding relationship with fellow Returned Simon is much more scintillating. Simon has Tyler beat in every way: He's as smart and brave and capable as he is attractive, bouncing off Kyra's negative vibes with a refreshing cautious optimism. Less exciting is the book's overall structure, or lack thereof. Kyra and her Returned posse drift from place to place, occasionally poking the National Security Agency but more often than not just constantly moving. Enough bread crumbs are dropped to hint at the forthcoming conclusion, and of course there's a cliffhanger heading into the final book, but all the traveling makes for one very episodic installment. The book suffers somewhat from middle-book syndrome, but it is still solid enough to keep fans reading. (Science fiction. 14-18)

July 1, 2015
When a mission to recover her boyfriend Tyler fails, Kyra (The Taking) ends up at yet another camp for alien abductees in the Utah desert. Kyra and Tyler are both different than the other Returned--and the No-Suchers are after them. The romance is better developed in this sequel. While series fans will be hooked at page one, others may find some parts drag.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)