Review: Velocity

Velocity by Anna Bloom
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Since finding myself a fan of Anna Bloom’s work, the Gravity series has been a must read for me. I love Anna Bloom’s contemporary work – The Game being my favourite, The Truth About Love being my gateway drug, and her other work sitting on my Kindle begging to be read – yet I was intrigued by her young adult science fiction. It was something different and I was curious to see how it played out.

In all honesty, I did not enjoy Gravity as much as I had hoped. It was a decent enough read, but it failed to pack the same punch as my prior Anna Bloom reads. It was a three-point-five star rating, one I rounded down to three stars. Nevertheless, I was curious to see how things played out in the second book. It wasn’t simply the cliff-hanger of an ending – although that did play a big part – but the fact that I’d been pulled into the world.

Without a doubt, I enjoyed Velocity a lot more than I enjoyed Gravity. There was a lot more provided in Velocity, giving us a number of answers, whilst leaving us with enough questions to leave us curious as to how the final book plays out. In fact, Velocity took the things I enjoyed most about Gravity and made them stronger.

In Velocity, we dive deeper into the world of the stars. We get a better understanding of the powers they possess and the way in which the world works. There are still some contemporary aspects to deal with early in the book, but they quickly fade as the science fiction element takes over. Moreover, having read book one, I found it easier to accept the science fiction in this story. I still found myself ranting slightly when the science did not match up with real life, but reading book one allowed me to understand this one better.

In case you didn’t realise it by now, you need to read book one first. The two are very closely linked, and to understand Velocity you need to first read Gravity. This is not a series of standalone novels; this is a closely linked trilogy.

In addition to developing a better understanding of the science fiction elements, we also get a better understanding of the characters. New elements are thrown into this story, and although I felt as though some elements were a bit on the predictable side, I did enjoy the added depth in this story. I would have liked for the ending to play out a bit differently – I found myself rolling my eyes at the aforementioned predictability and how the ending felt a bit clichéd because of it – but I know it will play in strongly with the final book.

Overall, I’m super excited to pick up the final book in this addictive trilogy. Once again, I dived straight into the next book, desperate to see how everything plays out. Whilst the series may not have started out the way I had hoped, it’s certainly growing stronger as I work my way through the books.

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