Another Riddle Story I Enjoyed
4 out of 5 stars
I like when a book takes me by surprise but is also a bit predictable. I think that’s what really kept me interesting in The Extinction Trials. It felt like I’d been there before but it was also brand new. I know Riddle’s writing style, so I knew what I was in for, but some of the premises and things that happened were new. I felt like throughout the whole book I was trying to guess the ending. And I was partially right which did not upset me. I was invested at that point and I wanted to know how the heck it ended.
Now, saying all of that I was also pleased that it was standalone and that it had a really nice and clean story arc to it. I knew going into it that I was going to leave satiated. I love Riddle’s writing style and the Extinction Trials was no different. Right away we’re thrown into the deep end and told to not only swim but drain all of the water from the pool. I love that and I love getting to know the main characters as “the” MC gets to know them as well. Each back story was different and interesting.
I wanted to call out that I love that this had a neurodivergent main character. It’s mentioned numerous times but I’ve worked with and had some friends that had the same issue that the MC did. He couldn’t read facial or body expressions – so he couldn’t tell if people were joking, kidding, sarcastic, etc. It was such a breath of fresh air that he had those as weaknesses and that the strengths he did have (logical thinking, puzzles, etc) were on full display. Just because he was different didn’t mean he was inferior. Quite the opposite, it made him a better person and a better MC.
Overall, I thought that this was new and interesting. I found the characters to be interesting but they didn’t jump off of the page. I did, however, love the setting and the world-building that was done. I was getting vibes from lots of different apocalyptic settings, especially Waterworld, but also had that “we woke up in a bunker/scientific lab” feel to it.
Book Description:
The end…is only the beginning.
After a mysterious global event known only as “The Change”, six strangers wake up in an underground research facility where they learn that they’re part of the Extinction Trials – a scientific experiment to restart the human race.
But the Extinction Trials harbors a very big secret.
And so does the world outside.
From A.G. Riddle, the Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal best-selling author with over four million copies sold worldwide in 20 languages, comes an epic stand-alone adventure with a surprise ending unlike anything you’ve ever heard before.
The Extinction Trials by A.G. Riddle
Narrator: John Skelley
Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
Published by Recorded Books on November 2nd 2021
Genres: Post-Apocalyptic, Technothriller
Format: Audiobook
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Also by this author: The Atlantis Gene, Winter World, The Solar War (The Long Winter #2)
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