Swipe by Evan Angler: Trilogy Review

Swipe by Evan Angler

Swipe Series Book 1

Published May 8, 2012

Source: Review Copy from Publisher

Everyone gets the Mark. It gives all the benefits of citizenship. Yet if getting the Mark is such a good thing, then why does it feel so wrong?

The Mark is a tattoo that must be swiped by special scanners for everything from employment to transportation to shopping. It's almost Logan Langly's 13th birthday and he knows he should be excited about getting the Mark, but he hasn't been able to shake the feeling he's being watched. Not since his sister went to get her Mark five years ago . . . and never came back.

When Logan and his friends discover the truth behind the Mark, will they ever be able to go back to being normal teenagers? 

 Sneak by Evan Angler

Swipe Series Book 2

Published September 4, 2012

Source: Review Copy from Publisher

 

When Logan Langly backed out of getting the Mark and went on the run, no one thought he could survive on his own. Without the Mark, you can't buy food, go to the doctor, or use a tablet--you aren't even a citizen. But when he discovers that his sister is being held in a mysterious hidden prison named Acheron, Logan risks everything to travel through an underground network of the Markless to rescue her. Logan arrives only to find that Acheron holds more secrets than anyone could have guessed and that all his careful planning is worthless against a government that will do anything to gain absolute control. It seems there is only one place to turn. But can a banned book with whisper-thin pages and warnings about the real meaning of the Mark really hold the Answer?

Storm by Evan Angler

Swipe Series Book 3

Published May 7, 2013

Source: Review Copy from Publisher

 In a future United States under the power of a charismatic leader, everyone gets the Mark at age thirteen. The Mark lets citizen shop, go to school, and even get medical care-without it, you are on your own. Few refuse to get the Mark. Those who do . . . disappear.

Logan Langly went in to get his Mark, but he backed out at the last minute. Ever since, he's been on the run from government agents and on a quest to find his sister Lily, who disappeared when she went to get her Mark five years earlier. His journey leads him to befriend the Dust, a vast network of Markless individuals who dissent against the iron-grip rule of the government. Along the way to the capital to find Lily, the Dust receive some startling information from the Markless community, opening their eyes to the message of Christianity and warning that humanity is now entering the End of Days.

In "Storm," Logan and his friends are the leaders of the Markless revolution. But while some Markless are fighting Chancellor Cylis' army, the Dust is busy trying to find a cure for a horrible epidemic sweeping through the Marked. And it's difficult for them to know who to trust, especially when they aren't sure if Logan's sister Lily, one of the commanders in Cylis' army, is on their side or not. And all across the nation-and the world-the weather has become less stable and a storm is brewing that bigger than any of them could have ever imagined.

Swipe by Evan Angler follows almost-thirteen-year-old Logan Langly, who lives in a dystopian world where citizens must be "marked" in order to buy items and use public transportation. But when Logan meets The Dust, a group of Markless teenagers against the government, he doesn't know who to trust. In Sneak, Logan and his new friends set out to find and save Lily, Logan's sister who was said to have died during her Marking. However, when their journey brings them to a city called Beacon, secrets will be revealed that change their ultimate destination.

  I highly enjoyed Swipe by Evan Angler. The world building is incredible, and seems so real, like our world could actually come to the system of being "Marked". However, the characters were very thin, and I feel like they should have deepened much more in the first novel. I didn't fall in love with any of the characters in this book, because I didn't feel like I knew them. What I did love, although, was that I never knew who the antagonist was. Swipe always keeps you guessing.

  My least favorite book in the trilogy was Sneak. I felt that it was extremely slow, and although it ended with a cliffhanger, I felt no desire to read the next novel. The book got to the point where I was very aggravated with some of the characters, and I did not want to keep reading. I did, though, and it was well worth it.

  Storm by Evan Angler is the final book in the Swipe Trilogy, however Angler left the ending open, so there could possibly be another book. Maybe?? 

   (Highlight to read. Caution Spoilers!!) About half-way through this book, Peck, the leader of the Dust, shows Erin and Logan a book he found in the library. The book was the first novel in this series, Swipe. The scene was very cheesy, and it stuck in my brain for the rest of the book, making me not enjoy it as much as I could have.

  Overall, I give the Swipe Trilogy by Evan Angler 3.5 out of 5 stars because I highly enjoyed the first book, but was not a huge fan of the last two.