3.5 Stars

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And the award for most confusing book titles goes to - you may have guessed-: Vivian Apple Versus America.

I definitely was confused because the American and UK names for this duology are completely different from each other and it doesn't make the slightest of sense with me.

Just to make things clear:

The first book is either Vivian Apple At The End Of The World or Vivian Apple Versus The Apocalypse.

The second and concluding book is either called Vivian Apple Needs A Miracle or Vivian Apple Versus America.

Vivian Apple seems to be the only constant part, the rest seems mix-n-match.

However, I can't tell too much about the story without spoiling the first book. But it takes of rights where we left it and the characters still have the same goals. The book does focus, or so it felt to me, more on the friendship between Vivian and Harp, and unfortunately also dwells more on the romance of some of the main characters than in the first book.

While it was a very enjoyable read and the overall setting was quite original, it did suffer a bit from the usual dystopian heroine tropes (not sure I should call them tropes but those of you who have read dystopian YA will definitely find them familiar).

The ending is quite open, and while I sometimes complain about cliffhangers, this wasn't one of those books and I quite liked that it was more open. I mean, the story seems finished but it's just unsure what's going to happen now.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

So, good rule of thumb: if you liked the first Vivian book, you'll like this one too. Same plot, just advanced a bit. Vivian Apple and her friends are trying to defeat the megachurch that has captured the nation.

If criticizing organized religion and corporatocracy is your jam, and you can suspend your disbelief a leeeetle bit, these books are probably for you. There certainly is a good deal of, let's say, implausibility, but that's what makes these books fun. They're sort of an atheist teenage f-the-police fantasy.

(Which IS my jam.)

Praise Frick! This series has definitely redeemed itself in my eyes thanks to this book. The first book, [b:Vivian Versus the Apocalypse|17825130|Vivian Versus the Apocalypse (Vivian Apple, #1)|Katie Coyle|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1376534333s/17825130.jpg|24935012], left a very unsatisfying taste in my mouth but this book wiped any negative feelings I was harboring clear off the board.

The character development across the two books alone was enough to impress me. The main character, Vivan Apple, embodied this wishy-washy heroine in the first book but she definitely came into her own as the sort of take-no-prisoners badass that she was originally hyped up to be. I also appreciated the development in some of the secondary characters like Vivan’s best-friend/co-conspirator Harp Janda. She evolved into this laser-focused quasi-strategist which was a far cry from her whiny, alcohol-fueled days back in the previous book.

One of the major pros of this book is that it tied up all of those pesky loose ends from the first. I finally know what happened with Dylan and his sister, the New Orphans, and Edie/Umaymah. I also felt like I connected with the characters more in this book as well.

I never thought I would say this, considering my lackluster appraisal of the first book, but I seriously need more Vivan Apple in my life. I need to know where the characters are now! What happened after the “apocalypse?”

Spoiler

What happened after they toppled The Church of America? What happened to the Angels?

At the end of the day, I’m more than happy to give this book a 4-star rating.

AAAAAAHHHHH I WAS EXPECTING SOMETHING REALLY GOOD AND SOMEHOW THIS WAS BETTER. It's so delightful that this isn't about faith against atheism, but about the horribleness that takes advantage of people's vulnerability. And I love Vivian Apple so much. It's been a while since I loved a protagonist this much. I always love female protagonists, with my whole misandric values and all, but this kind of love is DEEP. Her development since the first pages of the first book… it's magical. I love it when she talks about enjoying pleasure and when she used to think that being good meant denying pleasure. Getting more technical, the writing of this book was so good! Good timing, good humor, good pace, and even the deaths, which usually worry me because they're often mishandled, were heartbreaking but not too melodramatic. I don't know, everything about the writing was Just Right. And though that ending was maddening, it's so meaningful. It's kind of like The Truman Show, in a way. I've always wanted to know what happens to him after he leaves his world, but it's not our place, his entire life was broadcast, and now it's his own. Vivian's youth was stolen even before the rapture, because her parents got so weird and etc, but now she gets to live a little bit more normally. No longer part of a mission to destroy the Church, she is now free.
ANYWAY! I loved it! One of the best reads of the year, definitely.

I love this series.
The second book is not quite as strong as the first, but I still absolutely loved it. I hope Katie Coyle writes more about Viv and Harp!!!!!!

I LOVED THIS!!! It is an absolutely perfect sequel and it is possible that it may be better than the first! I feel like Katie really got into the groove in this book just as Viv got more badass. This is definitely a must read for everyone who read the first one (obviously) and I think just everyone needs to read both books!
I haven't seen much about either of these books across the booktubes and booklrs and this definitely needs to change!
Well done Katie Coyle and I hope there will be a third book soon!!

i want a whole book about harp. i love harpreet janda.

Devoured this sequel, so well-paced & full of action. Would recommend these two to any post-apocalyptic YA fans.

3.75 stars.

This was far more dystopian feeling than the first one, but still pretty enjoyable. I love the concept of this ridiculously capitalist church taking advantage of global environmental changes to convince people that God is super pissed at the planet and wants people to spend money in His name.

The first one was more of a roadtrip story, and despite the dystopian elements, it was still pretty full of typical roadtrip humour. This one was pretty much straight up dystopian, and had a lot less humour in it. What humour there was came from Harp's blogposts, which were pretty damned great.

Vivian is a pretty great character, and I've thoroughly enjoyed her character development from good girl to badass over the course of the two books. Really, the let down for me here is that it felt a little rushed in terms of the action side of things while other parts of it felt a little dragged out. The ending also felt a little unfinished, a few too many loose threads floating around. So on the whole this was pretty damned great, but not quite as great as I was hoping for.