YA Review: I am the Mission

I Am the Mission (Unknown Assassin, 2) by Allen Zadoff, June 17, 2014. 432 pages. Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Source: publisher.

He was the perfect assassin. No name. No past. No remorse. Perfect, that is, until he began to ask questions and challenge his orders. Now The Program is worried that their valuable soldier has become a liability.

And so Boy Nobody is given a new mission. A test of sorts. A chance to prove his loyalty.

His objective: Take out Eugene Moore, the owner of an extremist military training camp for teenagers. It sounds like a simple task, but a previous operative couldn't do it. He lost the mission and is presumed dead. Now Boy Nobody is confident he can finish the job. Quickly.

But when things go awry, Boy Nobody finds himself lost in a mission where nothing is as it seems: not The Program, his allegiances, nor the truth. 

First Sentence:

I stand on the rocks high above a lake.

It has taken me some time to write this review as I could not find the words to convey my disappoint in the second installment of the Unknown Assassin series. I really wanted to like this one; I was even hoping that it was going to be better than the first one. Sadly, what ended up happening was that I felt that the author failed to break new ground with the story-line or with the Boy Nobody himself. At every turn I kept seeing the first book and what happened in it.

With a heavy heart I am finally writing down my thoughts on I Am the Mission and why it fell flat in comparison with the first book. Just know that I am disappointed because I just so happen to love books that are similar to this series.

The first sign that I was not going to enjoy this one as much as I Am the Weapon was that the entire plot tasted of the first book. The second sign came when it seemed that Boy Nobody had completely dismissed the facts of the previous book and seemed to have returned to trusting and blinding following The Program. As one might guess, I find this terribly disappointing as I was hoping to find Boy Nobody breaking down the walls surrounding the lies being fed to him; alas, this book took three steps back for every half shuffle forward he took in the first one.

Even though the writing was every bit as good as the first book, the plot seemed to go nowhere fast and thus left me wondering why there was a second book. Or, if maybe this was more of a re-boot than a sequel. To say I was frustrated by that lack of progression with the world would be an understatement. I was really hoping to see Boy Nobody push and question every single thing about the Program and their agenda. 

When it comes down to it, the last thing that broke the camels back in this book for me would have to be the crush. I mean come on, can you seriously in good conscience have your character, whether male or female, fall for crazy bad-apples in back-to-back books?!? You would think they would be more discerning after the first crazy and see the signs to run far away. 

   It wasn't just that he had a poor taste in crushes, it was the fact that their "relationship" was pretty much the same as the that of the previous book; also, mark or not, it would at least be more believable if things had progressed in a more natural fashion (you know SLOW). 

Final Verdict: I am the Mission- Just leave this one be. The first one's okay, but this one is too similar... of course, I welcome you all to make your own decision when it comes to this one.

I am the Mission earns

I DON'T KNOW! 

this book was received in exchange for an honest review.