The Crier Stone by Lyndsey Lewellen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Chaos Grid was thoroughly enjoyable, and I honestly felt that it could have worked as a standalone novel, even though part of me wanted more of the story. I’m so glad Lewellen didn’t leave it there. The Crier Stone is a phenomenal sequel, improving on its already excellent predecessor in almost every way. We are thrown right back into Juna’s story where we parted from her at the end of that first book. From the very first page of The Crier Stone, the pace is fast and the plot is tense. There is a depth here that was hinted at in The Chaos Grid without being fully realized, in terms of character development and worldbuilding and the underlying tale of faith at its core. I was enraptured from start to beautiful finish.

After the events of book one, Juna vows to God that she will try to warn and help the people of the Plex escape their imminent demise. She still despises them, but she’s determined to honor that promise. We join back up with her still in the Grid, journeying through its wasteland in search of some way to return to the city she hates. It’s here that we have our first extended stay with the whalers, instead of just seeing them from the periphery. Theirs is an interesting, dangerous, nomadic life. And it’s one that puts Juna and people she’s come to love in even more danger. From there, we come in greater contact with Plex City and the horrors within its domed walls masquerading as conveniences and progress. Said horrors come to a head in the form of the Mutari–a horrific team-based porting game with seriously high stakes. It is through Juna’s trials in the Plex that we see some of the themes come into play, from subtler threads regarding sanctity of life to the more overt displays of sacrificial substitution, whether for friendship or love or just because it’s the right thing to do.

“All I’ve done since stepping into the domes is wing it. I pray to God and He listens, but am I going to Him only to ask for an easy way out of trouble?”

The faith element comes more into play in this installment, underscoring those aforementioned themes in ways that make them more substantial. Juna’s deepening relationship with God—even in the face of her fears and frustrations concerning the people she’s been sent to warn—feels real, and vital to her story. Even Juna’s bathophobia, her debilitating fear of depths, becomes something God uses to grow her faith in Him. The biblical Book of Jonah ends on a question and offers no resolution to Jonah’s bitterness. The Crier Stone goes beyond that, giving not only some God-displayed explanations but also growth and healing and repentance.

The Crier Stone and The Chaos Grid both brought to mind other larger-than-life stories, especially when paired. This is, of course, a retelling of the Book of Jonah, first and foremost. But Lewellen’s choice to house that retelling within a high-octane, post-apocalyptic, dystopian Texas was a stroke of genius. If you love Mad Max, Blade Runner, Divergent, The Maze Runner, or all of the above, you’re going to love this duology.

“I don’t have all the power. And I don’t know what goes on everywhere. But I do know there’s One out there who exposed the darkness of an entire city by using a tragic girl and her bad luck bird. For me, that’s enough to trust Him.”

You can purchase this book directly from the publisher, or from Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, or Bookshop.org.

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