REVIEW: The Storm (The Rain #2) by Virginia Bergin

The Storm (The Rain #2) by Virginia Bergin

Publication Date: October 1, 2015

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Source: Received from Publisher 

Buy it at: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

*This eARC was received from the publisher, but it did not influence this review in any way *

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

DEADLY TO THE LAST DROP.

Ninety-seven percent of the population is dead. And the killer rain keeps falling. Ruby's not sure she can make it on her own much longer. So when a chance encounter leads her to a camp with the last boy she may ever kiss (it's not easy to date during an apocalypse), Ruby gratefully accepts the army's protection.
But safety comes with a price: If Ruby wants to stay, she must keep her eyes-and her mouth-shut.

Except Ruby stumbles across a secret she can't possibly keep. Horrified, she flips out and fights back-only to make the most shocking discovery of all...

I definitely enjoyed reading this book so much more than the first one. There was some serious character building that took place for all involved and some serious discoveries, both good and bad, that occurred. I will admit that i'm slightly disappointed with the end result for some of the characters but overall it was still a great book.

I am happy to say that in this book Ruby finally gets her act together. We see Ruby take on a much more serious tone with the whole "killer rain" thing. I think she finally gets that the world was almost destroyed by deadly, bacteria filled rain, and her sense of self preservation finally kicks in. Of course,  it wouldn't be Ruby without a few more "episodes" where she is almost killed because she is distracted and not cautious. But in the end she found a reason to stay alive and protect herself as well as others around her. I loved that some of the characters from the first book made appearances and other characters finally made an appearance, but the end results for some were a bit lacking and left me feeling unfulfilled.

What I did love was how believable the whole situation felt. Everything from the "killer rain" to the reactions of all the people involved, including the government, felt and sounded so real. Like if that ever happened to us today I believe this book will map out everything we should and shouldn't do.

So overall, I think that even though the main character was not as smart and safe in the first book, she definitely redeemed herself  in this second installment. Have you read this duology? What are your thoughts?