Review: Cured by Bethany Wiggins

Title: Cured
Author: Bethany Wiggins
Series: Book Two in the Stung Series
Published By: Bloomsbury (March 15, 2014)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: YA Dystopian
My Rating: 4 Stars!

Book Description:
Now that Fiona Tarsis and her twin brother, Jonah, are no longer beasts, they set out to find their mother, with the help of Bowen and a former neighbor, Jacqui. Heading for a safe settlement rumored to be in Wyoming, they plan to spread the cure along the way--until they are attacked by raiders. Luckily, they find a new ally in Kevin, who saves them and leads them to safety in his underground shelter. But the more they get to know Kevin, the more they suspect he has ties to the raiders. He also seems to know too many details about Jacqui and her family—details that could endanger them all. For the raiders will do anything they can to destroy the cure that would bring an end to their way of life. Bethany Wiggins’s reimagining of our world after an environmental catastrophe won’t fail to stun readers.

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I enjoyed the first book in the series and was happy when I learned after finishing it that there was going to be a sequel, it seemed there was still so much that needed to be done and so many that needed to be saved, so many that needed the Cure.

And as I started this one, I realized something very important, I had no idea what in the world was going on. Okay, not a great way to start out a book but, who in the heck was Jack and where was I?

So yeah, I needed a little refresher, or a big refresher and okay, maybe rereading the synopsis would have helped but geesh, I seriously was a little lost and confused there for a chapter or two. 

But I realized that while Fo and Bowen and even Jonah are in this, this isn't really their story so much as it is Jack's and truly my being lost had nothing to do with the writing and everything to do with me.

After I got over my initial confusion it didn't take me long to sink right back into Wiggin's world and become reacquainted with the characters (old and new) and I dare say, I just might even like Jack more than I did Fo in the first book. But don't get me wrong, I still have mad love for Fo, Bowen and Jonah, I just so also have made love for Jack, Kevin and Dean. 

This book answered so many questions I had from the first book and then some. It shed a whole new (and sometimes horrific) light on how complex the world Wiggin's created really was.  Everything was explained better and in more detail as Jack really got a good look at what the world, the Raiders, the Beasts and the people behind the Wall had become and well as the colony. 

And even though I say this was more Jack's story, we still get a whole lot of the characters we originally fell in love with and even more so, this is a story about a world and people trying to survive after something devastating and horrific happened to them. This is a story about survival and goodness as well as it is about destruction and evil. It is about love and being strong and doing what it right. 

I loved this every bit as much as I did the first, in fact, more so. I am happy with the way it all ended, or maybe I should say, that way it all is beginning and growing and healing. 


Wiggin's once again captured my attention and held it with the frightening world and endearing characters that she created and I think it is safe to say that I will be reading anything else of her's that she decides to come out with next.

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*