Review: Immunity by Erin Bowman (Contagion #2)

Immunity (Contagion #2)
Erin Bowman
Published: July 2, 2019 (HarperTeen)
Purchase at: Amazon
Review Source: Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for and honest review

Reviewed by: Amy

Rating (out of 5): 4 stars

Note: While this review will be spoiler free, it will reference previous events in the series. If you haven’t yet started, check out VBC’s review of Contagion.

Surviving the contagion outbreak on Achlys, Coen, Thea, and Nova thought their fight was over after being rescued and taken aboard the Paramount. Little do they know they’ve been thrust right into the middle of the political upheaval between the Union (aka United Planetary Coalition) and the Radicals—those who want the Trios to break away from the Union. Their strategy: weaponized the very contagion that Coen, Thea, and Nova just escaped from. Oh yeah, and there’s the matter that Coen and Thea are currently hosts for the contagion known as Psychrobacter achli.

Now, they’re not only fighting for their own survival, but also for the survival of all.

Immunity picks up right where Contagion left off with little to none in the way of recaps. Seeing as how Contagion was such a vivid read for me, I had no problems picking up right away. This also plays really well into the pacing of the duology as a whole.

Immunity goes a long was to open up the world that was only hinted at in the first book. It was a really interesting choice on Erin Bowman’s part to play it this way. It really solidifies the two stories together, each one half of a whole. I’d say the first book stands a little better on its own, until that awesome ending, but I don’t think Immunity would quite be the same without the lead in from Contagion which is one of the reasons I’ve really come to love duologies. I love how both sides of the story work as a unit.

I will say that I kind of missed the mystery and the seclusion of the first book. When we started, it’s a blank slate. We have to get to know the characters and their motivations, we had to learn what was killing people on Achlys, etc. In Immunity we know the score. We know that Coen, Thea, and Nova are going into a bad situation. We know that the people who are holding them captive don’t have their best interests at heart, instead intending to use them to further their own agenda. It took me a little bit longer to get into the plot of Immunity, I think, because it moved away from that mysterious “what’s going on?” to the more robust “how do we get out of here?” kind of deal.

It was very interesting to see the abilities displayed by Thea and Coen and how they continued to grow. As they play out, you can trace the subtle hints back to tie into the first book.

Contagion and Immunity work the way a duology is supposed to work. Playing off each other to offer readers a fully visualized future world. While maybe a little slower to find its legs, Immunity quickly picks up into a thrilling, high-stakes, conclusion.

Sexual content: Kissing