were i feeling at all ambitious or clever right now, i would write this review as a continuation of the conceit i chose for the first book's review; a "round two" if you will, but both ambition and cleverness are eluding me right now. 
 all i can do is say it is more. 
 more running from exposure to the deadly virus, and more running from those who would try to take the potential vaccine from kaelyn, more disappointment, more confusing feelings in the form of a trembling love triangle, more hope, more despair, more danger. 
 there isn't anything wrong with this series, not at all. but it hasn't stuck to my ribs yet. i enjoy many elements of it - the setting, the pacing, the casual racial rainbow that doesn't feel pandering, the realistic shifting of loyalties. i'm not a huge fan of the coincidences, but i understand the impulse to utilize them. 
 i like how this story broadened the playing field, and introduced new characters with helpful skills. i like the part where the characters are (view spoiler)[ trapped in the house during the blizzard, and how it becomes an experience of interminable waiting, where no actual progress can be made (hide spoiler)] because that feels, again, realistic to me. 
 so, yeah, i do like this series, and i will continue to read it, but it doesn't give me the same frissons of "gotta-read-it-NOW" that some other series i have found myself sucked into have given me. it's solid, it's good, it's enjoyable. it's the warm bath of YA aftermath novels; nothing surprising, but it's got a good shape. 
 and that's good enough for me. 
 not a great review, but it's all i have in me right now.