Chorus is the sequel to last year’s Coda, a YA dystopian set in New York about a future world where music is used for mind control (“tracking”) by the Corp. Tracking is like a drug that keeps the society under their thumb – too much tracking and you could OD. Anthem is a teen in an underground punk band, but playing your own music is illegal – can you imagine? The Corp must be stopped!
Coda received some acclaim last year, including starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal and nominations for ALA’s Rainbow List, the Bisexual Book Awards, and YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults list. I was eager to read it because I love music-themed books and you don’t come across too many of them in the dystopia category.
The sequel, Chorus, is centered on a different character, Anthem’s sister Alpha, and takes place in a new city: Los Angeles. I didn’t have a chance to read all of Coda before Chorus, though I was able to keep up with the story okay. I recommend reading the duology in order- keep reading to find out how you can win both books!
More about Chorus:
The dream is all white from a memory that is too real, and its melody has continued to haunt Alpha, even though she has moved as far away from temptation as possible. Eight years after she was exposed to her first and only addictive musical track from the Corp, Alpha has established a new life with a band of her own in a city that has given her the space she was seeking, Los Angeles.
However, it only takes one urgent call to bring Alpha back home to Anthem, the older brother who raised her as well as a revolution, and Omega, her twin brother whose contrasting personality makes her feel whole. As Alpha spends more time in the Web, she notices that the number of people who look sickly and addicted seems to be rising. With Anthem’s health declining, Alpha and her friends will have to dig deeper into the mainframe than ever before in order to find the root of the Corp’s re-emergence.
Emma Trevayne’s sequel to Coda concludes the series with a crescendo of unexpected twists, hard-earned triumphs, and agonizing decisions—all coming together as a symphony of pure emotion.
I read in the acknowledgements of Coda and Chorus that music was a big inspiration to the author, and Trevayne lists the bands that influenced her writing. I put together a little Spotify book playlist that includes the 80s synth pop and other bands she listened to while writing the books, plus some other songs I felt fit the tone of the series:
Be sure to check out this series if you enjoy fast-paced dystopian YA and books with a music theme. I’m a casual reader of dystopian and found the tone very accessible and the story easy to get lost in. Chorus has a lot of emotion and ends with a big finish. The music theme in this series makes it feel even more relatable and unsettling.
About the author:
Emma Trevayne is a full-time writer and the author of Coda. In addition to Chorus, she has two middle-grade novels coming out in the spring: the steampunk Flights and Chimes and Mysterious Times and the anthology The Cabinet of Curiosities, for which she is a co-author. She lives in London, England. You can find her on Twitter @EMentior.
Chorus is on sale now- find out more: Goodreads * Amazon * B&N * IndieBound
The giveaway has ended. Congrats to Traci who won paperback copies of Coda and Chorus!
I bought the first book when it first came out because my coblogger Tonya loved it so much, but I’m embarrassed to say I still haven’t read it yet! (Therefore I’d better skip entering the giveaway.) This premise is so cool, though, and it’s interesting to see how much music influenced the author’s story. Thanks for the feature, Lucy.
Wendy @ The Midnight Garden
My favorite dystopian book is the Monument 14 series.
My favorite dystopian book (at the moment, my favorites are always changing) would have to be the Giver. Even though I read it years ago, it still haunts me.
Erin @ Raised Reading
Right now my favorite dystopian book has to be Shadow and Bone! It’s just so magical and amazing!!
I like the Ashes trilogy or the Rot and Ruin series…but there are so many more!
My current favorite song is pretty old…Hangover by Taio Cruz…sudden rediscovery and bam!! hooked…
the Happy song
My current favorite song is Forever & Always by Parachute. 🙂