With the Enemy is the third book in the middle-grade futuristic thriller series Tomorrow Girls written by Eva Gray.
Since this is a serialized story, I'd recommend you not read this review unless you've already read the first and second book in the Tomorrow Girls series: Behind the Gates and Run for Cover.
Otherwise, read on...
Maddie has been kidnapped. Right in front of them - right at the abandoned mall they've been hiding out in. Why her? Why didn't they take all of them? Evelyn and the others are horrified, but filled with determination: they will get her back.
It hasn't been that long since Evelyn, Rosie, Louisa, and Maddie escaped from CMS, the fancy school they realized was run by the enemy in the War - the Alliance. Since then they've met up with boys from a school similar to theirs, and they've just kept running. Their goal is to get home and warn their parents.
But this group of thirteen-year-olds have quite a journey ahead of them.
And now to have lost Maddie... Evelyn doesn't know what to do. Rosie, their usual leader, is completely out of it. She's already experienced losing her sister, and now she's seen it happen again. Evelyn has never been all that great with people. Her conspiracy theories and tendency to ask billions of questions haven't made her very popular - but it's clear Rosie isn't ready to step up to the plate this time.
So Evelyn does. But the plan to get Maddie back isn't an easy one. Nor is it safe.
Of course. What is safe in this war-torn country, where long before they reach eighteen they're forced into military service - where the very schools parents send their children to be safe are secretly run by the enemy?
But, really - this is the most danger they'll be in yet. Because Evelyn's plan? Yeah, she's thinking they need to infiltrate the Alliance itself.
In the goal of saving Maddie - will they all the captured?
With the Enemy certainly takes off from quite the cliffhanger from Run for Cover and keeps up the momentum from there. It has an exciting plot as we follow in the chase to find and rescue Maddie. We are introduced to more layers of this future world, which is both more advanced in technology but also has an absolutely wretched economy and next-to-no safety. One of the new layers is the Settlement Lands - a place full of displaced citizens living in hobbled homes, full of unfriendly strangers and vicious gangs. Plus, our group of young teens also find their way to Alliance-infested buildings. Definitely danger around every turn.
As the first book in the series followed Louisa's perspective and Run for Cover was Rosie's narrative, we now get Evelyn as our protagonist. She's humorous and cute, with her awkward social skills and bravery. Kind of like a watered down Hermione Granger-like character. And in With the Enemy we get a little more romance (just like in Run for Cover, with Rosie) and crushes going on.
Thing is, Tomorrow Girls feels like an awesome series for tweens (maybe girls from 9 to 13?), but it doesn't translate all that well for an older audience. It doesn't really need to. It's purpose is to entertain younger girls, and I believe it is highly successful at that. But where some younger novels can be also extremely fun for me to read... well, that wasn't so much the case here with With the Enemy. It has an excellent cliffhanger (the series is great at that), but overall the tone and dialogue of the books is targeted solely at the tween audience - and that's just fine.
With the Enemy seems to be the penultimate book in the Tomorrow Girls series - and is a great gift for a younger sister, a daughter, a niece - take your pick! I can see this being many a young girls' favorite book! :)
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