by Andrea Perno

YA Science Fiction, Independently Published in 2016, 478 Pages

What I Didn’t Like:

The audiobook narrator uses varying pitches and tones for the characters. Some of them are a bit over the top and make characters feel more cliche than they’re written to be, but they’re minor characters and this issue would only affect the audiobook.
Instalove is my least favorite trope and it pops up in this one. It’s not AT ALL the focus of the story though.
Adverbs abound. My brain started to skip them pretty early on because they were often unnecessary.

Excellent opening chapter. You meet the main character in what feels like a natural way but you learn everything you need to know about the world you’re in. It’s seamless and natural world building.
Dystopian at its best is the type that feels entirely possible in the world we know. When it’s set in a future you completely understand and can see us ending up in. This is that kind of terrifyingly realistic dystopian.
This Scifi stays mostly rooted in science, which I love, but it also takes fantastical liberties. Those liberties add tension and stakes, making the story into something that moves at a perfect pace and sets up for an excellent series.

YA Sci Fi fans. This one makes good use of modern struggles (drought) gone too far and offers extravagant solutions gone wrong.
Fantasy fans who want some science, some political conversations, and some big themes.