In a desperate attempt to escape destruction decades earlier, humankind was forced underground, into the depths of the earth, creating a new society called the Tri-Realms.
After her parents and sister are abducted by the Enforcers, seventeen-year-old Adele, a member of the middle-class moon dwellers, is unjustly sentenced to life in prison for her parents' crimes of treason.
Against all odds, Adele must escape from the Pen and find her family, while being hunted by a deranged, killing machine named Rivet, who works for the President. She is helped by two other inmates, Tawni and Cole, each of whom have dark secrets that are better left undiscovered. Other than her friends, the only thing she has going for her is a wicked roundhouse kick and two fists that have been well-trained for combat by her father.
At the other end of the social spectrum is Tristan, the son of the President and a sun dweller. His mother is gone. He hates his father. Backed by only his servant and best friend, Roc, he leaves his lavish lifestyle in the Sun Realm, seeking to make something good out of his troubled life.
When a war breaks out within the Tri-Realms, Tristan is thrust into the middle of a conflict that seems to mysteriously follow Adele as she seeks to find her family and uncover her parents true past.
In their world, someone must die.
My Review:
*I received a free copy of this book from the author in in return for an honest review*
OK, those who follow my reviews know that most get 2* if it's not really my thing but not a bad book, or maybe 3* if I liked it. I rarely give out a 5* as I'm kinda picky and hard to please. I can honestly say though that this is a fantastic read full of the things I love in the YA dystopian genre. Plot wise, it has nothing to do with The Hunger Games but entertainment wise, it is right up there with it and that is high praise from me!
So why is this book so good? Well firstly, the characters are so well written. You are rooting for them all the time, you love the interaction between them and you really do care what happens to them. You just laugh and cry along with them. The book switches POV between Tristan and Adele which actually makes the plot move along even faster. In some books a switch of POV slows things down or hampers character development, but not in this case. I feel that the switch actually enhances both. That really is rare. The bromance with Tristan and Roc is lovely and I like the fact that the characters are flawed and don't have superhuman powers or intelligence. It makes the characters seem real and make it easier to identify with them.
There is amusing dialogue as well as nicely described action scenes. The world building is focused and detailed without throwing big info dumps at you. The writing style is smooth, uncomplicated and keeps your attention, as you turn each page wanting to know what will happen next. It isn't spoiled by long winded descriptions of things that don't matter. You are told what you need to know and that suited me perfectly. Personally, I didn't want to put it down and it's difficult to find a place to stop! As Adele prepares to tackle something hard or scary, we go back to Tristan as he goes through a situation and pauses on the edge of disaster, then we are back to Adele's trouble again. This means that there are constant cliffhangers that you just have to resolve before you stop...and suddenly you've read 5 more sections!
So what were the things I had a problem with? Um, nothing actually! I can't think of a single thing that bugged me or frustrated me, and that hardly ever happens. I did like the idea that one reviewer had in having a map to refer to when the action moves among the subsections so you can see who is where. That would be a nice thing as an extra for the readers.
The book was rapidly moving, exciting non stop action, and you go through a range of emotions with the characters. And yes, I did shed a few tears! You'll know it when you get to it! I will be purchasing my own print copy of this book asap and I will certainly be following(and buying) the rest of this series.
Thanks to the author for sharing this with me. It really is a little gem of a read.
5 stars.
