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vikingwolf's review
3.0
*I received a free copy of this book from the author through Making Connections YA edition in exchange for an honest review*
Evie struggles to survive in the slums after her mother is murdered and her younger sister is taken to a work farm. She is determined to find and rescue Annie. When she saves the life of a rich boy called Jaxon, he agrees to help her on her dangerous quest using inside information.
This was a dark, dystopian novel set in a pretty grim world for those who are not part of the rich elite. The plot is interesting-I always like this kind of rescue-against-the-odds story and I did enjoy this one. There are the brutal guards who dispense their own street justice, the evil ruler called the Great Uniter who caters to the rich and leaves everyone else in terrible poverty and a few dangerous street characters that Evie seems less afraid of. I liked the breaking in to the city, the danger of sneaking along the streets, the robotic monsters in the wilds, which showed some imagination, and the actual quest to the farm. The next section inside the farm was also enjoyable. I thought that the action scenes were well written and the author does a good job with the worldbuilding, general storytelling and with creating the tension you want to see in this kind of novel.
My one problem was that I didn't really feel a connection to the characters. Jaxon is cold and robotic in speech and deed, which is how the author describes him when Evie tries to connect to him. The problem that this gave me was that I didn't really connect to him either. It's tough to really like a character with no personality! However I didn't dislike him and that is pretty important. I wasn't a big fan of Red as all he did was shout and lose his temper so he comes across as an unstable bully a lot of the time. He got on my nerves after the first few times we met him. Evie herself is pretty likable and is the one character other than Annie that you can warm to a bit, even if she is pretty dumb at times! The lack of appeal I had for the boys personally does not detract at all from what is a good, entertaining story.
This is a book that fans of dystopian, dark fantasy and urban fantasy will probably enjoy. It flows at a good speed once the introduction to Evie and Jaxon concludes and there is plenty there to keep you interested. I think I will probably look to find out what happens next and I'd rate this as a 3.5 out of 5 book.
Evie struggles to survive in the slums after her mother is murdered and her younger sister is taken to a work farm. She is determined to find and rescue Annie. When she saves the life of a rich boy called Jaxon, he agrees to help her on her dangerous quest using inside information.
This was a dark, dystopian novel set in a pretty grim world for those who are not part of the rich elite. The plot is interesting-I always like this kind of rescue-against-the-odds story and I did enjoy this one. There are the brutal guards who dispense their own street justice, the evil ruler called the Great Uniter who caters to the rich and leaves everyone else in terrible poverty and a few dangerous street characters that Evie seems less afraid of. I liked the breaking in to the city, the danger of sneaking along the streets, the robotic monsters in the wilds, which showed some imagination, and the actual quest to the farm. The next section inside the farm was also enjoyable. I thought that the action scenes were well written and the author does a good job with the worldbuilding, general storytelling and with creating the tension you want to see in this kind of novel.
My one problem was that I didn't really feel a connection to the characters. Jaxon is cold and robotic in speech and deed, which is how the author describes him when Evie tries to connect to him. The problem that this gave me was that I didn't really connect to him either. It's tough to really like a character with no personality! However I didn't dislike him and that is pretty important. I wasn't a big fan of Red as all he did was shout and lose his temper so he comes across as an unstable bully a lot of the time. He got on my nerves after the first few times we met him. Evie herself is pretty likable and is the one character other than Annie that you can warm to a bit, even if she is pretty dumb at times! The lack of appeal I had for the boys personally does not detract at all from what is a good, entertaining story.
This is a book that fans of dystopian, dark fantasy and urban fantasy will probably enjoy. It flows at a good speed once the introduction to Evie and Jaxon concludes and there is plenty there to keep you interested. I think I will probably look to find out what happens next and I'd rate this as a 3.5 out of 5 book.
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