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A review by r_happe
Dustborn by Erin Bowman
3.0
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book felt like Contagion meets Blood Red Road and I liked it!
This world was definitely something that I tried numerous times to wrap my head around, thought that I had it figured out, and then was proven to be incorrect. The plot twist reveal wasn't exactly out of the blue but there were numerous details that took me by surprise and helped make the book all the more interesting.
I did feel some distance between myself and the characters a s found myself thinking that they would be a bit two-dimensional at times. Delta was very loyal to her lack and I admitted her adaptability, dedication, and ingenuity, but I also felt a disconnect with her emotions and vulnerabilities. I didn't feel her grief like I thought I would at some scenes, and never really felt any strong emotions from her at all now that I think of it.
The plot was fairly fast-paced and I'm glad that this was a standalone instead of being stretched into a duology or trilogy. There were lots of smaller conflicts that helped keep me interested while building up into the larger conflict. I liked the blend of sci-fi, politics, dystopia, western, and romance.
Overall this book was good. It incorporates many different genres and themes which was fun to see. The setting was really cool and I felt a lot of the conflict and struggle through the descriptions of the setting alone. The characters felt pretty flat and the plot was complex enough to keep me interested but not enough to give me that "I need to reread that, what just happened" moment.
This book felt like Contagion meets Blood Red Road and I liked it!
This world was definitely something that I tried numerous times to wrap my head around, thought that I had it figured out, and then was proven to be incorrect. The plot twist reveal wasn't exactly out of the blue but there were numerous details that took me by surprise and helped make the book all the more interesting.
I did feel some distance between myself and the characters a s found myself thinking that they would be a bit two-dimensional at times. Delta was very loyal to her lack and I admitted her adaptability, dedication, and ingenuity, but I also felt a disconnect with her emotions and vulnerabilities. I didn't feel her grief like I thought I would at some scenes, and never really felt any strong emotions from her at all now that I think of it.
The plot was fairly fast-paced and I'm glad that this was a standalone instead of being stretched into a duology or trilogy. There were lots of smaller conflicts that helped keep me interested while building up into the larger conflict. I liked the blend of sci-fi, politics, dystopia, western, and romance.
Overall this book was good. It incorporates many different genres and themes which was fun to see. The setting was really cool and I felt a lot of the conflict and struggle through the descriptions of the setting alone. The characters felt pretty flat and the plot was complex enough to keep me interested but not enough to give me that "I need to reread that, what just happened" moment.