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Broken: The Young Hellions Series
Broken follows the adventures of Keesa Donovan, a woman of an Establishment settlement outside of Savannah in a post-apocalyptic world. In the aftermath of the Great Drop, when nuclear bombs were dropped all over the world, survivors are forced to create a new world. One of the big players is the Establishment, who have enslaved many people of the world, among them Keesa, her brother Kiran, and their Uncle, who live with meager hope for escape. Keesa has accepted, and welcomes, the fact that she’s going to die, especially after failing to make the yearly sacrifice for the third time, but fate intervenes in the form of a new friend who brings new hope. Dobbs Saunders, a fellow slave, who has managed the impossible and escaped on numerous occasions. He speaks of the Resistance, who are liberating people and spreading their anti-Establishment message. With Dobbs’ know-how, the gang of friends band together to hatch a plan to escape.
The author creates a dreary setting in this gritty post-apocalyptic story. I could really feel the despair and hopelessness of the characters’ lives. I find this emotional depth often lacking in other young adult books, but I really enjoyed how this story embraces that darkness and colors the world in austere shades that make the story feel authentic, if bleak. This is a dark and disturbing dystopian world that is enthralling. There were several intriguing details that made my skin crawl. The author does an excellent job of conveying this in the writing, and I enjoyed every bit of it.
Although dark, the story shows how love and perseverance can be used to push through any obstacle. This creates moments of great humanity in a world that feels as if its lost theirs. I really liked the fantastic contrast within the story and I found it compelling, but I wish there was more light to balance out the dark. The book also contains tender moments as well that I would have liked to have seen expanded on further.
Broken shows readers a dark vision of what the world could be after a nuclear fallout. This is an enthralling cautionary tale that will inspire readers to choose love and use determination to push through the darkness. This is a thought-provoking and entertaining post-apocalyptic adventure novel that will appeal to fans looking for a story that, while dark, provides great lessons in finding strength in dark times.
Pages: 369 | ASIN: B0B2MZDKBQ
The Prodigal Daughter
The Prodigal Daughter by Maria Ereni Dampman is a tale of escape and bravery in a dystopian America. Emma and Declan plan an escape, though their attempts to flee the country get complicated when separated. Emma, and her husband, Declan, are expecting their first child and understand the importance of their unborn child. However, once they are separated, their fate becomes uncertain. Emma is recaptured, and the Purity Patrol is seized and confined.
As Emma and Declan’s future together becomes uncertain, the author takes the reader through the labyrinth of a society that doesn’t tolerate dissent. The reader is taken through the underground bunker where Declan is held and how Emma must face a life that’s not in her hands, nor can she determine how to support her child. The Prodigal Daughter is a sequel to Maria Ereni Dampman’s The Governor’s Daughter.
This story uniquely portrays an alternative world, a dystopia where society has regressed so far that the reality of racial and gender equality has vanished completely. Yet, it’s a glimpse into a world that could become a reality if precautions are not taken sooner. This exciting cautionary tale delves into the intense nature of this world and how each character must either navigate this challenging society with limited prospects or try to escape. It’s an engaging read, with lots of action and personal dilemmas that clash with the dystopian rule.
The Prodigal, Daughter by Maria Ereni Dampman is an exciting and suspenseful political dystopian novel. It’s the triumphant tale of people who are deemed “lower class,” though they find a glimmer of hope in a dark world despite their challenges in facing discrimination. It’s an excellent read for anyone who enjoys futuristic and dystopian themes with a thought-provoking plotline.
Pages: 472 | ASIN: B0B54472HQ
We Are Them
The War Years follows the story of Harry, the proprietor of a small, run-down restaurant. As the book starts he’s miserable and he has every right to be. He lives in a future where the world has been ravaged by a deadly virus and people have seemingly worthless inoculations forced upon them. The United States as we know it has fallen and all that is left appears to be a ragtag collection of small struggling settlements. In these settlements food is scarce, corruption is high and everyone is forced to contribute to the “war effort”. A war that cost Harry his beloved brother. No one seems very clear about where exactly the war is or why they are fighting it. It is against the “savage Arabs” and that’s about it. Harry’s eyes are slowly opened when he comes into contact with a strange viscous fluid and he begins to question the stories he has been told. What follows is a thrilling journey where Harry and his ragtag team of allies try to uncover the truth and discover what is going on in their weird little town, and the world at large.
I had not read the first book, but this did not hamper my enjoyment of The War Years at all. The events of the first book and the proceeding years have been hidden away in the book by the authorities, so we uncover the mysteries at the same time as Harry. I’m sure some reveals would hit harder if I’d read the first book but it never slowed me down.
The book reads like a more dystopian version of 1984; if that’s possible. Much like in Orwell’s masterpiece Harry lives in an autocracy where he is repeatedly told everything is okay, despite the rather obvious evidence to the contrary. People are swept up in a form of hyper nationalism that makes no sense to Harry, or the reader. As Harry slips further into his paranoia he in fact becomes saner whilst everyone around him seems increasingly insane. This transition was utterly fascinating to me and was very well executed in the book. It seems clear that Samuels has much to say about the current state of affairs in the world.
Despite its dystopian future setting The War Years seems all too possible after the events of recent years. The War Years is an excellent dystopian thriller that fans of observant and intellectually-invigorating mystery novels will enjoy.
Pages: 452 | ASIN: B0B57SPPX1
End Man
End Man is a tech-noir thriller set in the near-future. Raphael Lennon is an End Man, someone who works for the NDMN: “Norval Department of Marketing Necrology.” These IT workers have the jolly pleasure of gathering every bit of digital data left by the recently deceased and packaging it into a marketable product. As Raphael tries to track down an elusive “possum” (someone who faked their own death) he discovers a plot that could alter the course of life, and death, as we know it. To top it all off, Raphael suffers from dromophobia, a fear of crossing streets. This leaves him trapped in a tight square mile of dystopian Los Angeles.
I really enjoyed End Man. Raphael’s day-to-day work, with its “mindfulness videos,” horrible bosses, and questionable morality, feels all too real. Future L.A. is different, but grounded, being based on the real-life area surrounding the La Brea Tar Pits. Raphael is plagued by hallucinations of deadly winds to the south, fires to the north, a glacier to the east, and chasm to the west. This gives the story a claustrophobic feel as the walls close in on the him as he delves deeper into the mystery of the possum Jason Klaes, ominous warnings, and strange murders.
While I really enjoyed this absorbing technothriller I felt that the story took a little while to get going. The mystery-thriller aspect is the meat of the story, but I felt that the book gets bogged down a bit in the beginning with the inner workings of Norval. A few characters are introduced with a handful of sentences and disappear with little consequence, while the inner workings of Raphael’s mind and his self-imposed artistic therapy are prevalent. Raphael’s character is one that I enjoyed following otherwise. The plot and his character make for a unique read that was wildly entertaining and fun.
End Man is an exciting cyberpunk novel that creates a fully realized and compelling world for a fascinating protagonist to exist in. It’s a really interesting read that is incredibly relevant to the technological and social state of the world today. This is a slick and explosive dystopian thriller that I highly recommend to science fiction fans.
Pages: 379 | ASIN: B0B649S5B9
LITERARY TITAN 