Taken Hostage

When survival is your primary focus, it is hard to think about the things you can't control. But when your boys are Heisted, it makes life particularly difficult to deal with. In Erin Bowman's dystopia, Taken, life in Claysoot isn't enough for Gray, especially when his Heist looms so close. 

In Claysoot, all boys are Heisted when they turn 18. The citizens of the town have no control over the Heist, but they know they lose their boys before they have the opportunity to become men. When Gray watches his brother, Blaine, be Heisted, he refuses to accept the loss of his brother and his own impending Heist. Although he is slated to the one girl he can see himself with forever, he knows forever isn't an option in Claysoot. The boys must be active before their Heist in order to keep the population going. And Emma isn't interested in keeping the population going when all that they have to look forward to is grief and loss. But Gray refuses to just accept their fate. He wants to see what is over the wall despite the charred bodies that always come back. But he expected to go alone.

When Emma follows Gray over the wall, he is mad at her for risking her life at first, but then he realizes how lucky he is to have her with him. They don't know what to expect from over the wall, but it certainly wasn't what they found- another civilization. A domed city full of people and run by a man trying to save the people of Claysoot is more than Gray and Emma could have ever hoped for, but their story isn't that simple. There is more to Frank, the leader of the dome, than he cares to share with them. Emma and Gray's skepticism is what will keep them alive, but it is also what will put them in danger. With layers and layers of deceit and lies surrounding their lives, Gray feels like the unraveling of one layer only leads him to more confusion. But he will get to the truth, even if it means risking everything he has ever cared for. 

I actually thought this was a really good dystopia. With so many books in the genre popping up, it is hard to weed out the bad from the fabulous, but this book is firmly in the pretty good section. There was a point when I had a difficult time keeping all the different layers of lies and deceit together, but you just have to read each new pack explanations with skepticism, the same way Gray did. Trust no one, and you might have a chance. I also liked that the story didn't end perfectly. There were some great sacrifices and some realistic situations (like when Emma thought Gray was dead) that made the book seem more practical for me. Those situations certainly ticked me off as I was reading the book, but in retrospect, I appreciated being surprised by such a familiar genre and not knowing what to expect next. 

This is a great story for any age/grade, and it would be best for a somewhat strong reader, since there are subtle situations that might be missed with a struggling reader. It is broken into three distinct stories, which gives the book three nice breaks in the action to recoup and soldier on. I really enjoyed this story and look forward to seeing where it goes next. The story ends on a cliffhanger, but it isn't the kind of cliffhanger that leaves you fuming. It was a nice break that will have you pre-ordering the next book as soon as it is available. So overall, I thought this was a great start to a promising series and I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

The Magic of a Dystopia

Magic is a fickle thing. A world open and full of magic can see it corrupted and misused. A world with no open magic can find it persecuted and hunted. But what about a world that needs magic and has lost it? In Skylark by Meagan Spooner, magic is something everyone needs, but only a few can create it.

Lark has never been harvested, and at her age, that is incredibly uncommon. When the city decides to harvest your magic to power the protective wall and their various machines (including pixies- little bug-like machines used to catch citizens if they break the rules), it is an honor to give up your magic and help the city. When Lark is finally up for harvesting, something is very different about her experience. They keep her and harvest her magic more than once- no one has ever needed more than one harvesting because no one is Renewable. When Lark, almost drained of everything that makes her Lark, stumbles upon a woman trapped and being drained of her magic, she realizes this will be her fate- a renewable to be held and hooked to wires, sucked dry. When one of the guards gives her the key to escape, she doesn't hesitate, but it lands her outside the wall. And she has heard the stories all her life about what lies outside the wall.

Without the wall to keep the magic in, people have lost their minds. Their magic dissipates, driving them crazy. Lark has heard the stories, but she isn't sure what to trust. When she finds a place to hide, she is discovered by a pixie, she manages to remove its tracking device. Nix, the pixie, cannot report back to the city, but it can help her find the Iron Wood, the place said to be a haven for refugees like herself. But she needs more than Nix to survive. When a ragged boy arrives and helps her, she can't believe people could survive out in the wild. Orin agrees to take her to the Iron Wood, but he is scared of such a place and won't be finishing the journey with her. But there is a lot of land between the city and Iron Wood, and that land is full of cannibalistic madmen who look more like monsters than the shells of the people they used to be. An with a whole city after her, crazy cannibals trying to eat her, and her own companions a surly boy and a traitorous machine, how can Lark possibly find a place where she feels like home?

I have to say, this book was certainly a new take on the dystopia and the magic angle! I really enjoyed the way Spooner wove all these elements together. It seems like they shouldn't go together, but Spooner creates this brilliant web that brings them into one complete story. It was really a great story, and the element of magic made it all the more mysterious. The story was broken into three distinct parts: the city, the journey, and the Iron Wood. This separation made the story a little broken up, but I actually liked it! The only thing I struggled with a little bit were the characters. I liked Lark, but she wasn't the most memorable of characters. You don't get enough of Orin to really want her to stay with him despite the dangers. And that all made me love the story, but not become totally devoted to them. Although, I will tell you that ending is exciting and will have you on the edge of your seat waiting for the sequel!

This is a good book for a variety of readers. It is completely clean, although there is a smidge of violence with the monsters in the wild. The idea of harvesting your citizens to power the very thing that protects them is an ethical conundrum. It would provide a number if interesting research, writing, and discussion topics for you and the student reading the book. Spooner does a great job at building such a complex world, and there is still much to be learned and understood, so you will be anxious to read the rest of the trilogy! 

You'll Love it Through the Ever Night

Aria and Perry are the couple who made us all melt in Under the Never Sky. She was a Dweller, living in the high tech domes who was cast out into Perry's post-apocalyptic world where food is scarce and every place you go dangers greet you. In Veronica Rossi's Through the Ever Night, their story continues as they fight to protect those they love and most of all, to return back to one another.

Now that Perry is Blood Lord of the Tides after his brother's death, he has more responsibilities than he knows what to do with. With a tribe full of starving people and the Aether storms threatening to kill them all, he can barely keep everyone alive let alone work past the fact that most of his tribe thinks he is incompetent. But when Aria finally returns to him, he feels like things might eventually be better than they are now. There is hope. But when his tribe proves they don't want Aria to be marked as an Aud (a person with super hearing), as one of them, and they do so by poisoning the ink used to make her marks and almost kill her, he realizes he is torn between his heart and his responsibility.

Aria knows what she has to do to protect Perry, and it is the hardest thing she has ever done in her life: she has to leave him. In order to save Perry's nephew Talon from the dome, she must bargain with its crazy leader, the very man who exiled her from the dome. And the only thing she has left to bargain with is the Still Blue- the one place left safe from the Aether storms. But the one man who knows how to get to the Still Blue is the very man who bought Perry's sister from their older brother. And Sable isn't a bargaining kind of man. With the weight of the world on their shoulders, Perry and Aria must find a way to solve all their problems, all their people, and find each other again.

Can I just tell you how much I love Perry and Aria? They are amazing. And the thing I love the most about them is they know the world is bigger than just the two of them. Their loyalties to their people and their friends and family leaves them unselfish and makes their love just that much more special. It was hard to watch them be physically apart for the majority of this book, but you knew how necessary it was. Their sacrifice made the continuation of the story that much stronger. 

This story continues to balance between tortured post-apocalyptic landscape and high sci-fi, super tech futuristic world. It makes the story fascinating and addictive. While the landscape is fascinating, it is the characters who will keep you coming back. Even the supporting characters are just as compelling as Perry and Aria. Roar is a man you can't wrap your head around, and yet you just adore him. Rossi has a talent for dynamic characters who you can't help but find yourself emotionally invested in. It makes for a great story, and most of all, it will keep you coming back!

The Definition of Pure

Do we truly know the effects of something as catastrophic as nuclear war? What happens to people 2 years later, 10 years later, 50 years later? Now imagine the power of nuclear catastrophe in the hands of madmen with a mission- save the elite population, erase the rest of the population, and start over. In Julianna Baggott's Pure, the world has been irrevocably changed, but only a handful of people know the real story behind its destruction. Everyone else is just trying to survive.


When the Detonations occurred, many people were lucky enough to be touring the Domes, which were created as a prototype to protect the population from nuclear war. But only a small amount of the population survived the Detonations in the Dome. Everyone else was left outside to fend for themselves. While most people died, something strange happened to the ones who actually survived the blast- they fused to things around them. Pressia's hand fused to the doll she was holding. Some people fused to other people, and many mothers fused to their own children. People fused to animals, creating strange mutations, some more human than others, but all called Beasts by the people outside the Dome. Other people fused to trees, building rubble, and even the earth, becoming Dusts, the dangerous mutations that stalk people as they walk across the ground. Survivors of the Detonations wear their scars with pride, but for Pressia, her doll's head hand has always been a reminder of everything she lost.


Now Pressia is trying to escape the OSR, a radical group that hunts the weak and gathers the strong at age 16 to become soldiers to fill their ranks. She has managed to escape them so far, but the appearance of a Pure, a boy from inside the Dome, has her risking her life to save both of them. Partridge escaped the monotonous life in the Dome on the wisp of a hope his mother was still alive after growing up and being told she died in the Detonations. His father, leader of the Dome, was about to put him under to try recoding (genetic alterations done to improve people in the Dome), but Partridge escaped before the surgery can be done. When he comes across Pressia, he is willing to risk everything, even his life, to find his mother. Pressia takes him to Bradwell to help him find his mother.


Bradwell is the son of two people who knew the real intentions of the Domes. He holds meetings and tries to educate the wretches outside the Domes about the "cleansing" the elite in the Dome accomplished with the Detonations, but his efforts don't get him very far. When Pressia comes to him with a Pure, he isn't interested in risking his life for some unscarred kid who knows nothing about true suffering. What he doesn't expect is to care about Pressia more than anyone can afford to care about another person in such a cruel, harsh world. When Pressia is snatched by OSR soldiers, Bradwell agrees to help Partridge find his mother only if they find Pressia first. Together they set off through a new world full of mutations and abominations in order to find people who may already be lost. But the one thing they have not lost is hope that Pressia and Partridge's mother are not lost. Hope is all they have left.


Wow! Julianna Baggott really let the creative juices flow with this one! There are so many dystopias and post-apocalyptic stories out there these days that it is hard for books to not feel somewhat derivative of what came before them, but Baggott wrote a truly original, unique, innovative story that kept my interest from the first page to the last. It felt like some kind of macabre, nuclear, Island of Dr. Moreau with all the creepy combinations that happened when people fused after the Detonations! I admit I was a little confused by everything at the very beginning of the story, but as the explanations quickly unfolded, I couldn't tear myself away from the story. And the deep corruption that ran through the society is simply fascinating. But the best part of the story was the three main characters: Pressia, Partridge, and Bradwell. There is so much going on with these three kids from totally different backgrounds, but somehow they are all connected. They were dynamic characters who you can't help but find yourself invested in. I loved how this story unfolded and revealed more and more depth with each passing page without feeling as though there were huge information dumps or too much held back- it was the perfect blend of contextual understanding and suspense. 


I would probably give this story to any mature young adult through adult who is interested in science fiction or post-apocalyptic and dystopian stories. I wouldn't give this to an immature or weak reader, not because the content is overly sexual or violent (because it isn't), but because the story is very complex and intricate. It would most likely lose a person who wasn't a strong reader with enough stamina to get to the heart of the story and work everything out. And it would be a shame to ruin this book for them by giving it to them before they are ready for it because this really is an amazing story! I have no idea where the series plans to go with the next book, but if this book is any indicator, it is going to be amazing. Honestly, that unpredictable nature of the story is what makes it so unique! And I have this sick, twisted, morbid fascination with seeing what kinds of strange mutations we will run into next! This first book has the potential to be the beginning of a legendary series.

Under the Never Sky

Great title, great cover, terrifying world. A world divided between people who live in automated domes where their whole lives are spent in virtual realities, never experiencing true emotions, connections, or human interactions. The rest of the world are Savages who live outside the domes and live in tribes and civilizations that barely scrape by through hunting and gathering. A world torn between two societies that have nothing in common but need each other in ways they never could have imagined. That is what Veronica Rossi's Under the Never Sky promises and delivers. 

Aria grew up in the domes where life is simple and enjoyable. Work is done through automated machines so people have all the time in the world to enjoy themselves in the virtual Realms where they can be in Medieval Europe in one moment and on the moon the next. Her mother is a scientist and was working at another dome when communication was lost, and Aria will do anything to get news about her, even cozy up to the Consul's son. When a harmless flirtation and teenaged prank goes awry, Aria is blamed for the Consul's son's break with reality where he almost burned down the dome and quietly exiled from the domes. She is sure she won't survive the night, but she didn't expect to come across Perry, the very Savage who saved her from the fire. 

Perry has never gotten along with his brother, the Blood Lord of their tribe, but he sticks around for his nephew, Talon, who grows sicker every day. Perry thinks the tribe is in danger of starvation and the ever-growing Aether storms that threaten total destruction each and every day, but his brother refuses to consider moving. When a hover craft from the Domes attacks Perry and kidnaps Talon, he will do anything to get him back, including taking Aria to the domes to trade her digital eyepiece with the evidence that will vindicate her of the fire. Two people who grew up in totally different worlds developmentally but geographically near find themselves thrust together in a harsh world full of angry wolves, terrifying storms, cannibals, and two societies that hate them. But they won't give up until they save their families: Aria's mother and Perry's nephew are the only things that matter now.

This was such an amazing dystopia I want to pick it up and read it all over again (but plan to wait until the second book Through the Ever Night comes out!). This world was a crazy dichotomy between technology-gone-too-far and civilization-thrown-into-the-stone-age. How can you possibly put those two worlds together, you ask? How can you do it and not see ridiculous or utilize time travel? Well Rossi has the secret and it lies within sealed, domed cities! The domed cities are a brilliant way to show the difference between the two societies and still remain realistic that these two societies could exist so close to one another and still never cross paths. 

The characters, from Perry and Aria to all the supporting characters throughout the story, are phenomenal. They are deep, dynamic, and realistic with flaws and heroism rolled into one. They don't trust one another at first, obviously, but their circumstances mean they have to figure it out. Life and death situations can do a lot to bring two people together, no matter how different their childhoods were! The supporting characters are not just static caricatures that plague many books. You will find yourself loving them as much as you love the main characters (or hating the bad ones with an equal amount of intensity). Not only did Rossi build an incredible new world, she also nailed the characters better than most books I have read!

I would say this is a good book for any strong middle school student through any adult interested in the genre. The story is so interesting and exciting, you won't be able to put the book down. There is a little mild, vague sexual content, but it is nowhere near graphic or explicit. There is violence, but that is a given when you deal with most dystopias. Over all, I have to say I am dying to read the second book and will be suggesting this book to everyone I can! Brava, Ms. Rossi! You nailed it!

Mind Control and Domed Cities

The Greenhouse Chronicles: A Crack in the Sky by Mark Peter Hughes is the first book in a planned series about global warming, climate change, and how the population deals with the crisis. With so many post-apocalyptic, young adult books out there these days, it seems all new books to the genre suffer as heavy a comparison as new vampire and werewolf books do! It's stiff competition out there, but this planned series seems to have the guts to stand up with the others!

Eli lives in one of many domed cities run by InfinCorp. In fact, Eli is sort of royalty in the domed cities since his grandfather was one of the leading people to make them a reality as the face of the world changed drastically. The domes include climate control, air conditioning, and something called CloudNet- an ever-present mix of mindless ads, games, and other things for the citizens of the domes to watch. What the people don't know, though, is that the CloudNet is also a means to keep its citizens docile, mindless, and pliable. It is a type of mind control the people living in the dorm either don't know about or don't care about.

Eli continues on, living his life as normal, when his grandfather gives him an odd pet, a mongoose named Marilyn. Marilyn may seem like your typical mongoose, but she was implanted with a chip that makes her super smart and telepathically able to communicate with Eli. When there is an attack on the dome by Foggers- outside crazies who want to destroy life in the domes- Eli can't help but investigate with Marilyn in tow. When he starts to investigate, he realizes life in the dome might not be as ducky as InfiniCorp wants the people to believe. In fact, there is a very real possibility the domes may be breaking down little by little.

Although InfiniCorp, including Eli's scary cousin Spider, wants Eli to stop his digging into the failure of the domes, he can't help but continue. When he gets too close to the truth, Spider has him put in the closest thing InfiniCorp has to a jail- a "rehabilitation" facility in an off-shore oil rig. There, surrounded by a dying ocean, Eli is having a hard time fighting the CloudNet. What InfiniCorp doesn't know, though, is that another prisoner on the rig is ready to help Eli find his way past the controlling CloudNet. Tabitha knows Eli is more than he seems, and she suspects he is the one the legends talk about that will save people and help them escape the scorched earth and dying or mutating world. Tabitha and Eli must risk everything to get out and spread the word of the dying domes, but can they escape?

Climate change is a very real, very scary scenario. Unfortunately, it is also the subject of much debate. Some people work hard to discredit the theory, some work very hard to inflate or exaggerate what is happening. Basically, we have a whole lot of conflicting and confusing information that no one can agree on. One thing we can agree upon though? That we are doing irreparable damage to our planet slowly but surely. This book not only fictionalizes a possible outcome to our damage, the author also takes the time at the end of the book to explain which parts of the new world are fiction and which are steeped in fact. I find this refreshing, as the author clearly wants kids to read this book and know where his new world came from. He isn't trying to hide his exaggerations, just showing his creative license with the story. Hughes also clearly wants to encourage kids to know more about their world, challenge what is told to them, and always ask questions. I really find it hard not to love a story that encourages children to be aware of the world around them and to not just accept what authority spoon feeds them! Sure it might be easier with dull, docile, mindless young ones, but how boring would "easy" be?!

The book has a relatively moderate reading level. It would be fine for any high skilled middle school student through high school. While it appears to be a series and does end with the possibility of continuing, it isn't a huge cliffhanger that leaves the reader hanging. The scenarios are scary, but not gory. This is a great book to start discussions about our climate, our government, and our lives. The end notes by Hughes also lead to great research opportunities for teachers and students on climate change. I am looking forward to the next story, Mr. Hughes!