Category Archives: Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic

Review: How We Became Wicked by Alexander Yates

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,
How We Became Wicked by Alexander Yates cover shows a large silhouette of an insect and tiny outlines of people standing at a shoreline where the insect's wings would be.

How We Became Wicked
Alexander Yates
Atheneum Books/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Published June 23, 2019

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A plague, called Wicked, is pulsing through the world; and in its wake, it’s dividing the population into thirds:

The WICKED: Already infected by the droves of Singers, the ultraviolet mosquito-like insects who carry the plague, the Wicked roam the world freely. They don’t want for much—only to maim and dismember you. But don’t worry: They always ask politely first.

The TRUE: The True live in contained, isolated communities. They’re the lucky ones; they found safety from the Singers. And while the threat of the Wicked may not be eliminated, for the True, the threat has certainly been contained…

The VEXED: The Vexed are the truly fortunate ones—they survived the sting of the Singers, leaving them immune. But they’re far from safe. The Vexed hold the key to a cure, and there are those who will do anything to get it.

My Review

This book is sooooo creepy! The Wicked say some really violent things but in this cheerful, artless, innocent way. The juxtaposition of those two things gave me chills in lots of scenes.

HOW WE BECAME WICKED is told in two different viewpoints, from characters in two different situations that don’t, at first, overlap. One section follows Astrid’s point-of-view.

Astrid isn’t a super girly heroine. She’s very smart and practical, and almost detached from her emotions. I liked her, but sometimes that detached feeling kind of kept me from feeling like I understood or empathized with her. Astrid is the town leader’s daughter. She’s got an Ariel complex– you know, wants to be part of someone else’s world. Mainly she wants to escape the walls of her town and go somewhere else, find other True survivors.

The other point-of-view is Natalie’s. She lives with her parents and Wicked grandfather on an island with a lighthouse, too far from the mainland to be a temptation for other Wicked. The only thing that keeps Natalie and her family safe from her grandfather is the fact that he’s imprisoned inside the lighthouse.

Natalie’s point-of-view was easier to connect with, for me. I liked her courage and her loyalty to her family as well as her quick thinking.

Despite the separate storylines, I found the plot of HOW WE BECAME WICKED to be really easy to follow (And mostly not too predictable. I did guess one major twist, but only shortly before it was revealed.) and nicely paced.

Because of the nature of the Wicked, the story does show some violence. I know I mentioned this already, but it’s very creepy the way they talk about and commit awful violence with this innocent childlike glee. They don’t understand what it is they’re doing, which is one of the things that makes them so dangerous.

If you liked THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH by Carrie Ryan, definitely check out HOW WE BECAME WICKED. (Also, if you like zombie or post-apocalyptic stories, go read THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH because it is awesome!)

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Main characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used not very frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
A brief, unwelcome kiss from a boy to a girl (he immediately apologizes for misinterpreting the situation). Some references to past intimacy between Astrid and Hank (the only two teens in their settlement).

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
The Wicked turn violent and talk about the violent things they want to do. They don’t seem to have any grid for the awfulness of what they’re saying. Wicked characters try to murder others using a wrench, guns, knives, a tank, and other items. There are some violent descriptions. They’re usually fairly brief, and more horrible because of the horror of the True witnesses and the Wicked’s inability to understand what they’re doing.

Drug Content
The town plans a celebration which includes drinking champagne.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog. I received a free copy of HOW WE BECAME WICKED in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Girls with Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

Girls with Sharp Sticks
Suzanne Young
Simon Pulse
Publishes March 19, 2019

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About GIRLS WITH SHARP STICKS

The Girls of Innovations Academy are beautiful and well-behaved—it says so on their report cards. Under the watchful gaze of their Guardians, the all-girl boarding school offers an array of studies and activities, from “Growing a Beautiful and Prosperous Garden” to “Art Appreciation” and “Interior Design.” The girls learn to be the best society has to offer. Absent is the difficult math coursework, or the unnecessary sciences or current events. They are obedient young ladies, free from arrogance or defiance. Until Mena starts to realize that their carefully controlled existence may not be quite as it appears.

As Mena and her friends begin to uncover the dark secrets of what’s actually happening there—and who they really are—the girls of Innovations will find out what they are truly capable of. Because some of the prettiest flowers have the sharpest thorns.

My Review

GIRLS WITH SHARP STICKS is the first book by Suzanne Young that I’ve ever read, and now I’m thinking that’s a mistake. I liked her storytelling and the way she gets us inside Mena’s head so much that I really want to read more of her books. I’ve heard great things about The Program series, but I’ve just never read them.

One of the brilliant things about GIRLS WITH SHARP STICKS has to be the way that at the beginning, Mena believes the staff of the academy are looking out for her, that any negative feelings she experiences are because she’s in the wrong. As the story progresses and her understanding changes, her interactions with teachers and staff morph into something sinister and sometimes cruel. The way it’s written makes it feel like Mena’s slowly waking up, slowly realizing things aren’t right. I loved that element.

The only thing that gave me any pause at all is a line from a poem Mena finds and which gives her courage and makes her feel empowered. I loved that it makes her feel empowered and talks about girls who were once oppressed taking ownership of themselves and rising up. But the poem ends with this part about the girls then taking boys hostage and basically doing to them what men had done to them as girls. Having revenge on the next generation.

The thing that bothered me is that revenge element. First, I don’t think revenge really solves anything or is right. But more than that, when I’ve talked to people who oppose the idea of feminism, most often it’s because this is what they perceive or fear the real feminist agenda is: taking revenge on men, oppressing men in some way to make up for the way women were oppressed in the past. (I know that’s not what true feminism is.) Anyway, I guess I worried that people would read just that far in the book and think, hey, this book is advocating for something ugly and wrong, and then walk away thinking this is evidence of the dark feminist agenda creeping into teen fiction. I don’t think the series is going for a revenge-positive message, though. At least, that’s not what I got from the set-up for and hints about the next book revealed in the final chapters of GIRLS WITH SHARP STICKS.

In the context of the story, the poem is kind of foreshadowing in a sense. When Mena first reads the poem, feels like she idolizes this idea of punishing men as a gender. Through the story, though– and I don’t want to spoil anything– it seems as though there are a lot more layers still to come. Let’s say that the academy aren’t the only ones who want to use the girls for an agenda. So I’m withholding my judgment about the poem until I see where the series goes with this idea. I’m pretty intrigued, to be honest. I love when a story explores an idea through a bunch of layers, and it seems like that may be just what we get with this one

GIRLS WITH SHARP STICKS is perfect for fans of GIRL PARTS by John Cusick or UGLIES by Scott Westerfeld.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Two of Mena’s friends (both girls) are in a relationship.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently. Most of the swearing comes from one character, and it’s mostly f-bombs.

Romance/Sexual Content
Mena wonders what it’s like to kiss a boy she likes. She wants to at one point. We see some tender exchanges between Marcella and Bryn, the two girls who are dating. Hand-holding, embracing, that sort of thing.

At one point, one of the girls buys a women’s magazine and they read an article in it about how to please men sexually. Most of the information remains pretty vague. They giggle and tease about whether a certain boy would like “number four” on the list and things like that. At one point, a girl makes a reference to oral sex. Another girl asks why the women’s magazine is about pleasing men instead of about women.

Some of the things the teachers or staff members say and do toward the girls become pretty creepy. They have so much power over the girls. Mena feels terrified at more than one point. Definitely a trigger warning for anyone who’s sensitive to that feeling of panicked helplessness.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some of the staff members become increasingly rough with the girls. One altercation becomes fatal. It’s described in pretty graphic detail.

Drug Content
Staff members give the girls pills every night which they call vitamins. Mena quickly begins to suspect that they’re much more than that. One character poisons others with plants from the garden the girls care for.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

Review: Fallen Kingdom by Elizabeth May

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

Fallen Kingdom (The Falconer #3)
Elizabeth May
Chronicle Books
Published on June 13, 2017

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About Fallen Kingdom
The long-awaited final book in the Falconer trilogy is an imaginative tour-de-force that will thrill fans of the series. Aileana Kameron, resurrected by ancient fae magic, returns to the world she once knew with no memory of her past and with dangerous powers she struggles to control. Desperate to break the curse that pits two factions of the fae against each other in a struggle that will decide the fate of the human and fae worlds, her only hope is hidden in an ancient book guarded by the legendary Morrigan, a faery of immense power and cruelty. To save the world and the people she loves, Aileana must learn to harness her dark new powers even as they are slowly destroying her. Packed with immersive detail, action, romance, and fae lore, and publishing simultaneously in the UK, The Fallen Kingdom brings the Falconer’s story to an epic and unforgettable conclusion.

My Review
Have you had the experience with a book where you get so invested in a certain outcome that you really might give up the book if a certain thing happens (or doesn’t happen)? I felt that way about this book. I felt like I’d been through so much with these characters, and I needed to know that at least one thing in particular was going to be okay. It didn’t happen the way I expected, but it did happen.

This is a pretty dark series, but this book is the darkest of the three. Kiaran’s Unseelie curse has returned, making him dependent on biting humans to survive. The world has begun to fracture, which can only be remedied by him or his sister being killed unless Aileana can find the ancient book in which the original curse pitting Seelie and Unseelie fae against each other was written. The story world is rich and dark, as it is in all three books in the series. The earlier books have a little more banter and fun between characters. In this one, things are very tense, though there’s still some banter.

I’m glad I finished the series—I really wanted to know how it all ended—but this wasn’t my favorite book of the three. There were some really satisfying moments where people get their due, and some heartbreaking moments where beloved characters breathed their last. I totally bought in and was hooked on the characters, especially Aileana, Kiaran, and his sister.


Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
Major characters are white or not physically described. One character reveals she’s a lesbian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Infrequent use of extreme profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Intense kissing between man and woman. Some scenes show them having sex with brief descriptions.

Spiritual Content
Faeries have magic which they use to attack others. Aileana has the magic a dying faerie gave her, but using it will kill her eventually.

Violent Content
Aileana is caught in the middle of a fae war. She battles and kills fae enemies as well as some creepy undead things. Some fae must bite humans in order to survive (sort of like vampire faeries).

Drug Content
Once a human is bitten by a member of the fae, they’re addicted to the venom.


Review: Vanishing Throne by Elizabeth May

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Fantasy, New Adult 18up, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

The Vanishing Throne (The Falconer #2)
Elizabeth May
Chronicle Books
Published on June 21, 2016

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About The Vanishing Throne
Everything she loved is gone.

Trapped. Aileana Kameron, the Falconer, disappeared through the fae portal she was trying to close forever. Now she wakes in an alien world of mirrors, magic, and deception—a prisoner of the evil fae Lonnrach, who has a desperate and deadly plan for his new captive.

Tortured. Time after agonizing time Lonnrach steals Aileana’s memories, searching for knowledge to save his world. Just when she’s about to lose all hope, Aileana is rescued by an unexpected ally and returns home, only to confront a terrifying truth. The city of Edinburgh is now an unrecognizable wasteland. And Aileana knows the devastation is all her fault.

Transformed. The few human survivors are living in an underground colony, in an uneasy truce with a remnant of the fae. It is a fragile alliance, but an even greater danger awaits: the human and fae worlds may disappear forever. Only Aileana can save both worlds, but in order to do so she must awaken her latent Falconer powers. And the price of doing so might be her life…

My Review
After I read the first book in The Falconer series, I couldn’t wait to read this one. Somehow it still took me like two years to do it, though. Oops.

What I loved: witty banter between characters, and one new character in particular. I loved Kiaran’s sister. She’s not at all like the stereotypical fae with the moodiness or aloofness. She has this open curiosity and goofy sense of humor but still feels like a member of the fae somehow. I liked her a lot. I also really enjoyed Aileana’s friend, a pixie named Derek. I’d forgotten all about him between books, but once he came back on the scene, I was hooked all over again.

The romance element remains strong and some very interesting plot twists place a lot of obstacles between Aileana and her happily-ever-after. Some of those twists took me completely by surprise, but they made so much sense looking back. I love when a story has a turning point like that, where it makes you go back and see all the earlier parts differently.

One thing that I kind of missed from The Falconer is that Aileana used to be much more concerned with propriety. She makes sure to have boundaries in her relationships with men. In this book, she has no thought for boundaries or her future. Some of that makes perfect sense, since the story has a much more post-apocalyptic feel, so it would be weird if her feelings about her future didn’t change. I guess there wasn’t really a point where she evaluated her beliefs and changed. She kind of just gets swept up in her relationship with Kiaran and never appears to think about any consequences to her actions. It wasn’t a huge deal in the story, but for anyone who read the first book thinking the series wouldn’t have any sex in it because of the time period it’s set in and Aileana’s personal beliefs, just know that isn’t true.

Reading Vanishing Throne made me super interested in reading the series finale, Fallen Kingdom. I love the strong heroine and the memorable characters, so I’m definitely eager for more. The series is a great pick for fans of Julie Kagawa.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
The story is set in Scotland, so most characters are white and upper class.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used very frequently. A few instances of stronger curses.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between man and woman. One scene shows them undressing and going to bed together. It’s obvious they have sex but not graphically described.

Spiritual Content
The story contains faeries and monsters who possess magic. Some humans have specialized abilities which allow them to sense faeries or resist their magic. Some fae have an alliance with humans and use magic to protect them.

If a human dies and comes back to life, they may return with the ability to see the Fae. It can also unlock other gifts.

Violent Content
Battle scenes with some descriptions of injuries. Aileana is captured by fae at one point and tortured. Mostly her torture is mental. For instance, eventually, the isolation becomes a huge burden and she becomes eager for her captor’s visits. He bites her repeatedly, and his venom causes some additional pain.

Drug Content
Fae bites inject a venom that humans find addicting. At one point, a small group sit together drinking whiskey.


Review: The Breeding Tree by J. Andersen

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

The Breeding Tree
J. Andersen
Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas
Published on March 25, 2017

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About The Breeding Tree
When seventeen year old Katherine (Kate) Dennard is selected to become a “Creation Specialist” in Sector 4, the opportunity sounds like a dream come true. But Kate soon discovers the darker side of her profession – the disposal of fetal organs and destruction of human life. It makes sense, really. In a society where disease and malformations don’t exist, human perfection demands that no genetic “mutants” be allowed to live. For Sector 4, “survival of the fittest” is not just a theory – it’s The Institute’s main mission.

When Kate discovers that The Institute is using her DNA to create new life, her work gets personal. In order to save her unviable son, she’ll have to trust Micah and his band of underground Natural Born Rebels. The problem is, if The Institute discovers her betrayal, the next body being disposed of could be hers.

My Review
I found this story to be a really interesting concept. Kind of Unwind meets Divergent. I liked the dystopian elements and found Kate to be mostly an interesting character, except for her thoughts on guys, which I’ll get to in a second.

The plot caused me some struggles. Some sections seemed a bit choppy—like maybe bits of scenes had been cut, but the chapter still needed another read-through for clarity. One part in particular shows Kate shocked and then immediately flashing back to another moment before returning to the present. She’s thinking about another person who doesn’t get named. When she returns to the present, we assume she meant her grandmother as the other person in the flashback scene, but I had to read it several times before I understood. Several scenes were like that for me.

Also, PSA: If a guy is stalking you, it’s not okay if he’s cute. There’s no equation of human behavior that says cute is inversely proportional to dangerous. More attractive does not equal less dangerous. Kate keeps spotting a guy following her, and then once she meets him at work, she’s like, hey—that guy was stalking me! But he’s cute, so it’s okay.

Um. No. It’s not okay. Also, immediately after freaking out about the guy following her, she and her bestie go on a double date with these guys they don’t know. The guys take them to this dark parking lot alone. No one knows where they are. I wanted to be like, “Hello?! Haven’t you seen the first season of 24? This is NOT a good idea.”

I don’t know. I feel like the author was going for making Micah a bad boy type, and I get that. But I do wish there was a little more hesitancy or awareness on Kate’s part. Or that he had to work harder to earn her trust after his earlier behavior.

In terms of content, the biggest issue are the disturbing descriptions of Kate “disposing” of a developing fetus. (See content section on violence for more information.)

Readers who enjoyed the Unwind series may find this one to their liking for its lessons about the value of human life and right to life issues.

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Cultural Elements
All major characters are white. (Races were segregated by the government as part of an effort to “perfect” each race with a promise to reintegrate once perfection had been achieved. There’s also one brief mention of other races being represented in an outside rebel colony.)

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Once instance of mild profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kate’s bestie, Taryn brags about the fact that she enjoys casual sex with multiple partners. Teen sex seems to be totally fine now that pregnancy isn’t possible.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
As part of Kate’s job, she’s required to “dispose” of fetuses at various stages of development in sterile containers. (Babies are grown in containers, not in the human body.) The descriptions of this process are graphic and disturbing. A young man attempts to bind Kate’s hands with zip ties. Kate throws a rock at a young man, causing a serious head injury.

Drug Content
Kate drinks alcohol while on a date with friends.

Review: Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Romance, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful
Arwen Elys Dayton
Delacorte Press
Published on December 4, 2018

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About Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful
For fans of television shows Black Mirror and Westworld, this compelling, mind-bending novel is a twisted look into the future, exploring how far we will go to remake ourselves into the perfect human specimen and what it means to be human at all.

Set in our world, spanning the near to distant futures, Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful is a novel made up of six interconnected stories that ask how far we will go to remake ourselves into the perfect human specimens, and how hard that will push the definition of “human.”

This extraordinary work explores the amazing possibilities of genetic manipulation and life extension, as well as the ethical quandaries that will arise with these advances. The results range from the heavenly to the monstrous. Deeply thoughtful, poignant, horrifying, and action-packed, Arwen Elys Dayton’s Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful is groundbreaking in both form and substance.

My Review
The concept of Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful hooked me from when I first heard about it. I tend to be really gripped by stories that explore a moral issue (medical advances in this case).

Rather than one cohesive novel, this story is more like a series of connected novellas set in the same story world. Sometimes one story references events or characters from another story, but the main characters are always different. Each approaches the issue in a slightly different way. One story asks, should people allow doctors to give them synthetic organs following an accident? Does that come too close to playing God? Another follows the lives of people considered second-class who’ve been physically altered to allow them to be a kind of super slaves.

In terms of the characters, most are flawed but looking for answers and facing some regrets from the past. Sometimes this made them immediately likeable, as with Alexios, a boy who’s been edited to have dolphin skin and flippers and lives in an aquatic place, taking care of manatees, and Luck, a girl who has a forbidden love for her best friend. Sometimes I had a hard time seeing past the flaws. For instance, I had a harder time connecting with Jake, who used to pressure girls to have sex and Milla, who took revenge on a boy who made her life miserable.

I kept thinking back to both of the books by Parker Peevyhouse that I’ve read while I was reading Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful. It reminded me of Where Futures End in the way each of the six stories related to each other but didn’t necessarily overlap. And the way it wrestled with science and morality reminded me of The Echo Room. I think Parker Peevyhouse fans will really enjoy this book. If you enjoy Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful and you haven’t read anything by Parker Peevyhouse, definitely check out her books, too.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
Major characters are white or not physically described. Starlock, the boy who Luck loves, is dark-skinned. One story features a couple of Russian characters. One minor character is gay.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used irregularly. Some sections (like the last one) are pretty clean with regard to cursing. Others (like the one which follows the two slave boys) have more frequent use of profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Two characters have sex in the back seat of a car. It’s kind of an odd scene because she feels somewhat conflicted about it and sort of detached at times. No crude details, but you know what’s happening. Later, the boy she had sex with lies about the experience and she gets bullied and shamed.

In another section, a boy makes a girl undress to her underwear. He has no intention of harming her physically, but she’s scared. In a flashback sequence, we learn that one character used to pressure girls and manipulate girls into having sex with him to win a bet with his friend. He later regrets the way he acted.

One character confesses to a friend that his father caught him in a sexual situation with another boy. There are some details about what they were doing.

A boy and girl kiss. A girl catches her lover asleep with another girl. Later they go to bed together. They have sex but there aren’t any graphic details.

Spiritual Content
As medical technology advances, some religious groups oppose .

Violent Content
Some references to and details about human slavery.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.