Fortune’s Fall
Katherine Barger
Anaiah Press
Published November 3, 2020

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About Fortune’s Fall

While her classmates prepare for elite careers across America, Nyssa Ardelone trains for her secret job as the president’s dream interpreter. But when her mentor lies to the president about the prophecy in his latest dream, Nyssa must figure out why before the lie unravels. What she learns could destroy her own future.

Fearful of a rumored rebellion, the president has launched a gas attack on Nyssa’s hometown, and her mentor lied about the dream to protect the survivors from more harm. When Nyssa learns her parents were injured in the attack, she flees with a stranger sent to steal the antidote—a stranger who claims to know her.

Together, they race to deliver the cure as well as an interpretation of another prophetic dream only Nyssa can provide. But a devastating loss dulls her caution, and she learns too late that not everyone is trustworthy. To survive the president’s deadly pursuit, Nyssa must break every rule she’s ever followed, learning along the way that faith is the only thing that can save her.

My Review

I feel like Biblically-inspired fiction as a topic is always a little dicey, so while I was super fascinated with the idea of this tale, I was a little nervous that it might fall flat or be too political or the characters too perfect.

Instead, though, I found a really gripping dystopian setting with a controlling, paranoid leader right up there with President Snow from The Hunger Games. The story world has advanced technology paired with this earthy, simple feel that I thought really worked well together.

I liked the characters a lot, especially some of the minor ones, like Greer and Nyssa’s mentor and Cass. (I hope they all reappear in a sequel!)

The story kept me really intrigued and I thought the pacing was pretty good. At times I felt like things maybe happened too easily, like I wanted the process of achieving a smaller goal to be more complex, but the story moved quickly enough, that those bumps didn’t pull me out of enjoying it at all.

I think readers who enjoy dystopian books, especially MATCHED by Ally Condie, will like this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Most characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Nyssa feels some attraction to a couple of the boy characters.

Spiritual Content
Some resistance members believe in God and the Bible, something that’s been outlawed for a long time. They tell Nyssa that dreams and the ability to interpret them come from God.

Violent Content
References to torture. Prisoners are hanged for their crimes. Nyssa is there but tries not to look, so it’s not described in any detail. A fighter uses a biological weapon to kill soldiers. The same weapon was used on civilians before the story began. Soldiers treat an older man roughly, killing him. A man cuts a boy’s face.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of FORTUNE’S FALL in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog.