Amy S. Foster
Harper Voyager
Published October 4, 2016
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About The Rift Uprising
Seventeen-year-old Ryn Whittaker is a Citadel: an elite, enhanced soldier specially chosen to guard a Rift, a mysterious and dangerous portal to alternate Earths scientists cannot control or close. Trained from the age of fourteen, Ryn can run faster, jump farther, and fight better than a Navy SEAL—which is good when you’re not sure if a laser-wielding Neanderthal or an axe-wielding Viking is trying to make it through the Rift and into her world.
But the teenager’s military conditioning and education have not prepared her for the boy who crosses through—a confused young man, seemingly lost and alone. Because while there’s an immediate physical attraction, it’s his intelligence and curiosity that throws Ryn off balance. The stranger asks disturbing questions about the Rift that Ryn herself has never considered—questions that lead her to wonder if everything about her life and what she’s been told these past six years has been a lie. Are the Rifts as dangerous as her leaders say? Should her people really try to close them . . . or learn how to travel through them?
One of the things that was too much fun about this book was all the nerdy pop culture references, especially the sci-fi ones. It created an in-on-the-joke feeling, and I laughed out loud at several of them.
Ezra pretty much had me at hello. I liked the way he turned out to be a critical player in figuring out what was going on with the Rifts and the people controlling them. Ryn took a little bit for me to warm up to, but I loved the way each of her teammates had a distinct voice and approach to relationship with her. I want a whole spinoff story about Henry. Tell me that’s happening, someone!
I thought the whole Immigrant village thread made an interesting parallel to some current social issues and fears, but didn’t find it overly preachy. Generally I am a bit of a pansy where it comes to sci-fi, and I like my sci-fi pretty light. I would definitely not call this story light sci-fi, but I found the characters so compelling and the science-y elements easy to follow, so I thoroughly enjoyed it. I feel like I’ve read a couple of indie books that tried to do something like this, and The Rift Uprising is my favorite so far.
If you liked Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray or These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner, you should check out The Rift Uprising.
Cultural Elements
Ryn and her team appear to be Caucasian. One team member, Henry, is gay. Ryn meets Ezra, an Arab-American non-practicing Muslim.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used frequently.
Romance/Sexual Content
Ryn and her fellow Citadels experience Blood Lust—intense rage only sated by attacking and physically harming the person they felt attracted to—whenever they feel aroused. This means they’re unable to have sex. Ryn sets out to find a way to undo the programming which makes her this way. (Spoiler about this below.)
At one point, Ryn battles a sexy vampire and things get pretty lustful, which she makes use of as a battle strategy.
A few scenes show intense kissing and nudity/touching between a boy and girl. One scene gets pretty explicit.
Spiritual Content
Ryn believes learning about the Rift would either make someone extremely devout or a complete atheist.
The immigrant camps allow all religions, but no “fundamentalist” practices. Women aren’t allowed to wear a burqa for instance. Ryn states she feels that practice to be misogynistic.
At one point, while waiting at the Rift, the team play a game where someone ranks three people—one to have sex with, one to kill and one to marry. Violet refuses to play because other players sometimes name deities, and she feels it’s disrespectful.
Violent Content
Graphic descriptions of battles against aliens and other humans in multiple scenes.
Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol at a party. Ryn makes an offhand comment about a suspicion her brother may be smoking marijuana.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Spoiler
Ryn learns she and the other Citadels were made to watch explicit videos which aroused them and then beaten. The goal was to form an association between pain and arousal, which was meant to create Blood Lust.
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