Release Date: September 3, 2013
Amazon Listing
Goodreads Page
This review describes an uncorrected proof. The published version may be different.
My sister in law read this book. Here are her impressions:
Everywhere you look today, you see The Hunger Games, Twilight, and Harry Potter, or their unwelcome imitators. Wouldn't it be nice to find an action/fantasy book that offers something different? Here's Nancy Farmer to the rescue!
Nancy Farmer returns us to the futuristic US/Mexico border conflicts that she introduced in The House of the Scorpion. We pick up where we left off with a plot which brews together the drug trade, cloning, and illegal immigration. Farmer delivers a book that contains science fiction without being limited by the Sci Fi label. This feels like a book about important issues that happens to take place in the future, rather than a more stereotypical book like Divergent, which is basically another, "What if an evil future government did x for no reason?"
Fans of the first book should be mostly satisfied. The story progresses logically, and is mostly unpredictable. The most disappointing aspect is the way a previously subtle, tastefully done romance angle devolves into something more cliché by the end of the book.
It also seems incongruous that a book about drug gangs has violence that is either strangely absent or awkwardly peppered in. Still, this book is so much better than any other YA sci fi titles out there that I would still recommend it.
This book would appeal to Hunger Games fans. It would cross over well to both male and female audiences. Anyone who enjoys a thrilling story about serious issues will enjoy it.
Everyone's excited about this book! Get your copy from The Blue Manatee or your nearest independent bookseller!
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