I thought this a fascinating premise and am always attracted by a YA dystopian science fiction world as a number of them have proved to be interesting and enjoyable reads.
You may live as a soldier or face death. Choose wisely.
Solanine Lucille wants her little sister back. Eight years ago, the government kidnapped her sister Ember, stole her memories, and transformed her into a soldier. But Solanine refuses to give up. Now that she and her fiancé have located the leader of a rebel group, she believes she can finally bring Ember home. But then the soldiers raid the rebels, killing her fiancé and leaving Solanine alone with her demons and all the weapons needed for revenge.
After raiding a rebel camp, sixteen-year-old Ember doesn’t understand why killing some boy bothers her. She’s a soldier—she has killed hundreds of people without remorse. But after she fails a mission, the rebels hold her hostage and restore her memories. Ember recognizes her sister among the rebels and realizes the boy she killed was Solanine’s fiancé.
As you can see, there are some heavy-duty events along with the resultant emotional cost going on in this story. I had thought the sibling relationship would the at the heart of the story. In the event, because this is an action-led adventure rather than all about the characters, while it is an important part of the plot, it doesn’t particularly drive it forward. Apart from anything else, the sisters spend a significant part of the book at cross-purposes with each other.
To be honest, I’m still not completely sure of my response about this one – there is a great deal of action and the world is bleakly awful, with a psychotic monster running the City of Graven. The consequences of existing within such a dark landscape, pervaded by loss are clearly spelt out – alcoholism and suicide are depicted within the story by some major characters and kudos to Sulich for having the courage to depict protagonists who are not invincibly cheerful in the face of hopeless odds against them.
But I did find the plot looped along a pattern, where something bad happens, one of our protagonists is cast down, painfully rallies to the point of fighting back, only for something else bad to happen so that they are cast down, before rallying… And this happened to most of the main protagonists. Fortunately, the final climax broke free from that.
I found the City of Graven really fascinating and would have liked a bit more insight into exactly how it was set up and why. Overall, it was an action-packed, intense read and is ideal for fans of YA dystopian worlds where it’s all about what happens next.
7/10
Now I love this sounds of this one for sure! I saw it on NetGalley on was on the fence about it, but not anymore! Great review!
I’m delighted the review helped you make up your mind, Jenea. It is certainly an intense read:)
I’m a big fan of dystopian stories, and this sounds interesting, although I spot some familiar YA tropes. And the cover is very moody and I love it!
The world is certainly a mess… there is an intriguing scenario and I do like the fact that we really see the emotional cost of such an existence.
I love dystopians but this doesn’t appeal for some reason. I think it has something to do with the sisters being at odds. Good review!
x The Captain
Thank you, Cap. It’s got a lot going for it – but I did have some issues with the plotting.
The premise sounds good, but what worries me a little is the cycle of “wash/rinse/repeat” you mentioned about the story development: this kind of repetition tends to annoy me very quickly… 🙂
I was beginning to get a tad worn out by it – especially as it is so very intense…
Hmm. This does sound a bit…done. I’ll let other dystopia-lovers enjoy it, and move on. Thanks for reading it so, um, I didn’t have to? You know. 😉
lol… You’re very welcome:). To be honest, I don’t think this one is for you, either.
I think I’m burned out on evil governments kidnapping children to make them soldiers settings. Few bits aside, this books sounds like “every other YA dystopia out there”. I’ll second Hean Lee’s words: thank you for reading, so… I can enjoy your review instead of suffering through the book. 😉
Lol… it isn’t one for you – that’s for sure:))