Ink of Blood

Flashfall

by

Jenny Moyer

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Release Date: November 15th 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian

Synopsis
Orion is a Subpar, expected to mine the tunnels of Outpost Five, near the deadly flash curtain. For generations, her people have chased cirium—the only element that can shield humanity from the curtain’s radioactive particles.

She and her caving partner, Dram work the most treacherous tunnel, fighting past flash bats and tunnel gulls, in hopes of mining enough cirium to earn their way into the protected city.

But when newcomers arrive at Outpost Five, Orion uncovers disturbing revelations that make her question everything she thought she knew about life on both sides of the cirium shield. As conditions at the outpost grow increasingly dangerous, it’s up to Orion to forge a way past the flashfall, beyond all boundaries, beyond the world as she knows it.

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I’ve read quite a few dystopian novels by this point and although I did find it a little hard to engage with the whole world, Rye’s own small area was easy to follow and understand. It was good to see how their society worked… and it was also really good to see that she and Dram and the others had a goal to work towards, rather than just working there day in and day out.

While Rye was the stereotypical rebellious heroine, I found it harder to understand why the other characters were so eager to follow her. I didn’t get to see much of her interacting with anyone outside of those she was closest to, so I didn’t get a good idea of how big the society was in that particular area.

I liked seeing hints of the relationships between the other characters, such as Dram and Lenore and Lenore and Reeves. I would have liked to see a bit more of the latter… and also be able to understand the relationship between Rye and her father a bit more.

I liked the opportunity to learn more about the different kinds of abilities there were in the society, though I was a bit confused by the fact that the society seemed to be an obviously self-destructive one. While it was good to have the opportunity to see more of the world gradually, I felt it seemed like each area was very contained and I wasn’t sure how each separate place communicated with each other. It seemed like the society was quite obviously on the way out.

I would have liked to see some more background and a bit more information about how the society worked as a whole. There were some twists, but due to there being so many characters, I didn’t feel the revelations made a whole lot of sense. I did find Jameson an intriguing character, but I would have liked to see more about him, rather than just what was shown towards the end.

I did enjoy reading this book and I would like to read the next one/s in this series in the future… but I think I would have found it easier to read with the focus on less characters and a bit more shown about the world as a whole.

Jenny is the author of YA sci-fi/fantasy FLASHFALL, coming from

Macmillan/Holt 11-15-16. She lives with her filmmaker husband and their

three boys in Des Moines.

Find out more at: http://www.jennymoyer.com and connect with Jenny on

Twitter and Facebook.

The excerpt can be found here.