Review: Viral Nation by Shaunta Grimes

 

Viral Nation is young adult dystopian adventure set in a world where a virus has wiped out the majority of the population. Now people live in walled cities run by the company who invented the suppressant, a drug that prevents people falling ill with the virus. The cities are calm and orderly on the surface but is there something lurking beneath?

The plot of Viral Nation was not unique but it was interesting and well written. The addition of time travel made the plot less generic, and whilst I personally am not a big fan of time travel/alternate universes, here it was well done but the author did leave many questions about how it worked unanswered. The story was a page turner and I couldn’t wait to carry on reading every time I put it down.

The characterisation of the main characters was well done, particularly the relationship between Clover and West, and Clover and her dog. A big part of Clover's character was her autism, which did have a purpose in the plot but I felt it was unrealistic, for example in low stress situations she relies on her service dog but a few chapters later in a high stress situation she leaves the dog behind and has no problems. I feel this was a weakness in her characterisation, and is hopefully something that will be refined in the future.

The reason Viral Nation didn’t get 5 stars from me was the abrupt ending. This is clearly the first book in a series, and I understand the author wanting to have a ‘hook’ to get readers to read the second book but I felt ripped off after spending hours enjoying it to have the book just end with no real conclusion. This is a massive weakness for Viral Nation, particularly as the sequel has not yet been published, and I feel readers will forget the 95% of the novel which is excellent and just go away with an unsatisfied feeling, never to read book two.

Overall a fantastic dystopian adventure for both teens and adults, with hints of mystery and romance. This is really a book you should read, perhaps just wait until book two is available first.

 

Viral Nation is available in deadtree format only for £6.53 from Amazon.co.uk (and Amazon.com).

[An ARC was provided by NetGalley]

Review: Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin

Ashen Winter is the second book in the dystopian series Ashfall by Mike Mullen. The series is set after a super volcanic eruption at Yellowstone plunges the United States into chaos and follows teenager Alex Halprin as he tries to find his girlfriend, Darla, who has been kidnapped by a cannibalistic gang, and his parents, in the dangerous post-eruption world. I have to admit I haven't read the first book, Ashfall, but was surprised how easy it was to get into this as a stand-alone story. There were a few references to the events in Ashfall but they were written in a way which meant those who hadn't read the first novel could flow the story easily.

Ashen Winter is the best book I've read in a long time, I literally could not put it down. The book flows brilliantly  with just the right pace to both cover the details and move the story along. There are some fantastic moments of suspense, such as when Alex becomes trapped in a cannibals garage. Alongside some very poignant emotional moments - where you really feel for Alex and his companions - there were a few tears shed whilst reading it. One of the great aspects of Ashen Winter is the excellent characterization, each character is fully fleshed out, believable and with their own take on the situation. The plot was utterly realistic,  there were no miracle recoveries from injuries or lucky breaks, and I was really pulled into the story. The ending was satisfying and wrapped up the story nicely, whilst leading onto the third, as yet unpublished book.

Overall, a fantastic book for fans of dystopian fiction, and one which I think would also do well as a young adult read. It doesn't matter if you have not read the first novel, it makes a good stand-alone story, although I've already ordered a copy of the first book and will be keeping my eyes peeled for the third due 2014.

A Kindle version is available from Amazon for £7.43.

[A ARC was provided by NetGalley]

Review: Momentum by Saci Lloyd (YA)

Momentum paints a picture of a future world, where the UK is critically short of energy. There are two main groups of people – the rich, who can afford to pay for energy, and the poor, who form communities generating their own energy. Some of the poor, the Outsiders, have risen up to rebel against the rich (Citzens), even resorting to sabotaging nuclear power plants. This had led to great tensions between
the communities and even greater segregation.

The story follows Hunter, a citizen and Uma, an outsider, who meet when Hunter helps Uma to hide an important code from soldiers during a raid. They then have to watch each other’s backs whilst being betrayed by those they trusted.

The story is very fast paced, with lots of action and a very detailed future world with concepts such as Jee-uh (a website similar to Facebook) and the RETscan (a futuristic Smartphone that is implanted in your eye).
There’s even a bit of romance. I personally really like the references to sustainable energy and the problems of not having a sustainable energy network in the future, and found the concept very realistic.

Momentum is available from Amazon UK (£4.49) and from Waterstones (£6.29 - paperback)