Book Talk II 1/19/18

Traci Kenworth

The New Dark Lorraine Thompson. Bastei Entertainment. Nov. 2017. Netgalley. YA Dystopian.

As always, blurb from GoodReads: “She thought she knew who she was and where she came from. Then her home was destroyed. Her brother lost amongst the ashes. And the boy she loves vanished. She owed her own survival to a mutant — the very forces behind the destruction. Now Sorrel will never be the same again.”

There is no “Before”, there is only “Now”. Because now there’s no internet, no TV, no power grid. Food is scarce, and the world’s a hostile place. But Sorrel lives a quiet life in the tiny settlement of Amat. It’s all she’s ever known …

Until a gang of marauding mutants destroys the village, snatching her brother Eli, and David, her boyfriend. Sorrel sets out after them, embarking on a journey fraught with danger. Can she survive? The only thing that keeps her going is Eli and David. They are out there somewhere. They must be alive. And if she has her way, she will find them.

THE NEW DARK is the first book in a new YA-trilogy and will be published in November 2017. The second and third books in the series (THE NEW DAWN & THE NEW DAY) will be released in 2018.

My review: Sorrel’s village is raided after a fight with her mother. Her mother is killed and her brother stolen by mutants. Her boyfriend, David, is also taken with Eli. Sorrel determines to free them. On her way to save the day, she is bitten and falls ill. She wakes up in the camp of the Free, a weird, religious cult. They want to marry her off to their leader. Though she fights to be free, the only one who will help her is a mutant.

She tries to go off on her on, but there is a hunting party of the Free searching for her. Will she make it to Dinawl to free her brother and David? Will she learn that some mutants can be trusted? Or will a more sinister plot await them?

The characters could use a little more defining. I’m not sure I got a good grasp on them. The setting was bleak and unforgiving, exactly what a Dystopian should be. The plot went together well. I would read more of the series, just to see what happens. I felt that they cut things off a bit too soon in the end.

***