In the not-too-distant future, one of scientists’ worst fears has been realized: antibiotics have become obsolete, and a pandemic virus nearly wipes out all of humanity. What’s left of the world has been divided between those selected to live illness-free within a man-made community quarantine and the outcasts abandoned outside to face uncertain survival. In the wake of an unraveling society, … four teens struggle to determine their place in a world that has become warped by the decisions of the previous generation.Cat, who has grown up privileged within the walls of The Community; Wren, a rebellious survivor on the outside; and Abel and Ryder, the two orphan boys who love them. As their paths intersect, the shocking truth surrounding the so-called vaccine that made initial survival possible is revealed, and these four teens must face the moral dilemma: How far would you go to save the ones you hold most dear?
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If you’ve been following me, you’ve noticed that I’ve been reading a lot of lighter material lately to escape from reality and the ugliness of this world. So, what part of my brain thought it was a good idea to request this book, clearly very close to our current reality, on Netgalley? Good question! I assume it’s the science nerd in me, quite curious to see what the author would do with an issue like this and where this story would go.
At first this story seems a little slow. We’re introduced to the main characters in this story and through very lengthy chapters we’re also introduced to this world. We get a clear impression of the protected people living inside the dome and we also get a very clear view of the world outside the safe walls surrounding the town. And most of it is quite ugly, to be honest. If this is the future of our world, I’m not that excited anymore to be there for it to happen.
However, once we are familiar with everyone and everything and once characters from different worlds start to meet each other, each holding a pieces of the puzzle, it gets more and more interesting. The last quarter of the book was an exciting sequence of release after release and interesting discovery after interesting discovery. Once all the pieces of the puzzle clicked an exciting, intriguing and also slightly scary scenario unfolded. And now I really long for more!
I also long for more because of these characters. Due to the heavy circumstances we really got to know all of these people quite well. And not all of it was pretty. And not all of it was kind. They made hard choices, they made violent choices, they made painful choices. And yet, yet it was hard to blame them for it. Especially because their emotions were described quite vividly and therefore we could understand quite well WHY they did what they did.
I hope there will be a sequel, because this story totally deserves one.
A pandemic virus leaves the world divided between a quarantined community of people and the remaining survivors outside the walls of the quarantined community. During all this, four teens struggle to with the lies they were told and the need to find answers.
I loved this book. It is told from four different first-person point of views. Each personality and motivation was different and engaging. Cat is the prodigy who is pushed into her work by her cold father, Dr. Grayson. Wren is the strong willed teen that will do anything to find her mother. Abel is the boy that is still trying to find himself and his place in the community while being in love with Cat. Ryder is the orphaned boy who had been forced to survive, which leads him into learning how to shoot, fight, and ride a motorcycle. When Ryder’s love interest, Wren, leaves the camp, he has to make a decision of whether he should follow her or stay behind to help protect the people within the camp.
This story is an emotional, twisting, roller coaster ride that starts out with many questions that get answered towards the end in a dramatic reveal that will leave you wanting to immediately read the second book in this series!