Sixteen-year-old Riley Meemick is one of the world’s last free girls. When Riley was born, her mother escaped the Breeders, the group of doctors using cruel experiments to bolster the dwindling human race. Her parents do everything possible to keep her from their clutches — moving from one desolate farm after another to escape the Breeders’ long reach. The Breeders control everything — the local … local war lords, the remaining factories, the fuel. They have unchecked power in this lawless society. And they’re hunting Riley.
When the local Sheriff abducts the adult members of her family and hands her mother over to the Breeders, Riley and her eight-year-old brother, Ethan, hiding in a shelter, are left to starve. Then Clay arrives, the handsome gunslinger who seems determined to help to make up for past sins. The problem is Clay thinks Riley is a bender — a genderless mutation, neither male nor female. As Riley’s affection for Clay grows she wonders if she can trust Clay with her secret and risk her freedom.
The three embark on a journey across the scarred remains of New Mexico — escaping the Riders who use human sacrifice to appease their Good Mother, various men scrambling for luck, and a deranged lone survivor of a plague. When Riley is forced into the Breeder’s hospital, she learns the horrible fate of her mother — a fate she’ll share unless she can find a way out.
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I couldn’t put down. Usually I never pay more than .99c for a book. I’ve had to buy them all. Page Turner series
Unnerving. I didn’t even want to finish.
will read it again.
Scary in the respect that this is how people and our world could become. I still can’t decide if the main character was really brave or really stupid. But a good read emphasising the strength of one young girl’s love for her family.
Just okay.
So much potential to explore and the author instead focuses on the dumb romance between two unlikable characters. Very much a YA romance tale that is set in the apocalypse and not a dystopian tale the explores the twisted world around it. The characters stumble in and out of events, the main character is a pathetic, whiney self centered teenager, …
The plot is a bit of a downer as the world situation is very bleak, so much so that I decided not to continue reading the rest of the series. Also, the situations intended to increase the suspense seemed a bit contrived.
enjoyed it will continue with the series.
I got bored and gave up…
I like to read young teen books because they tend to stick to a story line rather then have a book based on nothing but sex.. This book is easy to read..It’s scary to the point of ‘I hope we, as a country, never get to this desolation’ .. I am on the 3rd book of this series, not sure if I’ll go further.. We’ll see …
This book was amazing. It was impossible to put it down!
a very good read
I just could not get into this book. The premise intrigued me, but it just didn’t pull me into the story.
The writing style is very creative and descriptive. I am not a fan of the main character. She is rash with an attitude of her way is the only way. She is lucky that circumstances and people that care for her pull her out of difficult conflicts. My only interest in the next book would be to see if this character grows.
This book was exceptional. It is like the Hunger Games books in some ways and also much different. In this book you will find that you don’t know who you can trust and who you can’t. Always watch your back or something might just happen.
Not the worst ya I’ve ever read. The premise is fine but has poor pacing and poor writing. If you need a quick read is fine but I won’t be bothering with the rest of the series
Good read but very predictable.
This book has an interesting take on the end of the modern world as we know it story line. Good characters and clean, concise writing. A very strong first book and I hope the next few are even better.