Aly Condie
320 pages
hard copy edition
From the publisher:
For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamed of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all Rio’s hopes for the future are shattered when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected choice, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio’s true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long silenced—she has nothing left to lose.
Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother’s death, her own destiny, and the corrupted system constructed to govern the Divide between land and sea. Her life and her city depend on Rio to listen to the voices of the past and to speak long-hidden truths.
Review
This book is a new(er) released book by Ally Condie, the best selling author who wrote the Matched trilogy. It came out in the fall and I really wanted to read it. It sat on my waiting to read list for a long time. Every time I was at the book store and saw a copy I was always tempted to get it. I finally caved and got a copy to read. I really enjoyed Matched, so I had some expectations going into this book. I think it’s fair to say I wasn’t disappointed, but I wasn’t completely-in-love-impressed either.
The book is about Rio, a twin, who lives in the underground world of Atlantia. Rio dreams of going above. The beginning of the book starts out pretty fast paced and I love getting sucked into a good story. But then the middle lost me just a little and was slower. The ending totally grabbed me again and I felt like all the action happened within a chapter or two. It is not a long book, I was left with a feeling of I wish that the last couple chapters were a little bit longer with a little bit more explanations or development.
Also, if you are looking for a love story, this isn’t one. It’s got some, but it’s not the focus of the book at all. I really am not sure what plot line I was expecting out of this book, but it was different than I expected. Not entirely in a bad way either. It wasn’t a predictable book at all, and even though I felt there were some slow parts in the middle I felt I still needed to finish the book to see how it all ended.
I think if you enjoyed the Matched trilogy, or books with dystopian societies than this is a book you should try.
Final say:
