BLOOD CIRCUS

In a devastated future, as humans struggle to dominate ferocious predators, a 16-year-old seeks the truth about her identity.

After they successfully hid in the wilderness for millennia, tribes of creatures called Klujns were discovered by people in 2071. Construed as nonhuman yet somewhat humanlike in appearance, Klujns are hunted for their protein-rich meat and valuable crystal claws. Ava, the narrator of this story, which takes place in the early 22nd century, eventually finds herself among the hostages taken to the Klujns’ annual Blood Race. But as the book opens, it’s another lonely day in Red River, one of the few towns left in the smidgin of North American Territory formerly known as Québec that has survived the climate catastrophe. Borders have long since closed, and English made the sole official language. Ava’s origins are mysterious: She was found washed up on a riverbank and raised in an orphanage until she was adopted by a Klujn expert and an agriculturalist who still occasionally speaks the banned French language. Combining moon worship and a battle to the death between teens with explorations of feminism and environmentalism, this socially progressive dystopian adventure with strong worldbuilding and suspenseful plotting will appeal to fans of the Hunger Games. Ava reads White; there is some racial diversity among the supporting cast members.

Pointedly questioning what it is to be human, this absorbing debut expresses profound longing for the disappearing wild.