An absorbing tale of survival in a post-apocalyptic future.
The Corporation runs everything inside the Wall.
If you’re not part of the Corp, you’re in debt to them and there is no escape. Will Meadows and his Ma live in Zone F, where Will attends school and works long hours at the desalination plant. Ma gets him his daily doses of Crystal 8, starving herself to be able to afford the drugs. When they run out, Will is forced to become a Breeder runner in the Gray Zone in exchange for a supply of Crystal. In a world where environmental degradation has left most people infertile, Breeder runners smuggle young girls and women into the Incubator, where they are branded, forcibly inseminated, and made to give birth. The smugglers get a cut of the profits. While in the Gray Zone, Will meets Alex, an escaped breeder disguised as an undocumented Wall Kid. When Will is captured by the Corp, he thinks his life is over, but the corruption of the Gray Corps may offer a way out. Will has to find a way to save himself and Alex—or die trying. This short, fast-paced novel set in a futuristic yet terrifyingly familiar world is perfect for fans of Marie Lu’s Legend series. Readers will find themselves fully immersed in the bleak Corporation landscape and the lives and fates of those struggling to survive. Main characters are cued as White.
An absorbing tale of survival in a post-apocalyptic future. (Dystopian. 14-18)Pub Date: July 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-09-409980-4
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Blackstone
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
A satisfying reality dating competition unfolds within a dystopian fantasy.
In Ethyria, only the highborn may express love; now lowborn Axira must put her life on the line to compete in a love tournament—unexpectedly forging a strong romantic connection along the way.
Axira Merreri never meant to enter the Tournament of Hearts, “a chance for lowborn to earn Skyborn citizenship by proving they can handle true love.” All she wanted was to smuggle Heartfillers (the drug Ethyria’s ruler uses to keep citizens docile) in order to earn enough to escape the kingdom’s socio-economic disparities. When she gets caught while carrying out a scheme involving the prince’s cousin, she’s forced to enter the deadly tournament to win her freedom while secretly allying with Prince Caelus. He wants her help stealing magic from the tournament in exchange for her passage on a ship out of Ethyria. The early part of the book is heavy on worldbuilding, making for a slower pace until the tournament, which is Love Island meets The Hunger Games in a racially diverse world. The contestants must survive potentially deadly tests of strength, loyalty, and courage while going on dates; they face elimination if they can’t find love. The secondary characterization in this duology opener is fairly light, but the leads are strong and compelling, and their sultry and emotive romance provides a necessary core to a plot with multiple strands that occasionally fray.
A satisfying reality dating competition unfolds within a dystopian fantasy. (Dystopian romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9798217238224
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2026
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