A riveting dystopian tale of family and addiction.
In Huss’ YA SF novel, a teen living in a domed community connects with a family in the devastated outside world.
A large dome protects the people of Evermoor from a world that’s succumbed to a failed economy and a ravaged climate. While passage in and out of the dome was once possible, a car bomb a half-century earlier has, as far as most people know, closed off this access permanently. Seventeen-year-old Alice Monroe comes from a family of gatekeepers; she and other family members do maintenance work on the dome, which requires leaving its confines—something she has to keep secret. When her father, a struggling drug addict, collapses outside the dome, they receive help from members of the Hayes family, who live there. Alice grows close to them, especially Torrey, a sickly young man who could benefit from Evermoor’s technology. Alice, who feels trapped inside the dome, unwittingly gets hooked on EVR, an experimental virtual reality she accesses via a brain-implanted nanobot. It’s not something she can always control, slipping from the real world into a virtual one of her own design. Huss’ profound story is grounded by a remarkable cast of characters, including Alice’s cousin and fellow gatekeeper, Ren, and Torrey’s warmhearted grandmother, Genevieve, who provides a startling contrast to Alice’s rather callous grandfather. The story aptly treats Alice’s EVR link as an addiction; the only way others can pull her out of her virtual reveries is, essentially, to yell her name—much in the same way Alice tries to rouse her overdosing father. (Scenes inside the EVR feel shockingly real, providing a taste of an easier life that Alice understandably craves.) Huss’ prose depicts both virtual reality and the outside world with dynamism and sensory detail: “Our feet rake through a mix of leaves and reddish pine needles on a path of dappled light and shadow through the forest.”
A riveting dystopian tale of family and addiction.Pub Date: July 23, 2025
ISBN: 9798218631772
Page Count: 326
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A contemporary hero’s journey, brilliantly told.
The 17-year-old son of a troubled rock star is determined to find his own way in life and love.
On the verge of adulthood, Blade Morrison wants to leave his father’s bad-boy reputation for drug-and-alcohol–induced antics and his sister’s edgy lifestyle behind. The death of his mother 10 years ago left them all without an anchor. Named for the black superhero, Blade shares his family’s connection to music but resents the paparazzi that prevent him from having an open relationship with the girl that he loves. However, there is one secret even Blade is unaware of, and when his sister reveals the truth of his heritage during a bitter fight, Blade is stunned. When he finally gains some measure of equilibrium, he decides to investigate, embarking on a search that will lead him to a small, remote village in Ghana. Along the way, he meets people with a sense of purpose, especially Joy, a young Ghanaian who helps him despite her suspicions of Americans. This rich novel in verse is full of the music that forms its core. In addition to Alexander and co-author Hess’ skilled use of language, references to classic rock songs abound. Secondary characters add texture to the story: does his girlfriend have real feelings for Blade? Is there more to his father than his inability to stay clean and sober? At the center is Blade, fully realized and achingly real in his pain and confusion.
A contemporary hero’s journey, brilliantly told. (Verse fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-310-76183-9
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Blink
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017
PERSPECTIVES
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
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