Flashfall (Flashfall, #1)

by Jenny Moyer

Orion is a Subpar, expected to mine the tunnels of Outpost Five, near the deadly flash curtain. For generations, her people have chased cirium--the only element that can shield humanity from the curtain's radioactive particles. She and her caving partner Dram work the most treacherous tunnel, fighting past flash bats and tunnel gulls, in hopes of mining enough cirium to earn their way into the protected city.

But when newcomers arrive at Outpost Five, Orion uncovers disturbing revelations that make her question everything she thought she knew about life on both sides of the cirium shield. As conditions at the outpost grow increasingly dangerous, it's up to Orion to forge a way past the flashfall, beyond all boundaries, beyond the world as she knows it.

• ISBN10: 1250129664
• ISBN13: 9781250129666
• Publish Date: 14 November 2017 (first published 15 November 2016)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 15 November 2023
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

Review originally posted at Simply Adrift.

• Flashfall sounds like the next up-and-coming dystopian series - only you can be the judge of that.

What I liked

• The idea that the world is separated by this deadly wall of radiation, is really interesting and a pretty cool idea.
• The difference between the outposts was really interesting and very different from eachother.
• Not much else.

What I didn't like

• The synopsis makes this book sound way better than it actually is. The whole second paragraph of the synopsis is actually only a small part of the book that doesn't even qualify as part of the story in my opinion. I was expecting so much more.
• I felt like Flashfall had real potential but that it missed the mark be a long shot. For three quarters of the book I sat there waiting for that 'something' to happen that would draw me in. It never really happened.
• The romance was cliche as hell and plain boring.

Always,
Jordon

This review was originally posted on Simply Adrift

[cornerfolds]

Read more of my reviews at Cornerfolds.com!

//I received this book at ALA in exchange for an honest review//

I went into Flashfall knowing next to nothing about it. I hadn't seen any reviews and only really knew what I had read in the blurb. Then I saw the trailer and I was sold!

Here's what I thought I was going to get from Flashfall based on these two pieces of information: a story about a guy and a girl who learn that their oppressive society is based on lies, they escape, and survive on the run in the outside world. What I got: not that, but still something really cool.

Orion is the main character of this story and she is a total badass. Orion, the lead ore scout in her community of miners, is incredibly resourceful and strong, but not unrealistically so. She has had a rough life and has lost several people who she loved, but is determined to mine enough cirium to buy passage for her and her father into the protected city. And she's very close to her goal. Dram is her caving partner and long-time friend. Together they begin to uncover truths about their home and the world outside that they had never dreamed of and work together toward escape.

I loved the relationship between these two! The fact that they had known each other for years made their quick romance totally believable and not at all insta-love-y. They were totally dependent on each other, but not in a vomit-inducing romance kind of way - in a life-or-death kind of way. I loved the way they constantly risked themselves for each other because that's just what their dangerous world called for. Oh, and there's no love triangle! Hurray!

There are several other characters who are also important to this story, but the most interesting are the Conjurors. They have mysterious magical abilities which they use to make natural things... grow? get bigger? change shape? I dunno, they do stuff with rocks and trees and water and stuff. Honestly, this is one part of the book I could've used a lot more information on. They are kind of randomly introduced and don't seem to have a real purpose other than to help move the main characters along, helping them in difficult situations. I'm really hoping they're expanded upon in the next book.

The world, while fascinating, also had some issues for me. There is a somewhat helpful map in the front of the book, but I was still very confused about the area inside the flashfall. I wasn't really sure what cordons were as opposed to compounds. I wasn't sure how big each cordon was. The characters moved across them fairly quickly (I think?), so they couldn't have been all that big, but they couldn't see from one to the other. It was definitely unsettling though, so I thought that the world building was still okay.

I'm still not sure quite how to classify this book - strict sci-fi or dystopia. There seemed to be some elements of earth as we know it, but there wasn't enough backstory to really be sure. I did get kind of a Maze Runner feel from this one. Still, the story was amazing! Orion and Dram start moving on page one and don't stop until the last chapter. The plot moves at a breakneck speed and there are always new pieces of information being revealed. I loved the twists and finding out just a little more at each reveal.

Flashfall is a great, fast paced (possibly dystopian) science fiction story that did not disappoint, despite having some downfalls. I would definitely like to hear more about the Conjurers in the next book and hopefully get some more backstory. But the characters and romance was really well done and realistic and the twists are totally worth picking this up!

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
Flashfall is definitely one of the best books I have read this fall. I was excited when I first heard the premise, because it is totally my kind of book. And good news, it totally lived up to the hype I created for it in my own head, so YAY! Because let's face it, that is the hardest hype to live up to ;)

What did I love about the book? Let's talk about it!

• I loved that Orion and Dram were BOTH strong and badass characters- neither of them had to "carry" the other, they both had strengths, and they both had weaknesses. They complimented each other perfectly, and I loved their complex relationship.


• The side characters were so great! There was a lot of family relationship focus too, which was great, especially in such a bleak society. Honestly, so many of them were heroes in subtle ways. And despite the hard lives they lead, they really cared about their loved ones.


• The atmosphere was incredible. I felt the desperation of the characters, the awfulness of this place. The author did such a great job of not just painting the landscape as barren and miserable, but the situations the characters had to endure were as well. The society was hellish, but the characters themselves gave me, as a reader, pockets of hope in an otherwise seemingly hopeless setting.


• It was flat out compulsively readable! I never wanted to put it down, I wanted to know what happened next. I was incredibly invested in the story, and some of the plot twists I had definitely not seen coming! When I first finished, the second book hadn't been formally announced and I was so sad because there needed to be more to the story. So I was conflicted, as you are. Then, as I stalked perused Goodreads, I saw that joy of joys, there was to be a sequel! And I may have squealed a little, but that's okay, it's just because I liked the book that much. 
  

My only minor issue with the book is that I had hoped for a bit more background on the world. While the world building itself was solid, I was a little confused on a couple of things, the "where" and "when" of the situation. But that is really the ONLY negative. And, since there will be a sequel that could answer these questions, I am not going to let it affect my rating.

Bottom Line: This is probably a 4.75 star, but because I really liked it, I am going to go ahead and rate with my heart and give it the full five. I enjoyed it, I need the next one, and I am going to buy a finished copy ASAP, which means, yeah, I recommend this one for sure, especially if you're a fan of the genre!