1.5
I really, really wanted to love this book. I mean, dystopian and I are pretty tight, and I love when I hear an intriguing premise for a new one! The synopsis is quite vague, but I enjoy that, so I eagerly jumped in.
But I don't even know where to start with this, because none of it made a whole lot of sense to me. The beginning was decent, and I was able to keep up, even though a lot of the terms meant nothing to me. But I got the general idea of Lyla being in school to hopefully work her way into a higher socioeconomic class, and then getting into serious trouble for stealing just to help her parents' health conditions. That was solid, and I was getting into it. But then I started to get really confused, really quickly. Why?
- The world in itself. There wasn't really any explanation for why this society became as it was. Nor was there any indication of the outside world. The story starts without any explanation, and I expected one to unfold as the book went on. It does not.
- I don't know what any of these terms mean. Some of them, like "slagging" or "merde", are slang, I guess. Though I have no idea why they are slang, because usually a slang words makes a semblance of sense to a world, but these didn't. But then there's actual, legitimate terms that matter to the plot that left me going back in the book to see if I missed a chapter or seven. "Protean", which is one of the biggest aspects of the story I still don't fully understand. Nor do I understand the Alchemyk thing, but I am pretty sure it has to do with the Protean? Or something?
- And then everyone had names. Red Fists and Bluecoats, and Marked... but then they all had other name too. Lyla and her friend Gil had special names given to them by other Marked kids- like Bright and Knife and Scooter (fine, I made up Scooter)- and I had no damn clue who was talking to who half the time, since Gil and Lyla still used their real names to each other. I was pretty sure my brain would explode.
- I don't understand the point. At all. I get that Lyla wanted her mark removed, of course. But the broader plot? Seriously, no idea. I guess it would be ideal if the miners didn't get sick. And maybe if people weren't attacking each other on the regular. But no one but Lyla, Gil, and a handful of others seemed to even care about that stuff.
- The ending felt like there was to be a sequel, but there's no indication that there is. It felt to me that most of it was left unresolved, but I guess maybe that's just how it was supposed to be.
- The graphic/comic portions of the story were cool, but I didn't really understand how they came into play other than "Lyla likes this Alchemyk Origin comic". Because I still didn't understand any of it.
- Lyla became acclimated into the underground seedy world very quickly. She went from Mary Sue to Lara Croft in about ten minutes. She learned all the nuances and terms and politics as though she'd been doing it for years. So that was kind of unbelievable. Especially since I couldn't even figure it out by the end of the book...
Bottom Line: Oy. I suppose maybe, if you can comprehend all the elements of the book, it may go better for you? On the other hand, even without those issues, I still was disappointed by the world building and lack of resolution. The characters and the little hint of romance were the saving grace for me.
*Copy provided by publisher for review