Solstice (Solstice, #1)

by Jane Redd

[sstaley]

This Kindle Scout winner, is a YA Dystopian novel. The world seemed different from some of the other Dystopian worlds I've read about before which made it so compelling. It took several chapters in order to figure out what was happening in the story. More details about the world unfolded the longer you read. I kind of wished that things had happened a bit faster than they did. I was so impatient to find out why her roommate Chalice had been taken away by the government.

The main character Jezebel, Jez, was interesting and I liked her a lot. The other character I really liked was Rueben. There is somewhat of a love triangle in the book between Jez, Rueben and Sol. I liked Rueben from the first, but I can't say the same thing about Sol. I think I felt like Jez couldn't really trust Sol and it always made me nervous when Jez interacted with him. I felt nervous the whole book in fact because you never knew who to trust and who could possibly turn in people to the governing legislature. There were so many times I thought for sure Jez was a goner. The angst kept the plot moving along as you could feel the tension rise in Jez and her friends as they made choices that could seriously affect their lives and freedom.

This novel has many thought-provoking ideas about religion, falling in love and showing feelings which are all illegal in this world. It was refreshing to read a novel that had action, without a lot of violence that is so prevalent in so many novels. The ending has somewhat of a cliffhanger with a nice surprise at the end. This book is perfect for lovers of YA Dystopian stories and those wanting to discover a new world to get excited about.