The Rising Storm (Paradigm, #1)

by Ceri a Lowe

[Emma (SCR)]

This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Thank you to Bookouture for my copy of this book. I am a HUGE YA Dystopian fan so when Bookouture mentioned they had a YA Dystopia Trilogy coming I was oh so very excited.

This book is set in two different timelines. One is set in the present day, with Alice the other is set 90 years in the future, with Carter.

In the Prologue we meet Carter who is about to be frozen for an unspecified amount of time. The reason for this is hinted in the book but not explicitly stated. We then dive 90 years into the past and meet Alice. We hear about the storms and the ugliness that Alice has to endure. She is an extremely brave young girl. When we return to Carter he is being woken up after 15 years. We then flick between the two timelines for the rest of the book, each chapter is dedicated to one timeline.

I have to say I was extremely suspicious of Pardigm Industries. They have been prepared for the storms for a long time. I’m almost tempted to say they caused the storms to create the world that they wanted. But that’s just my suspicious brain.

There were a few things I didn’t really understand. The first was the difference between Descendants and First Gens. It’s a little unclear. My understanding was that the Descendants were from the first group to leave after the storms but I wasn’t really sure about the First Gens. Were they the rest of the population that was saved? There also could have been a bit more explanation of something’s in Carter’s time. What is fauclate? How did the Model come into existence? (this one might actually be answered in the rest of the series).

I think that there are some things in Carter’s time that Alice would not have liked. She wanted everyone to be equal but it’s clear that this is not the case. I think that there will always be those that will try to put themselves above others in anyway they can.

As the book unravels I was extremely torn. I understand why Alice made the new world the way she did. It was the best way then but for Carter’s time I can see why things need to change. Seeing the book from two different POV really forces you to think about the difference in their worlds.

I enjoyed Ceri’s writing style. It was easy to read and the pace was good too. This book set up the two timelines very well. There was a lot of world building here which is essential for a dystopian novel. I absolutely loved the ending. I thought it was a perfect set up for the rest of the series, which I cannot wait for.