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In a world run by the (almost) all-powerful and (almost) omniscient artificial intelligence Thunderhead, only the Honorable Scythes deal permanent death to near-immortal humans.

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But there's lots of descriptions of dresses.Ī probably harmless, entirely forgettable series opener.ĭeath proves impermanent in this sequel to Scythe (2016). Scant explanation is made for the ructions that have created the current political reality, and the palace is laughably vulnerable to rebels from both the North and the South, neither of whom are given any credible motives. Shabby worldbuilding complements the formulaic plot. Prince Maxon is much nicer than she expected, but she will remain loyal to Aspen. She's chosen, she goes to the palace, she draws the ire of the other girls with her beauty and the interest of the prince with her spunky independence. But pressure from both her family and Aspen causes her to relent, and the rest is entirely predictable. America, a Five, doesn't want to join the Selection because she is in love with Aspen, a Six. The winning girl will become queen, and her family will all be elevated to Ones. One girl will be chosen by lottery from each province to travel to the Capital and live in the palace so the prince can make his choice. In a rigid, caste-based dystopian future, Illéa’s Prince Maxon has come of age and needs to marry.

In this case, if it wasn't ' The Bachelor meets The Hunger Games,' it was pretty darn close. It's a bad sign when you can figure out the elevator pitch for a novel from the get-go. Each encounter pushes Delta toward a deeper understanding of love and trust and the spaces in between in this intense, gritty, and propulsive novel. She is aided by people she meets along her journey, including a long-missing childhood friend and mysterious others. The rule of the wastes is to trust no one, but in order to survive, Delta must challenge this foundational belief. Although Delta sets out in hopes of rescuing her family, what she discovers on her quest upends everything she thinks she knows about the brutal world she inhabits.

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When Delta returns from an expedition to find her desolate home settlement of Dead River has been raided and everyone killed or abducted, she suspects the information burned into her skin might be what the General, who ordered the attack, is after. She hides these markings, knowing-as her Ma has repeatedly reminded her-that her life would be at risk if the wrong people knew about them. But though she is surrounded by the dust, heat, and desiccated misery of the wastes, she has symbols branded onto her back that seem to show the way to the Verdant, a lush oasis that may or may not exist. Seventeen-year-old Delta lives in a literal wasteland, deadly and unforgiving. A powerful teen grapples with love and truth in a post-apocalyptic landscape.

Dustborn review