The Guard Selection series, bk# 2.25 Dystopian Fantasy Romance Science Fiction Review #1 1 Star (a waste of time) “The Guard” by Kiera Cass follows Aspen, a palace guard in lllea, where the selection of a princess for Prince Maxon is happening. Aspen is torn between his duty and his feelings for a girl named Lucy, leading him to struggle with his inner conflicts. As tensions rise, Aspen is faced with difficult choices about his … Read more
The Prince Selection series, bk #0.5 by Kiera Cass Dystopian Fantasy Romance Science Fiction Review #1 * * Stars (Just ok) In “The Prince” by Kiera Cass, Prince Maxon prepares to select his future queen. Aspen, a palace guard, secretly loves one of the candidates, America Singer, who enters the Selection for financial reasons. Maxon and America form a bond as the competition progresses despite her conflicted feelings for Aspen. As political tensions rise, Prince … Read more
The Stand by Stephen King Dystopian Horror Science Fiction Supernatural Suspense Thriller Review #1 * * * * * Stars (Amazing!) Stephen King’s “The Stand” is a dystopian genre novel (though flavorings of multiple genres are present in the text) that chronicles the journeys of an ensemble cast of characters as they learn to survive in an America that has been ravaged by a genetically engineered plague known as the Superflu. As the survivors of … Read more
Skyward Skyward #1 by Brandon Sanderson Adventure Dystopian Science Fiction Review #1 * * * * * Stars (Amazing!) All her life, Spensa has dreamed of joining the Defiant Flight School. After all, her father was a pilot, and he was one of the best. There’s just one minor problem—as her father was on a mission for the DDF, he supposedly turned coward. In response, his own flight mates shot him down. Her whole life, … Read more
Powerless Powerless trilogy #1 by Lauren Roberts Dystopian Fantasy Romance Review #1 * * * * * Stars (Amazing!) The kingdom is split into two groups, the Elites and the Ordinaries. The Elites have special powers and the Ordinaries don’t. The King ordered all the Ordinaries to be killed. There are two main characters, Paedyn is kind of hiding in plain sight because she is an Ordinary. She is forced to participate in an trial, … Read more
Iron Widow Iron Widow #1 by Xiran Jay Zhao Dystopian Fantasy LGBTQ+ Romance Science Fiction Review #1 * * * Stars (Pretty good) 18-year-old Zetian’s sister has just been killed during one of the fights against the plague of aliens that lurk outside the Great Wall. Her sister, like many others, was a concubine to a male mech pilot and her consciousness was sacrificed for the sake of the male pilot. Zetian vows to seek … Read more
Flawed Flawed duology, bk #1 by Cecelia Ahern Dystopian Science Fiction Suspense Thriller * * * * Stars (Great!) Celestine North has never questioned the Guild that enforces her country’s moral/ethical code until she finds herself in the middle of an incident on a bus where her own personal sense of what’s right trumps the law. She helps an old, Flawed man, who is clearly deathly ill, and her transgressions earn her a life sentence … Read more
Scythe Arc of a Scythe, book #1 by Neal Shusterman Dystopian Science Fiction Suspense Thriller Review #1 * * * * * Stars (Amazing!) “Scythe” follows the story of 2 protagonists: Citra Terranova and Rowan Damisch. The book starts within Scythe Curie’s gleaning journal where she explains the history of their civilization and how humans became immortal and created the Scythedom – an organization of Scythes. The Scythes are trained to “glean,” which is killing … Read more
The Innocence Treatment by Ari Goelman Dystopian Mystery Science Fiction Suspense Thriller * * * Stars (Pretty good) Lauren Fielding has always been extremely trusting, generous, good natured, and friendly – so much so that her condition is viewed as a disability, because she can’t tell when people are trying to take advantage of her. She has to be supervised outside of her home and at school and has aides assigned to her to keep … Read more
Upgrade by Blake Crouch Dystopian Science Fiction Suspense Thriller * * * * Stars (Great!) After a near apocalyptic event, the world really cracks down on any sort of genetics research and technology. Logan Ramsay, whose mother (renowned scientist) was ultimately responsible for the Great Starvation, has become an agent committed to stomping out the illegal genetics black market. During a sting, he’s caught in a blast and infected with a gene-altering virus that essentially … Read more