Kirsty Applebaum

Trigger warnings: Xenophobia, physical injury, child soldiers

6/10, looking back at this it was an interesting concept to say the least and I haven't read from this British author who writes sci-fi/dystopia yet until I did and honestly I enjoyed this however the execution was kind of flawed at best and kind of underwhelming at worst since I couldn't connect to this novel in any way, where do I even begin. It starts with the main character Maggie whose last name I forgot and she was living her normal life in a town called Fennis Wick like every other book until I think one of her classmates fell off a tree and hurt themselves so they needed some care however that really wasn't that important to the story. I could feel some big event was coming up soon so I waited for it to come and that was when Maggie met this other character called Una and she was classified as a wanderer or something along those lines, basically she is an outcast but why, maybe she came from another town they didn't like which might be a reason behind the Quiet War, everything here is just not that explained well. Towards the latter half of the book, Maggie thinks of a plan to overthrow the dystopian government alongside some other forgettable characters and in the last few pages she executes that plan ending this on a high note. I didn't find Maggie to be worth connecting to mainly because she's a Mary Sue and the mayor really likes exotic things and child soldiers or something like that. Wow. That's horrible. The cover's beautiful though so there's that.… (mehr)

Lonnie and his brother Midge live in a forest with their father and grandfather away from prying eyes. They are homeschooled and don't venture very far from their house because Lonnie is a lifeling, a special person who can hear when something is dying and can bring anything back to life. Unfortunately, the price for bringing an animal or person back from death is years added to the lifeling's life and even eventually death, so Lonnie's father has tried to keep him sheltered away from other people. They are especially wary of the people in the nearby village of Farstoke that has a cult and festival surrounding the belief in the Lifeling.
One day, Lonnie's father is upset with the boys and is overcome with some past grief about his wife's death that he neglects the boys and they accept a lift into town to work with Jess a neighbour. This sets off a chain of events as Jess's daughter is very ill and as they boys befriend her two daughters Katy and Erin, they learn about the lengths people will go to to save the people they love.
Nice story with lots of folklore and fairy stories interwoven in it and shows how different narratives of the same story can occur and lead to different endings. Suitable for Primary as well as secondary students.… (mehr)

Maggie is a middle child, a middler, trying her hardest to be heard in a town where only the eldest borns are valued, since they're who goes off and fights in The Quiet War. One day she meets Una, a wanderer, someone she's been told her whole life is "dirty, dangerous, and deceitful". The duo quickly become friends though and Maggie begins to question everything she's ever known to be real.

The voice of Maggie was gripping and helped me turn the pages. She's a fighter that, though she was scared, would talk herself up to become the hero she wanted to be (though not in the way she thought she would).

The ending felt a little rushed and I wished I could see a bit more of Una, but overall the book was a nice read for a cloudy Sunday. This book is a middle grade level book and was pretty fast paced for me. I read it in two settings in one day. It would be a great book as an introduction to young readers into the dystopian genre.… (mehr)