Conspiracies, murder, catastrophic disasters...just another day in your average tiny tourist town, right? This book possesses intrigue the likes of which I've been missing for awhile now. I had no idea what was going on half the time and guessing these things just makes it all the more fun. Let's dive right in.
Min Wilder and Noah Livingston both have a serious problem. Every two years, on their even-year birthday, a man comes and kills them...only to have them awaken miles away, alive and completely unharmed. Both desperately crave answers, especially when things in their small town of Fire Lake get really out of control. Government agents invade and take over the town, adults start behaving mysteriously, natural disasters are slowly wiping out parts of the world, and a planet-killer asteroid called the Anvil could be on a collision course straight for earth. Min and Noah are soon thrown into a chaotic world that they just don't understand and try and solve the mysteries of what his happening to the world or it could be then end of them all.
Sounds pretty intense, doesn't it? Well, it certainly is! The mystery and danger aspects of this book are its real selling point. It does a good job of keeping you in the dark without hoarding information and keeping things frustratingly cryptic. It knows just when to give and when to hold back. The dark tone of this book is also very well captured as you learn about the chaotic events taking place throughout the world. You feel the weight of all that is happening and you share the feeling of impending doom. Heck, the events in this book are supposed to take place later this year! I almost feel the need to stock up my disaster kit just in case these predictions turn out to be right (though, admittedly, the book didn't manage to correctly predict the gender of our current president).
The characters of Min and Noah work great as a pair of leading characters. Min lives in a trailer park and is generally a social outcast, but she's brave and possesses a strong sense of right and wrong and is able to stand up for herself. Noah is the richest kid in town and hangs with the school bullies, but he's timid and generally unable to stand up for himself or anyone else, even if he knows it is the right thing to do. As you learn about both of their experiences, how they both cope with being murdered year after year and how they've tried to escape it, you see how each of them became the person that they are. You see their experiences build them into who they ultimately are and you come to really know them and care about what happens to them.
Admittedly, I was enjoying the book a bit more in the first half of the book rather than the second half. It soon becomes more of a Lord of the Flies type story with the bullies reigning supreme and when the answers do start coming in...I'm not entirely sure they makes sense but it is still just the first book so, more answers are sure to come. It's still interesting seeing the lengths these people will go to in order to preserves life....wait a minute. Preserving life....oh my gosh! This could be a Scythe prequel! Reichs and Shusterman could be in cahoots with each other to make this a stealth prequel like Prometheus was for Aliens....and Split and Unbreakable are in the same universe...and Nilbog is Goblin spelled backwards....and the cake is a lie...and the Illuminati is real...and (takes a minute to compose)....maybe these conspiracies are starting to get to me.
Final Verdict
This book was a thrilling and intense ride. The mystery, the action, the suspense all come together in a tale about the end of the world and just how far the human race will go in the pursuit of extending life. While it has its ups and downs, I'd say that this book is totally worth your money at your local bookstore.
Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer
Next Time: A world in which drinking wine saves your life? Huh.
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