terriko

Darklandia by T.S. Welti

This is an amazing novel, a utopian-dystopian world and a teenager slowly becoming aware that the world around here is not as she's been led to believe. I found it reminiscent of young adult sci fi I loved as a kid, such as Devil on My Back by Monica Hughes, or more recent takes on the genre such as Maria V. Snyder's Inside Out. Perhaps Brave New World would be a closer match to the Felicity-medicated world in Darklandia, but this walks the careful line of feeling familiar without feeling unoriginal.

What blew me away the most is that even though I was noticing clues that should have led me to the shocking ending, I didn't make the connection until the very end. Masterfully done, and while I could see how others might feel unsatisfied, I thought it was brilliant.

It's quite the page turner: I caught myself finishing it hours past my bedtime. I highly recommend this one, especially to fans of this type of speculative/science fiction, just make sure not to start it too late in the evening!

I was fortunate enough to win this in a LibraryThing member giveaway, but regardless of how I obtained the book, I can honestly say that this is among the top books I've read this year... and it's nearly November! The rest of my reading list will have a lot to live up to.