Thank you Penguin Books Australia for this book in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis:
The year is 2172. Climate change and nuclear disasters have rendered much of earth unliveable. Only the lucky ones have escaped to space colonies in the sky.
In a war-torn Nigeria, battles are fought using flying, deadly mechs and soldiers are outfitted with bionic limbs and artificial organs meant to protect them from the harsh, radiation-heavy climate. Across the nation, as the years-long civil war wages on, survival becomes the only way of life.
Two sisters, Onyii and Ify, dream of more. Their lives have been marked by violence and political unrest. Still, they dream of peace, of hope, of a future together.
And they’re willing to fight an entire war to get there
Review:
Starting this review off with this statement: White people should read this book.
Before I started this book, I wasn’t aware of the Nigerian Civil War, but you better believe that I researched that moment in history that heightened my reaction to this story. There are parts of this book that talk about the local food, the local society and mention a historical name. But that’s what google is for people. This book is literally entertaining and educational at the same time, which makes it extremely hard to read the reviews from white people rating this book poorly because:
‘Nigerian civil war made this one boring and uninteresting to me’
“I don’t know what this means”
…. Really?
In my opinion you can’t judge a book due to your lack of knowledge around it, specially if you don’t put the effort in to find out!
That mini rant aside, I really enjoyed this book. While I’d admit the pacing of this book was a little slow after page 200 (ish?) but I can easily overlook the pacing because the brutality of war and how it effects lives, children and people’s mental state. It might be me, but usually YA books on war never really capture the brutality of it all.
Onyii is a hardcore solider at 15 years of age but her younger sister Ify is a tech genius and they are in the midst of war. I love the futurist technology that isn’t overly explained, I love the dynamic, controversial topics and action/s of war.
Need I say more? Or shall you start reading it?
Rating: 4/5
Publisher: Razorbill
ISBN: 9780451481672