So on the theme of dystopian YA books this is the first in another series. But unlike The Hunger Games I haven’t read the whole series yet (just started the third book). I’d never heard of this series until someone bought me the first one as a present and I’m a bit sad that this series nearly passed me by. (That sane person after buying the first one is now being coerced into lending my the following two books!)
The premise is slightly different to other books I’ve read in this genre, in that, rather than being set in the future, we are given an alternative past to explore. Set in the 1940s in an alternative United States there’s some really interesting aspects of this series that aren’t present in the futuristic ones.
Of course it wouldn’t be a YA dystopian novel without a love triangle and although not overtly present in this first book you can see the shape of one taking place.
The book follows the fortunes of Amity Vancour who is a peace fighter. Peace fighters take part in plane fights that decide disputes between countries - rather than them going to war. The idea being it keeps the world peaceful and doesn’t result in unnecessary bloodshed.
America as we know is split into three countries and the country next door to Amity’s is run by President Gunnison who is obsessed with astrology and what he calls Harmony. He uses both to root out people who would cause problem and they are know as Discordants. Like any good dictator he’s out to control as much land and as many people as he can. Which is where he collides with Amity.
This is a brilliant book and seems to be a great start to a riveting series. I’m looking forward to finishing it off and bringing some more reviews.
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