Shadow Fall Review

**Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC of this book in return for an honest review :) 4 stars!!! If I had to sum up this book, I would say it is cross between the 'Hunger Games' and the 'Maze Runner' but this isn't necessarily a bad thing because it does have some unique elements of its own. The story is set in a futuristic dystopian world where people are segregated based on three colours - gold, silver and bronze. The golds are obviously very rich while the bronze are the poorest of the lot. Silvers are a little better off but they serve the golds. Our MC Maia is a girl that was born of both gold and bronze parents. She holds the key to saving her people from a deadly asteroid that is hurtling its way to the planet. The story is essentially one in which she is trying to reconcile two halves of herself - the heroine and the girl who lived most of her life trying to run away from things. The worldbuilding was pretty developed. I could visualise the world pretty easily. A lot of the nature of the society was based on the constellations and Greek mythology which was intriguing. There are lots of descriptions of clothes and gadgets used. It reminded me a bit of 'Capitol city' especially with the outlandish clothes and wigs. But, nevertheless, it was still riveting. The MC Maia was okay. She seems to be rather level headed and doesn't give into her emotions easily. She is very guarded yet resourceful. She is wiling to go out of her way to protect those she cares about. However, there were times when she flip-flops a bit which can be irritating. This can be seen in her relationships with Caspian and Riser. The romance element of the story is a love-triangle of sorts but a slow burn one. I preferred Maia with Riser because they had more chemistry. Caspian was just a bland character. He wasn't really that engaging. He's your typical good looking guy and that's it. Plus, he doesn't have a very strong personality considering how things change towards the end. Riser, on the other hand, was swoonworthy. He has all of these rough edges but a heart of gold. He is just the perfect book boyfriend. With regards to the minor characters, I think they are fleshed out pretty well. There are a couple of villains in the story which is rather interesting. Their personalities are rather complex and we don't know what their agendas are really. It will be good to see how this plays out in the books to come. Overall, I thought the story was great. The plot progressed really well. There are no boring bits as we are thrown instances of murder, betrayal and action. There aren't many revelations or twists except for one which was fairly obvious at least to me. However, the plot devices used for story progression were sensible and gave a seamless read. I would recommend this to lovers of science fiction and dystopia. You won't be disappointed. I look forward to book two. :)

#scifi #dystopia #youngadult #AudreyGrey