*based on an ARC edition*
To be honest, this book kinda ticked me off. I gave it two stars because I was able to read it, and was not forced to throw my Kindle across a room so as to get away from it. I liked the concept; Juneau was raised in the wilds of Alaska, led to believe by the adults in her small "clan" that World War 3 happened in 1984 and they were some of the few survivors. She and the other children were all born with a starburst pattern in their irises. They are all taught to tap into something called the Yara, which is basically Mother Nature. At a certain age they undergo a rite that ties them to the Yara for life- and it will be a long commitment because their clan does not get sick and does not age. But while she is out hunting one day she hears helicopters (which she knows about because of the small library they have which includes the Encyclopedia Brittanica) and returns to find her clan gone. Her mentor, Whit, was supposedly out on a walkabout not far from them so she goes to seek him out. When he is not where he should be, using her skills as the next Sage, she communes with the earth and it shows her where she must go. She ends up in Anchorage and is shocked to find out that there never was a war, and the world has been going on just fine. But things are not fine with her, as she soon finds out that not only are the helicopter men after her, it seems as though Whit is as well. She discovers that the head of a drug company wants her because he believes she knows how to make a drug that is essentially the fountain of youth.
Then there is Miles, the son of Blackwell, the drug company guy. We meet him right away. He has been kicked out of school and Yale has said they are holding his enrollment until he gets help for his behavior issues. Thinking he could make his father grease some wheels if he finds this teenage girl Miles overhears him talking about, he sets out for Seattle, the last place his father's men saw her. Now Miles does find her, and Juneau has been told by oracle that she must tell him the truth because he is the key to her finding her clan. But Miles thinks she's a lunatic. He's also a bit of a dick.
And that's where the story lost me. I'm intrigued by where the nature/drug/lies story is going (and I'll have to wait because I assume by the abrupt ending that this is the beginning of another trilogy) but the romance vibe is ludicrous. I like Juneau. I hate Miles. He has zero redeeming value and it stretches the imagination too thin to believe that they would ever like each other. He's an ass. He does start believing her, and start helping her for unselfish reasons, but it takes the whole book to get there. There's a kiss, and the requisite "No, I can't allow myself to feel that way towards him/her" but it's too forced and I hated it. I get that romance is a key element to YA fiction, and ordinarily I am ok with that, and there have been many beautifully written relationships in YA. This one, to me, is not the start of a beautiful relationship. Perhaps the second book will make me buy it. I suppose we'll see.
I can't say that I would recommend buying this when it comes out. I think the book would have been leagues better if it had been told solely in Juneau's perspective, and there was no thrown together romance between her and Miles. As I said, the story itself has merit, but the execution, in my opinion, was flawed.
To be honest, this book kinda ticked me off. I gave it two stars because I was able to read it, and was not forced to throw my Kindle across a room so as to get away from it. I liked the concept; Juneau was raised in the wilds of Alaska, led to believe by the adults in her small "clan" that World War 3 happened in 1984 and they were some of the few survivors. She and the other children were all born with a starburst pattern in their irises. They are all taught to tap into something called the Yara, which is basically Mother Nature. At a certain age they undergo a rite that ties them to the Yara for life- and it will be a long commitment because their clan does not get sick and does not age. But while she is out hunting one day she hears helicopters (which she knows about because of the small library they have which includes the Encyclopedia Brittanica) and returns to find her clan gone. Her mentor, Whit, was supposedly out on a walkabout not far from them so she goes to seek him out. When he is not where he should be, using her skills as the next Sage, she communes with the earth and it shows her where she must go. She ends up in Anchorage and is shocked to find out that there never was a war, and the world has been going on just fine. But things are not fine with her, as she soon finds out that not only are the helicopter men after her, it seems as though Whit is as well. She discovers that the head of a drug company wants her because he believes she knows how to make a drug that is essentially the fountain of youth.
Then there is Miles, the son of Blackwell, the drug company guy. We meet him right away. He has been kicked out of school and Yale has said they are holding his enrollment until he gets help for his behavior issues. Thinking he could make his father grease some wheels if he finds this teenage girl Miles overhears him talking about, he sets out for Seattle, the last place his father's men saw her. Now Miles does find her, and Juneau has been told by oracle that she must tell him the truth because he is the key to her finding her clan. But Miles thinks she's a lunatic. He's also a bit of a dick.
And that's where the story lost me. I'm intrigued by where the nature/drug/lies story is going (and I'll have to wait because I assume by the abrupt ending that this is the beginning of another trilogy) but the romance vibe is ludicrous. I like Juneau. I hate Miles. He has zero redeeming value and it stretches the imagination too thin to believe that they would ever like each other. He's an ass. He does start believing her, and start helping her for unselfish reasons, but it takes the whole book to get there. There's a kiss, and the requisite "No, I can't allow myself to feel that way towards him/her" but it's too forced and I hated it. I get that romance is a key element to YA fiction, and ordinarily I am ok with that, and there have been many beautifully written relationships in YA. This one, to me, is not the start of a beautiful relationship. Perhaps the second book will make me buy it. I suppose we'll see.
I can't say that I would recommend buying this when it comes out. I think the book would have been leagues better if it had been told solely in Juneau's perspective, and there was no thrown together romance between her and Miles. As I said, the story itself has merit, but the execution, in my opinion, was flawed.
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