All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting-plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers-escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition.

He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.

Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. Life-affirming science fiction with spaceships, optimism in the apocalypse, and a diverse cast that reflects the real worldĪ gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.įifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. It's unsurprising that Duyvis, autistic herself, draws a superbly nuanced portrait of Denise as person (not a collection of pitiable autism tropes or cure narratives), but what makes this a winner is the nerve-wracking adventure. Heroism isn't restricted to Denise, nor is she the only complex, deeply imperfect character to make selfish choices in this unbearable world. Meanwhile she seeks her sister, lost in the rubble of Amsterdam. She's desperate to find a place on the ship for her family, but on a ship where the two choices are 'usefulness or death,' she worries they'll never choose her drug-addicted mother-or her autistic self. Denise finds temporary refuge in a secret generation ship, but the residents jealously guard their precious resources. Daughter of a Dutch woman and an Afro-Surinamese man, Denise is none of the above her family has a spot in a temporary shelter, after which they’ll be stuck in the post-comet wasteland Amsterdam (and much of the planet) will have become.

What should a mixed-race, autistic, 16-year-old be willing to do to avoid certain death in an apocalyptic hellhole?Ī comet's about to strike Earth, and the rich, powerful, or lucky have choices: they can survive in underground shelters for the decades until the planet is once again easily habitable or take to a generation ship headed to deep space.

On the edge of gone by corinne duyvis