I first saw this book when it was up for the White Pine fiction award, which is an award where students vote for the best book. I picked it up, read a couple pages, and immediately put it away. Now, that’s unusual of me but the reason I did so is because I absolutely cannot stand books that have grammatical errors, whether it is spelling or lack of quotation marks. And this book has no quotation marks and is written in what I considered a “southern twang” style; you can almost hear the Texan drawl as you read it. Anyways, I decided to give it a go because it’s been gaining popularity and they are apparently going to make a movie out of it.
The book is about Saba and her twin brother, Lugh. They’ve been inseparable since birth and have gotten even closer once their mother passed away while giving birth to their younger sister, Emmie. Their father seems to be losing his mind, always raving about the stars and fate and rain, none of which ever amounts to anything. Until the day a huge dust storm occurs and the Tonton emerge from its midst to take Lugh away. When Saba and her father try to stop them, Saba’s father is killed. Now Saba must protect Emmie and find Lugh, wherever it is he may be before something happens to him.
I ended up finishing this book in 4 hours because it was just that good. The intrigue is good, the build-up is good, the character development and growth is realistic and amazing all at once. It has a little romance, too (isn’t that the case with all teen novels?) which I wasn’t a huge fan of but nor did I hate it. I’m looking forward to the next book and I’m interested to see how the movie turns out (though it is rare that a movie is better than the book!) If you want a fast-paced adventure book that isn’t super heavy, definitely give this a go!
Happy reading ~