Breakdown

by Sarah Mussi

It is 2084. Nuclear radiation has poisoned the country. Society has fallen apart. Starvation is rampant, and power shortages have resulted in piles of obsolete gadgetry. Necessity has driven those who've survived to complete self-reliance, if they have the means to do so. For Melissa and her Nan, survival is just about possible, so long as they can guard the tiny crop of potatoes in their back garden and find enough fuel to cook on - and as long as they are safely barricaded inside their home by curfew.

For after dark, feral dogs hunt, and violent gangs from the old Olympic Stadium (now a miserable ghetto) roam to loot and plunder. If they catch you, they are not merciful; so when Melissa falls into the hands of Careem's gang, her prospects look bleak. But Careem soon realises that she might just be more valuable alive, as a ransom victim. However, he hasn't reckoned with Melissa's resourcefulness. Soon part of his young gang are completely beguiled by Melissa and her story of a hidden valley in Scotland - a place that sounds like a comparative paradise, if they can get there. But apparently only Melissa knows the way, and only she can lead them there. But Melissa is hiding a secret. She has never been to Scotland in her life, let alone a mythically Elysian valley there. Can Melissa's stories keep her alive long enough to escape - or will they get her killed?

Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Contemporary, Post Apocalyptic

418 pages, Paperback

First published October 2, 2014

About the author

Sarah Mussi was born in Gloucestershire. After her education at a girl’s school in Cheltenham, she completed a post graduate degree at the Royal College of Art before leaving the UK for West Africa. She lived in Ghana, West Africa for over eighteen years, marrying a Ghanaian and teaching in Accra. Sarah now lives in Brixton and teaches in Lewisham, splitting her holidays between England and Ghana.

Reviews

[Below · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the worst YA dystopian I've read by a long shot, but nowhere near the best, either. Spoilers ahead. The main problem I have with this novel is the way it's set up. Generally there are two types of dystopia, the anarchic dystopia, where civilisation has broken down completely (Lord of the Flies, for example) and the totalitarian dystopia, where the government controls everything (1984, for example). The book mingled both, and it ended up feeling like having one's cake and eating it, to be honest. To start with, we have the society where there is no society and the world is full of gangs and other nasty people, but there's also 'the army' who somehow have control over everything. According to the book, the army take over after the disaster that caused everything to get wiped out, but in reality I think that that scenario would be more likely to lead to state failure, rather than state control. Which tends to mean warlords take over rather than central army control over society (See for an example of state failure and warlords: Georgia circa 1992). Like the army has the ability to grow a lot of food in biome domes but they don't give it to the people at all. Why? I mean, other than 'for the evils'. Even regimes that are simply self-serving have a layer of ideological justification on top. Honestly when I think about it a lot of what's going on in general in this society is pretty vague, like there's ordinary people, gangs, army, the general, yet I never really understood how it was all meant to function (or not function).

Which brings us nicely onto the villains. The big bad of this book, the General, simply isn't compelling at all as a character. He is too evil for the sake of being evil and over the top. It made me roll my eyes at him more than anything else. He also seemed to be given no real justification for running society the way he did and no real personality to flesh him out as a villain. Real life figures such as Hitler, Stalin, etc., terrible people as they were, had at least some belief compelling them (or at least pretended they did even if we want to be highly cynical about their motivations) but with the General there's nothing there. To make it worse, the whole focus on the General is all about how he likes to creep on and do horrible things to young women rather than how he actually runs the society. Sure, this makes him a horrible person, but it doesn't make him a leader of a dystopian society. It's like if we learned about Beria, only the only things we were told is the fact that he liked to go around picking up young women in his car and forcing them to have sex with him while ignoring his role as the head of the NKVD.

I honestly think the book would have been better if it had stuck more to the post-apocalyptic side of things rather than introducing all the stuff with the army and all that. I think it could have told a more compelling story if it had stuck with Careem as the main villain and focussed on the breakdown of society and gangs.

As for the heroic characters, they...weren't too bad actually. Except for the nan. What the hell was up with all the weird Greek legends stuff? Not to mention the 'you must find your Orpheus' stuff bordered on the creepy. Yes, you must find a man to rescue you. Sigh. (the actual narrative doesn't really back this view up anyway because Melissa does plenty of stuff for herself).

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I officially began two weeks holiday yesterday, and celebrated by reading. I've been in a bit of a reading slump (for me) these past few months, so it was nice to read something and not think of when I have to return to work next!

I don't know if that just heightened my enjoyment of this book or not, but little things that would normally annoy me just didn't. Tarquin and Melissa literally have an insta relationship, and while different from instalove this time around it didn't get me so much. Even a slightly confusing world building didn't get me. I must have been in a good mood.

I did like Melissa, and her friendship with Lenny. I liked the ending and I liked the writing. It was the first of hopefully a reading streak for the next two weeks!

[Zarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review originally posted to my blog:

http://www.pagetostagereviews.com/201...

After reading the exceptionally well-written and mesmerising Station Eleven earlier this year, I didn't think another post-apocalyptic novel could blow me away for a long time to come, but Sarah Mussi's Breakdown came close. Very close.

The year is 2084 and nuclear radiation is at the heart of a broken society without a democratic government. Those that survived are hiding in their homes or band together in violent gangs as the streets are scattered with feral dogs ready to kill anyone weak to feed on, and people who are willing to do the same for a scrap of food or a tattered pair of shoes. With supplies scarce, it is the means to fight for anything that can be traded that is imperative to survive and so anyone weak, old or ill is doomed to be dog food.

Melissa has survived for years with her nan in their family home, living off the meagre potatoes and other produce they're able to grow in the backyard and scouting the streets to find trade for whatever else they need. But one day when when they're outside the safety of their little hideaway in London they're attacked by a group of dogs and Melissa ends up nearly drowning in the filth of the Thames, only rescued at the last moment by a boy around her own age; Tarquin.

When she regains consciousness he urges her to leave but Melissa doesn't get away before other members of the boy's gang find them and bring her to the old Olympic Stadium, where they live. Soon she finds herself confined and in the clutches of their sadistic leader; Careem. Her only hope to escape is building on the trust she's gained from Tarquin and his little brother Lenny, who worships her from the moment he lays his impressionable eyes on the older girl.

Melissa tells them they that could live in the safety of rural Scotland. The nuclear radiation has slowly disappeared from the air and nature is restoring the earth, so they can live comfortably from the land once more. All Tarquin and Lenny have to do is help her escape and she'll bring them to the idyllic cottage pictured in the keychain she carries with her everywhere she goes. But the road to Scotland is filled with obstacles and dangers and while Tarquin and Lenny trust her, what Melissa hasn't told them is that the picture in the keychain is from a place her grandmother visited when she was a child herself. It's not their family's cottage and even if it was, it would be long gone by now.

Breakdown is aimed at the YA market, but though the reader may be younger that that of the previously mentioned Station Eleven, the world-building in this novel is equally solid and complex, the characters are compelling and the story is told with incredible and almost frightening realism. Sarah Mussi has infused her post-apocalyptic world with so much detail and plausible progressions that it really isn't such a far stretch to believe that this horrifying future is the natural evolution from where we are today.

When I initially read the blurb for this novel I assumed it to be a quiet journey like the similarly themed How I Live Now by fellow YA-author Meg Rosoff; teenagers bonding together in a remote part of the country while all around them there is devastation. But Breakdown is far more action-driven, unexpected and cruel, showing the horrors people turn into when they're faced with the choice between kill or be killed. Everywhere Melissa, Tarquin and Lenny go there are people who have dealt with the catastrophe in a different way but they've all reverted to a more primitive and harsher version of themselves.

Breakdown is incredibly realistic and well written; the characters are by no means flawless but they're hugely believable and as a reader you can't help but root for Melissa despite her deceitful actions towards Tarquin and the innocent Lenny. And being familiar with the present day version of many of the places Melissa visits it was frightening to read what the world could turn into in just a few decades' time. The mention of the Eurotunnel as a means to reach the continent in particular hit home for me and I already mentally started to calculate what the odds would be for me to reach my family in the Netherlands from London if it ever came to that (answer: not very good).

Thoroughly gripping, this is one of the most interesting and complex young adult book I've read in a long time. It'll make you contemplate the scary implications of the road we're on as a society while reading and long after turning the final page too; it's a captivating and thoughtful novel.

[Nicole Issel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted something that would be a quick and easy finish with little depth to read between series and this was it. This book came to me among a group purchase of mixed books that contained some titles I wanted and was sitting idly on the shelf as a free bonus, which is the only reason I gave it a read.
I don't generally gravitate towards "YA" and, flicking the pages, this book certainly was YA so I wasn't expecting much more than a simple story that should inspire some quick emotions in young people. That in itself would have been fine to get me the casual read I needed, but I spent most of my reading experience scoffing at the situations and annoyed at the false ideas it was teaching. I'm surprised I finished it.

Firstly, the book revolved around the idea that without the bees the world would starve. Surely based on propaganda people saw revolving around the internet a few years back that made people afraid the world was losing them.
Fine, fine.. it's fiction, let's gloss over that and read the story...
But I get annoyed when it is obvious an author has not done enough research. Such as the memory describing trying to pollinate tomatoes with a feather and getting no tomatoes. I'm a grower, but one need not be a grower to learn that tomatoes are mostly self-pollinating and don't need bees to produce fruit. Just give 'em a shake.. It annoyed me the author used tomatoes as an example. Mainly because it teaches a lie. There are so many other flowering plants that require insect pollination the author could have used.
The book got put down for a cpl days..
Seeing it sitting there I decided to ignore undefended ideas and continue to read the story. But I couldn't agree with the actions of the so called villains. Such as. No bigshot agreeing to buy a girl is going to say to a gang leader "I'll give you half the money for her now and bring her back next Friday". pfft. The reality is the purchaser would lock her up in his own custody immediately on agreement, and pay them or not, not allow her to go back with ruffians who brought her in.
Ok, so skip that and move on. But it doesn't get much better. The escapes for our main players are just too easy. It seems like there's no one else there, no decent supervision or no one else is on the ball at all.
Escaping a well guarded camp without being seen running around? I mean.. c'mon.. Melissa deciding to run back alone in the process of escaping before running back to where the other two hide, unseen (and seemingly not heard) after smashing greenhouse glass "to free the bees"?
I'll gloss over the beekeeping fact bees will not fly away free and find a queen elsewhere. lol..

Now, I must admit. There were a couple of nice lines of descriptive prose in this book. But unless the author was in a hurry to get the book published I feel they must have been let down by proof readers and editors. The story could have been sharpened up in many places where it lacks in flow. There are instances like.. "I stand up" - some prose - "I stand up", where you can't help but think "But were they not already standing?"
In chapter 16 Nailey grabs Melissa's arm and drags her like a dog. She slips and Tarquin catches her and she leans on him. So the reader will assume Nailey let go, which you feel sure about when Melissa lets Nailey get 10 paces ahead so she can whisper to Tarquin. But turn the page and you find "Nailey lets go of her arm" without any indication he grabbed it again. It isn't good writing.

I was seriously considering leaving it down as a DNF, but I wasn't ready to go back to my series yet and realised I did not have much more to read, so decided to see if the conclusion to the actual story, despite its presentation, would be somewhat fulfilling. But no. I felt I haven't read such a crappy book in a while, and I think reading a book in first person also doesn't inspire me.

I almost gave it 2 stars for the fact that it got published and I finished it. But I simply can't bring myself to promote a book that teaches lies alongside the belief of a nonsensical idea.
I'm surprised I finished it. Or rather feel I let myself down doing so..

[Alyssia Cooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is 2084 and nuclear radiation has decimated the majority of the country and left survivors trying to survive in a world where the niceties that keep society together have been overtaken by gangs, starvation and feral dogs that will tear you apart. If you don't take any risks and get back in the house by curfew, then you have a chance of survival. But when Melissa's Nan takes the risk of being out after curfew to get her hands on some shoes, Melissa's small world falls apart at the seams and being taken by a gang leads to one act of desperation after another.

Breakdown is the second book of Sarah Mussi's that I have been severely disappointed by. Out of three in total, that isn't a good total. Breakdown also managed to infuriate and annoy me in turns with poor character development, a plot that jumps about too much and a Godlike Nan who seems to have become omnipotent with her death. The first eye roll moment comes from the fact that of course Melissa is astoundingly beautiful and of course her beauty is both a blessing and a curse. Stunningly beautiful lead females in teenage dystopian novels are overdone and then some.

Secondly, the character of Melissa is simply...tiresome. Sometimes she seems to have some brain cells between those two beautiful ears and yet other times she is utterly vapid and reliant on the man of the story to save her. She isn't a consistent character at all. She umms, ahs, dithers and yet will later quite happily throws boiling water over somebody in the blink of an eye. Her Nan is even more of a nightmare; all of the wisdom that Melissa has ever seemed to have heard comes from her Nan's voice in her head and it's out of place from the frail character we actually meet at the beginning of the novel. That actual Nan went out in the knowledge that it was dangerous and foolish to get robbed blind for shoes and then break her ankle on route home; this same Nan's advice goes from typical 'don't trust boys' to advice on being a ruthless, heartless, lying bitch. It's rather odd. The reliance on Greek mythology and the symbolism of Melissa meaning bee also becomes wearying after the eight hundredth repetition.

The love angle between Melissa and Tarquin is equally irritating and I do wish authors would give teenagers a little more credit than falling in love with the first decent bloke they see. It's an irritating plot device that takes away more than it gives. The angle between Melissa and the child Lenny worked well, and if that had been played as a mothering angle with less empathis on the sappy romance between two characters fleeing for their lives then it would have worked better and been more believable. After all, Tarquin has already given up huge amounts for the sake of his younger brother and you wouldn't need the sappy angle to carry the relationships between the characters if it was played well.

Another main issue with this book is that the world building is poor at best and potentially abysmal at worst. This might be because the author was simply trying to cover too much ground and therefore couldn't link it all together, but the world in which the story is set just doesn't quite gel. Part of building a dystopian novel is in the world-building of where everything went wrong and how it sticks together now; Sarah Mussi fails at this. I simply didn't understand how certain decisions were made and what was behind them; how the army are growing bountiful harvests and yet none of this is getting back to any of the population. It makes no sense; even from an evil for the sake of evil perspective any person in charge is going to realise that a population that is starving to death isn't the most productive at rebuilding the country. There was no definition of how the gangs worked under the army, what in fact the army did except for finding people who have escaped the city and taking them to manual labour camps that seemed like better places to live than the city and what the General is actually a General of.

Which leads me neatly to my next point; the enemies are shockingly poor and this is mostly due to the poor world building. There are two big baddies as such; Careem who comes across as a more realistic villain, head of a gang in a dog eat dog world and the General who seems to have no purpose except for having a weakness for finding beautiful young girls and breaking their body and spirit. Even Careem makes shockingly poor decisions for no reason other than it moves the story along though; he is meant to be wily as well as ruthless, cunning as well as brutal and yet very little he actually does suggests this. His treatment of Lenny and Tarquin might make sense if either had embarrassed him, yet neither did and his willingness to break a useful asset for the sake of pointless brutality destroys any remnant of brains he is meant to have. The General is even worse; there is no character development at all and his only motive is breaking young girls. That's it. He is acting for no reason other than his spurious desires and that alone is enough for him to go traipsing across this desolate world in pursuit of one beautiful girl amongst many.

But possibly the real fall down for the book, and it might well be the reason for all the above faults, is that it tries to do too much and falls down hard. It's almost trying to be a mix of two genres of dystopian fiction; post-apocalyptic survival and governmental totalitarian, but in trying to do both it fails to do either. It doesn't link the governmental totalitarianism into the post-apocalyptic survival aspect and it's almost as if there are too entirely different worlds existing without any ties or links, except they are existing far too closely for this to be possible. On top of that you end up with the action chase across the country for little reason other than the General has taken a shine to Melissa's beauty.

===Do I Recommend?===
Effectively, this is let down by much the same things that let down Riot; poor world-building, insipid and inconsistent characters, random repetition and lack of depth. It isn't the worst I've ever read, but it certainly isn't the best either. If you're looking for stunning dystopian fiction then Hunger Games and Divergent come immediately to mind as far superior modern alternatives and even Delirium which isn’t one of my favourites either but is better written than this. 1984 and Animal Farm are of course classics that shouldn't be forgotten. Siege by the same author is a more compelling read.

[aseriesofpages · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I picked this up because it didn't look like anything I'd ever before and the cover and blurb looked great so I picked this up. This was BRILLIANT!! It wasn't like anything I'd ever read before and it was so good!!! My first favourite of 2018!

Melissa was a character I liked, she was smart and I liked her and both Tarquin and Lenny were great characters too. It was fast paced and I never got bored because there was always something going on. What I really liked was how the whole book wasn't based in one setting because based on the blurb, I was expecting the whole book to be about her trying to escape but this wasn't so it was a pleasant surprise.

In short, just read the book because it was brilliant. My only complaint with this is probably that I wanted more in the ending so.....that was the only that disappointed me and the only reason I didn't give this a higher rating. But overall, I really enjoyed this and would 100% recommend.

[Rebecca Woolterton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for the first time when I was 12 and it got me back into reading and reignited my joy at reading again. To this day I still read it regularly and comes with me everywhere lol. How it is written and paced is a delight and keeps you hooked. Melissa is such an amazing character and I love how she's not "perfect" she's flawed and relatable in how she deals with everything around her. She's also so strong and uses what she has to her advantage to help herself and those closest to her. Lenny was a delight but tarquin has my heart and is my favorite book character of all time. What really makes the book stand out is the element of Greek mythology really enhances what Sarah mussi is trying to portray and makes the book stand out amongst other books of the same genre.

[Josh Heng · Rating 5 out of 5]

A novel vaguely similar to Of Mice and Men.
Set in the UK after a nuclear war (2084) where there is no real government, gangs are everywhere and dogs are lethal, the protagonist, Melissa, teams up with 2 other people to try to escape 'The General' and become free. The other members of her team are a boy and his young brother, who Melissa tells that she has a Scotland cottage. They manage to get there, but it turns out that it doesn't exist.
There is a running theme of metaphors and quotes from Greek mythology about Gods and bees, and quotes from Melissa's grandma/nan who was killed by the lethal dogs when she tried to buy Melissa a birthday present (shoes).

[Taliah · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 years later, this is still in my top 5 books. I've read it about 3 times and always recommend it to friends.

[Eugenia (Genie In A Book) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*This review also appears on my blog Genie In A Book*

Thank you to Five Mile press for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

The General is evil. He ravages the beautiful. Like Aristaeus in the Greek myths, he desires what is not his.

Breakdown is a gritty and somewhat unsettling read exploring how societies would react in a world where nuclear radiation has devastated life as we know it. With a cast of well-developed characters, inclusion of some Greek mythological references and subtle metaphors, this is a dystopian novel that stands out from what we've seen before and brings something new to the table.

The bees died because of mankind's greed. It was a penalty for our misuse of the natural world. Man's excesses upset the balance of nature, brought death, brought destruction.
Wasted populations.

The references to the bees which in many ways I felt represented how individuals in Melissa's time trying to exist in this derelict civilisations, were interesting ones. Although it certainly isn't the focus of the story, it did add that unique touch which you come across every now and then, and it gives you something to think about. Another aspect which I really loved was the Greek mythology that was a running theme. This comes into the story through Melissa remembering her Nan's stories, and what Sarah Mussi has achieved is weaving in the various myths to reflect what was happening in the actual plot at those times. It was fascinating to find this in a dystopian novel, which you wouldn't normally expect, and it really appealed to me.

Only the strong survive. And the weak ones know it. They'll drag you down. Don't show them your secrets. Starvation makes monsters of us all.

Our protagonist Melissa is someone who you can't help but side with - despite her powers of manipulation for the sake of survival. She matures throughout the book and always attempts to assert herself - even when faced with brutal gangsters who she finds herself in the clutches of. Her journey to try and find a piece of idyllic freedom in a situation where such a thing seems impossible is by no means an easy one. Tarquin and his younger brother Lenny who become her companions also have their distinct character quirks, and since most of the novel is focused around the three of them and their dynamic, it is explored thoroughly.

We're gonna hold back the underworld...We'll carry the Torch that'll never go out - just like them.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Breakdown offers a glimpse into a possible futuristic reality where the human race is pushed to its limits and survival is the only goal. It's refreshing to find a futuristic dystopian novel that doesn't follow the conventional formula, and is executed to a high standard as well.

[Tash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed for Confessions From Romaholics

Breakdown was a surprise in a good way and I look forward to check this author’s other works. I was expecting a novel that would be gritty and a story of survival. However I wasn’t expecting the infusion of the Greek mythology as part of the story. This surprise was one I enjoyed a lot and brought this book to another level as it become more than another dystopia with the story and plot.

Breakdown explores the breakdown of civilities after a nuclear radiation that cause devastation of life. Set in the year 2084. London is a dangerous place. Everything we once knew is broken and the world hasn’t improved. In fact it could be say it is today less technology and electricity something we heavily rely on. This book offers a stark reminder of what our world could become in a second. For our protagonist that has been something that she known for long as she can remember , with her Nan. But in one chapter, everything changes and she forced to grow up and worry about herself.

Surviving is the only thing Melissa cares about and using her Nan’s stories to help and the bees’ story becomes an subtle but important part to the story as she makes her way to a better life and convince herself that there is more in Scotland and the others. She not afraid to stoop down to manipulation to survive as she wants her old life back where she was unknown to the world . Despite being forced into a position where she has to consequently looking after herself and soon Lenny, one of her companions on the journey. Melissa is likeable despite using herself as way to get forward and you have to wonder about her as she wishes for the simple life but she going along with the crazy dream she dreamed as she wants to be safe. The authors plays with on minds using vivid descriptions to describes this world and Melissa and you want to hate her because of the person she is physically. But you don’t because the author creates well round characters and you get to see them at their lowest and their high’s and understand where they are coming from.



This dystopian novel doesn’t created a fully fantasised story for Melissa and the other characters we met along the way. It well developed in all senses and broken down in parts to signal the changes coming as Melissa ‘ Missa’ tries to keep her Nan’s memory live and make a future that is better for herself. I enjoyed Mussi’s story and the journey figuratively and physically Melissa goes through this book and that why I give this book .

4.5 couples


For more of my reviews, visit Confessions From Romaholics.And drop by the blog's Facebook page

[Anya (An Awful Lot of Reading) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in a world where all the bees have disappeared and the food stock is running low, Melissa and her Nan are just about surviving in London. But then cornered by a pack of hungry dogs, her Nan sacrifices herself to keep Melissa safe but she still ends up in the hands of the Game City Gang, with a powerful and violent leader that realises Melissa is a valuable commodity to trade to the General. The world building was amazing, from the rundown London to the dwindling population and the every man for himself attitude. It was harsh and tough and you could not trust anyone, least of all a gang member who said he will trade you to a sadistic nutjob as a plaything. The whole thing made me a little sick; not only was the world dying, the remaining people were just making surviving worse.

Melissa uses her Nan's advice to set about escaping. Hearing her voice to stay tough and don't let anyone in, Melissa sets about using her rescuer, Tarquin, and his little brother Lenny to help her run away, to a made-up safe place in Scotland. Lenny, only being 6, eats this up and wants to hear everything about it. Even before we really knew them, I could understand why they needed to believe in a place like the cottage; their life sucked. And as Melissa got to know them, she began to feel guilty to lying to them and they became her family.

The overall story was much more fast-paced and action driven than I expected it to be; very much a survival thriller where they have to outrun violent gangs, vicious dogs and the army. Of course they nearly don't make it, with plenty of obstacles that don't want them leaving, Careem being the main one. As they attempt to leave London, they are taken by the army and used to work on a farm. There, we learn much more about the corruption that is limiting the food going to the city or any other place that actually need it. Figures that even in a world where just growing vegetables is a minor miracle, someone is still trying to make money and power off them.

Written in a colloquial bad-on-purpose slang, Melissa and the boys' stories drag you in and pull at your heartstrings. Even knowing she had to ditch them, Melissa came to care for them and vise versa. Their incredibly tough journey was an amazing story to read, a classic UK dystopia with stubborn and sweet characters that you just have to cheer for.

[Josie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea of this, and the writing, and Lenny was pretty damn cute, but I just felt sort of meh about the romance between Melissa and Tarquin. I also thought the worldbuilding was vague and handwavey and left me with a lot of unanswered questions. (What was going on with the Army? Like, they were supposed to be in charge and they ran the farms/biomes growing food but then... didn't hand it out... because they were corrupt? I didn't see the distinction between them and the gangs, or why the General had so much power and influence when there was pretty much nothing left to rule...)

Also, what is with Sarah Mussi's obsession with mythology? In Bomb she also put in weird dream sequences that didn't mean anything and had no relevance to the plot... In this, Melissa keeps remembering things her nan used to say, e.g. "watch out for the snake in the garden" and "find your own Orpheus." (Yeah, find a man who had ONE JOB and couldn't even get that right.) And then she would take these sayings almost literally. Also, we get it, her name means honeybee. I lost count of how often the ~symbolism~ of this was pointed out.

But it was fast-paced, and I enjoyed the grittiness of it! There was some solid advice on how to take down a dog with your bare hands (you never know when this information might come in handy), and I couldn't fault the grim factor (always a must in dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction). But I find it really hard to believe that the coal mining community up north would just sacrifice EVERY LAST ONE of their children to the mines. Like, okay, you gotta keep the mine running, I get that... But did no one stand up and say, HMM, THIS MIGHT BE UNSUSTAINABLE IN THE LONG RUN?

[Isobel Ramsden · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a thriller set in a dystopian world ravaged by nuclear disaster. The survivors are starving, except the army top-dogs who have taken charge. Law and order have broken down. London is a wasteland and, up North, the coal mines are opening again. Amidst this chaos, the beautiful Melissa must find her way, heeding her nan's advice to trust no one. The short sentences make this a pacy read and the cliff-hangers maintain suspense throughout. There is a lot of violence and swearing. Alongside the consequences of nuclear disaster and social breakdown, mythology and the power of storytelling are central themes. Although I found this novel a bit difficult to get into and Lenny's cuteness is irritating, Melissa is a heroine with true grit, the themes are interesting and there's even the odd bit in French.

[Doll · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really really really enjoyed this book. Couldn't give it five stars because it wasn't quite as exceptional as siege also by Mussi. It had me guessing up until the end because the plot dragged you back and forth throughout. Some may find it repetitive but I really enjoyed it and effectively created suspense leading to a nail biting climax at the end. Thrilling stuff and so action packed at times I had to hold my breath while reading.

[SAVINA · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual Rating :- 2.75 Stars
I read this in 2015, I can't believe I'm only now marking it as read. I remember really enjoying the fast paced story telling and the romance, I also enjoyed the characters and the dystopian factor of the book however the ending was so lack lustre and so foreseeable... However it was a good book :)

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Karla Brading · Rating 5 out of 5]

SPECTACULAR thrill ride. A savvy beauty surviving in an apocalyptic world of very scary men. Couldn't put it down!

[TMM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling read set in a dystopian world.

[Grace Middleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book for $6 and this book tops many of the other $20+ books I've read

[T · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

<3 comfort book