Ash’s job is to help villagers survive the annual purge, and she is despised for the tough love she must use to do this. When Ash makes one final mistake, she is led to an unusual sort of coming of age. The world around her, everything she thought she knew, begins to unravel, and she struggles to hold together the pieces until she can escape the dystopia of her life. Entangled in a twirling romance, Ash soon finds herself spiralling headfirst towards the future she’d always dreamt of. Or, is it? Will she discover in time that she is only a pawn on the ruthlessly heart-breaking chessboard?
I saw one of my friends talking about this book. It had just released and it was a self-published book. I love supporting small authors and I decided that if the blurb for this sounded interesting I had to pick up a copy and try it.
Agh. This is like the indie version of The Hunger Games and I loved it so much. Aside from having amazing characters, it also had an interesting world, dialogue that made me laugh and also disturbed me, and some pretty dark spots that really resonated with me. I really enjoyed the look at the dark side of humanity. Ayden was so sadistic and uncontrollable. That made this book that much more interesting and scary to read. As a debut this book is pretty strong and I can't wait to read more from Phoebe.
I have had this book for about a year and was always 'getting around' to reading it, and as of today, I have. I thought the story was a great concept with a story that was paced incredibly well with a strong lead to follow. Phoebe does not shy away from writing scenes with dark tones and ones that can make you wince as you read. The ending was especially gripping! A great twist and a romance to root for. I would definitely recommend this story to a friend and I thoroughly loved it, looking forward to future projects from this author!