A. K. Koonce

I loved this book! Dystopian worlds always fascinate me. This one does not disappoint.

Controlling human government versus the entire mystical world. This government is masterfully deceptive; the citizens believe their lives are so much better now. There’s no need for money. Everyone has a job assigned based on intelligence and social standing. Food is rationed out. Requests may be submitted for a union, but are decided by the government. Even the miracle of birth must first be approved. Reminds me a bit of George Orwell’s 1984.

As we follow the group we learn more about the characters. Kyle, injured during military service, protects Charlotte and Fallon as if they are his responsibility. Charlotte is Fallon’s mother and researcher at the local pike facility. Pikes are the human-vampire hybrids renamed using numbers. Forty-four seems to be of major interest to the head researcher, Dr. Shaw. Seventeen-year-old Fallon was matched to a boy named Micah. He mysteriously disappeared.

While adventuring, Fallon learns lessons she should have been taught in school. She should already know if hybrids are blood-thirsty creatures. She should have learned about the dangers hidden in the forests. Mystical creatures are real. They can, and will, kill.
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