What if a girl became all-powerful? Her boyfriend wouldn’t like it.
Into the Blind
Helen Rena
Genre: Scifi, Horror, Young Adult
In a world where everyone is gifted, be it in dancing, lightning-bringing, or death-giving, Ever is born…all-powerful.
For this gift, she is kidnapped and trafficked at birth. Fifteen years later, Ever still hasn’t seen even a glimmer of her powerful gift. Locked in an abandoned mall in New York City, she’s fighting to survive her captivity, her brutal guards, and the other gifted kids in her cell. She would do anything to escape.
Fox is gifted with time manipulation. Like Ever, he hasn’t come into his gift yet; like Ever, he hates the mall; and like Ever, he longs to be free. But there’s one thing he values above his freedom—it’s Ever’s love…
…yet, when the two make a desperate attempt to escape, this attempt proves so dark and twisted that it just might destroy Ever’s love for Fox.
This
book is hard to review. Not because it was a poorly written book, or
that it doesn't work, but because it's hard to write about it without
talking about the twists and spoilers! The world of Into
the Blind
is one where in the 1950s or so (I could be a bit off on the year, but the point was is that it was a bit in the past), it was discovered that children were
now being born with a genetic difference that causes them to develop
a strong talent. Some are born graceful, with a natural sense of
rhythm and are called 'Dancers'. Some are born with the ability to grow
in size and strength and are called 'Gods'. Others have the ability
to influence the emotions of themselves and those around them. These
are called 'Hearts' and are incredibly rare and considered dangerous
and often evil. One of the most famous 'Hearts' was Hitler for
example.
Our
protagonist, Ever, is a 'Heart'. As a child she was sold to
Traffickers and raised along with three other children with promising
abilities. She has spent her entire life trapped in a bookstore.
The
world is laid out carefully and deliberately. We're introduced to an
ability at a time. Things aren't thrown at us too quickly. Rena also
establishes the personalities of our four main characters cleverly
and quickly through the opening scenes. The tensions we will
experience throughout the entire novel are set up in those scenes.
The
plot begins with their escape and how they find the outside world is
nothing like they imagined it from the books in their store. It's a
Wonderland-esque nightmare with everyone against them and time
running out. There are themes of choices, power and most of all
obsession.
I
found myself locked into the book with this ever present feeling of
dread. The whole set up reminded me of so many nightmares I'd had of
being trapped, of people being after me, of running but feeling like
I wasn't getting anywhere. As I'm almost positive that's how I was
supposed
to feel while reading the book, I'd say Rena did a pretty fabulous
job.
In
conclusion, I think that the writing and the idea behind this book are
it's strongest points. For those looking through books that have come out recentely, this is not one to pass over. It's hard to summarize who this
book would appeal to, however. It's got the desperate feeling of a dystopia,
though it's not quite one. It's got world-building aspects similar to
the Gone Series by Michael Grant and X-Men, with a different twist. I
think mostly, however, it is a book that would appeal to those who enjoy
plotlines that remind them of Alice in Wonderland, of falling down
the rabbit hole into a place that makes absolutely not sense.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
About the Author
Helen Rena loves reading and writing novels. And short stories. And flash fiction. She has a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, and a vast collection of books and green bottles. She is still not sure why green bottles. She lives in Southern Oregon with her husband and two children. Please visit her at helenrena.com.
Other Author Links:
2 comments:
Hi, Sam, thank you so much for your lovely review!!! I greatly appreciate your opinion! I wrote the same thing in the previous comment, but then accidentally deleted it. I'm so good with technology. :) Again, thank you for your review and for hosting me today.
Post a Comment