Here is the situation. After a series of events made the
earth’s surface inhabitable, humans were forced to go underground and
eventually create the Tri-realms: the Sun Realm, the Moon Realm, and the Star
Realm. Seventeen- year-old Adele Rose is
in the Pen as part of a life sentence after her parents were arrested and
convicted as traitors. When she turns 18, which will be soon, she will be
transferred to the “Max” to serve out the rest of her sentence. Her younger
sister, Elsey, is currently at an orphanage and her parents have been taken to
parts unknown, possibly dead. With the help of her new friends Tawni and Cole,
Adele is determined to break out of the Pen and find her family.
One day, while sitting in the courtyard of the Pen, Adele
spots Tristan Nailin as he travels past during his tour of the Mood Realm.
Tristan is a Sun Dweller and the eldest son of President Nailin who rules the
Tri-Realms. Tristan is a celebrity within the Tri-realms and most girls would
do anything just to be in his presence. Adele, however, has never been enticed
by his status or his good looks. To her, Tristan is just a spoil Sun dweller
that lives a life of luxury in the Sun Realm while the Moon and Star dwellers
suffer a life of poverty and hardship. When Tristan and Adele make eye contact,
however, they experience intense headaches for reasons unknown. Tristan detests
his father, the Sun Realm, and his celebrity status. Curious about his intense
attraction to Adele (but, not in the “love-at-first-sight” kind of way) and the
intense pain that he experiences in her presence and desperate to get away from
his father and the Sun Realm, Tristan decides to go on a journey, with his
friend and servant Roc, to the Moon Realm to find Adele. And to top off everything, a war begins to
brew within the Tri-Realms. The story is told in the alternating points of view
of Adele and Tristan.
All the characters in this book are three dimensional with
strong personalities, especially the main characters Adele and Tristan. There
are no shallow characters; actually those types of people are severely frowned
upon by Adele, Tristan and their friends. I think my favorite character was Cole.
He is a really intense, mysterious man who is quick tempered but just as
quickly comical and forgiving. He is also very protective and is a good judge
of character. Although he is very curious about her, he seems to trust Adele
and want to help her quite quickly. In turn, Cole’s sarcastic nature helps to
break the ice that has formed around Adele over her 6 months in the Pen. Adele
is quickly drawn to and mirrors Cole’s humor. There are a few interactions
between them that had me laughing out loud. As a matter of fact, a good amount
of sarcasm and comic relief can be found throughout the book, even within the
thoughts of Adele and Tristan.
For the action fans out there, you will definitely not be
disappointed with this book. There are plenty of battle scenes that include
swords, whips, guns, and Tasers. But the most intriguing one are the old
fashioned, hand to hand battles where there is taunting and the participants
circle each other before engaging. And
despite the obvious separation of classes (Sun dwellers being the upper class,
Moon being the middle and Star being the lower) and the dictatorship society
(although, Tristan mentions many times how his father wants to be referred to
as President rather than King…you know, to give the illusion of a democracy
when there clearly isn't one…classic dystopian), there still remains a sense of
fair play in battle, at least on occasion. For example, in the Pen, when a fight
breaks out between two prisoners (or “guests” as the guards ironically call
them), even if one of the prisoners has a group of friends or is a part of a
gang, no one is to interfere with the battle.
I would have to agree with one reviewer who questioned the
characters’ ability to heal quickly. I don’t feel it is in the sense that one
minute the character is badly injured and the next they’re 100% better. It’s more
like at one point the character is injured to the point of needing medical
attention and a scene or two later, the injury is kind of an after-thought as
the character gets involved in another life threatening situation, performing
heroic deeds. I will take the question even further, however,
by asking how in a post-apocalyptic world where people are suffering from
poverty can these kids get access to proper medical supplies? For example, not
giving too much away, there is a point where Tristan and Roc suffer severe
injury in battle and one of the characters (won’t name names to avoid spoilers)
is able to hide safely and get food, medical supplies, and mats within a
relatively short amount of time. I know this is fiction and the protagonists
are supposed to overcome great adversity to accomplish their goals, but most
readers would prefer that this be at least somewhat realistic. And this is not
to single out Mr. Estes and his writing...this is not the first time I've seen
this. It’s not a huge turn off for me, but it is the kind of thing that has my
scratching my head a little.
There is one mistake that I found and I wonder if it was
purposeful or if I read it wrong (I went back a couple of times to make sure). As
I mentioned, the book alternates between the POV of Adele and Tristan and each
change in POV is labeled. Not to veer off the topic, but one of the things I loved
about this novel is how the POV is changed at just the right moment of
suspense. The last time I read such good structuring was in The Help. Anyhow, at one point in the
book, Tristan is treading cautiously trying to get past some soldiers. The
section ends with Tristan stating “something stabs me in the back.” Again, a
good way to end the section before changing to the POV of Adele. However, in
the next section, we find out that Tristan was actually hit in the jaw (again,
no major spoilers). This left me scratching my head and going back and
rereading Tristan’s section again. How can he say something stabbed him in the back,
when he was obviously hit in the face? Am I missing something here?
For those romantics out there like myself, there is a bit of
romance. Now, I haven’t read too many male authors, at least not many current
one, so I can’t speak from vast experience; however, I will admit that I was a
little surprised by the romantic angle, even if it is subdued compared to other
books I've read in this genre. What surprised me was that it was brought in so
early on in the book, kind of giving the impression that this is going to be
the central theme that drives the novel. That feeling is immediately squashed,
however, as Mr. Estes makes it clear that this isn’t going to be a mushy,
lovey-dovey type of romance. Adele and Tristan both state that their pull
towards each other is not the “love-at-first-sight” type of attraction, but one
that is more obscure and that cannot be clearly labeled. So if you’re looking for something that is
obviously sappy, full of hugs, hand-holding, and kisses, then I suggest looking
elsewhere. That type of stuff is not of abundance in the book and I seriously
doubt that the rest of the story will be much different. I actually have a
couple of theories about Adele and Tristan’s connection, but I can’t go into
them without spoilers.
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