Oh my goodness guys! This book was so so good!!!
I work in a library and this was an ARC we got not long ago
and only now I had time to read.
I’ve heard that this was a debut novel. Say what?! That is
some talent!
The book is a fantasy dystopia set in a totalitarian version
of the United Kingdom. The population is divided between those who possess
power, or Skill, and does who do not. Those who possess the magic of Skill rule
the nation, they are the Equals. The others are obliged to give away ten years
of their lives to the Equals working either in slave-towns or as servants at
the Equals mansions. Ironic name right? Equals? They are only Equals among
themselves, and even then there are exceptions. Those without power spend ten
years working six days a week, morning to dawn, with no pay and very little
health care. The conditions are oblique to say the least.
The story is told from the perspective of a few different
individuals and it takes place mostly in two places: at the Home of an Equal
family and at one of the slave-towns.
I absolutely loved ALL the characters. That does not happen
often, usually you have one or two favourites, this was different. I cannot give
you just one name! Impossible!
Abi is probably the main female character. She found a way
to have all of her family –mum, dad, sister and brother- to spend their slave
days together in one of the Equals mansions. She thought that would be safer
and better for them. It didn’t quite work as planned, her brother ended up being
send to a slave-town. She promptly falls in love for one of the Equals, the
middle son. He does not possess any powers but because he is the middle son and
not the heir his family has not deserted him and he enjoys the same privileges
as all the other Equals. He is not like them, but he has little choice. Nothing
happens between them till the very end, this is not a romance book.
Luke, Abi’s brother, ends up in a slave-town. You know as
much by reading the book blurb, but I will not tell you how not to spoil it all
for you. He grows a lot and becomes his own man while there. It is rather
interesting and pleasurable reading his progress. He is hard-working, honorable, and a brave young man.
The Jardine brothers, younger and older/heir at the Equal’s
mansion Abi is at are perhaps the most interesting characters. They are surely
not what they appear to be at the beginning. I loved all the layers and
character development they had and I am very much looking forward to what
happens next.
Silyan is the younger brother. Mysterious, secretive,
ambitious and very very powerful. His motives are never clear and I am super
curious about what happens to him now. Everything he does is a game changer in
the book. He is connected and feared. But its hard to tell if he is a good or
bad apple right now.
Gavar, the older brother and Heir is a brute, for the most
part anyway. Whenever he is with his little daughter he is the exact opposite.
His anger controls his power, making him rather dangerous. But also, for the
most part, his father controls him. Again, if he is a bad apple or not, it is hard
to tell. For his daughter, he could be both, he could be anything.
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