Title: Steel Lily
Author: Megan Curd
Pub Date: August 12th, 2013
Author: Megan Curd
Pub Date: August 12th, 2013
AVERY PIKE is a commodity. No, more than a commodity. Her existence is guarded at all costs.
She’s a water Elementalist, the strongest of her dwindling kind. She creates steam to provide energy to fuel Dome Four: the only thing standing between humanity and an earth ravaged by World War III. No steam, no Dome. No Dome, no life.
Or so she thinks.
That is, until a mysterious man offers her a way out of having to donate steam. A way to escape the corrupt government of Dome Four. While the offer seems too good to be true, Avery is intrigued. But when she arrives to her new home, she realizes the grass isn’t any less dead on this side of the fence. Instead, the lies are just hidden better.
…Which means digging deeper.
When Avery enlists the help of her friends to uncover the truth, she learns that while some secrets are better left concealed, humankind was never meant to live in a cage. And when you can control the most sought after resource, you can learn to control anything…including the fate of your world.
Totally not what I expected, but in that sense where knowing won't prepare you for what lies in these pages. You'll grow so attached to characters like Avery and Jaxon, saddened by the end of a beautiful story and then overjoyed because there is a second installment. -Musings of a Blogder
This book was actually very different from what I expected. Obviously, there was a time I knew what it was about, or else I wouldn't have signed up for the blog tour. But by the time I read it, I had forgotten the plot synop.
This book was actually very different from what I expected. Obviously, there was a time I knew what it was about, or else I wouldn't have signed up for the blog tour. But by the time I read it, I had forgotten the plot synop.
The title "Steel Lily" reminds me of something very metal-ish and steampunk-y. Basically, I'm saying that when this happened to be Dystopian/The Last Airbender, I was both surprised and kind of happy with what I was reading.
We're set in a world where oxygen levels can be controlled and it's 2080 (or was it 30?) Anyway, the world was a bit Hunger Games-ish to me because of the markets and how World Researched seemed to be advanced and somewhat set back at the same time. And as for how well I fit into the world, I think that it wasn't too hard to grasp because there weren't too many different customs and it is still Earth.
We meet a girl named Avery to start off this story. Basically she can manipulate the element of water. Her "Dome" (4) which is kind of like the Districts in Hunger Games (simple explanation) uses steam to survive. She's what's called an "Elementalist" but I just call her a Water Bender (and there's even an explanation as to how she became this way so I think that that's good!). She's considered very useful to her dome.
When she has to be "rescued" from the resident police who want to arrest her, she is whisked off to Dome 7, where they have a school (of sorts) for people with talents like hers. But it's like a really eerie episode of Doctor Who where everything is NOT what it seems. (Oh and Megan? You mind-ffed me at that moment with Xander and Riggs...)
Can I say that I just happened to love ALL the characters? I don't even know if that's supposed to be okay, but I don't care. There was not one single character I hated. MC Avery was awesome and very kickass for someone who just had to adapt and move into a new location. Alice (the BFF) was so strong and so brave, even when I thought she'd chicken out and be that "Waiting on the Sidelines Encouragingly" friend. Even the villain who was not a villain kind of attached me to them.
What character am I missing? Oh yeah. Hot guy specimen number one. We call him Jaxon and friends call him Jax. This guy reminds me a lot like Noah from Pushing the Limits in that "secretly sweet bad boy" kind of guy. He was so sarcastic and had such a cute personality that it wouldn't even have mattered if he was ugly and I mean it honestly. He was also well created and very believable as a character and even as a person.
Ugh, what I didn't like? Very few things, but this point in particular caused the .5 stars to drop. It was mentioned about 60-70% done that Jaxon knows Avery for about 1 week after going to that school. In the way it was written, you'd think like 3 weeks, but no. I don't know about you, but I'm not sucking face with any guy after knowing him for a week, even if he is sarcastic, funny or totally hot.
I didn't like the duration of how things progressed. It was fine up until author had to to mention that it'd only been a week. Books can be somewhat timeless and I don't mind but when a book's timeline is too rushed, it kind of throws me off, even though the writing is completely different.
Recomendation: Everyone and yes, go read it... NOW.
Megan's Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Website
Megan began her journey into writing as a college junior during winter finals at the encouragement of a friend. What resulted was Bridger, Megan's first full-length novel. Since then she has written the second book in the series, Traitor, and a stand-alone novel (which will hopefully become a series!) called The Guardian Chronicles: Forbidden.
When not writing, Megan enjoys spending time with her husband, son, and Great Dane, aptly named Dozer. She enjoys snowboarding, playing xBox, and crocheting. Music is a huge part of her life and drives her writing. Her favorite bands are Muse, Bon Iver, Florence + the Machine, and The Civil Wars.
Megan resides in Kentucky, near two of her writerly tweeps Hope Collier and Beth Isaacs, and swears it's Hope's fault she's living in the land of the banjos, but wouldn't have it any other way. <3
Water bender? Similar to The Last Airbender? Gimme. Gimme. Anything similar to that show I must have. Awesome review! Seems like I'm going to be buying this one tonight.
ReplyDeleteHolly @ Absorbing the Content