It is 2099 - and the world is gradually drowning, as mighty Arctic ice floes melt, the seas rise, and land disappears forever beneath storm-tossed waves. For 15-year-old Mara, her family and community, huddled on the fast-disappearing island of Wing, the new century brings flight. Packed into tiny boats, a terrifying journey begins to a bizarre city that rises into the sky, built on the drowned remains of the ancient city of Glasgow. But even here there is no safety and, shut out of the city, Mara realizes they are asylum-seekers in a world torn between high-tech wizardry and the most primitive injustice. To save her people, Mara must not only find a way into the city but also search for a new land and a new home...
MY THOUGHTS
I've had this book on my TBR for quite a few years and I've finally got around to it. It makes an interesting apocalyptic book, and it is still relevant, but the book didn't fully draw me in.
Mara lives on the island of Wing, but her island has been slowly swallowed up by the sea over the last few decades. Hoping for a new home for her people, Mara sets off to find the sky cities, cities that were built when the ocean first started taking over the land. But the journey comes with lots of risks and in the end, is there a place that is safe from the ocean?
This book was published eighteen years ago but the apocalyptic environment depicted is still relevant. Fears of global warming, climate change, and melting ice caps are even more prevalent now. In that sense, this world is even more frightening today because we can still see this future as a possibility. I did feel that the book was more focused on coastal areas and islands, which makes sense as this was first published in the UK. As someone who lives in a landlocked area, I was really curious how landlocked places were affected because the book makes it seem like the entire world is underwater. Still, the book did a great job of creating this future.
It took me a bit to get into the story. I think that mainly comes from the fact that I am just not as interested in dystopian/apocalyptic books anymore. I did eventually get more invested in the story, but the pacing of this book is strange. It felt slow, yet some important areas were sped through. Maybe that was just the writing style, but Mara travels through a variety of settings. From Wing, to the ocean, to the Treenesters, to New Mundo, etc. While we go through these settings very quickly, it did show how different these settings were from one another, while also letting Mara get familiar with the issues in every setting.
There is romance in this book and I was not a big fan. Up until the romance, this book read like MG, or young YA, which made the romance seem strange. It was very fast and I just didn't see the chemistry between them. They said they loved each other, but they weren't together very long.
Overall, I did like it but the story couldn't always keep my interest. I do think the concept is still relevent. The ending felt like it could have made this into a standalone if it weren't for some of the unanswered questions in New Mundo. But Mara's story felt pretty concluded. Still, there are two more books. I own the sequel, so I'm going to go ahead and read it.
Mara lives on the island of Wing, but her island has been slowly swallowed up by the sea over the last few decades. Hoping for a new home for her people, Mara sets off to find the sky cities, cities that were built when the ocean first started taking over the land. But the journey comes with lots of risks and in the end, is there a place that is safe from the ocean?
This book was published eighteen years ago but the apocalyptic environment depicted is still relevant. Fears of global warming, climate change, and melting ice caps are even more prevalent now. In that sense, this world is even more frightening today because we can still see this future as a possibility. I did feel that the book was more focused on coastal areas and islands, which makes sense as this was first published in the UK. As someone who lives in a landlocked area, I was really curious how landlocked places were affected because the book makes it seem like the entire world is underwater. Still, the book did a great job of creating this future.
It took me a bit to get into the story. I think that mainly comes from the fact that I am just not as interested in dystopian/apocalyptic books anymore. I did eventually get more invested in the story, but the pacing of this book is strange. It felt slow, yet some important areas were sped through. Maybe that was just the writing style, but Mara travels through a variety of settings. From Wing, to the ocean, to the Treenesters, to New Mundo, etc. While we go through these settings very quickly, it did show how different these settings were from one another, while also letting Mara get familiar with the issues in every setting.
There is romance in this book and I was not a big fan. Up until the romance, this book read like MG, or young YA, which made the romance seem strange. It was very fast and I just didn't see the chemistry between them. They said they loved each other, but they weren't together very long.
IN CONCLUSION
I hereby give this book
3 Stars
Meaning: I liked it
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