Benjamin von Eckartsberg

The raw desire to survive hangs on every page and creates a rich, dystopian world.

Two orphans find themselves in a small settlement in the middle of no-man's land. Kicked out by everyone else, this is their last chance to survive. But life here is brutal, not only thanks to the constant danger from outside the town's walls...but even those unseen ones within.

The illustrations in this one are amazing. It's a treat to visit each and every one as the characters and scenes not only come to life, but echo the atmosphere perfectly. If the story even half-way caught my interest, the illustrations would have automatically sealed a 5 star review. Unfortunately, the tale was more than lacking.

The reader is thrust into a world, where settlements and their walls are the only thing keeping humanity alive. I think, anyway. There's no background, no history, and no indication as to what happened or how the world outside of this settlement is set-up (outside of the dangerous part).. This made it hard to sink into the story right away (although the beginning is gritty and theoretically grabbing) and left logic holes dabble all over the place. The world simply missed a lot of foundation.

I did enjoy several of the characters and found their relationships and issues intriguing. There's some intriguing weaving in this direction, and I did root for a few of them and hate a few others. Unfortunately, this didn't stay consistent through-out the read and there were lulls in between, where I found myself skimming the pages just to get on to the next interesting part.

So, I'm going to give this one 5 stars for the illustrations, 2 for the rest, and feel almost generous by handing out the 3 stars.

I received a complimentary copy through Netgalley.… (més)