First of all, I absolutely loved this book. In fact, it easily places in my list of top ten favourites. It’s a page-turner, and I read it in just a couple of days. I loved Bex, the main character, who's also a strong female protagonist who doesn’t rely on anybody. Despite this, she’s not a Mary Sue. She makes genuine mistakes, and not the obvious mistakes that some authors tend to make solely to prove to readers they’re not Mary Sues. And it’s so refreshing to read a character just like her.

I also loved Dan, who’s basically Bex’s second-in-command. If I had to pick out a flaw in the entire book, it would be that we didn’t get to see Dan as much. I hope that Dan will play a bigger part in the series ahead as I loved their chemistry.

Now, onto the world-building: It takes place in a “dystopian in the near-future UK, after Brexit and Scottish Independence”. The world was written so realistically that I could easily imagine that this turn of events could actually happen in the future. And it’s so chilling to see how the UK could turn out when the Government took such drastic measures.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves to read about a dystopian UK or those who like books centred on the army. I’m already eyeing the next books in the series, and I know that this story and its world will be stuck with me for a long time yet. ( )

Set in a near future Britain where teenagers are conscripted into the government’s front-line against terrorism, Battle Ground is a compelling read that feels like it’s not too far off from current events. Bex Ellman is a believable hero and her antagonists equally so. It looks like this is going to be a series and it’s off to a great start. My review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher. ( )

Bex Ellman isn't ready to be a soldier. She was still in boarding school, studying to be a doctor. But the government passed an Act, the recruiters came, and there she is with her friend marching across the country to protect the populace against the terrorists who's bombing campaign has caused such disruption to everyday life. Training is hard. But Bex cares, she always has, and it's not just her family she has to care for now, but her fellow recruits much as the Seniors want them to focus on the populace and not become a team, it goes against everything that Bex has always known. And then she witness something she shouldn't have seen, and has to decide who to fight for and who must be left behind.

I'm always a fan of single pov stories and Bex's world is vividly imagined with fascinating characters surrounding her which just adds to the charm. There are flashbacks to her school years but in the main the plot progresses without distraction, although not without twists! It is YA in tone and imagery, suitable for any teenager who's thought about any of the current political turmoil, but the plot is sufficiently novel that it should remain relevant for many years, until technology eventually overtakes us. I'm always slightly wary of typical YA whereby some ordinary child suddenly discovers within themselves the ability to be a 'hero' and 'save the world'. Battle Ground is not that book. Bex is a very ordinary teenanger with doubts and fears that we can all sympathise with, what's more she's entirely cogent of the scale of issues surmounting her, but at the same time she's very much determined not to be just carried along as a pawn when greater events sweep past. If you've ever wondered what the 'first' stone in a landslide feels like you'll empathise with Bex.

CoI - I was a beta reader for this and the author's a personal friend. But it still remains some of the best writing I read last year. It's not perfect novel, but the occasional slight issues, entirely minor in plot details, are part of the compromises required to keep a YA title short and fast paced enough for that market. It's an astonishing debuet novel with writing imagery, grammar and construction far surpassing much which passes for 'professional' fiction these days, and one everyone with an interest in YA, or British politics, should read, the closest comparison is perhaps a YA Ken MaclLeod. ( )