Title: Alternity
Author: Mari Mancusi
Publisher: NLA Digital Liaison Platform LLC
Genre:Young adult, post-apocolyptic/ dystopian/ sci fi.
My review
Alternity is an excellent, tightly-written, action-packed, science fiction romance with an intriguing twist on reality that is a little reminiscent of that in The Matrix. I enjoyed it a great deal, and the story held me so thoroughly that I read it in one afternoon and evening.
Skye is your normal sort of New York dwelling teenager, except for her rather too vivid nightmares. The world of her dreams, post-apocolyptic subterranean Terrra, is a dismal place, (thought author Mancusi manages to infuse some light into it through the beautiful character of Dawn and simple scenes where the Dark Siders show their resilience). It’s no wonder that those on Terra who can afford it want to travel to earth where they can sit in the sunshine without dying from radiation poisoning. Skye knows nothing about Terra until she finds herself there, apparently due to a case of mistaken identity. Then, she wants to get back to earth as quickly as she can, but when she discovers the plight of the downtrodden in Terra’s society and sees how they look to her to help them, she cannot leave them to their fate.
Her life on earth, the one she thought so important before, now seems somewhat shallow, but what can she do? She isn’t who they think she is, or is she? Just when we think we’ve worked it out, Mancusi throws in a plot twist I never saw coming.
The only two characters we really get to know are Skye and Dawn—both likeable and easy to relate to—the others remain somewhat vague, but apart from the senator, who came across as a fairly one-dimensional, evil slime-bag, they’re peripheral to the story. The love that grows between Skye and Dawn is the typical YA, heart-throbbing kind, so deeply embedded in their psyches that it remains as a constant no matter how shattered their sense of self is. There is always something inspiring about such a love, and the writer manages to keep it subtle enough to avoid eye rolling by the cynics.
The prose was well written, the plot different and unpredictable, and the ending excellent. For a while there, I was worried. It could have ended horribly in many ways, but I’m glad to say that the author came through with the goods, no nasty cliff-hanger, no smart twist to rip the ground from under you, just a good solid ending that left this reader well satisfied.
This book poses questions; how real is our reality, who are we really, what is more important, our personal comfort or the well being of many? All very good topics for contemplation.
I highly recommend this book for teens and adults alike.
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Description
Imagine waking up in a post-apocalyptic, nightmare world–and being told your whole life is but a dream. Skye Brown thought she was your typical college student–good grades, hot boyfriend, and an internship that pays her to play videogames. But then she started having the dreams.
In her dreams, there is no Earth. Only Terra, a bleak, underground wasteland where people live in squalor and oppression. In her dreams, there is no Skye–only Mariah, a rebel leader fighting against a vile, dystopian regime. And then there’s Dawn, a handsome, but haunted solider who sees her as but an empty shell of the girl he once love–a betrayer he vows to hate forever, despite what she sees deep in his eyes.
Now, ripped between Dark Siders and club kids, the mundane and the mystic, Skye finds herself in a fight against time–to learn who she really is, where she belongs..and why. The shocking truth will have her questioning her own reality…and her heart.
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