daynight
by Megan Thomason
- File Size: 655 KB
- Print Length: 325 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1480226556
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0
Book Description
Publication Date: November 12, 2012
“Sure to win over YA readers looking for a dangerous, dystopian adventure story” —Kirkus Reviews
"Gripping young adult dystopian novel; compelling conflicts; high stakes; powerful narrative; surprises keep coming; strong writing; page-turner; engaging characters; Readers will be hungry for the sequels.”—BlueInk Review (starred review)
Meet The Second Chance Institute (SCI): Earth’s benevolent non-profit by day, Thera’s totalitarian regime by night. Their motto: Because Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Life(TM). Reality: the SCI subjects Second Chancers to strict controls and politically motivated science experiments like Cleaving—forced lifetime union between two people who have sex.
Meet Kira Donovan. Fiercely loyal, overly optimistic, and ensnared by the promise of a full-ride college scholarship, Kira signs the SCI Recruit contract to escape memories of a tragedy that left her boyfriend and friends dead.
Meet Blake Sundry. Bitter about being raised in Exile and his mother’s death, Blake’s been trained to infiltrate and destroy the SCI. Current barrier to success? His Recruit partner—Miss Goody Two Shoes Kira Donovan.
Meet Ethan Darcton. Born with a defective heart and resulting inferiority complex, Ethan’s forced to do his SCI elite family’s bidding. Cleave-worthy Kira Donovan catches his eye, but the presiding powers give defect-free Blake Sundry first dibs.
Full of competing agendas, romantic entanglements, humor, twists and turns, daynight is Megan Thomason’s debut young adult dystopian novel and first in the daynight series.
Review:
Kira is a character I really like. She is young and often scorned as a ‘goody-too shoes’. She is loyal and determined to stand on her own and make right choices. She has set her goals on a full college scholarship by signing up to serve as a Second Chance Institute (SCI) recruit for a year. The year will also give her time away from the tragic explosion that killed her betraying boyfriend and best friend along with another 100 or so partying teens. That night has a lot of memories for Kira. She also met a truly wonderful young man, Ethan, who gave her butterflies.
Kira travels to the SCI station to begin her training. There she discovers that things truly are not as they seem and she’s “not in Kansas anymore.” She learns that she is on a planet, Thera, where conditions are opposite of earth. The climate is hostile with a burning sun. Everyone sleeps during day and trains or works at night. She believed SCI to be a place that gave troubled souls a second chance to succeed. It sort of does that. They bring the dead back to life with no memory of their past and set them in a world of strictly dictated and enforced rules. You either following the regulations or you get cast out into exile.
Blake was a strange, aloof boy in her school. Now he is assigned to be her roommate and apparently he is one of the ‘pure darks’ who might be suitable for her to cleave with (marry). The plan of the SCI leaders is to pair a Kira, a pure light with a pure dark to be the mother and father of the next generation. The second choice as a possible mate is the handsome and charming Ethan who turns out to be the son of the horribly brutal dictator.
The author creates an interesting world of ugly dictatorships with corrupt leaders. Blake is the son of an exiled leader who wants to bring down the government. Blake feels he owes it to his father to spy for him even if he doesn’t agree with his militant ways.
There is a lot of conflict throughout the story that keeps it interesting. The ideology struggles, the intrigue and possible alliances were enough to keep me going when a few scenes became just too ridiculous. Most of the details and connections are nicely wrapped up by the end, with the scene neatly set for a sequel. But there are a few items left unexplained (ie. who was the party girl in the first chapter?)
I enjoyed the style of alternating chapters between the primary characters, Kira, Blake and Ethan. Occasionally the scenes had to backtrack for the other view which created minor confusion until I became accustomed to the technique. I also noted but was able to get beyond a handful of editing errors and a good deal of telling rather than showing to reveal the back story. Fortunately that was spaced in between the action so it didn’t allow the story to drag.
I felt poor Kira’s dilemma at loving one young man who might chose a cause over her and loving a second young man who might not have the freedom from his parent/masters to commit to her. I liked the twists of surprising relationships that are revealed near the end. I appreciate the extra intrigue and mystery that surround Dr. Christo and his son, Jax. The continued conflicts and intrigue make me interested in the next book.
I received this book from the author, for an honest review, as part of BookBlast Tour. There is a Giveaway below and a Giveaway at the BookBlast post.
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Blog Tour Giveaway
$50 Amazon Gift Card
Signed copy of Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Signed copy of daynight
Ends 2/7/13
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