Review: Thunder by Bonnie S. Calhoun

    

          Tremors                               Thunder

Thunder by Bonnie S. Calhoun is a dystopian young adult novel that takes place 150 years into the future.  Throw in a bit of Hunger Games, a pinch of Divergent and a little bit of X-Men (?) and you have a truly original story.  We are introduced to Selah right before her 18^th birth remembrance.  With her life about to change and expectations placed on her that she does not agree with, she is trying to prove to her family that she is worthy.  What happens at the beach, (where she was not supposed to be at, on a day she should have been home), will change her life in ways that she could not have foreseen.  This was a very imaginative tale with many parts that worked well together.  I liked the slow romance, the familial relationships, and enjoyed watching true friendships develop, against the backdrop of life and death situations and a lot of action.  Along with Selah, I was quickly turning the pages to find out the answers to all the questions that she had and to find out the truth about the secrets that were kept from her.  I look very much forward to the sequel, Lightning, because even though this book ends satisfactorily, I am interested in exploring more of this strange new earth.  I am very pleased that the inspirational market is putting out more young adult novels that lack the junk yet tell a good story with hope.  On a side note for parents, there is a bit of violence in this book just in case your teens are sensitive to that.  There is a prequel novella called Tremors that is available at this time for free.  I received this book from Revell, however the opinions are my own.