Her whole life Amy has been taught the people of New Lithisle deserve to die, but when she falls for Daniel, she determines to save him.
Sixteen-year-old Amy doesn't like anything to die, she won't even eat the goats or chickens her mama has butchered every fall, but she can't let herself pity the inhabitants of New Lithisle. In a few short months the dome they built to isolate themselves from the deadly pandemic is predicted to collapse, but her whole life Amy has been taught it's God's will they die. They traded their souls for immunity to the swine flu virus, brought God's curse upon themselves by adding pig genes to their own.
Then, while on a scavenging trip with her father, Amy is accidentally trapped in New Lithisle. At first her only goal is to escape, but when she meets Daniel, a New Lithisle boy, she begins to question how less-than-human the people of New Lithisle are.
Amy's feelings grow even more conflicted when she learns she didn't end up in New Lithisle by mistake. Her father is secretly a sympathizer, and was trying to prevent the coming destruction.
Now time is running short and Amy has to decide if she will bring the computer program her father wrote to his contact or save herself. Installing the program could prevent the dome's collapse, but if Amy doesn't find her father's contact in time, she'll die, along with everyone else.
My Thoughts:
All Things Now Living by
Rondi Bauer Olson was a clean YA dystopian romance. Olson creates an
interesting futuristic world, one ravaged by plague with the civilization
divided into two people groups: the genetically altered highly technologically
advanced mutants living in the Aegis and the pure civilization of Old Lithisle
who fight to survive outside the Aegis. I would have liked a few more details
on how these civilizations were ran and functioned as well as how some of the futuristic
devices worked, as I was often confused, but as a whole the concept was intriguing.
I did feel like the main focus of this story was the
romance. Daniel was so nice and Amy was a little… less nice and not above using
Daniel’s niceness to her own advantage. It reminded me a little of Katniss and
Peeta, only both Amy and Daniel were a lot nicer. The romance was a little
insta-lovey for my tastes, but by the end of the book both Amy and Daniel had grown
as characters.
However, I was not prepared for the heartbreak of a shocking
scene that seemed so cruel and merciless to me. So if you are looking for a
clean YA dystopian not like any other of its genre then this is certainly the
book to read, but I wouldn’t advice getting too emotionally involved with
anyone.
P. S. I really like the creative title of this book and the
cover stood out to me.
I received a copy of this book for free. I was not required
to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.
Reviewed by Nicki
About the Author:
Rondi Bauer Olson is a reader and writer from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where she lives on a hobby farm with her husband, Kurt. She has four grown children, works as a nurse, and also owns a gift shop within view of beautiful Lake Superior.
Find out more about Rondi at http://rondibauerolson.weebly.com.
What others are saying:
Sounds like a great dystopian book to add to my TBR list. Thank you so much.
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