Book Review: Exodus

Exodus by Julie Bertagna

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SUMMARY: By 2099, global warming has taken its toll on the earth. Most of the world is underwater--mountaintops are now islands, and people are struggling to survive as the water rises. There is no mass communication, and no map of the known world. Fifteen-year-old Mara, using old technology to surf the remains of the Weave, finds out about sky cities that were built to rise above the water. She convinces the remaining population of her island, Wing, to venture into the unknown. But when the boats from her village arrive, they are kept out by a giant wall and gun-happy police. With nowhere else to go and nothing to lose, Mara sneaks inside the wall, and later the city, in a desperate attempt to save her friends.

OPINION: I started this book in the morning and finished it by lunchtime. The premise is completely plausible, the characters are excellently imagined, and their desperation is palpable. The story is told in the third-person present tense, which is an unusual style that adds to the sense of urgency. I haven't felt so compelled to finish a book in a while! The author created a believable future world in which environmental destruction is an issue, rather than an issue book about the environment that just happens to take place in the future. The message is subtle, but the story makes it clear. This is a great choice for fans of dystopian future survival fantasy such as The Hungry City Chronicles by Philip Reeve or Life As We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I loved it so much that I ordered the sequel, Zenith, which is already available in England!