From the Publisher
"Hunger Games meets Throne of Glass. I would highly recommend it to all of my YA/NA lovers out there." - D. Salazar
"Truly a work of epic fantasy. There is something for everyone in this book: action, legends, magic, romance, a quest for knowledge, battles against injustice." - D. E. Bagenstose
Kirkus Reviews
2021-08-05
In Downing’s YA fantasy novel, teens take part in a competition and unearth secrets as creatures and revolutionaries threaten their city.
Eighteen years ago, Matt was left as a baby on a stranger’s doorstep in Kentville.Now, as an adult, he discovers he comes from amagic-using people called the Adamic, who are hunted by fearsome, soul-eating monsters called feeders. Matt must go to Cavernum, one of the few cities left where Adamic can be safe, but he soon learns that magic doesn’t make Cavernum any less corrupt than anywhere else. Roselyn is the princess of the city, and she’s never known any other way of life than the feudalistic system that governs its people. A group calling themselves equalists wants to change how the city is run, and they plan to do so by killing the royal family. Matt and Roselyn, since they are both 18, must compete in the Dividing to determine what guild they will join that matches their skills. As tensions rise during the competition, threats from outside grow stronger: The feeders are attacking more and more people, and stranger monsters, long thought extinct, become a danger to all of the Adamic. This is a Christian fantasy that uses a number of elements from the Bible in its worldbuilding and in its characters’ worldviews. Downing has clearly put an immense amount of time working out the details of his fictional setting, and it shows on every page. But although the worldbuilding is thoroughly believable, the explanations and exposition sometimes linger on too long. The author also has a tendency to simply state information instead of letting it reveal itself in his characters’ actions. That said, Matt and Rose are engaging teens who drive the plot forward effectively, and they interact with the fantastical elements of their world in ways that feel realistic. The mysteries and secrets at the heart of the tale are also appealing.
An entertaining, if somewhat overly detailed, fantasy for Christian readers.
