This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

I really ended up enjoying this book. I went into this book without a whole lot of expectations. I think that I might have read one of the author's earlier books years ago but don't remember a whole lot about it. The premise sounded really interesting so I was excited to give the story a try and was surprised by how quickly I was hooked by this adventurous tale. I thought that this was just a whole lot of fun.

Most of this book takes place on a ship used to dredge the river for gold. The book opens on Poe's first voyage where things take a horrible turn and the man she loves is killed. Poe is determined to make sure that nothing like that can ever happen again and designs armor that will cover the ships for all future voyages. 

Poe is put in command of the newest voyage which is the first time she has been out since tragedy struck. It was really interesting to be in Poe's head as she worked to establish her position of leadership while being unsure if all of the members of her crew are trustworthy. When things go wrong, she becomes even more suspicious of the others working on the ship. 

I loved the fact that this book had plenty of action. There are some fairly violent scenes that had me holding my breath and worrying about the characters. Poe had a hard time trying to figure out who could be trusted and which crew members had their own agenda. I liked that Poe became a true leader because of her actions and that she was willing to take stand even if it came with a lot of risks. Poe was a great character and I thought that the key secondary characters were very well done. 

I would recommend this book to others. I found this book to be very well done with an interesting world, great characters, and an adventurous story. While I thought that this book stood perfectly fine on its own, I do think that there could be a possibility of future books featuring this world or group of characters in the future. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

I received a review copy of this book from Dutton Books for Young Readers via Bookish First.

Initial Thoughts
I really liked this book. It was different which I liked and I thought that the world it was set in was pretty unique. I liked Poe and understood why she had a hard time trusting others but appreciated the fact that she was willing to listen. There was plenty of excitement that kept the pages turning. 

Enjoyable read.

Untitled - Ally Condie Well written, engaging story. Great characters.

The Society controls everything from what you wear, to when you die. But when Cassia Reyes, a 17-year-old girl gets Matched to her best friend Xander she is extremely happy. But when she views a micro card given to her by the Society, another familiar face shows for a split second and she becomes overwhelmed of either staying on the road in which will lead to a normal life or a road that will lead her to learn the true intentions of the society.

 

The worst thing about this book is that it's boring. Nothing really happens until about 80%. Everything else is just kind of a slow burn.

There is a love triangle going on. Though I'm kind of glad it doesn't get super annoying and Xander actually helps Cassia out in the end.
Overall though there was too much about Ky and not enough about Cassia. Ultimately it is a story about a woman pining after a boy.

I don't know what the diversity quotient is, given of course that nobody's skin is describe so I assume white.
Girl hate was on the low to non-existant end. There doesn't seem to be a lot of sexism either..only because the characters really do nothing.

So if you like slow books where not much happens, that are sort of sci-fi-y 1984 big brother is watching. Then this book might be for you.