The Sabbath | Nsenga & Francis | Review
*Image and eBook provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
The morning after witnessing a spectacular meteorite shower, humanity wakes up immortal, but still susceptible to diseases and even more sensitive to pain. News bulletins claim the meteorites released a chemical compound, called ATHENS, that caused the mutation. Now the majority of food supplies are contaminated and the rich are controlling what little is left. Lana and Corey accidentally discover a secret government device and find themselves caught up in a diabolical plot to control the future of humanity.
Review:
I enjoy reading short books like this, less than 200 pages. I enjoy these because it means there are no words wasted. Everything written is meant to aid the story, not distract or bore. Nnsenga & Francis do not disappoint. There are no extraneous details, there are no long, boring monologues, and the exposition is kept in good pace with the action. And there is a lot of action, something else I enjoy in my stories that have romance.
There are few characters we actually get to know in this book. It's from the point of view of the main characters of Lana and Cory. They knew each other before The Sabbath (the meteorite shower) and remain together in the aftermath, keeping themselves and Cory's sister, Isabel, safe. Their relationship isn't perfect, but neither is the environment they're in. I will admit, there were a few times I thought "can we please put the relationship drama aside until the action is over?" But I've been told, several times, that it's actually more true-to-life than I give it credit for.
As much as I love the shorter book format, it does come with a challenge for authors: world building is incredibly difficult. Unfortunately, the world The Sabbath takes place in is difficult for me to picture. When they talk about the government controlling everything, it seems to big for any one country's government to do.* The coalition of rebels makes me wonder if "The Government" is just one country or a new world-wide government that took over in the year after the Sabbath. There are a lot of questions about this world that the authors just don't have the time to answer, though they did leave things open for a sequel.
If you enjoy apocalyptic books, government conspiracies, and/or survival stories, you will like The Sabbath. There are questions about the world, but the characters are real and the implications of immortality being too-good-to-be-true are interesting. The different lengths people will go to in order to provide for themselves and their families are central to the story and accurate. Overall, it's a good read.
*There is a hint that it's actually another group controlling everything but that still seems out there.
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