Hiya, it’s Heather posting today! Hope you’re all having a
super summer, I’m not particularly well at the moment so apologies for a shorter
than normal review. Many thanks to the author for letting me read this in
exchange for an honest review.
Information
Author: Nick Wilford
Published: September 2017
Publisher: Superstar Peanut
Length: 180 pages
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian
Brief Description (from Amazon)
What is the price paid
for the creation of a perfect society?
In Whitopolis, a
gleamingly white city of the future where illness has been eradicated, shock
waves run through the populace when a bedraggled, dirt-stricken boy
materialises in the main street. Led by government propaganda, most citizens
shun him as a demon, except for Wellesbury Noon – a high school student the
same age as the boy.
Upon befriending the
boy, Wellesbury feels a connection that he can’t explain – as well as
discovering that his new friend comes from a land that is stricken by disease
and only has two weeks to live. Why do he and a girl named Ezmerelda Dontible
appear to be the only ones who want to help?
As they dig deeper,
everything they know is turned on its head – and a race to save one boy becomes
a struggle to redeem humanity.
Review
This novel is set in a spotless society (they’d despise my
house) called Whitopolis in which even the word dirt is confusing to the
citizens. One day, a kid named Mallinger from another place suddenly appears
there – and this boy is covered in dirt, so naturally the citizens are
terrified and condemn him as a ‘demon’. Meanwhile, Wellesbury is bored of how
routine and perfectionistic their lifestyle is, so talk of a ‘demon’ intrigues
him and he decides to investigate.
I found the concept of living in an immaculate society
really creative. There’s no illness, most people live until they’re a hundred,
and everything is fairly uneventful. This did rub off on some of the characters
too. With the exception of Wellesbury, Ezmerelda and Tindleson, everyone living
there seemed content with their lives yet were distant, passive and dull,
almost lacking any energy. Wellesbury was a good protagonist; I really liked
how innocent he was, harbouring a sweet crush for Ezmerelda and wanting to help
Mallinger, but also struggling with his peers as school. Ezmerelda was animated
and passionate, her bravery and thirst for justice making her very likable and
a strong character. To be honest, I felt that Tindleson was introduced too late
on in the book and seemed to very suddenly gain the trust of Wellesbury and
Ezmerelda.
“Her eyes had colour. Her skin had colour. Ezmerelda longed
for more colour in her world.”
Sometimes, I found myself yearning for just a little more
imagery – it’s particularly hard in fantasy and science fiction books because
the reader needs to feel convinced that the place could exist. It’s the little
things like the shade of the paving slabs, descriptions of the hovercars and
food, did they have garages? Was there any fake grass or stone patches or was
the outside completely concrete? Did they have windows and statues? Teensy
details like the sound of one’s footsteps on different materials can really
help to develop a sense of realism for the reader. The whole concept of
eradicating anything vaguely unclean does make one question how toddlers were
dealt with pre-toilet-training stage and whether dust was an issue. Were paint
stains frowned upon? I know that a certain amount of information should be left
to the imagination, but I’m a curious person and the idea of Whitopolis sparked my interest, so these questions bugged me.
I enjoyed this novel, but felt it needed just a little bit
more description. The grammar was flawless, though there was an overuse of
ellipses at the start. If you’ve read it, let me know your thoughts below!
Thank you for the review!
ReplyDeleteNo problem - thank you for letting me read your book!
Delete- Heather