The Moon Dwellers by David Estes

The Moon Dwellers by David EstesThe Moon Dwellers is a post-apocalyptic story in which destruction on Earth led people to dig caverns underground in order to rebuild society under the surface. This led to the creation of the Tri-Realms, which consist of the rich and powerful Sun Dwellers, the middle class Moon Dwellers, and the poor and destitute Star Dwellers. Adele is a 17-year-old Moon Dweller whose parents were convicted of being traitors. She is sentenced to life in prison, where she makes friends with two fellow prisoners who decide to help her escape. Tristan is the son of the corrupt President, yet he does not share his father’s views on how the Tri-Realms should be ruled. On a visit to the Moon Realm, he passes by the prison that Adele is in and they both feel pain when they meet eyes.  Tristan decides to run away from home to find Adele so that he can get some answers about why he feels this way when he is close to her, but ends up becoming involved in something bigger than he could’ve imagined.

This book had the potential to be really great, but I was honestly really disappointed. I am a huge fan of post-apocalyptic novels and a book about an entire society created underground definitely peaked my interest. My main problem with this book was the characters. There was a serious lack of character development throughout the book and the characters were very one dimensional. The dialogue was super corny also, which made it almost painful to read. Another big problem I had was the way the story switched back and forth between Adele and Tristan’s perspective. I’m not a huge fan of this type of narrative to begin with but what made this worse was the fact that every time the narrative switched, it repeated half of the previous chapter from the other person’s point of view. So basically it seemed like I was rereading the same scenes over which got really annoying after awhile.

On the other hand, the world built in The Moon Dwellers was fascinating and I really enjoyed reading about the life that had been built for these people underground. Once people moved down to the Tri-Realms, the government became corrupt and turned into more of a dictatorship in which the rich Sun Dwellers had everything they could ever want but the Moon and Star Dwellers were barely surviving. Of course, this sparked the Star Dwellers to rebel, which causes both Adele and Tristan to reconsider their own plans.

This story just got really dragged out after awhile. After pages of Tristan trying to find Adele and always just missing her, I was looking forward to a really fantastic scene in which they finally meet but it ended up being pretty anti-climactic. The romance fell extremely flat and while I assume it will progress and develop through the next two novels I honestly have no desire to read either.

Overall, The Moon Dwellers had a really interesting plot and a lot of potential to be a great post-apocalyptic novel but unfortunately, was disappointing and lacked any real substance.

I received a free copy of the ebook from the author for an honest review. The Moon Dwellers was released June 30, 2012 and is the first book in The Dwellers trilogy. The other two books in the trilogy, The Star Dwellers and The Sun Dwellers, are both available now.

To Be Reviewed

I have been super busy lately with holiday stuff (belated Happy Thanksgiving everyone!) and with READING so I haven’t been able to post as much as I’d like. I have a serious problem–I am unable to go into a library or bookstore without leaving with at least three books in hand. My to-be-read list grows on a daily basis, but here’s a list of some books I am currently reading/am about to read and will hopefully get a chance to review soon:

A Fractured Light by Jocelyn Davies

This is a sequel to A Beautiful Dark, a book about a girl who discovers there is more to her past than she realized when she meets two angels sent to protect her. A Fractured Light continues the story of Skye and the two angels, who are (of course) both in love with her, and Skye finds that she not only has to make a choice between the two of them but rather a much bigger choice of whether to ally herself with the Order or the Rebellion. I just finished this one the other day and while it had a bit of a slow start, it redeemed itself in the end.

 

 

 

 

 

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

This is the first book in The Steampunk Chronicles, which takes place in 19th century England and is about a girl named Finley who has a darker side that gives her special abilities such as being able to knock out a fully grown man with just her fist. This book was highly recommended to me and I must say I was absolutely hooked by the second page. I’m about halfway through this now and can’t wait to see what happens next!

 

 

 

 

 

The Moon Dwellers by David Estes

I actually received a copy of this ebook free from the author through a Read for Review on Goodreads. This is the first book in a dystopian series about people who moved underground after most life on Earth above ground was destroyed. It follows a girl named Adele, who was sent to prison because her parents were deemed traitors, and a boy named Tristan, who is the son of the President. They share a strange connection that confuses them both and leads Tristan to go searching for answers. I’m about halfway through this and so far it is very fast paced and exciting!

 

 

 

 

 

Skylark by Meagan Spooner

I’m about to start this one! Skylark is a steampunk-y dystopian about a city that harvests its children’s magical energy once they reach adolescence. Once Lark Ainsley reaches sixteen, it is discovered that she is able to regenerate her power so she has to flee the city to avoid being used for energy over and over. This one definitely sounds interesting and I have heard many good things about it!

 

 

 

 

 

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

I knowwww, everyone and their mother has read this and loved it so how could I possibly have not read it yet?!! It’s been on my TBR for a long time now and since the sequel is due out next year I am finally going to sit myself down and read it. I don’t know too much about this book other than the fact that everyone loves it and it is a dystopian love story, which means I will probably love it too! I’m definitely looking forward to this one.

 

 

 

 

 

Looking for Alaska by John Green

I received this as a birthday gift this year and can’t wait to read it! After reading A Fault in Our Stars, which was absolutely fabulous (if you haven’t read it, READ IT), I decided that I definitely had to read more John Green. This book is about a boy who goes to boarding school and meets a girl who changes his world. I just hope it doesn’t make me cry the waterfall of tears that I cried after reading A Fault in Our Stars.

 

 

 

 

 

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

I wasn’t a big fan of the Shiver series, but I have heard REALLY good things about this book, which is also the first in a series. This is paranormal/supernatural story about a girl named Blue and four boys from a private school that cross her path and bring her into their strange world. I’m definitely intrigued!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Angelfall by Susan Ee

I got this book super cheap at Barnes and Noble! It takes place after the apocalypse and is about a girl named Penryn who makes a deal with an enemy angel to help her rescue her sister, who was taken by warrior angels. I’ve heard good things about this and am interested to read a story about an apocalypse that was caused by angels.

 

 

 

 

 

So obviously I’ve got a lot of reading to do! I am super excited for all of these and will hopefully have some reviews up soon!