Lightborn - Book Review

Lightborn
by Tricia Sullivan

What is it about:
Lightborn, better known as 'shine', is a mind-altering technology that has revolutionised the modern world. It is the ultimate in education, self-improvement and entertainment - beamed directly into the brain of anyone who can meet the asking price.

But in the city of Los Sombres, renegade shine has attacked the adult population, resulting in social chaos and widespread insanity in everyone past the age of puberty. The only solution has been to turn off the Field and isolate the city.

Trapped within the quarantine perimeter, fourteen-year-old Xavier just wants to find the drug that can keep his own physical maturity at bay until the army shuts down the shine. That's how he meets Roksana, mysteriously impervious to shine and devoted to helping the stricken.

As the military invades street by street, Xavier and Roksana discover that there could be hope for Los Sombres - but only if Xavier will allow a lightborn cure to enter his mind.

What he doesn't know is that the shine in question has a mind of its own ...

What did I think of it:
This was a very cool and intriguing read.

I will confess that I was a bit annoyed about the beginning of this book. It immediately starts at the point where things go wrong. Now this shouldn't have to be a problem if the author manages to work in the backstory of how things were before things went wrong pretty quickly. She doesn't however and I had a hard time picturing how the world had been before the fall.

That annoyance aside this was an amazing story. The setting was disturbing and grim: Sullivan manages to describe the ruined city so well I felt trapped in that dark, desolate world while reading and I couldn't help but feel sorry for those affected by the Shine. The lead characters were really cool. I did feel like kicking Xavier from time to time, because he was acting like a brat at the most inappropriate moments.

Things get a bit chaotic near the end of the book: you really have to pay attention to understand what is happening and why. I had to reread some passages to make sense of some things.

I very much enjoyed this dark view of the future and I will certainly check out other works by Sullivan.

Why should you read it:
It's a dark, futuristic YA read.