“I’ll never forget the date September the third, 2123. How could I? That was the day I killed fourteen thousand, seven hundred and fifty-six people.”
“Feast of Ashes”, by Victoria Williamson
I’m delighted to join the blog tour of “Feast of Ashes” by Victoria Williamson. Many thanks to TheWriteReads, the publishers Neem Tree Press, and of course the author for organising the tour and gifting me a copy of the eBook.
The story:
The year is 2123, and Adina, along with more than 14,000 other people, live beneath the huge dome of Eden Five in what used to be the Great Rift Valley of Africa — one of the Gardens of Eden built around the world to preserve human life and the remaining plant and animal species after an environmental disaster wiped out everything 80 years ago. At least, that’s what Adina has always been told…
But when a terrible accident destroys Eden Five, Adina and a small group of survivors must make the perilous journey into the outside world in search of sanctuary. But with everything she’s ever known seemingly a lie, and carrying a terrible secret of her own, will Adina be able to get the group, and most importantly her beloved sister Tash, to safety in time?
My thoughts:
Set in the not-too-distant future, “Feast of Ashes” by Victoria Williamson is a young adult dystopian novel set in the aftermath of an environmental disaster.
The story begins 5 days before “the end”, which main character Adina is set to trigger. The story is narrated from Adina’s point of view, and is told in retrospect — with Adina giving us intriguing glimpses of what to expect and a literal countdown to disaster.
Adina is a complex character — on the one hand prepared to do anything to protect her younger sister, 6-year-old Tash, while on the other almost shockingly cruel to 10-year-old Chiku, the half-sister she blames for her parents’ unhappy marriage.
But when she finds herself one of the few survivors when Eden Five succumbs to a terrible accident, Adina shows her strength of character in getting the group out alive, and on a path to safety at the distant Sanctuary Seven — another facility built, like Eden Five, by the supposedly altruistic Amonston Corporation. Of course, as the story progresses we find out what the corporation was really up to one hundred years ago, and how their actions are still harming Africa today…
I enjoyed Adina’s narration, with the tantalising foreshadowing thrown in throughout. And the shocking ending made me wish the story could carry on. Overall, this was a great read for all lovers of fast-paced dystopian fiction and feisty lead characters!
Pages: 334
Published: 5th October 2023
Rating: 🐈🐈🐈🐈/5
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Great review. Thank you.
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