
Title - Darklandia
Author - T.S. Welti
Genre - YA Dystopia
Publication - October 22nd 2012
Format - Ebook
(Goodreads)& (Amazon)
Synopsis
Manhattan, 2147
Seventeen-year-old Sera Fisk gleefully celebrates the death
of her 114-year-old great-grandmother, the last Atraxian alive who still
remembers what New York was like before Felicity.
There is only one principle of Felicity: Suffering is
optional. Those who disagree or forget this principle, as Sera's father did,
are detained and “purified”. Through the use of the Darklandia virtual reality
and mandatory water rations, the Department of Felicity has transformed
metropolises all over the country into happy, obedient communities.
Inspired by her great-grandmother's last words, Sera stops
drinking the water rations and is soon recruited by Nyx into a rebel
organization in the midst of planning a full-scale attack on Darklandia. When
Nyx attempts to override the Darklandia system, he stumbles upon shocking
information about Sera and her family. After years of living in a haze of
virtual reality and drugs, Sera finds herself running from a powerful surge of
raw emotions and a government agency intent on keeping reality a secret.
Teaser
A smile stretched across my
face, my body hunched over my great-grandmother’s wheelchair, as I heaved her
toward the stage where she would take her last breath. The mayor had bestowed
upon me the honor of rolling my grandmother up the ramp onto the glossy white
stage in the middle of Times Square. Today, on that stage, my grandmother would
be presented for her rapture.
The wheels of the chair squealed as I leaned
into it, heaving it up the incline. The only other sound in the square was the
sound of the two gray Atraxian flags emblazoned with three blue stars, smacking
the air as they fluttered at both corners of the stage. The wheelchair caught
slightly on the transition from the ramp to the platform. A puff of talcum
powder encasedmy grandmother’s wispy hair, the only cloud in sight on this
glorious summer day.
I gazed across the stage at the crowded square
and found myself struck by a sudden notion: Of the eight raptures I had
attended in my lifetime, I had never witnessed a rapture from this point of
view, onstage looking out across a tranquil sea of smiling faces. It was
lovely. It almost made me envy the darklings.
My grandmother’s rapture
would be the last in New York City. At 114 years of age, my great-grandmother,
whom I had always referred to as Grandmother, was the last of the darklings.
Once Grandmother was gone, the city would be clean. Mayor Hillstead said
Grandmother’s rapture would usher in a true era of Felicity. I couldn’t wait.
Review
I received Darklandia from a
librarything giveaway in return for a honest review. Sera has just watched her
grandmother be raptured which is a happy time for the people of Felicity. Her grandmother
was the last living person to remember what New York was like, and with her rapture
it would change the city for the better. Sera has grown up in the future where
after a drought has changed the course bring about a war that causes the
government to police water. Everyone receives water rations that are laced with
conforming drugs as well as every day they spend time in a virtual world.
Sera decides to take her
grandmothers last words to heart and stops drinking her water ration which
changes her life forever. She’s thrust into a world she didn't know existed,
awaken from the drugs she joins the resistance against the government. Sera will
venture into the virtual reality world in attempt to gain secret information from
her father that could save the masters and change the world. However she will
have to give up everything she’s known in order to help change the way things are
risking it all.
I've become a huge fan of the
dystopia genre plus the synopsis screams matrix so of course it was my kind of
book. I was drawn into Darklandia right from the start; the story is fast paced
and keeps you wanting more. The author creates a unique twist on the dystopia
genre creating a captivating story from start to end. Having grown up the all
her life living on the controlling rations I found it interesting reading about
Sera experiencing what we take for granted. She’s an enjoyable character who I
found was easy to connect with and by the end she stole my heart. I do think
most teens and adults who are dystopia/matrix fans will fall in love with
Darklandia. I will admit it’s a little intense in parts so really young teens
may struggle but I think it’s worth the read.
4 out of 5 stars
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