Title: Reckoning (Silver Blackthorn, #1)
Author: Kerry Wilkinson
Pages: 378
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Release date: 22nd May 2014
Blurb from Goodreads:
In the
village of Martindale, hundreds of miles north of the new English capital of
Windsor, sixteen-year-old Silver Blackthorn takes the Reckoning. This
coming-of-age test not only decides her place in society - Elite, Member, Inter
or Trog - but also determines that Silver is to become an Offering for King
Victor.
But these are uncertain times and no one really knows what happens to the teenagers who disappear into Windsor Castle. Is being an Offering the privilege everyone assumes it to be, or do the walls of the castle have something to hide?
Trapped in a maze of ancient corridors, Silver finds herself in a warped world of suspicion where it is difficult to know who to trust and who to fear. The one thing Silver does know is that she must find a way out . . .
But these are uncertain times and no one really knows what happens to the teenagers who disappear into Windsor Castle. Is being an Offering the privilege everyone assumes it to be, or do the walls of the castle have something to hide?
Trapped in a maze of ancient corridors, Silver finds herself in a warped world of suspicion where it is difficult to know who to trust and who to fear. The one thing Silver does know is that she must find a way out . . .
My Review:
*I
received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley*
2.5/5
stars
Silver
Blackthorn - so called because of the streak of silver hair she was born with -
lives in a version of England which is split into the North, East, South and
West. Windsor is now the capital and King Victor rules after having ended a
war.
Ever
since the war finished every sixteen-year-old undergoes the Reckoning, a test
that will determine what function the teen will have in society as either an
Elite, a Member, an Inter or a Trog. Each region then has to give a certain
number of these four divisions as an Offering to the king.
Silver
becomes an Offering but soon discovers that it isn't as glamorous as everyone
has been led to believe and that, in fact, it could be deadly.
This
book was like a mixture of The Hunger Games and The Selection but Reckoning
does have its own unique aspects.
As a
Brit I like dystopians set in the UK. I would have liked more detail on the war
though and more development on what the Elites, Members, Inters and Trogs did
and more information on how the system came about.
I liked
the first half as the build up was good. The second half was quite slow in
places and dragged. However, I found the plot to be very predictable. I even
saw the 'big' surprise at the end coming.
Silver
was an okay protagonist but every now and then she'd comment on something that
would make me think 'did we really need to know that?'.
I wasn't
keen on Silver's relationship with Imrin who I didn't like at all. Team Opie
all the way!
Overall
while this was a unique dystopian it was predictable.
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