Early Review – Elysium Girls by Kate Pentecost (5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN-13: 978-1368041867
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 5/5 stars
“Elysium, Oklahoma, is a town like any other. Respectable. God-fearing. Praying for an end to the Dust Bowl.
Until the day the Dust Soldiers arrive — until the people of Elysium learn it’s all a lie. You see, there isn’t only one god. There are two sisters: Life and Death. And the Sisters like to gamble against each other with things like time and space and human lives.
Elysium is to become the playboard in a ruthless game between the goddesses. The Dust Soldiers will return in ten years’ time, and ifthe people of Elysium have not proved themselves worthy, all will be slain.
Nearly ten years later, seventeen-year-old Sal Wilkinson is called upon to lead Elysium as it prepares for the end of the game. But then an outsider named Asa arrives at Elysium’s gates with nothing more than a sharp smile and a bag of magic tricks, the frightened townspeople flock to this side.Sal tries to prove herself the best witch to lead Elysium, only to trigger a terrible accident that gets both her and Asa exiled into the brutal Desert of Dust and Steel.
There Sal and Asa stumble upon a gang of girls headed by another exile — a young witch everyone in Elysium believes to be dead. As the apocalypse looms, seven girls and one demon will use their gifts to create a cavalry of magic-powered scrap metal horses to ride to Elysium’s aid. But they must do more than simply tip the scales in Elysium’s favor — only by reinventing the rules can they beat Life and Death at their own game.”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got an eGalley to review through NetGalley.
Story (5/5): This was an amazing book. The whole story has this fantasy dust bowl type of feel to it. Elysium was like any other town until the Dust Soldiers came and the Gods returned. Now Elysium is isolated from the rest of the world and its denizens are part of a 10 year old game being held between the Gods of Life and Death. Then Sal comes along and breaks it all.
This was a very unique story that is an interesting blend of magic, survival, and interactions with selfish gods. This amazing story was very creative and engaging and I loved how it was written. I could not put this down.
Characters (5/5): I loved the characters; especially Sal and Asa and the gang of girls they stumble upon. However, even the side characters are really well done. They were so intriguing and engaging. Sal is struggling to learn her magic and Asa is trying to figure out to fit into the human body he’s been given. I also love that this isn’t your typical boy meets girl type of love story wrapped in a fantasy setting.
Setting (5/5): Again this is amazing. Most of this story takes place in a sort of pocket dust bowl world that’s been set apart in time. It’s a creative and interesting setting and the description throughout is spectacular; I swear I could almost taste the dust in my mouth and feel the heat on my back while I read this.
Writing Style (5/5): The writing style was incredible. Everything comes alive for the reader and there is an urgency to it that makes it hard to put down. This is one of those books that almost read itself for me; I was just completely sucked into this world!
Summary (5/5): Overall I loved this and will be keeping an eye out for Pentecost’s future books. This was just exactly what I wanted to read at the time and it absolutely sucked me into the story. So, well written, I loved it!!!
