Book Review: The Sandcastle Empire by Kayla Olson

Release Date: June 6th, 2017
Read: June 2nd-14th, 2017
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: N/A
Format: ARC, 464 pages
Source: Publisher in exchange for an honest review

Description from GoodReads:

   When all hope is gone, how do you survive? 

   Before the war, Eden’s life was easy—air conditioning, ice cream, long days at the beach. Then the revolution happened, and everything changed.

   Now a powerful group called the Wolfpack controls the earth and its resources. Eden has lost everything to them. They killed her family and her friends, destroyed her home, and imprisoned her. But Eden refuses to die by their hands. She knows the coordinates to the only neutral ground left in the world, a place called Sanctuary Island, and she is desperate to escape to its shores.

   Eden finally reaches the island and meets others resistant to the Wolves—but the solace is short-lived when one of Eden’s new friends goes missing. Braving the jungle in search of their lost ally, they quickly discover Sanctuary is filled with lethal traps and an enemy they never expected. 

   This island might be deadlier than the world Eden left behind, but surviving it is the only thing that stands between her and freedom.

Review:

   I've never been good at letting go.
   I haven't read a Dystopian YA book in forever, after Divergent and the Hunger Games, the trend ended for a good while. Come 2017, it's slowly making a comeback with The Sandcastle Empire.

   The Sandcastle Empire was a disappointment from the moment I started it. It took me way too long just to read 142 pages of the book. The beginning was slow, and it felt like more plot was needed for the book to be more interesting. In the end, I DNF'd the book at 31%.

   In a way I wanted The Sandcastle Empire to have had more of an Indiana Jones feel to it.  With the wolf pack being similar to the Nazi, and the book taking place in a jungle, some comparisons could be made, but not enough so that my Indiana Jones expectations were met.

   What I did like about the book was the odd short chapter where the protagonist would reflect on her backstory before the main story takes place. Eden, the protagonist, would show us her favourite memories, and I just couldn't help but find some of them cute.

   I did not enjoy The Sandcastle Empire, and unless I see raving reviews about Olson's next book, I probably won't be picking up that one either. The book was just not for me.

Rating:

Favourite Quote:

"It was our last hope in this broken/ chaotic world. Where is there to go from here?" 

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Dystopian, Survival, World Wars, Indiana Jones