Death Date by B.Y. Simpson ARC from BookSirens

 

⭐⭐⭐ Stars

Blurb

Few resources. Limited time. One girl to change everything.

In a world that nears human extinction lies a place called Ashville, where the government formed the World Inhabitance Group to save their people. The Group initiated a plan: assign each eighteen-year-old a death date. Each mistake costs you time. Every move is watched. And only the select are immune to the rules.

For seventeen-year-old Nova James that’s the way it’s always been. But when a rebellion forms and her city is destroyed, Nova is forced to do a forbidden task: seek answers outside the city walls.

She’s on the run, but she’s not alone. Alex, a mysterious boy, joins her cause. Along the way, they discover a government secret so sinister, they may not survive. And the farther they go, the more they confirm the truth… in this world, it kills to be less than perfect.

Death Date by B.Y. Simpson 

3.5 Stars is more accurate.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This year 2023 has been great for me in terms of sci-fi and dystopian adventures and over the last few months I have had the pleasure of reading some fabulous stories that have stimulated me intellectually and also entertained me. Sci-fi is a genre that I love but read sparingly and from a very select pool of authors. This year I have let myself go in experimenting especially reading books from new and/or debuting authors. I thank BookSirens because some of the best books have come from their curated stable.

More hits than misses for me and this story Death Date falls somewhere in the lower side of that range.

Nevertheless despite comparative stories available in the young adult universe this story resonated with me.

Simpson gives us a fresh take on the coming of age exercise that several YA and adventure books, series and movies have taken.

In the near future the world hangs on the brink of extinction and resources are low. An autocratic group has taken charge of the metropolis named Ashville (seems aptly named and reminded me tongue-in-cheek of Ash from the evil dead series). The rule sets the future of youngsters past their 18th birthday and we have a quirk that seems mildly inspired from Justin Timberlake's movie In Time. They get a time tattoo on their wrist stating their death date.

But nothing is kosher in this Shangri-la and Death Squads implement rules forcibly.

This is a highly intriguing story that somehow falls short for me because the context setting needed to be more detailed and our protagonist Nova needed more than just pluck. The world set in a future does not hold too much interest and does not seem any different from the outskirts of any of the large American cities.

The story flows at a brisk pace and the action sequences are numerous. For a person in such a dark time, Nova seems too naïve and gullible for an 18 year old when compared to teenagers that I see and talk to at the current time. She seems to trust almost everybody and has no inkling about the secret prevalent in her own house and has noticed nothing off, butt its fiction and at the pace it has been written it entertains enough.

I expected greater things from the book, having read the book blurb but will check out Simpson's other offerings because she seems to have the spark.

⭐⭐⭐ Stars

Recommended

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