Sword of the Seven Sins. (The Seven Sins #1) Emily Colin. 2020. [August] 300 pages. [Source: Review copy]
First sentence: The first time I condemned a man to death, I was ten years old. I was standing with the rest of the Commonwealth of Ashes in Clockverk Square, beneath the giant clockwork tower that stood watch over us all.
Premise/plot: Sword of the Seven Sins is a dystopian YA novel set in the future starring Eva, our heroine, and Ari, our hero. They live in a very unforgiving, strict, life-or-death society. There are, you guessed it, seven sins. And breaking any of the sins could lead to exile or death--most likely death. The sin tempting both Eva and Ari is the sin of lust. Now in this society, men and women do not fall in love, get married, have a family. Babies are conceived in a test tube and raised communally. There are no family units. No bonds between parent and child, no bonds between siblings, no attachments allowed ever. Well, you're supposed to be super-super-super loyal to the Commonwealth and serve where you're supposed to serve. But essentially, you're not supposed to be all feely-feely and think about the meaning of life.
Eva had hopes of being chosen to be a computer tech, but, she's chosen instead to be a warrior. Ari is her mentor/trainer and fellow warrior. These warriors are called bellators.
The first book is all about world-building and initial conflicts leading to bigger conflicts. The goal of book one is to make the heroes feel angsty about the world they're living in and to get them to start questioning big things, little things, everything.
When the two begin to have some big doubts about the Powers That Be, will they risk everything to do what they think is right?
My thoughts: It has been a while since I've read a new-to-me dystopia. I've revisited dystopias off and on through the past few years. I've started rewatching some dystopian movies lately (Hunger games series, Divergent series, etc.) and so I was in the mood to revisit what used to be a favorite sub-sub-genre of me.
I liked it. I did. It is very much a YA DYSTOPIA.
You might be wondering...is it "ruined" with a love triangle?!?!?! I can say that there is NO LOVE TRIANGLE!!! That is fantastic news. Is it "ruined" with insta love??? That's more complicated. Romance is a super-strong element of this one. If you absolutely HATE romance mixed in with your dystopia, then I can see this one might drive you crazy! If you don't mind romance so long as it feels right and not forced, not rushed, then you might enjoy this one. It is intended to be a steamy read. And the last bit of the novel especially is all let's explore each other bodies now that the big chase scene stuff is over!
What agenda(s) does it have? This future nightmarish world is brought about due to climate change, bad immigration policies, and racism.
© 2021 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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