BLOG TOUR | There Once Were Stars

full tour schedule can be found at: Xpresso Book Tours

Series:
Author: Melanie McFarlane
Genre: young adult, science fiction, dystopia
Publish: April 26, 2016
Publisher: Month9Books
Purchase: Amazon | B&N

Peace. Love. Order. Dome. That’s the motto that the Order has given the residents of Dome 1618 to live by. Natalia Greyes is a resident of Dome 1618, a covered city protected from the deadly radiation that has poisoned the world outside for four generations. Nat never questioned the Order, until one day she sees a stranger on the outside of the dome. Now Nat wants answers. Is there life outside the dome and if so, what has the Order been hiding from everyone?

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An interesting world and a heroine worth rooting for!

{ 4 things about There Once Were Stars }

the world.
As I read through the first chapters, I was reminded of Sunset Rising by S.M. McEachern because of the Dome and some of its mechanics -- working for the Dome's sustenance, the restriction to leave it, the maximum age inside the Dome. But that's it. There Once Were Stars presents a supposedly utopian society which is interesting. The world building is also very great. I like how everything is vividly described.

the main character.
Nat is the heroine who's both special in her own way and really stands out by simply being herself. I like how she doesn't exactly have to be influence by some rebel group to stand up for the things she believes in. Right from the beginning Nat breaks the rules of the society by looking out to see the world outside the Dome. She's special because she's the daughter of two known scientist of the society. Nat is a heroine that's worth following. She has her faults but she still turned out fine considering the environment she grew up in.

the thrill.
I also like the build up of events. While it follows the generic dystopian structure, There Once Were Stars is really interesting in its own way because of the reason for the Dome and the "infected". I like how things unfolded and how action-pack things became later on.

the romance.
Right in the beginning, the romance gave off the love triangle feel. And I don't like love triangles so I had a bit of mixed feelings for this side of the story. I didn't care much about this. (But I'm definitely team Evan on this one if you as me, haha). I think Evan had more sparks towards Nat because he's the swoon worthy type of love interest while Jak is the childhood friend guy.

OVERALL, There Once Were Stars is a post-apocalyptic dystopian novel with a very interesting world and great world building. It had its ups and downs for me (like the romance) but this is a book that's really worth reading.

3.5

~I received this book from Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review~

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{ how about you }

Do you read post-apocalyptic dystopian series? What do you like most about them? The world? The strong and brave heroine? The thrilling action that follows?

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ABOUT MELANIE McFARLANE

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Melanie McFarlane is a passionate writer of other-wordly adventures, a little excitable, and a little quirky. Whether it’s uncovering the corruption of the future, or traveling to other worlds to save the universe, she jumps in with both hands on her keyboard. Though she can be found obsessing over zombies and orcs from time to time, Melanie focuses her powers on writing young adult stories to keep the rest of the world up reading all night. 

She lives with her husband and two daughters in the Land of Living Skies.

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