Blight by Alexandra Duncan – a Review
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Description:
Seventeen-year-old Tempest Torres has lived on the AgraStar farm north of Atlanta since she was found outside the gates at the age of five. Now she’s part of the security force guarding the fence and watching for scavengers—people who would rather steal genetically engineered food from the company than work for it. When a group of such rebels accidentally sets off an explosion in the research compound, it releases into the air a blight that kills every living thing in its path—including humans. With blight-resistant seeds in her pocket, Tempest teams up with a scavenger boy named Alder and runs for help. But when they finally arrive at AgraStar headquarters, they discover that there’s an even bigger plot behind the blight—and it’s up to them to stop it from happening again.
Review:
Blight by Alexandra Duncan is the first book in her new YA dystopian series. We have not heard if this book will be a series, but having completed the book, and read the ending, I do suspect there will be more to come.
Tempest Torres, our young heroine, lives on AgraStar, a research and development area that creates genetically engineered food. Tempest, who was left at the gate when she was 5, is now 17 and a member of the security forces for Agrastar. When scavengers try to break into the compound to steal food, Tempest shoots one of them to scare them off. She joins one of the older groups for a short trip, excited to be included. While on the expedition, an explosion takes place that destroys the compound, with both people and crops destroyed. When her team fights off the attackers, she is captured, as the rest of her team is killed. Because she killed one of the scavengers, they mark her for death. Tempest will escape, and as she comes across different groups besides the AgraStar, and scavengers, she will see a different world that she was not prepared for.
Alder, one of the scavengers, who wanted to kill Tempest, will join with her find a way to survive. They, despite their differences, they will become friends, and help each other. Tempest does not believe Alder’s stories about AgraStar being bad, and she maintains her loyalty, but at the same time will protect Alder, since he saved her life. As the Blight continues to move toward other areas, Tempest is determined to bring to the main headquarters of AgraStar the seeds that will stop the destruction.
When she is rescued, Tempest will meet the woman who claims she is her mother; it seems her father stole her when she was 5, and the mother grieved over her loss. She will meet her younger sister, who resembles her, as well as a young man, whom also looks like the boy she had a crush on back home. Tempest’s mother is a high ranking scientist, which puts Tempest on higher echelon ; but she is worried about Alder, and wants to save him. What follows is at first an exciting adventure, which will become a interesting discovery with a few twists that will change everything. Tempest was a very good heroine, who must decide what is real and where does she belong. As I said earlier, the ending is not a cliffhanger, but does leave things open. I know that I for one want to know what happens next. This was a very good YA dystopian storyline, very well written by Alexandra Duncan.
Reviewed by Barb
Copy provided by Publisher
