City of Thicket by A.T. Veatch

✨️4✨️

A dystopian world of chaos and pain. And honestly? Hits a little too close to home with the state of technology at the moment. There’s a lot of realism and plausibility in this story which isn’t always the case for science fiction. Good science fiction doesn’t necessarily need to be grounded in realism, but I think it really heightens the story when it is. In this case, it really makes you sympathize with Shentelle and Sunder in a fairly uncomfortable but good way.

“Sunny, that’s the problem with society. Money gets in the way of everything. We don’t have relationships anymore, just transactions that benefit both parties, one way or another.”

There was obviously a lot of detail, a ton of thought, put into the world building and plotting. I liked that it was a more subdued version of the 7-point rather than the hero's journey. It opens the door for more from Shentelle and Sunder rather than just putting them into a box.

Shentelle was a bit frustrating in the beginning, making decisions that don't seem entirely rational, but for a 15 year old? They're not the most rational on a good day.

Sunder was moody and broody and that's my type, so I was more than happy to go along with his cranky self on his adventure of discovery.

My only hangups are that 1. some of the scene/chapter changes felt a little artificial, a little jarring. That may have been a stylistic choice and me being nitpicky, but it took me out of the story enough to note it. And 2. I could have done with more scene descriptions in some places. That definitely felt like a stylistic choice to make it snappy and push the story along for the sake of tension. It would have been nice if a balance could have been found between the pacing for tension and immersing us in the moment just a little more.
Upon further reflection, those two things feel like they may be along the same vein, but I digress. It was still a fantastic book that I enjoyed immensely.