Moirai - Ruth Silver

Publisher: LazyDay Publishing (eBook), Patchwork Press (print)
Pages: 246
Genre: YA, Dystopian, Sci-Fi
Source:  I received a review copy from the author.  The opinions expressed here are my own.

Ruth Silver is the author of the wonderful book Aberrant.  You can find my review of that book here.  I will give you a quick heads up about the book before we move on to the main topic.  Cabal is a dystopian society.  Women have not been able to conceive and give birth for many generations.  The government selects couple to be married when they turn eighteen and then later they give them a child that was created in a lab.  Olivia and Joshua are ready for all of this when Olivia is thrown in prison.  Her crime was that she was born naturally, not created in a lab.  She escapes with the help of Joshua and that is the beginning of their story.



  (paperback cover)                    Here is an excerpt from the second book:
My feet crunched on weeds as I pushed my way through the waist-high grasses towards the river. It was rare anyone ventured outside of Shadow. In most cases leaving wasn't permitted. Was I breaking the rules by being here? I didn't know the answer to that questions and hoped I wouldn't find out. Bending down, my body hid among the grasses as I dipped my bare feet into the water. I shivered and grimaced scrunching my nose from the sensation. As quick as my feet had dipped into the icy cold water, I pulled them out. With a slight splash I heard  a rustling in the distance.

"Who's there?" My voice echoed as I stood. I wasn't afraid. Shadow was my home. Although I'd ventured from the town, it wasn't far. I glanced in the direction of Shadow and could barely make out the community. Perhaps I'd traveled further than I thought.

The grass shifted in the distance and I felt my heart skip a beat. My eyes widened as I quickly took off for town. I ran as fast as my legs would take me. Gasping for breath, I refused to slow down. Whether it was an animal or an outlaw, I wasn't waiting around to find out. Swiftly, I headed for Shadow. My knees lifted higher off the ground with each bare step I took. I didn't turn around but I could hear the pounding of weight against grass. Whoever or whatever was behind me wasn't small or light and they were gaining on me. I didn't have time to scream as i felt a large body coming down hard on top of me. My face slammed into the grass, scratching my cheek as I gasped for breath. "Help!" The words barely left my lips as my head lolled up from the ground; someone ripped at my hair and slammed me fast back into the grass. I bit my bottom lip, tasting dirt as I jammed my elbow behind me. I had to think fast. I'd spent months in Shadow training and now was the time to use it!

"Having fun yet?" the voice echoed into my ear. The whispered breath made me shudder. I didn't recognize the voice. Was I supposed to? I couldn't turn my head around, no matter how hard I tried.


(ebook cover)

My Thoughts:
Joshua and Olivia have left Cabal and joined one of the rebel cities known as Shadow. Here they begin to grow and mature.  Mindonsiphon gives Olivia special powers. While in Shadow she trains to prepare for a war she know will happen.  She will have to face Genesis.  Olivia and Joshua journey to another rebel city called Torv.  Olivia becomes friends with a doctor named Elsa from Shadow. She has been working with the women in Torv.  Olivia is working with her for two reasons.  One she is trying to learn more about her body and why she is capable of giving birth and why others are not.  Torv has been working on this problem for a while and had some success.  Unfortunately there is a nasty side effect.  The mothers die shortly after giving birth.

There are several things to really like about this book.  One is that it is a dystopian society.  Although I would not ever want to live in it.  It is scary to see how much of it could possibly happen to us.  That is one of the things that make it so good.  The world building is once again awesome. Like most great dystopians it has the ability to make you feel like you are right there with the characters.  It is so realistic a feeling you feel the dread the characters must feel.  Like so many young adult novels today there is a love interest going on.  Unlike so many of them today it is not a love story where they met one day and knew in a matter of minutes they belonged together.  These two characters grew up together as best friends and grew into their love for each other.  It is not rushed or mushy.  It develops naturally.  This is one thing that Ruth Silver has on other authors.  She is not concerned about rushing her characters into the love scene.  Her whole book develops naturally.  We know there is more to come.  We know that they must face this brewing battle and yet we must wait for the next book in the series.  Oh, my gosh.  It seems almost too painful to have to wait.  But wait we will for the next wonderful installment.

About the Author
        Ruth Silver attended Northern Illinois University and graduated with a Bachelor's in Communication in the spring of 2005.  While in college, she spent much of her free time writing with friends she met online and penning her first novel, Deuces are Wild, which she self-published in 2004.  Silver enjoys reading, photography, traveling and most of all writing.  She loves dystopian and fantasy young adult stories. She currently resides in Plainfield, Illinois. You can find Ruth at http://writeawaybliss.com. 


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