The Moon Dwellers (The Dwellers #1) by David Estes Review ~Kami

The Moon Dwellers (The Dwellers #1) by David Estes  Review

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13931214-the-moon-dwellers

http://www.amazon.com/The-Moon-Dwellers-Saga-Volume/dp/1478150742/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355814498&sr=8-1&keywords=the+moon+dwellers

This book was gifted to me for an honest review. Thank You!

17-year-old Adele is locked up in a juvenile detention center until she turns 18 when she will be moved to the adult Maximum Security Prison. Her parents were taken away by enforcers. She befriends another girl Tawni. She has an immediate painful reaction when she sees Tristan, the priveleged sun dweller and prince of the Tri-Realms. “Despite the distance, it's like they pierce me to my very soul, sending waves of energy up my back, through my neck, slamming into my brain like a sledge hammer.” Tristan also experiences pain when he sees Adele. “It's like she was metal and I was a magnet...But at the same time it felt like someone had shoved an electric wire into my skin and was frying me from the inside.”

Adele is the daughter of a traitor. “They told me rebelliousness is passed through blood, genetically, like eye color or being able to snap your fingers.”

People live underground and the sun dwellers are those closest to the surface, the moon dwellers are farther down in the earth and the star dwellers are the deepest underground. They are called the Tri-Realms. Adele wants to rescue her family. “Only small hurdles to get over, like escaping from the Pen, crossing hundreds of miles of cave networks while avoiding detection by Enforcers, breaking into at least one maximum security prison, and then breaking back out.”

Tristan wants to find the girl that caused him immediate pain when he looked at her so he leaves his home to find Adele and comes to the Pen right as she is breaking out. There are explosions and they are separated but Tristan is determined to find her.

This book is a dystopian YA that at times reminds me of Divergent by Veronica Roth, Enclave by Ann Aguirre, and Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Dictatorships and class systems are often themes in dystopian novels, I've noticed. Divergent has factions, The Hunger Games has districts and this one has Realms. The strong female protagonist is also something these books have in common. Adele is as strong a fighter as Tris or Katniss. I like these kind of stories. Though there are similarities, they never seem derivative but instead expand upon the theme which I enjoy.

It makes sense that after a nuclear disaster or if an asteroid or meteor hits the earth or some other event took place destroying the environment, that surviving humanity would go underground, this also happens in Enclave. In this book a meteor hit and the government was prepared so they built underground caverns but there wasn't enough room for everyone. All the politicians, doctors, scientists and farmers went and I am betting the rich went as well. For the normal people there was a lottery and everyone had a 1 in 100 chance of being chosen. This is just for the United States. They don't know if any other countries had survival plans. “It is 499 PM (Post-Meteor).”

Men kidnap Tristan and plan on taking him to the star dwellers. “The whole world is exploding, we are captured by a gang of misfits, and one of my captors wants an autograph?” “All I see are star dwellers blowing up moon dwellers, moon dwellers acting like sheep, sun dwellers ruling over all.” “Here he is talking about revolutions and changing the world, and he is willing to risk his life to help a random moon dweller, who happens to be an escaped convict, rescue her father from a secure prison where he is being held on charges of treason?”

I really liked this book a lot. The writing is really good and the characters are great. I was quickly drawn into this world and I care a lot about what is happening with Adele and Tristan and their world underground. Everything was getting exciting and then this book ends. Dang it! Cliffhanger ending! I have to get the next book in this trilogy. Must know what happens! Four Stars.