Feast of Ashes Review | Victoria Williamson

Plot: The Earth’s ecosystems have collapsed and only ashes remain. Is one girl’s courage enough to keep hope alive in the wastelands?

It’s the year 2123, and sixteen-year-old Adina has just accidentally killed fourteen thousand seven hundred and fifty-six people. Raised in the eco-bubble of Eden Five, Adina has always believed that the Amonston Corporation’s giant greenhouse would keep her safe forever. But when her own careless mistake leads to an explosion that incinerates Eden Five, she and a small group of survivors must brave the barren wastelands outside the ruined Dome to reach the Sanctuary before their biofilters give out and their DNA threatens to mutate in the toxic air.

They soon discover that the outside isn’t as deserted as they were made to believe, and the truth is unearthed on their dangerous expedition. As time runs out, Adina must tackle her guilty conscience and find the courage to get everyone to safety. Will she make it alive, or will the Nomalies get to her first?

Publisher: Neem Tree Press | Date: 2023 | Genre: Young adult/science fiction

I received Feast of Ashes from the publisher in exchange for an honest review as part of The Write Reads blog tour. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Shirking off your duties is one thing, but being responsible for the destruction of your entire home and the thousands of people who live in it is another. Unfortunately for teenager Adina, that’s a burden she thinks must carry. That guilt provides the backbone for Feast of Ashes, dictating Adina’s thoughts and actions in a way that makes her shut herself off from other people, push them away and be downright mean more than once. It also makes her a main character that’s kind of hard to like.

Feast of Ashes is a futuristic dystopian young adult novel set in a world the characters believe is destroyed. They cling to life by surviving in ‘Eden’s’, purpose-built refuges that operate on a careful balance of skills to raise the next generation and ensure humanities survival. It gave me The 100 vibes, only the TV series rather than the books.

There are powerful messages throughout about greed, GM crops, survival, and capitalism at its finest. The supposed saviours and creators of the Edens aren’t who Adina believes them to be. Layers of deception make up the story from a personal level (Adina trying to keep her friends safe) to a societal level (basically, the end of the world). Some of the messaging felt a bit on the nose – the GM arc has a message of bad bad bad, as does the lessons about capitalism and large corporations. But what it lacks in subtly, it makes up in power.

This is a world torn apart by radiation, where anything living is a killing machine hunting you. Travelling anywhere outside is a definite no, but it’s a journey through the unknown to reach a new safe haven that Adina must undertake if she have any hope of surviving.

We meet 16-year-old Adina as she skives off work to watch a boy, before breaking the rules to create something meaningful for her little sister, upon who she dotes. She’s the only one in the entire place who cares for an eccentric old man and when she’s not focused on sister Tash, she’s trying to make her best friend laugh.

A perfectly likeable heroine. But Adina has a selfish and cruel streak. She continuously slacks on her maintenance jobs despite knowing the importance of the work. She is also a bully and harsh to her half-sister, physically and verbally abusing her throughout the entire book. I’m not sure I’ve had a story grip me so much and not like the main character.

For Feast of Ashes is a gripping book. There’s warnings and messages scattered throughout. The world-building is chilling, and gets more so as the book unfolds. The hopelessness of the characters is balanced by acts of bravery and determination. The foreshadowing adds to the suspense because you know what will happen, just not how. Despite my feelings on Adina, I enjoyed Feast of Ashes.

Set in the depths of Africa, Feast of Ashes explores humanity’s determination to survive, no matter the cost.

Does this sound like your kind of read? Will it make your bookshelf this year?

You may also like:

• Book review: The Reckoning by Marisa Noelle
• Book review: Osiris by EJ Swift

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