Book Review: Feast of Ashes by Victoria Williamson

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?

GENRE: Young Adult Dystopian

PURCHASE LINKS: Amazon | Neem Tree Press

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.

Twenty percent of the author royalties for this book are donated to CharChar Literacy, an organisation working to improve children’s literacy levels in Malawi.

You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and free resources for schools on her website: www.strangelymagical.com

Review

I have to begin by saying that I love Victoria Williamson. She's now one of my auto-buy authors, and for good reason. Check out my reviews of her Middle Grade books The Whistlers in the Dark and Norah's Ark.

I also love YA dystopian books, so I was really looking forward to this book with that combination. At the same time, I was worried that I wouldn't like it, because I've read plenty of those stories by now.

I didn't have to be worried. Victoria's writing style is always a delight for me, because I like easy to read but gut-punching writing as opposed to flowery prose. And while the first chapter seemed like something off Silo (or, since we're talking books, Wool by Hugh Howey, though I haven't read that one yet) but set instead in Africa with characters of color, the book turned out to be much more than that. It wasn't preachy too, despite the environmental themes.

And though we had yet another Victoria-styled feisty female protagonist, Adina didn't feel like a repeat of the author's previous heroines. She had her flaws and shortcomings, but not to the point of being so insufferable I couldn't root for her. I'm a sucker for family and sibling stories, so I liked that there was a lot of that in the book too. Even the love triangle was balanced enough to not be annoying, and, well, I'm biased toward best friends to lovers.

The ending wasn't exactly a cliffhanger, but it left me already wanting more. The good thing is, Neem Tree Press' website says this is the first book of a trilogy, so we're definitely going to be getting more in the future!

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️️⭐️️