A review by kleonard
Guardian by A.J. Hartley

5.0

Guardian is the third installment in A. J. Hartley's outstanding series that began with Steeplejack. Guardian returns readers to the city-state Bar-Selehm, where protagonist Anglet Sutonga, a smart and tactically brilliant young woman, finds herself grappling with a fascist take-over of the government. Able to climb high above the city and gather information from a variety of sources on the ground, Ang works to protect her community, political leaders, and friends. Hartley's writing is clear and exciting, and often eloquent, a rare thing in thrillers. While Guardian will get marketed as "YA," in part for its obvious (but never pedantic) messages about racism, sexism, politics, voting, and resistance in our own world, the book--and the entire, beautifully-crafted series--should appeal to readers of all ages. Quite honestly, I'd like to put this series in the hands of everyone in the US capable of reading it.