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A review by yourstrulyalyssa
The Sandcastle Empire by Kayla Olson
5.0
(4.5/5)
We've all been sliced into, every single one of us.
It's just that some of our scars are less obvious than others.
Let me start off by saying that I'm not a big fan of dystopian. I wasn't even planning on picking up this book anytime soon - or at all really - until I went to a Zenith signing that Kayla was moderating. She was super sweet and when she explained her story, I knew that I was going to have to read it super soon. Plus, it scored a movie deal with THE Leonardo DiCaprio before the book was even released, so that really helped push my desire to read it.
I thoroughly really enjoyed this book from start to finish. It started out with such a kick and I was already in love with her writing style within 4 pages. There were a few very short 'filler' like chapters spread out periodically but I liked those, sometimes I felt like those shorter chapters packed more of a punch than the longer ones. This book was filled with so many amazing quotes that a lot of my tabs are blue ones.
For a dystopian novel, there were a lot of sci-fi elements - and not just advanced technology - that I wasn't expecting. A pleasant surprise if you will. As I said before, the plot like really drew me in. It's a survival novel that takes place in 2055 where the world is in a middle of the war and the Wolves have taken over. The Wolves are in control of everything. The took away everything Eden had, including her home and sent her off to some camp. One day she finds a way to escape and heads to the last neutral territory left, Sanctuary Island. Everyone thinks its a myth but Eden has proof pointing to that it is indeed, not. This island was a weird one to say the least. The plot twists within the island had me shook and they were all so unique.
That's all that I can say without giving away spoilers.
I also really loved all of the main characters, even the ones that were introduced in the last half of the book. They were all so different from each other and they all had their own character development and she played each of theirs out really well. Eden's character development was something that I really loved reading and I loved seeing her grow into this person that I knew she was going to be. As for the side characters, there were a few that I could have gone without but they all played a specific roll in this novel and I never felt like any of them were just there to be there. Though, I did see some of the character plot twists coming.
With having such beautiful writing, amazing characters, and a kick ass plot, it really made this book really enjoyable for me and I can't recommend it enough. I can't wait to see if she makes a sequel for this and where it will go. I'm also excited to see how they interpret this as a movie!
We've all been sliced into, every single one of us.
It's just that some of our scars are less obvious than others.
Let me start off by saying that I'm not a big fan of dystopian. I wasn't even planning on picking up this book anytime soon - or at all really - until I went to a Zenith signing that Kayla was moderating. She was super sweet and when she explained her story, I knew that I was going to have to read it super soon. Plus, it scored a movie deal with THE Leonardo DiCaprio before the book was even released, so that really helped push my desire to read it.
I thoroughly really enjoyed this book from start to finish. It started out with such a kick and I was already in love with her writing style within 4 pages. There were a few very short 'filler' like chapters spread out periodically but I liked those, sometimes I felt like those shorter chapters packed more of a punch than the longer ones. This book was filled with so many amazing quotes that a lot of my tabs are blue ones.
For a dystopian novel, there were a lot of sci-fi elements - and not just advanced technology - that I wasn't expecting. A pleasant surprise if you will. As I said before, the plot like really drew me in. It's a survival novel that takes place in 2055 where the world is in a middle of the war and the Wolves have taken over. The Wolves are in control of everything. The took away everything Eden had, including her home and sent her off to some camp. One day she finds a way to escape and heads to the last neutral territory left, Sanctuary Island. Everyone thinks its a myth but Eden has proof pointing to that it is indeed, not. This island was a weird one to say the least. The plot twists within the island had me shook and they were all so unique.
That's all that I can say without giving away spoilers.
I also really loved all of the main characters, even the ones that were introduced in the last half of the book. They were all so different from each other and they all had their own character development and she played each of theirs out really well. Eden's character development was something that I really loved reading and I loved seeing her grow into this person that I knew she was going to be. As for the side characters, there were a few that I could have gone without but they all played a specific roll in this novel and I never felt like any of them were just there to be there. Though, I did see some of the character plot twists coming.
With having such beautiful writing, amazing characters, and a kick ass plot, it really made this book really enjoyable for me and I can't recommend it enough. I can't wait to see if she makes a sequel for this and where it will go. I'm also excited to see how they interpret this as a movie!