Well this one has been a long time coming!
Right after I finished the Bar Exam at the end of July (okay, about a week after… my brain needed downtime), I went to my “To Read” list and picked Terra by Gretchen Powell. I had read about it on Healthy Tipping Point and since I often enjoy Caitlin’s suggestions I thought I’d give it a try.
Little did I know, the author of Terra was a fellow blogger who would be speaking at the Healthy Living Summit! I had no idea that Terra was self-published by a first time author and wouldn’t have guessed even after reading the book!
It was really great to be able to meet and speak with the author at the summit, where we had a mini book club session. We were able to talk to Gretchen about the book, ask her any questions we had, and learn about the self-publishing process.
It was such a cool experience and I thought it was pretty brave of her to believe in herself and her work enough to take that risk and put in the effort. And let me tell you, the book is worth it!
Terra is a dystopia novel, which by now I’m sure you all know I LOVE! For those of you unfamiliar with the term, here is the meaning of a dystopia from the source of all knowledge, Wikipedia:
A dystopia is a community or society, usually fictional, that is in some important way undesirable or frightening. It is the opposite of a utopia. Such societies appear in many works of fiction, particularly in stories set in a speculative future. Dystopias are often characterized by dehumanization,[1]totalitarian governments, environmental disaster,[2] or other characteristics associated with a cataclysmic decline in society
Two of my favorite dystopian series are The Hunger Games novels and The Divergent Trilogy.
So, what did I think of Terra? I really enjoyed it! I’m also DYING for the next book to come out! If you’re a fan of young adult dystopian novels, then you will enjoy this book because it definitely falls into that category.
The story is centered around an 18 year-old girl, Terra Rhodon, who lives alone with her younger brother after her mother died and her father left them. Their society has been split in two: with the poor, including Terra, living down on a dying earth, and the rich who live up in skycities floating over earth. Terra’s job is to scavenge for scraps of metals to recycle and one day she discovers a very unusual scrap, which led her to Adam, a very usual guy that knows nothing of how the earth settlements function.
Terra is a girl who asks too many questions, which of course gets her into trouble. But what’s a good story without a little trouble?
The story includes a little romance, plenty of questions and excitement, and drew me in immediately. I sped through the book in about a day and loved every minute of it. Unfortunately for me, the book ends in the middle of their story, leaving us all dying for more! Good thing Gretchen is working on the second…
What is your favorite type of book?
Have you ever met an author and been able to ask them about a book they wrote?