#BookReview - Sunset Rising by S.M. McEachern

Sunset Rising (Sunset Rising #1) by S.M. McEachern
Release Date: November 12th 2013
Published by Clownfish Publishing
Kindle Edition, 325 pages
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
My Rating - ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ½

Description

 February 2024: Desperate to find refuge from the nuclear storm, a group of civilians discover a secret government bio-dome. Greeted by a hail of bullets and told to turn back, the frantic refugees stand their ground and are grudgingly permitted entry. But the price of admission is high.

283 years later…

 Sunny O'Donnell is a seventeen-year-old slave who has never seen the sun. She was born in the Pit, a subterranean extension of the bio-dome. Though life had never been easy, lately it had become a nightmare. Her mom was killed in the annual Cull, and her dad thought it was a good time to give up on life. Reyes Crowe, her long-time boyfriend, was pressuring her to get married, even though it would mean abandoning her father.

 She didn't think things could get any worse until she was forced upstairs to the Dome to be a servant-girl at a bachelor party. That's where she met Leisel Holt, the president's daughter, and her fiancé, Jack Kenner.

 Now Sunny is wanted for treason. If they catch her, she'll be executed. She thought Leisel's betrayal was the end. But it was just the beginning.


My Review

 I was extremely surprised by this wonderfully written dystopian novel. Originally it was the gorgeous cover that made me want to read this novel, and I was blown away when I sat down to read it.

 This fast-paced and engaging story had me hooked from the start, I just couldn't put it down! Sunny is a brave and thoughtful young woman. She would gladly step into the line of fire to protect the people she cares about. She unwittingly started a rebellion among the extremely oppressed and cruelly treated "slaves" living in the pit. This kind of story has been done before, but I guarantee that Sunny's story has its own unique appeal. The world building was excellent. Not overly descriptive, but easy to envision. I liked that the author made the bio dome they lived in realistic by creating and explaining exactly, in layman's terms, how the domed was self-sustaining.

 As the story unfolds, there becomes a deeper routed mystery of how these people ended up running for their lives and we're seeking shelter in the dome almost 300 years prior. In conclusion, I would like to say that I highly recommend this to any dystopian/post-apocalyptic fans.

 I give this a 4 1/2 out of five stars