Title: Blue Out
Author Name: Miranda Storm
Genre: Sci-Fi Fantasy
About The Book
“Welcome to Ararat, the verdant, hostile home of the Elites.”
The year is 242 Post Inundationem. Global flooding has submerged most of the Earth’s former landmass in water. The Masses struggle to survive on the low-lying plains, while the Elites party on the heights.
When sixteen-year old Naya DeLora is recruited into Eden Academy, the prestigious school for the Elites, to become their new swim champion, she seems to have struck gold. But life on Ararat Heights is not what it seems. And Naya has a secret. One that could save her life—or cost her everything.
Available on Amazon
My Review
I started reading Blue Out not knowing what to expect. I’m glad I did because the characters and worldbuilding made this book worth the read. I haven’t read a lot of science fiction fantasy, but this one would be on my top shelf.
The book centers around, Naya a sixteen-year-old girl living with her mother until she is recruited to join an elite academy school and become their top swimmer. She is placed with a foster family, The Queens, who are a prominent family in Ararat Heights. This seems like a chance of a lifetime, but she is wondering if she can live up to everyone’s expectations. Naya doesn’t want to forget where she comes from, the FRS, especially since her mother still lives there. After getting to Ararat Heights, she starts to learn a lot about herself and the people, known as the Elites.
This book shocked me with the bullying, drama, and deceitful characters. I went into the story believing it would be another romance book with Sci-fi and fantastical elements, but I was wrong. It had a competitive side with the swimming competition even though it seemed they were just competing against each other. It wasn’t a meet where there are outside academies coming in to compete against the Ararat Heights teams.
At one point I was focusing on Naya and the secret she didn’t know she was holding (I did figure it out ahead of time and was excited). She did adjust well to being with the Elites. I was also trying to figure out why Duke was so against Gillian, who had Duke riled up the whole book and wasn’t even trying to. I noticed there was a lot, Gillian wasn’t disclosing to Naya even though he knew what was going on. It is clear why he takes that stance later in the book. He is a likeable character because of always trying to do the right thing. Duke on the other hand had a darker side that took me by surprise.
Jessica was just a brat and didn’t like Naya getting attention. She was an irritating character, who consistently nagged Naya about being from the poorer side, the FRS. It was clear that most of the characters had secrets and were being dishonest, but the twists and turns that came from them were really entertaining to read.
Besides the main characters, the villains in this story were well written and hidden, which made it all the better once revealed. The authors did a great job with worldbuilding. The descriptions of Ararat Heights were easy to visualize and even more so once the action started especially toward the end of the book. The book does in with a cliffhanger that I hope is answered in the next book, Riptide. I will continue the series to find out what happens.
Overall, this was an entertaining book with the drama of high school, hint of romance, and unsuspected reveals. It was a nice introduction to the series.
*I appreciate the note from the four authors on how this book started.
**This book was provided by the authors for review purposes only.
arbookcorner.wordpress.com 