Review Detail

What worked: Horrific dystopian world where undocumented citizens are rounded up and forced into labor camps. This novel follows the first book SANCTUARY where readers are introduced to a world that goes topsy-turvy and where a nightmare world comes to those not deemed citizens of the US.

SOLIS shows us the world of the camps where SANCTUARY introduces readers to what leads up to the changes in laws that deem those not citizens of the United States if they don't fit certain criteria. Readers are also introduced to someone who is indoctrinated into this belief and her struggles when she ends up in the camp.

In SOLIS we see Vali who has escaped to California 'sanctuary' but wants to find her mother who was taken to one of the camps. Liliana, her mother, witnesses firsthand the horrors of the camps and the 'true' purpose behind them. The undocumented citizens have to mine a mineral in hopes of using it to harvest rain. There are brutal conditions which include those who are 'harvested' to test the mineral in action. With the ability to create rain comes global power as it's scarce due to Global warming. The depictions of the camps with the cruelty and horrors are haunting.

There's Jess, a former DF member who let some undocumented citizens flee. She's imprisoned in the camp in Arizona. Her own older brother, whom she once idolized, is behind her torture and beatings.

There's also hope that shines in this bleak landscape. The gentle songs from Kenna. Rania, a Lebanese teen from Chicago, holding on to the spark of love with Kenna. And the rumors of Solis, an organization, that is against the horrors of the roundups.

Powerful, gut-wrenching portrayal of a dystopian world that shows the horror when some groups of people are less valued. But also the portrayals of courage and hope to stand up against injustices.