Review Detail

They often say that history repeats itself. And I could not agree more with the simple fact that YA Dystopian is back baby!

The Verdant Cage by Jess Lourey is YA dystopian novel that holds much reminiscence of the Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and The Grace Year. For as long as seventeen-year-old apothecary Rose Allgood can remember, the towering stone Wall surrounding Noah’s Valley has protected her people. No one leaves. No one fights. And no one questions why. But their paradise has been hiding its thorns. When Rose’s mother becomes the Valley’s first murder victim and her twin brother is swiftly condemned, she alone is searching for the real killer. Determined to find the truth, she follows a trail of hidden messages, forbidden knowledge, and whispers of a past no one dares to remember. The deeper she digs, the more certain Rose becomes that her mother’s death was no accident. That the Wall isn’t just keeping something out. It’s keeping something in.

First things first, I have always been a fan of the YA dystopian genre, with much favoritism towards the likes of Scott Westerfield's Uglies, Lois Lowry's The Giver, and Marie Lu's Legend. So I was happy to get an arc for a book that reminded me heavily of Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember. With it's many twists and turns and well developed characters, The Verdant Cage is a true resurgence of the classic genre. Like all true dystopian novels, it's best to into them blind, so I will leave my compliments there.

Though, the most trouble I found in these pages were truly believing the characters. I found that some of the motivations were a little lack luster and didn't quite fuel their motivations. I also found that some of the pacing was off, in that some plot points went too fast while others were too slow.

Regardless, The Verdant Cage by Jess Lourey is a novel that harks back on it's roots of the early 2010's dystopian novels, and is perfect for anyone needing a small callback of nostalgia.