This was fine, withe writing is solid, and the characters were interesting and readable/relatable. The plot wasn't my favourite, but I did pass it along to my nephew who enjoyed it.
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Humans have destroyed the planet and have retreated underground, to the skies and underwater to survive. We are introduced to one teen from each new civilisation who hasn't managed to adapt like their rest of their community and they are forced to take their chances on the surface for any chance of survival. They meet in a surface community and work together to try to build a better world for all.

This was an interesting idea and I enjoyed the creativity that went into creating the different communities. Learning about them in the first chapters was my favourite part of the book, even if the science didn't always make sense. Yes, it's fiction and not everything needs to be 100% accurate but I have many questions about the feasibility of the underwater community. (gills or "other methods" would be a population and not individual evolution thing, the new city is questionable since human skin disintegrates in water unless they are all covered in scales now? Except a character grew some on his arms during his lifetime so not sure? Especially since they were still living in air? It sounds like the gills are small - one estimation suggests 32m2 of gills would be needed to support a human - there is a reason why most fish are cold blooded). Decompression sickness? It sounds like the settlement is deep is deep so either the dome is at sea pressure and going up that fast is dangerous or its at air pressure and returning from exploring/hunting is dangerous. The other two make more sense since they largely require the enhancement of existing mechanisms. As the book went on, however, it started getting a bit repetitive - we were told many times about the peaceful protests and how the promotion system works amongst other things. I did like how they wanted to incorporate the ways everyone worked out to survive for a better society though.

I wasn't a massive fan of the writing style. I feel like it started stronger than it ended though. I have read another book by the author and felt similarly - clearly this one just isn't for me! I will say that this book is substantially better than the other one I read though. It feels more thought out and complete. If you are interested in seeing how teens from different physically extreme conditions come together to try make political change for the better, it's probably worth giving a try. While I didn't particularly enjoy the style, I'm sure others will! ( )

This review is written having read an ARC copy of the book through Librarything's Early Reviewers program. An interesting premise of the Earth becoming uninhabitable due to human activity (the cause was one I hadn't seen before but not a lot of time is spent on the specifics as the story focus on the future period) with humans having to find alternatives to where they can live. The story is set years in the future with groups of humans having adapted to different locations, while others have returned to the Earth. The story centres around three teens, one from each of the alternative living environments returning to 'on the land' living and struggling to fit in and make a life for themselves amidst the bureaucracy and resistance.
The story touches on being a refugee or immigrant in a new society - by virtue not of the politics or hatred in your home society, but by medical need or a search for a new horizon to take information 'home' to help your original home. My initial reaction was positive, the characters were interesting, their difficulties seemed plausible and within context realistic but as the story progressed I lost some of my initial enthusiasm - the effect of the three teens at first seemed strong and positive and within the society real and plausible but it gradually became unrealistic with all of the older generation virtually stepping aside. There were some editing issues throughout that would hopefully have been picked up before final publishing - one that particular grated was that for one character, Ryn, they pronouns are used in some chapters, but she is used in others - it almost felt like the character was changed from one draft of the book to another. Overall, the concept had more potential than I personally felt it delivered which was a shame as it started out well. ( )

I enjoyed the story this book told, even though I didn’t always like the writing style as much. Not so much the way it was written but just how it was told. There were a lot of time skips that I would’ve wanted to know more about, like the elections.

I also found it a bit of an ideal story, so if you like that type of stories you’re going to like this book. But I prefer to have a bit of a disagreement at times, the three main characters somehow always seem to get along with everything and their tight knit friendship seemed to develop effortlessly which felt a bit unnatural. ( )

I enjoyed the beginning if this post-apocalyptic dystopian book more than the ending but it was still worth reading.

We start out learning about characters in different communities that were built after a cataclysmic event. Some went undergrown or into a floating city or under water etc. They were advanced enough that they starting forcing evolutionary adaptations through medical procedures. But one person in each of these areas couldn't adapt and so has to leave and they find an above ground city willing to welcome people from all over but there are problems and secrets.

The set up is interesting but dealign with the political issues starts to drag a bit and feel predictable.