Title: A Place Called Zamora
Author: L.B. Gschwandtner
Publisher: SparkPress
Publication date: September 8, 2020
Barnes and Noble | Bookshop.org | Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads
Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Visit my shop for recommendation lists here.
Summary
Niko and El live in a dystopian society ruled by a brutal inner circle. One of the ways they control their population is through a violent motorcycle race that only has one survivor. But that survivor gets to choose their prize, and is considered a place of power. When Niko wins, he chooses El as his prize instead of joining the illusive inner circle.
However, doing so upsets the power balance in their city. Now they’re both on the run for their lives as the vicious Regime hunts them down. In order to survive, they decide to try for the utopian Zamora, a place they can be safe from the Regime. But will they make it there in time? And will their relationship survive it?
Review: A Place Called Zamora
Thanks to SparkPress for sending me a copy of this to review! As a lover of YA dystopian, this seemed like it was right up my alley. It is a combination of a lot of your favorite dystopian books and reminded me a bit of a combo of Mad Max, 1984, and The Hunger Games. It’s the first book in a series, so I’m sure there’s more to come!
Overall, this book is fast paced with a lot going on right from the beginning. We get multiple perspectives which gives us a wide ranging view of this world that the author has created. However, at times, it can be difficult to follow the swaps in who’s talking, making the story difficult to follow at times.
The romance, though rocky at times, is part of what carries this book to the end. For the most part, there’s a lot of setting up of the world and not much in the way of a specific plot. However, this does make sense for it being a book one. Maybe the story will be developed as we move into later books in the series?
Be warned, there are quite a few violent and brutal moments in this book that can be hard to stomach. But, that is to be expected with many dystopian texts. All in all, this is an entertaining read, with issues that hopefully can be resolved in the sequel.
3/5 stars