Happy Wednesday and welcome to my stop on the tour for The Light at the Bottom of the World!!! This is such a WONDERFUL book, and I’m so excited to be a part of the book tour! So read on to find my review (with my favorite quotes!), more info about London Shah, where to follow the rest of the tour, and a giveaway for a print copy of The Light at the Bottom of the World!
I received this book for free from FFBC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah Series: Light the Abyss #1
Also in this series: Journey to the Heart of the Abyss
Published on October 29, 2019 by Disney-Hyperion
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Pages: 320
Format: ARC
Source: FFBC Book Tours
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Author Links: Website, Goodreads, Instagram
Hope had abandoned them to the wrath of all the waters.
At the end of the twenty-first century, the world has changed dramatically, but life continues one thousand feet below the ocean's surface. In Great Britain, sea creatures swim among the ruins of Big Ben and the Tower of London, and citizens waver between fear and hope; fear of what lurks in the abyss, and hope that humanity will soon discover a way to reclaim the Earth.
Meanwhile, sixteen-year-old Leyla McQueen has her own problems to deal with. Her father's been arrested, accused of taking advantage of victims of the Seasickness-a debilitating malaise that consumes people,often claiming their lives. But Leyla knows he's innocent, and all she's interested in is getting him back so that their lives can return to normal.
When she's picked to race in the action-packed London Submersible Marathon, Leyla gets the chance to secure his freedom; the Prime Minister promises the champion whatever their heart desires. The race takes an unexpected turn, though, and presents her with an opportunity she never wanted: Leyla must venture outside of London for the first time in her life, to find and rescue her father herself.
Now, she'll have to brave the unfathomable waters and defy a corrupt government determined to keep its secrets, all the while dealing with a secretive, hotheaded companion she never asked for in the first place. If she fails, or falls prey to her own fears, she risks capture-and her father might be lost forever.
A TL;DR OF MY REVIEW:
- This book is very very cool!
- And also very very British!
- Yay underwater adventure!
- Ooh that plot is interesting…
We didn’t get a lot of overt political conspiracy in this book, but there was some amazing foreshadowing, and I’m really looking forward to seeing more of it in book two! It’s a very different post-apocalyptic/dystopian book than what we usually get! I’d say it reminds me more of The Giver than anything that came after. Seeing everything that humanity went through and what they’re still doing was really cool! I also LOVED the pace that the romance moved at!!! It’s definitely a slow burn, so just be aware of that! The characters in this book were overall a super amazing cast. I do believe that the twins were my favorite, and I really hope that we see more of them in book two!
This book is very British, which isn’t always my favorite thing. Because it was so British, there were things that the author would talk about (especially locations!) where I would just be completely lost. The dialogue was also clunky in places, but that could simply be that it wasn’t American English. Definitely little things that didn’t take away from my enjoyment at all!
HOLY BEAUTIFUL is how I would describe this cover and woah boy I just love it so much!!! The dark purple that almost looks black, the way the city is shown under a kind of dome, THE JELLYFISH. Just pure love!!!!
10/10 stars!!!
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
- Political Conspiracies
- BBC TV Shows
I had NO IDEA that View Spoiler » Did you? One of the people who had the book before me (either Michelle or Patricia) said that she had guessed it but thought she was wrong!
Author London Shah is a British-born Muslim of Pashtun ethnicity. She has lived in Britain’s capital city for most of her life via England’s beautiful North. When she’s not busy re-imagining the past, plotting an alternate present or dreaming up a surreal future, then she’s most likely drinking copious amounts of tea, eating all the sweets and cakes, strolling through Richmond Park or along the Thames, getting lost on an evening in the city’s older, darker alleyways—preferably just after it’s rained—listening to punk rock, or losing herself in a fab SFF book or film. If she could have only one super power, it would be to breathe underwater. THE LIGHT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD is her debut novel.
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Enter here to win an a print copy of The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah!
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Have you ever been to London? After reading this book, I really really want to visit! Let me know in the comments and have a splendiferous day!
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Very very cool! and very very British! sounds good!
Excellent review! I love that this book isn’t heavily political (I get too much on Twitter, FB, and TV). I also have many friends who are British and now I’m curious about the language in the book. And England is one of my dream vacations, so reading about locations there will be fun and if I don’t know where they are, I can pull out a map.