Rebel Town Reviews [OPEN]

Never Go Home (Chapters 6 -10) - @katkeenan

Never Go Home (Chapters 6 - 10) by katkeenan 

Review by ESHurricane 

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Overview

Never Go Home is a gem amongst dystopian fiction, with a fresh take on a post apocalyptic world. There's a lot happening here. And I'm going to warn you right now: If you have not read past chapter 5 in this book, STOP RIGHT HERE. I do not want to be the one to spoil this story for you. Go read it right now. And then come back. But DO NOT continue if you haven't read it. Just don't do it.

Cover/Title

I definitely dig the title, I think it's fitting and raises a lot of questions, which I enjoy right off the bat. The cover is a very melancholy almost silhouette of a girl in a very desaturated landscape, and I think that gives such a relevant feel to the story. Before even reading the summary I'm drawn in by the just desolate feel of the cover, and wondering why this girl can't ever go home.

Summary/Description

I really like the first paragraph of the description, it sets up the world and introduces the protagonist and what her motivation is at the beginning. I feel like the second paragraph gives me too much. This might just be personal preference, but I like a good bit of mystery before I open a book, and I feel that the first paragraph is plenty hooking enough to make me do that.

Hook

Speaking of hooking, You can never go home is an amazing opener. Not only does it echo the title, but it just hammers home that feeling of desperation, that solid steel rule. And raises the question once again - WHY? When a story makes me ask why right away, with the first sentence, I am a very happy Hurricane.

Grammar/Structure

No glaring grammar issues, just a few typos that seem to have been sniped by Rebels. The only thing I noticed semi-frequently were a few places where there could be a comma. For example:

I swallowed my mouth going dry.

I would add a comma:

I swallowed, my mouth going dry.

Punctuation can be a pain sometimes, but I find that reading my work out loud and working on the spots where I take a natural breath really helps. If we want to get technical, then her swallowing and her mouth going dry are two separate things, one caused by the other, so that's also why they need to be separated by a comma.

Another thing I noticed (and this was really digging deep) were a few filter words here and there. For example:

I felt my cheeks redden.

This is an easy trap to fall into in first POV, but because the story is being told from the protagonist's perspective, it's unnecessary to attribute the action as being felt, heard, seen, etc. If it's described, then it's being experienced by the protagonist because they're the one talking about it.

However, in the case of the cheeks reddening, this is a bit of a POV skew, because unless Talia is looking in a mirror, she wouldn't be able to see her cheeks reddening. That's a visual thing. So we wouldn't be able to tighten this up to My cheeks reddened. I'd suggest a more physical reaction here, such as My cheeks grew warm or something along those lines, something that she can really feel that would suggest that she's blushing.

Characters

The characters are very clear right from the get go. Talia doesn't have the most unique of voices, especially in the narrative since it's in first-person POV, but she's still clear from the other characters. This is especially evident with the four girls at the beginning, considering they all grew up in the same environment it would be easy to fall into the trap of having them all sound the same. But they don't. It's easy to tell who is speaking, and this is a feat for a quartet of girls the same age. The author does a great job giving them each their own personality and showing it through their tone and dialogue.

Tobin as well has a clear voice, and though he sounds older than he is, I think that lends to his character because he's been through so much and is working in a rebellion. I would find it out of place for him to sound like a normal teenage boy. He and Talia play off of each other well.

Even with the teenage characters sounding grown-up, the actual adults still read different as well, older and wiser (or creepily keeping information, as is the case with many adults in this story).

I also find that most of the characters are unlikable, which I love in a story. Even Talia comes off as cold, and it's nice to see a protagonist that isn't perfect. She's smart and resourceful but it makes her calculated and wooden to others, instead of also being charismatic. It's nice to see a well-rounded character like this.

Narrative

Now I know I said that Talia's narrative wasn't super unique, but I feel I need to clarify that it's still good. The author does an amazing job of describing the world in a poetic way. Instead of just saying she's cold, Talia describes things like:

A chill snaked through my body.

Also a lot of her ruminations and metaphors really struck a chord with me. In chapter ten she notices that the utensils at dinner don't match, and thinks this:

Nothing ever matched in this world. Had it ever? Would I ever find a match?

It's a punch in the gut and a harsh reminder that this girl is so young, and has been sent out into the world to either be sold into slavery or given into marriage against her will. It gave me chills that she would make this comparison and then immediately apply it to her own situation, and wonder if there was a match for her. Because even in this strange post-apocalyptic world, even as young as she is, and as much as she doesn't want to do the Offering, she's still lonely. I love her vulnerability here and I think it's a really important part of her journey.

It's pieces like this that are so powerful and poignant and show so much about her personality and character that isn't just told to me.

Plot/Pacing

The plot of this book is fantastic. I remember when I reached the twist chapter where I find out that the Offering is actually a payment for water, the author was curious about my reaction because she wasn't sure whether the revelation was any good or not. I assured her it was.

And here I am again, about to go through why it's so good.

First off, I like that this dystopian future is 'the Warming', as that's a real issue that hits home that this world is totally plausible (which I love in post-apocalyptic work like this). The whole part about having to diversify the bloodlines makes sense, and though it's heartbreaking that these girls have to leave so young and Never Go Home, it still makes sense for the world.

But when Eluena is kidnapped (of course after just long enough for me to care about her, dammit!) a whole new set of questions arise when Tobin shows up. I absolutely love the twist that all of the regions pay Shasta in different things (even people) and I think it's revealed at the perfect time with just enough information to set up a strong conflict but leave an air of mystery. It's frustrating that Talia didn't heed Tobin's warning and went to Redwater anyway, but it makes sense that she wanted to be sure, and the series of events that played out there solidified what he'd told her and allowed her to understand the seriousness of the situation.

It also allows for some more worldbuilding, which is something the author does not skimp on. It's interesting learning about all of the different regions and that they have different things, like Redwater with their glass everywhere while Chernibden struggles to forge glass from sand.

Closing Comments

All in all, I like this story a lot. It starts off with questions and an interesting hook, then continues to dig that hook even deeper by building more mystery, more lore, more conflict. And through it all this young woman who was taught to be resourceful and cunning just wants to save her best friend. And perhaps, a match in Tobin? I'm going to have to go binge the rest and find out.