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Review: City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Published by Random House Children's Books
Challenge: None
Source: Swapped on Readitswapit.co.uk


The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she’s sure it holds a secret that will save the city. She and her friend Doon must decipher the message before the lights go out on Ember forever! This stunning debut novel offers refreshingly clear writing and fascinating, original characters.

***
I liked this book but I would class this as younger Young Adult possibly even middle grade as the ideas, language used and characters are quite young. It is a really quick read and quite predictable but if you like your dystopian fiction you'll enjoy this.

The story centres around a city called Ember. Things aren't good for the city - supplies are running low, the officials are corrupt and no one knows what to do. The sad thing is the solutions to their problems have been lost over time in a small metal box.

Their are two main characters - Lina and Doon. As the story progresses the pair find a mysterious set of instructions and start to expose Ember for what it really is. I won't go into detail apart to say that although this story didn't blow me away I enjoyed the ride of reading it and discovering the secrets the two main characters discovered. The ending was good and I am looking forward to getting my hands on the next book!

Comments

serendipity_viv said…
I loved this book. I was going to read the rest in the series but I was told they were not as good.
Admin said…
I've been meaning to read this once since I saw the movie, which I loved. I thought it was super underrated. And can I just say how much I love that cover?

Sara
http://smreine.com/
Anonymous said…
I really enjoyed this book! One of my favorite parts was when Lina ran around town delivering messages; I really liked reading what the messages were.

- Jackie
Is this the same as the movie. The girls and I didnt enjoy the movie very much :(
Beth S. said…
I agree that the book is more for middle grade than YA.

The second book is even better than the first (in my opinion anyway).

Asamum, the movie is NOTHING like the book. I had to stop watching the movie 15 minutes into it because it was so awful and the storyline was nothing like the book.
Ooh! I haven't heard of this one, it sounds interesting though. Great review :D
I read this one last year as well and I loved it! It's so CUTE. I didn't realise when I'd finished that it's the first in a series. I'd like to read the rest, but I haven't been able to find any copies easily!