City of Cruelty and Copper

City of Cruelty of Copper by Rhiannon Paille

Goodreads rating: 2 stars

A while ago, this book was free on Amazon (it still might be, I am unsure). I discovered its freeness on Facebook, when the author mentioned it in a group I follow. Said author then created a group for all of us to join should we want to. A fan type of thing. I want to say, I actually have never posted in the group since I had not yet read the books she has created. I finally got around to reading this particular story, it is not very long, but feels like it took me forever to read.

I feel like this story held promise. It is a dystopian novel. Some nuclear bombs happened, forced people underground, young girl found the Fountain of Youth; it only works on her but no one else. She lives eternally. Every year, on what has been designated as Temperance Day, the “government” of this little underground society arranges for a variety of obstacles, including zombie bears (yes, you read that correctly) to attempt to kill her in front of all of society for their enjoyment. Every day of the year, they keep her locked in a cell.

This story flips back and forth between her point of view and a great great great great young relative of hers. She’s been alive for over 1000 years, so I am sure it is hard to keep track. This young lad is apparently gay and has a crush on a boy from “across the tracks.” I couldn’t quite figure out the importance of his point of view. He rarely ever mentioned his great-whatever except for the fact that he didn’t like watching this particular yearly event. I believe the book spans over 2 Temperance Days, but it was hard to switch from one to the other.

I gave it 2 stars because, though the book held promise, it failed to deliver. It left way too many questions, but didn’t give enough assurances or reasons to continue with the story. I generally get mad at cliffhangers, but I just didn’t feel upset when this book ended the way it did. I may continue on with the series, but it will take a while and when I have spiked enough curiosity to really take the time to read the next installment. The books do have great cover photos, so that is a strength.