Wren lives underground beneath a city that has been completely encapsulated within a giant dome because - everyone is told - the world outside was destroyed in a fire that is...somehow...still burning hundreds of years later. The material the dome is made from is too opaque to see through, but Wren still climbs to the cities' rooftops each morning to watch the light come, even though she hasn't actually ever seen the sun. She constantly dreams of somehow escaping the way things are - because they are not good. Her caste system mines the coal needed to support the upper castes, which they exchange for food. But the coal is running out, and so is Wren's patience.Ashes of Twilight by Kassy Tayler burns with the same intensity as Susan Collins' The Hunger Games. This is best classified as steampunk-dystopian, and while I'm not new to the dystopian genre, I haven't read too much steampunk (something I expect will change). I am a fan of The Hunger Games but there were a couple of things in "Ashes of Twilight" that made me like it even more.
First of all, there isn't really a love triangle, which usually rears its ugly head in most YA novels. The synopsis already kind of hints that there might be a love interest, and chapter 1 introduces us to a male lead that had me worried we were headed for romantic triad territory. Then that lead was removed. Quite effectively. And although we only know him for a few pages, it's heart-wrenching.
"The tallest buildings look over the fountain and the small businesses. They house the government of our world along with the great library and the museum, all places I'm not allowed to go but am expected to work my entire life to preserve. These are the rooftops I haunt every morning to watch the light come and wonder why."
The second thing I really appreciated about Wren's character is that, unlike many main characters of dystopian novels, she's questioning the rules and "how things work" almost from the very first page. She's not exactly surrounded by rebels, in fact, those around her a stunned when she starts voicing some of her questions and demanding answers.
"They look at me in shocked silence. Have they never thought of these things? Have they never wondered what it is like on the outside? Do they simply believe what they are told without question? If this is my future, then I do not want it."
Unlike many stories that are plot-driven, merely dragging the main characters along after it, this is truly a character-driven story, since Wren refuses to just sit by and watch life happen. She makes choices - sometimes ill-informed ones - and she owns up to her responsibility to those decisions she makes. In this book, it is Wren (not the plot) who is dragging everyone else along for the ride.
The language is this book is lovely and accessible, without going over the top, even if what the words are describing are pretty terrible or frightening. Warning: If you suffer from claustrophobia, there are multiple points in this book where you might have trouble. Wren's entire community exists deep underground in tunnels and caves for their entire lives and Kassy Tayler has no problem describing some of the "tight" places they have to wriggle through in very precise and vivid detail. She even had me holding my breath a couple of times.
I advise you if you get the chance to hold on, take a deep breath, and dive into the domed world of Wren to experience the shocking revelations she uncovers for yourself.
This story continues in Shadows of Glass book 2 of the Ashes Trilogy and I cannot wait.
