drakaina16's profile picture

drakaina16 's review for:

Beasts by Ingvild Bjerkeland
3.5
adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a review copy. 

Beasts definitely does not reinvent the wheel of dystopian horror fiction, but it does do a nice job of conveying tension. The reader is frequently reminded that danger lurks around every corner, and that there are no safe choices here. The language is very plain, but the themes are somewhat heavy. There are some deaths, but these largely occur off screen. I feel Beasts would be appropriate for a mature middle grade reader, and definitely high schoolers. 3.5 stars