This book was okay. I liked some of the messages, but overall it ended in a really selfish way. I don’t think the dynamic Lisa builds is healthy. She takes everything on her shoulders, insisting she has to take care of her city. And that’s the problem. She keeps calling it “my city” and even though her friends call her out on it, she doesn’t listen to them. It’s basically a dictatorship. I get strictness and discipline is important for order, but this book tries to send the message that this is how you gain and keep order, and that’s just not the case. There are other, much better ways. She could have formed a council with the other children, not taken charge of everything like a monarch. I wish they’d chosen to take a different spin with this, but alas.

The artwork was pretty modern and sleek, with dark color and shading that fit well with the post apocalyptic genre. While it wasn’t my favorite style, it would probably appeal to its YA readers.

It had potential to be good, but overall I think the core theme is rather toxic (even though we do see Lisa’s foolishness, it’s never addressed and risks passing as “okay” and even “good”). I wouldn’t recommend this.