BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Sixteen-year-old Astrea is supposed to be this savior - too bad for them she isn't a believer. Trea fights against her false destiny: she rebels against her family and friends, then refuses her arranged marriage to the charming but deceitful Lexan. Learning her life is in danger, Trea is forced to trust Lexan - until she discovers a power she never knew she had, and one he already knew he did.
As betrayal closes every door, Trea decides she must submit to her stars and accept her fate. Then a handsome stranger offers her an unexpected escape and the chance to create her own destiny.
Hilary Thompson is an independently-published author who released her debut Young Adult novel, Justice Buried, in January, 2014. Justice Buried is the first in a dystopian fantasy series incorporating mythology and astrology, with the second full-length title due later in 2014.
She also teaches high school English, which gives her some insight into her target audience, and helps her maintain a thick skin.
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Review:
Series: Starbright #1
Release Date: 15 January, 2014
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Purchase: Amazon
ISBN: 9781494833299
Edition: Kindle
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Written: 17 April, 2014
Justice Buried has an interesting concept, a dystopian based novel where the heroine hails from a subterranean city that focuses everything around the Zodiac. Your sign of the western Zodiac determines who you are, what you do, and even who you can marry. For someone who finds it amusing to look up traits of their horoscope, it was an interesting concept considering many of the people within this city have never seen the sun, moon, or stars.
With her seventeenth birthday rapidly approaching, along with the choosing celebration, Astrea is finding herself even more reluctant to settle into the correct position for herself. Because she was born on the Spring Equinox, Astrea, it seems, was picked out to be the next First Leader, the leader of Asphodel's population and a special child due to the prophecy encircling her birth. Unlike her friends who get to pick whom they partner with, Astrea must pair off with Lexan, a young man born in the same year on the Fall Equinox and is a balancing out measure.
Things aren't always what they seem, and Astrea finds herself fighting Keirna, the current First Leader who seems to be more interested in keeping power for herself rather than handing it over. Further complications arise in the form of a young man named Stian, a young man from the upper world (which wasn't as barren as the Asphodel leaders thought) who's turned up looking for the city underground. Now Astrea is faced with the choice to stay and do what everyone seems to think she's destined for or to run away with Stian to the world outside her comfortable life she's always known.
The novel is well researched, the little tidbits at the beginning of chapters pertaining to different Zodiac signs was interesting and engaging. I did find myself cringing a bit at the description of the implants that everyone in Asphodel receives on the initiation day. As much as I enjoy messing around with my Zodiac and reading different things about how it supposedly influences my personality, I'm not certain I could ever be convinced to wear it in the form of silver studs placed into my face. Still, the culture was interesting, the idea behind the novel was interesting, and I was constantly guessing and engaged.
Despite the introduction of the mildly over used trope of a love triangle, Justice Buried stands well on its own in the land of dystopian novels. It is engaging, well written, and gave me that familiar fear of not enough pages verses what needed to wrap up. I look forward to the release of the second novel later this year!
If you like YA novels or the Dystopian genre, this book is definitely one I recommend.
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