My favorite YA Book. Spoiler: it is dystopian AND there's dinosaurs
- Charity Harvey
- Jan 1
- 4 min read
If you've been to my About Me section, you already know this book has my two favorite things in it. It's in the title of this blog post too. I bet you have never heard of this YA Dystopian series before, but after you read my review today, I hope you are intrigued enough to give it a try! You may have to special order it, but I promise, it is worth it.
The book is the first in a trilogy. The first title in the series is The Extinction Trials, written by S.M. Wilson. The cover art is amazing. (Just scroll down to see the cover, as displayed on goodreads.com) As you already know, my favorite genre is Young Adult Dystopian. I was late to the game with this genre; I did not begin reading it until well past it's prime time. That is why I am still an avid fan and hoping it will make a great comeback (and soon!) I think what I like so much about the dystopian genre is the world building. You have the freedom to create whatever world you want, and the world of Piloria did not disappoint me!
That's where our story takes place. Our main character is Stormchaser (called Storm mostly), a young girl with a dream of a better life. Her world has been ruined by pollution and overpopulation, but she's got a chance at something better if she enters The Extinction Trials. It's a contest unlike any other, and she may not come out alive. While entering the Trials, she becomes a friend (or enemy?) with a boy named Lincoln. They are not best friends from the start, that's for sure. But the longer they stay in the contest, the closer they become and wind up being partners.
When I read the blurb and saw the stickers promising "The Hunger Games meets Jurassic Park" I was sold.
Without spoiling the entire story for you, let me give you a few of my favorite things about this book:
1) Great plot. I didn't even see an actual dinosaur until page 194 but it was SO GOOD I was enjoying every page. By the time we did get to the dinosaurs I was captivated. That's a good plot!
2) No bad language. Call me old fashioned (and I definitely am) but I always try to find good books without the bad language. This was a totally clean read which I greatly appreciated. That is my preference and what I will always recommend on this website. I understand that there are some great reads out there that do have some language, but for me, the less the better. That's why I read so much children's and YA material. Very often, they are action packed or heartfelt with a great message but without a lot graphic material.
3) No annoying love triangle romance. There was an attraction between Storm and Lincoln, but it was done so well. There's no "instalove", no real acts of romance, but you can sense the tension and attraction between them. And it actually adds to the plot, it doesn't take away from it like a lot of YA books. Honestly if you took the romance out of it, it's still a story on it's own.
4) ACTION. So much action and adventure in this story, no slow parts or boring chapters. And I know you're wondering, if there are dinosaurs, is it extremely violent or graphic? No, which is good! You definitely already know going into it that not everyone will survive. But nothing is written or described in a way that makes it gory. Realistic, yes, but this is a survival story and that is the main focus.
5) The characters. Fantastic development throughout the story. You can see them change and grow in their attitudes and thinking as the story progresses, which is realistic. You wouldn't go through this type of contest without it changing you! They were very likable to me; I cared about what happened to them. For me, if I can't form an attachment to the main characters, there is no point in reading the story.
6) DINOSAURS! And mostly scientifically accurate (as far as I know, based off reading books and watching YouTube interviews with paleontologists). The author is portraying these dinosaurs as post apocalyptic; so we understand they are very much like Jurassic Park dinosaurs. Scientists created them, so their DNA isn't pure and they may not be like the actual dinosaurs from the original Jurassic period, but they aren't over the top genetically modified either. I appreciated that!
I highly recommend this book and the two sequels. I have re-read this trilogy twice and will probably read it again!
I hope you enjoyed reading my first review. I am a bit different from a lot reviewers, as I'm sure you've already noticed. My likes and favorite books will not be everyone's cup of tea and that is ok! But if you are a dystopian fan, like clean reads and adventure, you will probably be reading some books off of my "favorites" list!
