Book #198 of 2017:
The Scourge by Jennifer A. Nielsen
I like that the main characters in this novel are from an oppressed underclass in their society, because it teaches an important lesson about tolerance to any young readers clever enough to spot the parallels to people’s treatment in our own world. Unfortunately the book as a whole struck me as pretty half-baked, with easy-to-guess twists, bare-bones worldbuilding, and everyone’s morals a little too simplistic even for the intended middle-grade audience. I’d be interested in reading a sequel that deepened the world and its characters, but as a standalone story this one doesn’t really satisfy.
★★☆☆☆
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