Review: Solstice by P. J. Hoover

Title:  Solstice
Author:  P. J. Hoover
Series:  n/a
Publisher:  independently published by author
Publication Date:  May 4, 2011
Links:  Amazon | Goodreads
Rating: 

From Goodreads:

Where Mythology and Dystopia meet...

Piper’s world is dying. Global warming kills every living thing on Earth, and each day brings hotter temperatures and heat bubbles which threaten to destroy humanity. Amid this Global Heating Crisis, Piper lives with her mother who suffocates her more than the chaotic climate. When her mother is called away to meet the father Piper has been running from her entire life, Piper seizes an opportunity for freedom.

But when Piper discovers a world of mythology she never knew existed, she realizes her world is not the only one in crisis. While Gods battle for control of the Underworld, Piper's life spirals into turmoil, and she struggles to find answers to secrets kept from her since birth. And though she’s drawn to her classmate Shayne, he may be more than he claims. Piper has to choose whom she can trust and how she can save the people she loves even if it means the end of everything she’s ever known.

SOLSTICE is P.J. Hoover's debut YA novel and is the first front-list novel to be independently published by an Andrea Brown Literary Agency author.

Review:

Wow. I was really excited to read this story, but I'll admit that I had doubts as to how the author was going to tie mythology into a dystopian-themed novel. Consider those doubts assuaged. This is more of a mythology-themed novel with a dystopian setting, and the author threaded the mythology into the storyline seamlessly.

Ah, the setting. How apropos is it that I started reading this story on my Memorial Day trip to Austin, TX -- my second home after Dallas -- the very city that is home to the main character? And how very clever for the author to use the overwhelming Texas heat as the apocalyptic threat. I felt right at home from the very first chapter. But the heat isn't just limited to Texas or even the U.S.; no, it's a global threat, one that no one knows or understands how it came to pass.

The author also created a very relatable character in Piper. In the beginning, she's just an average girl who's led a very sheltered life thanks to her overbearing mother and lack of a father figure, but that all changes when she opens a mysterious gift on her 18th birthday and learns that things are not as they seem and that her life is not what she once thought.

If you remember your mythology from school, you'll probably be quicker to figure out what actually happened to the Earth and even to Piper. The author provides hints, but even with those, I felt the overwhelming desire to reference my copy of Edith Hamilton's Mythology. I think the mythology of this novel, rather than the dystopian elements, were what pulled me in and kept me reading late into the night.

This novel is thrilling, full of secrets, desires, choices, and danger. It left me completely satisfied but still hoping to learn more about Piper's world and the choices she makes.

Next up for review: