Saturday, October 4, 2014

Blog Tour Review: ATLANTIA by Ally Condie

Title: Atlantia
Author: Ally Condie (@allycondie)
Published: October 28th, 2014
Series: N/A
Genre: YA Fantasy / Dystopian
POV: 1st person, present tense
Pages: 320
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Format: Print ARC
Source: Publicist (for review)
Rating: The Royal Library, Top Shelf

Can you hear Atlantia breathing?

For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamed of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all Rio’s hopes for the future are shattered when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected choice, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio’s true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long silenced—she has nothing left to lose.

Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother’s death, her own destiny, and the corrupted system constructed to govern the Divide between land and sea. Her life and her city depend on Rio to listen to the voices of the past and to speak long-hidden truths.

In Atlantia, Rio has one goal - to go Above. But, she resists in order to fulfill her promise to her sister Bay, who unexpectedly chooses to go Above on her own. With Bay's surprising departure for Above, Rio quickly realizes her home is hiding more secrets than she realized, and it will take everything ounce of strength and ingenuity that she has in her to reunite with her sister. Rio's a different type of heroine - she's a bit more concerned with herself and her sister. The fact that she's a siren makes it more difficult for her to really become a part of society, since she has to hide her true, powerful voice under a rather dull, uninteresting one that puts people off. In order to see her sister again, she pushes herself to her limits, and digs deeper to discover the truth about Atlantia and the world Above.

While Rio is a great protagonist, the city of Atlantia proves to be one of the most fascinating and compelling parts of the story. Condie develops Atlantia with ease, revealing this strange new setting one page at a time. It is alluring, haunting, familiar, and yet still a strange sort of place. Additionally, for those who prefer less romance and more story, you won't be disappointed. While there is a romance, it is minimal, slowly built, and not the focus of Rio's story. Instead, this is a tale of two sisters living in an underwater world built on secrets and lies. Unique and otherworldly, Atlantia is a story brimming with surprising secrets and captivating characters. This is a story you shouldn't miss.

Highlights: I loved Maire, Rio's siren aunt. Rio wasn't the character I was expecting, but I enjoyed her character even more because of her flaws and attributes. The setting of Atlantia is so well done and easy to visualize - I particularly liked the deepmarket, where people sell their wares (from flavored air to jars of dirt) and host illegal swimming races to bet on. It's a fascinating world to explore with every page. I loved the fact that this is a novel about sisterhood. There are other things going on in Rio's life, but getting Above to see her sister is the first thing on her mind. Condie's take on sirens was interesting, if a bit understated, and I loved learning about them and their abilities.  

Lowlights: I wish there had been a bit more description, especially in Atlantia and about the sirens. And more pages. Better yet, a sequel. I would love to spend more time with these characters and their world. 

Rating: The Royal Library, Top ShelfLoved, 5 out of 5. Ally Condie's Atlantia is a magnificent story that unravels at just the right the pace. The writing is vivid and rich, the world is fascinating, and Rio's story is compelling from the first page. If you're even the slightest bit curious about Atlantia, I'd recommend checking it out. 


Follow along with the #AtlantiaBelow Blog Tour
for more reviews, interviews, guest posts and giveaways!

September 28 – Katie (Mundie Moms) – Long Q&A
September 30 – Jen (I Read Banned Books) – Guest post
October 2 – Katie (Katie’s Book Blog) – Short Q&A
October 4 – Lea (YA Book Queen) – Review
October 6 – Taschima (Bloody Bookaholic) – Fancasting
October 8 – Jeremy (Novel Thoughts Blog) – Guest post
October 10 – Erin/ Flo (Fangirlish) – Review
October 12 – Nancy (Ravenous Reader) – Review
October 14 – Sara (Novel Novice) – Playlist
October 16 – Jess (Gone with the Words) – Short Q&A
October 18 – Rachel (Paper Cuts) – Guest post
October 20 – Georgia (Eve’s Fan Garden) – Playlist
October 22 – Gabby (Queen Ella Bee Reads) – Long Q&A
October 24 – Andrea (Reading Lark) – Review
October 26 – Tirzah (The Compulsive Reader) – Playlist


Enter my international giveaway below for
an ATLANTIA necklace and an ARC of ATLANTIA!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


29 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great read. I'm excited to read it. Great review!

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  2. I am excited for your giveaway, I really need to get my hands on this one!
    Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings

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  3. I haven't heard of this one I confess but I know about the author even if I haven't read any of her books. I confess that you made me intrigued with your review. Thanks for the discovery!

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  4. I'm really excited for this one. I really enjoyed Condie's Matched trilogy. So I have high hopes for Atlantia. I could use a good mermaid book. Even better that you loved it.
    Happy reading!
    Brittany @ This is the Story of My(Reading) Life

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  5. Aw, yay :D Amazing review sweetie. <3 I am so glad that you loved this book. I'm curious about it, and have pre-ordered the hardcover, so seeing this review makes me more excited about the book :D Thank you for sharing. <3

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  6. I totally didn't know about Allie Condie's new book! I definitely need to check out Atlantia- the world underwater sounds so fascinating and I'm glad to see you loved it, Lea! :DDD

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  7. Wow- fantastic review! For some reason, this book totally flew under my radar. I should definitely check it out. I love the premise of Atlantia and I enjoyed Matched, so I'll have to get my hands on a copy.

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  8. I loved Matched and after reading your high praise for it maybe Atlantia is a book I should check out.

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  9. I loooved Matched, R&C and can't wait for this one :) and I'm really happy that there's a giveaway that's also open for people who don't live in the US. :D

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  10. WOW, 5 out of 5?! That's awesome! Cannot wait to get my hands on this book. Love Allie Condie. :)

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  11. Oh wow, this is exciting!! And I admit a little bit unexpected... I love Ally's writing, but I think I had a hard time becoming engaged with the last two books in the Matched Trilogy and I was worried the same would be the case with her new book. Now I'm thinking it was the dystopian element I had a problem with because Atlantia sounds amazing and I can't wait to read more about it! I should have known that Ally would do a beautiful job with this one!

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  12. I am curious & a 5 tells me loads too.

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  13. Love how you do highlights and lowlights. Loved the matched trilogy so this one is a definite read!

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  14. sounds very interesting!! I also really loved the way you reviewed it!

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  15. That's what I loved about Deep Blue, it was more focused on the girl power and building the underwater world that was beautiful, so can't wait to get into this! :)

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  16. Glad to see you really enjoyed this one. I can't wait to read it!

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  17. I hope there is some romance too :3 Always good to spice things up. But the premise sounds interesting enough. Good review, by the way. Very organized :)

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  18. 5 out of 5? That's made me even more excited for this novel! I still haven't managed to get around to the Matched trilogy but I've heard so many good things about Ally's writing

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  19. I'm quite curious about this one. It's not my typical read but you have me thinking I may like it after all!

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  20. So excited to be part of team #AtlantiaBelow with you!

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    1. Me too! I can't wait to see your playlist on the 14th! :D

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  21. I'm hesitant to read this. I wasn't the hugest fan of the Matched series, but this book sounds really good.

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  22. I can't wait to read this book along with my other books set down below (ocean and underwater!).

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  23. Great review and awesome giveaway!
    http://abooktastic.blogspot.co.nz/

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  24. Nice review about this book, books is so interesting about fictions. so, i think readers love to read this book.
    young adult fiction books

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  25. Ally Condie's Matched series was great so I have high hopes for Atlantia.

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  26. I had mixed feelings with the matched trilogy, so I hope this one will be more of my taste!

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  27. Great review. Can't wait to read this

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  28. This book sounds awesome, great review!! -I've never picked up a mermaid story before but now I'm intrigued!

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