Gripping & fast-paced! Dustbin has high stakes, a fascinating and deadly world, and a main character who you're compelled to root for. Will appeal to fans of Ryan Grandin.

“Grit, perseverance, and a strong will to survive Delta of Dead River from Erin Bowman’s Dustborn will remind readers of the fervor felt for Furiosa in the 2015 Mad Max Fury Road movie.”

I liked Dustborn.

It’s a familiar story.

A dystopia set in a harsh landscape: a hellish wasteland that feels like something we could be hurling our own future towards. I couldn’t help compare Dustborn to a favorite movie from 2015 Mad Max Fury Road directed by George Miller.

You have a planet with limited resources, a cult trying to monopolize one of the largest sources of water and agriculture within the area, while also enslaving and abusing people in order to secure its power, and those people living on the outskirts trying to survive.

Dustborn has a western feel to it too. Where you’re stepping into uncharted territory and wondering if anyone will survive.

I mean just look at the cover!

With a quick pace, readers will burn through the first half of the book with relative ease. The chapters baiting and hooking you into the next like the light at the end of a long tunnel. You crave to get to the ending, running as fast as you can to get to and relish in the warm rays after being in the darkness for so long.

Though, there are a few lulls throughout, those breaks don’t necessarily distract from the meat and marrow of the overall story.

Perhaps the one aspect of the novel I hoped would be avoided was romance. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE (yep, all caps) a good romance. But the way Bowman sets up her novel it did not feel like it was needed.

Delta of Dead River feels like the teen version of the Furiosa of Mad Max Fury Road. This fearless wonder woman who has suffered and lost but still manages to believe in something close to hope. Who is going to do her best to try and save humanity especially those who didn’t have a choice in their enslavement where their choices were forcibly taken away.

I don’t think every novel needs a romance pairing. And I felt that should have been the case in this story. Delta held her own. She was calling the shots and didn’t need to entangle herself romantically with anyone during the novel because that wasn’t what makes this story a good one.

And to me, I think Bowman’s success is in that fact. That Delta is a young woman who can be on a the world stage, defining herself as lead role while being a badass heroine ready to save the world.

What I really craved was a plutonic friendship between Delta and Asher. Because the story is about survival and fighting for a better tomorrow. Yes, I know love is something worth fighting for, and is championed in many novels , but for this particular book, I personally think that the romantic relationship wasn’t necessary.

With a major plot twist towards the end that I did not expect, followed by dozens of questions I had once that revelation was discovered, I felt Bowman’s story overall was a good one, and that will have readers hopeful to see Dustborn adapted onto the silver screen.

Happy Reading ̴ Cece

Dustborn is an intriguing read. It follows the story of Delta, who tries to make sense of her world in a seemingly senseless time. Delta is marked - literally - to 'save' her people, but what form that salvation comes in, is yet to be determined! A very quest filled, action-packed book that has a great storyline filled with many twists and turns that will leave you unsure of who to trust.

Personally, I found there were a few 'rough patches' where characters could have been more fully developed to connect better to the reader, but it also would have made this a HUGE book - or even a couple of books to do so. For a stand-alone story, it is incredible how much happens and this makes it very hard to put down!

I really enjoyed the world building in this book. As Delta sees more of the world around her and learns its secrets the reader gets more of a complete history. This is a very dystopian land and there are a lot of shared elements of culture and religion but also each group has some distinct differences. The story also has a lot of twists that were well timed and really keep the reader on their toes. It is really hard to know who to trust and what any character will need to do to survive in this world. Overall I really enjoyed this book.

This for me was an ok read, it did feel slow in bits and I think possibly not the right audience for it.

The world the book inhabits certainly was interesting but I did struggle connecting with the characters.

Erin Bowman NEVER disappoints. This may be a bit different from her past books, but still undeniably her. There is just a quality to her stories that I love. She's an auto-buy author for me.

The plot was ok. There were some spots I had to for e myself through. The idea was interesting. Characters were intriguing. Wasn’t that bad.

This was a decent read for me, I did enjoy the overall plot and setting but I had a hard time connecting with the characters. It was good enough that I flew threw it fairly quick!

I really enjoyed Vengeance Road and Retribution Rails and was very interested in this book. Boy, does Erin Bowman deliver! Exceptional world-building, action, romance, and a great main character who fondly reminded me of another strong female in a dystopian setting (Katniss, anyone?). Overall, I really enjoyed this and didn't want to put it down! This book also has echoes of Mad Max, so if you loved that film - you will really enjoy this!

Firstly this cover is beautiful and I really wanted to love this book, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

The plot and idea should have been incredible but I felt it missed the mark. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I could fully connect with the characters but I never felt like I truly learnt anything meaningful about any of them, meaning I struggled to like the characters as well as the book.

Some of the book felt extremely rushed and confusing and other things felt like they were way too long. So the idea was great, just wasn’t executed well enough for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Engaging! Fresh! Gripping! This novel is fabulous. Post apocalyptic has become boring in recent years. Something that felt done, with nothing new to offer. Then this book kicks the doors open wide and wakes up the reader. I can not wait to buy this for the school and share it with kids!

This book was beautiful. The Mandalorian meets Finnikin of the Rock, I absolutely couldn't put it down.

I've read a bunch of Erin Bowman's books recently, and obviously love her writing. There was something special about Dustborn though. It was a full story, all packed into one book. I never grew bored reading, but it wasn't all action. There was so much character focus, and it was all balanced brilliantly. Every story beat hit exactly how and where they should, and it all built to an ending that had me holding my breath with an eagerness to find out how it would all unfold and a dread knowing the story I was enjoying so much was coming to a close.

I really, really loved Dustborn. It's been weeks since I read it and I still find myself thinking about specific moments and scenes. This is a book I can see myself revisiting for years to come. One of those books I know I'll be able to go to for a sense of comfort.

Dustborn follows a girl named Delta who is “gods touched.” Delta has a map branded on the back of her skin. Her mother had always told her to keep it hidden and to never tell a soul. When Delta’s family is taken by a ruthless dictator who is trying to control all of the Wastes and find the rumored paradise called the Verdant, Delta must find a way to save them.

The story gave me Mad Max vibes, but only in the sense of the world. The Wastes is a giant desert where random wind storms happen and water is scarce. The characters weren’t memorable, but they fit well enough in the world and the situation at hand. The story was fast-paced, and I appreciated the simplicity of the story.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

In this ya dystopian Delta is branded. Ever since she was young, she has always been told to keep her back hidden. And when her family is kidnapped by a dictator who rules over the waste Delta will risk everything to get them back.

I love Erin Bowman, she is a very talented writer. This book is good but I didn't love it. It's fast paced, but it also feels lacking. Like there should have been more. The cover is also lovely!

If you are like me and have been searching for a good sci-fi/dystopian read, just needing a little chaos to break up the monotony of COVID-19 quarantines, then Dustborn will hit the spot! It is so reminiscent of the movies Mad Max and Waterworld, creating that sense of nostalgia of when we could go outside without a mask, but is so entertaining all on its own. Some people may not like the similarities to these films, but I, personally, really enjoyed the story and its characters.

Delta is a teenage girl living on the edge of Dead River in a post-apocalyptic world that is one continuous desert. Water is hard to come by, and family is all anyone can count on. When she is sent to bring her pregnant sister to another colony to see a healer, her pack is attacked and either killed or enslaved by the mysterious man they call the General. Delta is not one to take this lightly, and sets out to find her pack and kill anyone who gets in her way.

Erin Bowman truly achieved a great thing with Dustborn. The story is familiar, but also told in such a way that it stands all on its own. I really enjoyed Delta and Asher's character development, and the detail Bowman put into building this world without it bogging down the pace of the book. I highly recommend Dustborn to anyone who enjoys dystopian and post-apocalyptic books, or are a fan of the Mad Max movies.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was such a fantastic read. It’s about Delta who discovers that her family/pack is kidnapped when she returned from her nieces’s birth. She goes out to find them in the wasteland with the newborn but realized that she can’t trust no one and that she is on her own. This was a really well written book with an amazing plot. I loved the pacing and the world building for this one. The world was complex but was very easy to under. I’m a huge fan of dystopian when it comes under the sci fi genre is this is one of my favorites.

I enjoyed the characters in this book a lot! Delta is such an amazing fierce and brave character who reminds me of Katniss. She knows how to fight but is also very caring. There were amazing supporting character from the General’s HG and PowderTown. There is also romance in this book which is a friends to enemies to lovers. I enjoyed the slow burn romance with the very small love triangle.

This book had a lot of page turners and I was wowed. This was an action packed filled book that made you want to binge read it in one sitting. I had no problems with this book and didn’t even struggle with it. I think a lot of sci fi fans will love this book especially those who are fans of Marie Lu.

Note your normal dystopian love story! Great character development, and I loved the plot twist! I will definitely be ordering this one for my library.

Oooh this one was so close to being a 5 Star for me. It's a sort of Mad Max/Waterworld (without the Water) Mash-up with those Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian vibes I love. There's great world-building here, and the writing is on point. This was a "hooked me from the start, didn't put down, and stayed up all night reading" read for me.

Welcome to a barren waste, where dust and magnetic storms reign supreme. Across this dry and desolate landscape you'll find scavengers, settlers, shanty towns, raiders, half buried oil tankers, kidnapping, slavery, evil Generals, Oracles, Wind Ships, and more! So many great settings and scenarios in this story, I loved all of them.

Enter our protagonist Delta who's back is branded with a map (that no one can read) to the Verdant (a legendary Green and thriving Eden), making her a target of all the above. After her settlement is destroyed and her family taken prisoner (while she is elsewhere) Delta must cross the wastes to try and save them. Of course nothing goes as planned and through various adventures, captures, and escapes she eventually determines to find a way to read the map on her back and locate the legendary Verdant (and save her people). The eventual "revelation" of Verdant is not totally unpredictable, but it's still definitely one of the cool factors and major pivot points of the story.

All in all this has a bit of a dark vibe, and like its ruthless environment, is harsh it's characters outlooks and actions, but she does do a good job of balancing that with sentimental moments. However, without being too spoilery I really did not like the death of Rune, and it separated me from Delta a bit. I get it, but I can't help it from a relational standpoint, I stopped rooting for her so hard. I really liked the interplay between Asher and Delta, even if her stubborn refusal to acknowledge things was a bit trying at times. Reed started out so interesting and then just sort of fell flat, despite all his duplicitous action and interesting plot points.

Basically I loved it, but was a little disappointed in the ending. For all that happened in the first 3/4 of this book, this could have easily wrapped up after the discovery of Verdant, and left the big endgame for a part two duology or even a trilogy. As it was the last 1/4 felt too fast and the big finale ended too quickly in my opinion. I wanted more from this book, and rarely do I say that, it's a good thing. Love this world, hope the author decides to maybe explore a sequel :)

I tried and failed. Then tried and failed again.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. It was almost too dystopian. I struggled with Delta from minute 1- can people be ergonomic? If so, that’s Delta. And because I had absolutely no stock in Robocop and her would-be love interest and found her narration monotonous and detached, I had to give up. 3 stars because I don’t think I can fairly rate this.

But the cover is absolutely magnificent.

I was promised Mad Max: Fury Road and this book certainly delivered. Honestly, it delivered almost too exactly. If you've seen the movie, you know the general outline of the story already.

Delta lives with her family scrounging a living out of a dead and dying earth. Other vibes are present as well as MM:FR, such as Sand by Hugh Howey, and a tiny little bit of Dune. There's an evil man who presides over a too-powerful outpost. There's the mystery of the dystopian truth behind the origin myths and theology of Delta's people. There are strong themes of family and trust.

I would give this book a 3.5. It was enjoyable; I read it in one sitting and it certainly didn't lose my interest. I would have liked it more if the plot were a BIT less on the nose. I would have loved it if I had loved the characters, which I wanted to. I liked them, Delta especially, but I needed more in order to really invest.