Something about entertaining what life will be like in a post-apocalyptic world is equally terrifying and intriguing. This book is no exception. A world drained of natural resources is still fiction, but grows closer to being a reality. This book does a fantastic job of using fiction to have readers face the reality of our rapidly draining resources in Earth.

Giften by Leyla Suzan was a YA dystopian tale with fantasy elements. The premise of the story was interesting, which is what drew me to request it for review, but when I came to read it, it never really captured my heart. That's not to say there was anything at all wrong with it: the story idea worked well, the characters were mostly well presented and the world building and pacing were both fine. I just personally never got fully drawn into the tale; it was okay, but I wasn't blown away. As a note, I would say that I received the book as a ARC and while it downloaded fine onto my computer, when I tried to add it to my e-reader it would always look like it had synced but then not open properly on the device. As such, I had to read it on the computer screen, in between other tasks, rather than relaxed in the evening before bed, so it's fair to say that may have affected my ability to sink properly into the story. However, based on the reading experience I had with it, I am giving it three stars. If you like YA dystopia it's worth checking out.

This book is as if the author joe took the best parts of Divergent and The Hunger Games and put them together; it really didn’t disappoint!!

Ruthie lives in the Fields, a farming community struggling to get by in a post apocalyptic world where crops struggle to grow. However, there are some in the community that can make crops grow by digging their hands into the earth. These are the Giften. They are highly sought by the Ciry who are using them for a secret project. After discovering she has the Gift, Ruthie begins a journey to a dangerous and life changing revolution.

This is a YA although as an adult I did find there were themes such as murder of children that were hard to deal with for me. This was important to the context of the story however and it did highlight the theme of abuse of power especially in war torn and poverty stricken communities. The novel was written with a sensitive and caring feel although this didn’t hinder the action and I found the book was equal parts moving and exciting.