I loved this book. I had been waiting a long time to read it and it was worth the wait. I would highly recommend reading this book if you haven’t.
10/10

5 stars! I absolutely loved this. It was captivating and the characters will stay with me. I don't usually love multiple narrators as it can be difficult to follow, but I didn't mind this. One of my favorite reads of the year. Devastating, but still a quick and easy read.

THOUGHTS

This book just didn't quite strike the right balance between social critique and dystopian elements for me. I appreciated the authorial intent here, but some of the over-the-top elements made it feel... less real, I think, than it should have.

PROS
Really Distinct POVs: It can be very difficult to pull off distinct voices when you've got a multi-POV book, but this book absolutely nails it. Each of these character voices is unique. I could have flipped to any random chapter and known after only a sentence or two who was speaking, even without the chapter heading to let me know. And that is very impressive--and very engaging!

Hope in Despair: This book is very dark in a lot of ways, and so I appreciated so much the little glimpses of hope sprinkled in. Specifically these kids growing up in detainment cages at a labor camp who are nonetheless striving to learn, making community, and maintaining hope for a future the adults (and the teens) around them have given up on. This was a necessary light in the dark atmosphere of this book.

Precedent: A good dystopian book will always draw from contemporary political concerns, and this book certainly does. Especially in an election year, immigration is on everybody's mind, and there's just nothing like being at the mercy of a government who could decide to take your legal residence away on a whim. Visa rules shift and change all the time, and so this book, while certainly dystopian, also feels very... precedented. The brutality here is really just pulling from political rhetoric and the annals of history--a domestic history that does, in fact, involve labor camps already.


CONS
Not a Companion: This book has been advertised as a companion novel to Paola Mendoza & Abby Sher's earlier book Sanctuary, but it really isn't. Don't get me wrong. I do believe someone could pick up this book would having read the first book and comprehend it well enough. But with repeat characters and continuing storylines, being labeled a "companion" is really quite misleading. Readers won't get as much out of this book if they read it like a standalone. It is, really, just a sequel.


Aqualinium?: The world is out of water, and there's some miracle mineral that just might solve the problem. That's what the labor camps are for. But... this makes no sense. Not the world running out of water part. Not the miracle mineral part. But the part where nobody actually knows how to use the mineral to make potable water. Like, every experiment with it ends excruciatingly. So, then, what has made them think this mineral will make safe water? Why are they experimenting with it? Why do they think they can control the weather with some random rock, when they have no proof that this rock can do that? I guess I just don't understand expending resources (even if the major resource here is slave labor) for something that doesn't make logical sense until it actually works. It feels like weird alchemy for most of the book. Why would you experiment to find out if aqualinium can make clean rain? Why would you even think a rock might be able to do this?


Too On-the-Nose; The best dystopian novels contain clear critiques of current social and political dilemmas, and they let the readers wrestles with those implications. They do not just outright state the message they intend to supply It feels like these authors didn't trust their message to be clear enough, because they had characters outright state the moral of the story a few times. And that just feels a little on-the-nose. Trust readers (even and especially young readers) to work through the implications and come out with a sharper understanding of the world on the other side. Hand-holding really isn't appreciated, especially in YA.


Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
7/10
Fans of Paola Mendoza & Abby Sher's Sanctuary will love stepping back into this world to find out what happens next. Those who found the experimentation of Jessica Khoury's Origin particularly unsettling will appreciate reckoning with experimenting on a new, vulnerable community.

I loved the first book in the series, so I was very excited when I received an ARC of this one! And I enjoyed this book just as much!

I loved the different POVs in this story and thought each character was so interesting, complex, and relatable in many different ways. I’m very glad the authors decided to craft the story in this way because I really feel it added to the book so much!

The world building was fantastic. It is almost scary how real and possible it all feels.

The only thing that bothered me a little bit was in Vali’s POV there was a lot of talking about events that happened in the first book, which felt very repetitive.

I would definitely recommend this book and the first in the series to anyone and everyone!

I received a a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and statements are my own.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book. This book has my whole heart. I absolutely adored this! From the incredible characters, to the plot, to falling in love with everything so quickly- I couldn’t put this down. I highly recommend this! It really just sucks you in and makes you never want to leave. In my opinion, those are the best books and I couldn't get enough.

"I am Isabel Zambrano... I am a good child. I obey the rules. I am everything.
Blessings to all!"

It was really hard to read this because it’s realistic, if our history has taught us anything is that everything is cyclical. There’s that famous saying that history usually repeats itself, I like to say it also rhymes because sometimes when it does repeat itself it comes out with something new: good or bad, better or worse. In this case, America falling into a dictatorship and entrapping immigrants is very likely with or political climate and it’s interesting how the country that built itself by saying “Come to America for a better life” in order to get more labor, is so adamantly oppose to it now. A country built by immigrant, stolen from natives, and claimed by others, wants people out. That said, coming with something new: the ability to have the liberty to write something like this, or mentioning how it impacts climate change, or tech, since now everything is documented in real time.

SOLIS was scary for that. Because it did include parts from not just America’s past but the world as a whole, because at the end of the day what do you do when you want to eradicate a whole group of people? Lock them up, kill them all, manifest destiny, yadda, yadda, yadda.

“This was not how I imagined this mission. I thought we would be heroes. Fighting the bad guys and ensuring our country's future. Instead, I have become a monster just like them. We are all now living in the time of monsters. How do I escape?”

On a more technical side, I didn’t read the first book of the series, I didn’t realize it was the second of a series until I was halfway through, but you can definitely read this as a standalone. What I wish - which I may very well get on book 1 when I read it - is a little more characterization. It felt very ‘we need to just tell the story so we can’t focus on making the connections, we’ll just dedicate a line to it and move on’. Though, I guess in a book trying to tell you how possible this situation can be, it’s hard to focus on individual characters. But I do wish we could explore situations more instead of going quickly from point A to point B. Tell the story, do not just elaborate around the outline (Or at least don’t make it seem like you’re just elaborating around the outline).

I appreciated Liliana, it’s nice to follow the eyes of an adult in a dystopian novel. More of this please! I like the idea of Jess, it’s terrifying that some people forget others are human but it’s good that people can break out of lies they’re told through reading what she went through.

A good and devastating read, but I will go back to read 1 and will definitely read 3.

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers for the copy of Solis by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. It was well-written, but I got to the point where it was too much reading about the horror and abuses in the labor camp. It reminded me why I stopped reading WW2 novels. I appreciated the small bits of kindness and hope because they were much needed in this bleak story. I’m not sure this book was for me, but it might be for you if you read the first book in the series and don’t mind some sadness, it might be for you!

Solis by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher is a gripping and imaginative novel that delves into a dystopian world with striking relevance. Mendoza and Sher’s vivid storytelling and strong character arcs create a compelling narrative that captivates and challenges readers.

In a bleak 2033 America, undocumented immigrants are imprisoned in labor camps where they are forced to mine a powerful chemical called aqualinium, which the oppressive government aims to exploit for weather control. Seventeen-year-old Rania and her fellow prisoners must band together to ignite a revolution or face certain death as the cruel experiments intensify.

I absolutely had zero idea there was a companion book to this so it just got added to my TBR. This book is terrifying. Not in a horror/slasher way (though some parts are truly gruesome), but in the way that it feels like this could happen at any point in time. I legitimately had goosebumps so many times while reading because it felt too freaking real. My jaw was clenched and my heart was racing. It’s a sign of a very good book and incredibly talented writers. I will be thinking about this one for a long time.

The bravery. The will. The love. The care. The hope. The friendship. The death. The despair. The resistance. The shame. Freedom and liberty.

Absolutely a book that should be read and discussed. If anyone else has read it, I want to know your thoughts.

*I was provided a digital copy of this book by the publisher, all thoughts are my own.*

This was a perfect sequel to Sanctuary. It was a little bit more emotionally riveting and had more backstory and sub-characters. The build-up was real and was worth the ending.

Picking up right where Sanctuary left off, Solis, told with multiple points of view (including several recurring characters from Sanctuary), is a rebellion story. All hope is lost after the government of the New American Republic hunted down the undocumented immigrants and forced them to work in labor camps against their will. California has become a sanctuary refuge and is organizing plans to fight against the New American Republic by liberating the labor camps and intercepting information that the government has gathered on how to combat climate change. They are in a race against time to set their plans into action with their highly trained special force called Solis.

While very difficult to read at times, I really enjoyed Sanctuary, the book that came before Solis, and I would definitely recommend reading Solis after Sanctuary, since it informs the reader on important background and character details. Despite being a very powerful novel, Sanctuary was extremely bleak overall. Therefore, I was really looking forward to Solis, especially after reading the blurb and seeing that it was about a rebellion group. However, the pacing was a little bit off and the ending seemed abrupt and incomplete (possibly because there could be another book in the works?). While Sanctuary felt like a haunting cautionary tale of the future, Solis felt unnecessarily grim at times. I had to put it down for a while and come back to it because in my opinion, it was overly painful and depressing without a lot of plot development in the middle. If these authors decide to write a follow-up to Solis, I will definitely read it, because the story is unique and important, but overall, this one didn't hit the same for me as Sanctuary.

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group/Nancy Paulsen Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I would have eaten this book up as a teenager. I love dystopias and the world building is so well done and sadly realistic. I think this is a very important story for teens. The characters are diverse and relatable and strong. I like how even though it’s a sequel I was still able to follow pretty well without reading the first, but I still think I would have appreciated it more if I read Sanctuary first.

"Solis" by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher is a gut-wrenching and deeply resonant exploration of a dystopian future that feels chillingly close to home. This book struck me with its unflinching portrayal of a brutal regime exploiting undocumented immigrants for their gain, all set against the backdrop of a near-future America. The story, told through the eyes of Rania, Jess, Vali, and Liliana, unfolds with a relentless urgency as they confront the harsh realities of their world and the dire consequences of a government wielding control over something as fundamental as the weather. The authors masterfully blend personal narratives with broader societal issues, making this a compelling read that challenges and inspires. If you're into books that make you think, feel, and rally for justice, "Solis" is a must-add to your TBR.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. Holy crap, this was an absolutely AMAZING read. I literally can't stop talking about it. I went into this book fairly blind, didn't realize that it was set in the same world as Sanctuary, I thought it was just written by the same two authors. From someone who didn't technically start at the beginning, I still felt like I had a great grasp of the world/environment, and the stakes for each character. It was hard to read only because the topic is so realistic with how our society is functioning (or disfunctioning now) and the parallels were well drawn. Immediately running to pick up a copy of Sanctuary so I can get the full picture! A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

What worked: Horrific dystopian world where undocumented citizens are rounded up and forced into labor camps. This novel follows the first book SANCTUARY where readers are introduced to a world that goes topsy-turvy and where a nightmare world comes to those not deemed citizens of the US.

SOLIS shows us the world of the camps where SANCTUARY introduces readers to what leads up to the changes in laws that deem those not citizens of the United States if they don't fit certain criteria. Readers are also introduced to someone who is indoctrinated into this belief and her struggles when she ends up in the camp.

In SOLIS we see Vali who has escaped to California 'sanctuary' but wants to find her mother who was taken to one of the camps. Liliana, her mother, witnesses firsthand the horrors of the camps and the 'true' purpose behind them. The undocumented citizens have to mine a mineral in hopes of using it to harvest rain. There are brutal conditions which include those who are 'harvested' to test the mineral in action. With the ability to create rain comes global power as it's scarce due to Global warming. The depictions of the camps with the cruelty and horrors are haunting.

There's Jess, a former DF member who let some undocumented citizens flee. She's imprisoned in the camp in Arizona. Her own older brother, whom she once idolized, is behind her torture and beatings.

There's also hope that shines in this bleak landscape. The gentle songs from Kenna. Rania, a Lebanese teen from Chicago, holding on to the spark of love with Kenna. And the rumors of Solis, an organization, that is against the horrors of the roundups.

Powerful, gut-wrenching portrayal of a dystopian world that shows the horror when some groups of people are less valued. But also the portrayals of courage and hope to stand up against injustices.

I was really happy to get a follow-up to Sanctuary, which I loved. But I prefer Sanctuary to Solis because it was more showing what people are really going through, with a dystopian angle to it, whereas this one goes into straight-up dystopian territory.