I’ve read two other books by Simmons and liked them and so I knew I would read Metaltown as soon as I read the synopsis (and saw the cover!) It was a bit different from her Article 5 series, but also a dystopian.

Metaltown is a part of the Federation that is dedicated to the manufacturing of weapons to support the war. The setting is best described as extremes. Metaltown is a very dangerous, depressive, dirty, ugly place to live in. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the River District is very posh, clean, and fancy. The world is half destroyed and there is hardly any safe food to eat anymore due to the abuse to the planet and all the wars that plague it.

The story is told in the third voice, from three different POVs. This sometimes can be confusing, but it wasn’t in this case. I think Simmons made an excellent choice in our three protagonists. It served for the reader to know everything that was going on and to understand the different view points and problems. On to our characters: Ty is an orphan that was abandoned in Metaltown. She’s grown up on the streets, she’s very smart, impulsive Above all, Ty is Colin’s best friend and best “man”, she has his back, always. Colin is the youngest of two brothers and they lost their place in Bakerstown (kind of the middle class city) because one of his moms got sick with the corn flu. Colin is loyal, a hard worker, a natural leader and a handsome devil. Lena is the daughter of the most influential and wealthy family in the Federation. She’s very smart, a strategist, but also has very high morals which are NOT appreciated by her brother and father.

There is not really a love triangle here, so calm down dear readers. Ty hates Lena right away because she’s rich and because something that she unknowingly did to her. Colin sees something more, other than the pretty face and the wealth. Colin and Lena’s relationship is not instantaneous, and although they fell into “like” with each other fairly fast it felt right, if you know what I mean. Colin is very protective of those he cares about and that includes Lena. It was a very sweet romance. Other characters that are worth mentioning are Chip, the small orphan that Ty takes under her wing, Ida and Charity, Colin’s moms and the Joseph and Ownen, Lena’s nasty dad and brother.

The pacing was a bit slow. I know it must be hard to do all the world building and develop the story and characters in a stand alone book, so I do understand why. Don’t get me wrong, there is a fair amount of action and really bad things happening in this book. The towns are “owed” by gangs that are at war with each other and that appear protect the workers, but don’t. Besides the environmental message, other topics in the story revolve around diversity, same sex parents, gangs, abuse, injustice, poverty, and drugs.

My feels were broken. Simmons is evil. That’s all I’m saying about that.

Overall, Metaltown was a very good and solid dystopian story of the consequences of the abuse to the environment, the power to be better and to do the right thing regardless of what other might think or do.