Aqueous is the best YA book that I have read this year! Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc provided in exchange for an honest review.

The efforts to stop climate change were fruitless, and now disaster faces the residents of Earth. The food is gone, the water has dried up, and the unforgiving sun has burned up anything in its rays. A young girl and her mother, searching beyond all hope for salvation, have come to the end of the road. In the eleventh hour, salvation arrives, but to be saved means to be separated. The young girl is rescued by an admiral and his wife and taken to live in the underwater city of Aqueous. Ten years later, 16-year-old Marisol Blaise is preparing to face "the trials" that will determine the job that she will undertake within the city of Aqueous. Her dream and the sole reason she has trained so hard are to be a Curvier. This class of elite diver spends most of their time outside of the city, undertaking dangerous missions for the sake of Aqueous, and Marisol is determined to be the first female. However, in this perfect utopian society where everyone is equal and important, Marisol uncovers some uncomfortable secrets that could jeopardize everything she has ever known.

I could not put this book down! This book is so atmospheric that I could easily imagine life in this underground city. Jay Shyback did an amazing job creating this world, and managed to describe everything down to the sounds of the city, without it feeling clunky. Every character in this story is well-developed. Usually, stories have side characters that are there to fill out the story but are written with very little thought put into their pasts or motivations, not so with Aqueous. Every character was three-dimensional and came alive on the page.

What I enjoyed the most about this book is that it is clean; there is no swearing and no sexual content at all. I cannot wait to read the next books in this series!

Content Information (May Contain Spoilers)
Parent death,
Child death,
Mild bullying
Feelings of abandonment

« A watery womb rebirthing our race »

Apocalyptic, yes, but with hope. It is exactly the feeling I had reading this story.

Following the ecological colapse of the planet, dwellings are built under the sea to ensure the survival of the human race. Everything is regimented there to ensure a healthy existence and a gradual evolution of society.

I really like the writing that alternates between the past and the present which allows us to be quickly at the heart of the action.
The past that makes us live the last stressful moments of the survivors racing towards survival.
The present with the story of a group of young people who, after completing several years of training, must undergo trials to determine their future position in this new society.
The description of the underwater world makes you dream. The eco-energetic system and the technologies created by the survivors are fascinating.
I recommend this book without hesitation and I look forward to the rest of the adventure.

Thanks NetGalley for providing this EARC