Rain just wants a better life for her and her sick brother than they can get in Earth City, so when a charming spaceship caption named Johnny offers her passage in return for being "his girl", she readily agrees. Unfortunately, Johnny is not what he seems to be, and Rain is going to have to fight in order to survive his ship of horrors.
First off, let me say that if "new adult" ever includes genre fiction, then THE COLOR OF RAIN would be a good fit. It's quite a bit more mature than most YA (think Ellen Hopkins), but the grounded writing (which earns a Zombie Chicken Merit Badge) never sensationalizes what amounts to sex trafficking in space.
The main stage of THE COLOR OF RAIN is Johnny's spaceship and I admired the careful wordbuilding here in regard to the levels and how colors revealed a girl's status. There were also some great reveals concerning the real purpose of the ship, tight action scenes, and terrifying "out the airlock" sequences.
It was not difficult to understand Rain's motivations - she acts out of love for family and friends, even when Johnny tries to break her of the habit. I loved her strength.
At first I was resistant to the idea of Ben as a love interest, but he definitely grew on me. I might have even been a tiny bit misty-eyed at the end.
THE COLOR OF RAIN is available in paperback now. Find out more about it at the author's website.
FTC disclosure: Review copy from publisher
See index of all dystopian reviews on Presenting Lenore
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3 comments:
Thanks for the review. It's good to know of some new adult that's not all romance.
I really need to read this one already.
As a contemp. writer/reader, I was a little nervous when I first started reading this book--Sci Fi/Hookers...not my usual scene, but OH. MY. GAWD! This book is incredible. SO good!!
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