Review: Stumbled upon gold!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 11, 2014
Last Light Falling: The Covenant Book I is an instant favorite because of so many reasons and I can’t wait to read the second book and find out what happens next.Arena and Gabe are easy to love as characters, and the types with whom teens their age could easily relate. For instance, Gabe is an Anime geek, and as Arena describes him, “If there’s a problem, then he’ll surely find a solution, but not without the common hormonal stress that comes with being a teenage boy.” Meanwhile, Arena, the older of the twins, is a headstrong young woman of fifteen, who is admittedly blunt and moody. Their quips towards each other are funny, interesting, and clever. And I definitely love intelligent young protagonists, partly because they set a great example for the young readers.But apart from the character development, the overall plot is what makes this book incredibly fascinating. Normally, I am dubious about books that incorporate faith and religion in the story and use it as a catalyst to hold the plot together. But somehow, in Last Light Falling, not only does it work. It creates a heartwarming and wonderful essence of adventure and moral, which I think readers of all ages will appreciate.Plus, the narrative itself is gripping. Arena’s account on the day their parents died in a car crash six years previously is just heartbreaking, and readers won’t be able to resist getting sucked into all the death, loss, and overall turmoil the young protagonists have gone through prior to the present day—their fifteenth birthday. Set in a (almost) post-apocalyptic USA in 2053, the core of the book is about the surprise that the twins found out on their birthday. Apart from having an estranged uncle, somehow they also end up needing to something far more important than they could have ever imagined.I think one sentence in the book’s blurb perfectly captures what this book series promise to young readers—that Arena and Gabe aren’t your typical protagonists, because “they were not born to save the world; they were chosen to prepare it for the final days”.