Review: Actually the only dystopian YA I liked
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 25, 2014
The Lush trilogy follows Bluebell in the dystopian society of Concord. The series starts out with Blue and her friends in the Youth Training Center, about to receive their Concord citizen brands that show them as either fertile or infertile, which determines their futures in Concord society. This determines what jobs they can have, and who they can marry. Blue is branded as Lush, which was very rare, that she was "lush with life" AKA very fertile. This sets her on track to be the Concord Ambassador, to be paraded around to the public about how following exactly the directions that the Counsel of Concord gives could be rewarded with bearing a Lush child. Since this is a bundle I can't really say a lot about the other 2 books without giving up a lot of plot points, so I'll do my best.Concord is a very rigid society, very closely controlled and monitored by the Counsel of Concord, that takes children from their parents at the age of five and raises them until they're 17, at which point they get their brand and are sent to apprentice for the job they were found to have an aptitude for. Boys and girls are kept fully separate until they are 17, at which point they are mixed back in before Incorporation as Concord Citizens. I felt a little reminded of the Nazis, simply because of the intense indoctrination of the youth, and the fact that everyone was always saying "Concur with Concord" and "Concord Reigns". If you didn't say these all the time then you were going to get drug off for a personality reboot.What I liked: I actually really liked this series. The other YA dystopian series I've read I didn't like, including the Divergent series and Hunger Games. I felt that Bluebell was a likeable character and I cared about her. She slowly came to conclusions that Concord wasn't quite what she thought it was, and I felt it was very believable. She didn't suddenly have an epiphany or have some over the top revelation, she was just smart enough to figure it out as she went along. I liked how smart and strong she was, and how she managed to overcome the years of brainwashing. There was great character and world building. I felt like I was in Concord right along with Blue.The one thing I didn't like. The ending was a bit of an anticlimax. I felt like everything kept building and building to this grand and glorious conclusion, only to be left wanting. It was an ok ending. I felt like it could've gone a couple different ways that might have made it a lot better, but to be honest, I liked everything else about the series, so I'm willing to forgive it.Overall, I really loved this series. Way better than Hunger Games and Divergent. I felt like Blue was a believable heroine, and I felt that for how brainwashed she was growing up, how she gradually came to her conclusions was real. I loved Thorn, I hated Weaver, and I cared about Blue. How they described the downfall of society felt real. Like we're just a generation or two from it, which gave me the willies. If you're looking for a great YA dystopian series, pick up this one, you won't regret it!