Book Review: Atlantia by Ally Condie

Title: Atlantia
Author: Ally Condie
Series: None
Published: 2014
Publisher: Dutton Penguin
Pages: 298
From: Barnes and Noble
Rating: 7/10

I saw the cover of Atlantia by Ally Condie one day while I perused Barnes and Noble’s website, and immediately I was hooked.

Recently, I’ve been breaking into the young adult genre for unknown reasons, even to me. I think I enjoy them because they’re easy to read and don’t require very much individual thought.

Condie’s novel Atlantia is just that: easy to read and doesn’t require much individual thought.

Essentially, the main character Rio and her twin sister Bay live in the underwater world of Atlantia. Recently, their mother died and the two have to live wondering why. Then, when they become of age, they are given the choice to stay below in Atlantia and continue with their work or go above and into the sunlight. Rio has dreamed forever of going above, but when her sister chooses that, Rio has no choice but to live the rest of her life in the mechanical underwater city. However, her journey in the newest chapter of her life changes things forever.

I decided I enjoy Ally Condie’s writing. It reminded me of Kiera Cass and the Selection series because it’s definitely meant for children and young adults in that it doesn’t leave much to the imagination when it comes to feelings, thoughts and actions. However, Condie did a lovely job describing this fantastical world that probably can’t actually exist without giving too much away.

Mostly, I wanted more. I thought there could have been more description of Rio’s work as a welder, especially since that’s an unusual job for a young woman (in today’s culture). I wanted more description of the surroundings and Rio’s world after the first chapter or so. She thoroughly describes the colors and looks during that first bit of the novel, but after that it was mostly action and not enough description. I also wanted more book. My copy of the novel was less than 300 pages, which I find very unusual anymore for a young adult novel, and I knew I wanted to keep reading, but it wasn’t there. It was a little disappointing.

But, overall I did enjoy the book. It really was a fantastically thought-out novel, complete with love interests, mystery, action, dark themes and fantasy. The novel could have kept going on and on, and I really wanted it to. I have not read Condie’s Matched series, but I know after reading this, I will enjoy that one just as much.

Ally Condie, an American young adult author, has written several books, but her most noteworthy is the Matched trilogy. Her novels can be found anywhere in stores and online, such as at Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.