When I read the premise of this book I was really excited to read this book. It had the whole dystopian feel to it with human now living underground as the life above has taken on a hostile environment, not just from the sun but from Sols. I'll call the Sols like a reverse Vampire in a way as they only are able to come out when the Sun is up but they also suck all the blood out of any individual that they catch.
The world building is pretty straightforward and one that is common in Dystopian type books. Humans have been forced underground and a new rule/regime has been implemented. Women are seen as property and their worth is only determined as to whether they have the ability to have children. If they are not able to have children or do not yet have a husband or a child they are at the very bottom of society. This society rules by fear, and the greatest punishment of being taken to the surface. However, in order to keep numbers low, and to learn more about the Sols, 10 women are forced to the surface every year and if they are able to survive they are welcomed back, very few have ever returned.
I loved that Maragold decided to make Orelle an older FMC. She is in her 30s, has a disability (other than not being able to have children) that makes her weak and frail but she is neither weak or frail. She will do anything and everything to protect those around her. She really just wants a better life for not only herself, but also women who are seen 4th class citizens I will say I don't know what her overall diagnosis was, I don't think we are ever told it, just that she suffers from some sort of disease.
This book really had me for about 2/3 of the book, but the last third of the book felt really rushed and all of a sudden information dumping about the outside world. It was like Maragold needed to wrap a whole lot of story plot points up in the book in order to finish it that just took me out of the story. When I read this book I thought it was going to be a stand alone (and it could be as Maragold does wrap quite a few things up) and not a series but I now know it is going to be a series, so I am unsure why Maragold felt she needed to info dump right at the end,
This was was a good debut novel. I found the society and the life when Orelle is living underground to be really interesting and the highlight for me in the book. If there is a second book in the series I would check it out to see where Maragold takes the story but I'm not sure I would be invested in it if it does not have Orelle as the main character.
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