The Surface's End
By David Joel Stevenson
This is a dystopian novel at the fullest but it has some unique qualities. There is a society that the main character wants to escape from but the protagonist actually stumbles into that society by accident, he isn’t raised there and then gets a taste of freedom. Its kind of the other way around, Jonah is raised on the other side of the fence and stumbles upon a very odd civilization that’s been living underground.
This is a real play on the name of the book, The Surface’s End. I wasn’t sure where Stevenson was going to go with this when I finally cracked open his novel but I’m so glad that I agreed to review it. It takes a very common dystopian theme and adds a superbly unique and original twist to it.
I didn’t love the romance but it was necessary to the story and it helped build a lot of the suspense and anxiety throughout the novel. So I got to fall in love with Jonah while Jonah fell in love. What an interesting journey.
There are a few underlying psychological themes that come out in this book. Brainwashing being one of them, intimidation, and definitely group influence. All of this really helped bring the novel together and highlight the character growth that took place within the pages. Jonah is not the same person at the end of the book that he was in the beginning, I appreciated that. Watching him kind of ‘become a man’ and in a world that’s so unusual was definitely entertaining.
I wouldn’t say that this book was peppered with high paced action scenes but there were definitely some edge-of-your-seat moments that kept the pages turning. I’m not normally into futuristic stuff but this book blends a big part of imagination with reality on top of believable characters and a unique story so I was hooked right from the start. Anyone with an interest in dystopian books will love this but those into sci-fi may also appreciate the writing.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves reading, there’s definitely a wide range of things to love about this novel.
*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*