The water is lethal. The sundered are depleting. Harry Iskinder has inherited a team of travelers to continue the Iskinder journey and, maybe, finally find the Hope of Humanity which will restore the earth and keep all species from becoming extinct.

This book would satisfy book fans from across many genres and, to me, is a must read for any fans of fantasy, horror, sci-fi, mystery, and/or the post-apocalyptic-style.

“The Sundered” by Ruthanne Reid is definitely not a typical post-apocalyptic-style novel. The 'bad water' and creative characters are very creative and well-developed. Even without being commonplace in today's world, they easily come to life through the well-written descriptions.

The lack of conveniences and technologies from the modern world is handled in a believable manner when other 'creative forces' are not employed which really drew me into the story. It really came to life.

This book was refreshing from beginning to end in not only its creativity, but also its originality. The mystery and unpredictability of the story kept everything moving right along –I literally did not put it down once I started reading. Aside from the creativity in the main idea and created characters, it is also resoundingly present throughout the story –in the turns, twists, characters, and the situation in which the characters find themselves. There were at least two twists that I really did not see coming which was a very pleasant shock!

I was apprehensive, at first, when I saw that this book was written in first person, present tense, but it was masterfully done and added an extra layer or two to the story –as well as making the reader/ character bond even stronger. I was thrilled by the absence of tense-slips. I cannot remember once instance in which the tense slipped into the more popular past-tense.


The only things that I could point out as areas for improvement would be there were a few minor typos that could be fixed, and I felt like details and memories from the main character's childhood and earlier life could have been introduced earlier in the book. The latter is just personal preference as I always love knowing about a character's history so as to feel more connected to with them as early as possible.

When I reached the final page, I wanted to keep flipping. Not only had I become so consumed by the story that I did not want to step away from it, but I also felt so connected with the characters that I just wanted to stay with them a little longer. I enjoyed the ending, but I definitely wanted more --I didn't want and ending at all!

While reading 'The Sundered', I felt like I was on a journey --and constantly needed to know what was around the bend so much so that I could not even sleep until I'd finished reading.

This is Ruthanne Reid's first novel and I truly hope to read many more by her in the future.

I recommend this book because it's original and would be suitable for readers of many different genres.

This book is not flawless, but I can think of no reason that would justify saying, "Don't read this." It's very dependent upon the reader's favored genres, but this book encompasses many.

It has been a long time since a book has kept me so interested that I literally did not put it down and felt that sleep was less important than knowing what happened next. That alone makes me want to share this book with everyone that I know, especially as this is not a book that I would normally be drawn to by reading descriptions or searching through my usual genres.

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Created Nov 10, 2012 at 3:53am • Submit your own review...