Seneca Rebel by Rayya Deeb Pages: 340
Published by ATM Publishing on June 1, 2016
Series: The Seneca Society #1
Genres: Young Adult, Science & Technology, Dystopian, Science Fiction
Source: ecopy from Publisher
What if your one chance to change the world means you have to leave everything you love behind?
In the not-too-distant future, math genius Doro Campbell is introduced to the Seneca Society: a secretive, technologically-advanced subterranean utopia dedicated to inventing and perfecting the most effective ways to benefit our planet.
But there’s a hitch. Like all that have come before her, Doro is given the ultimatum: Stay in Seneca forever, or leave now with no memory of the place, its goals, and its inhabitants.
She stays.
Her ideals are shattered when, together with biotechnology whiz, Dominic Ambrosia, Doro uncovers profound deceptions beneath the surface of this all too-perfect community.
Will one teenage girl have what it takes to go up against swarms of drones, psychological manipulation and biological attacks, to uncover the truth and change the trajectory of the world?
Seneca Rebel is the first book in the young adult science fiction/dystopian series, called The Seneca Society, by Rayya Deeb. This is the first book I have read by Rayya, and I was really impressed with her strong writing. There is solid world building and a creative plot in Seneca Rebel. Plus, I was immediately drawn in by the beautiful cover. I love how clean the background of it looks, and the color and patterns over the top made it seem perfect for a dystopian novel. I love it. This book was a good read for me, but I think for bigger fans of the dystopian genre, this book will be a much bigger hit.
Seneca Rebel takes place in a futuristic world. The other cool thing about Seneca Rebel is that it mixed dystopian science fiction with one of my favorite story elements- a secret society! The main character, Doro Campbell is invited to join The Seneca Society because she is awesomely brainy. I enjoyed the secret society element mixed in with the futuristic dystopian world. I had not seen that done before, and it was probably my favorite aspect of the story. If I continue on with this series, it will be to see what happens with The Seneca Society.
Seneca Rebel has strong environmental undertones. So strong, I wouldn’t even call them undertones. They were a major theme in the story. I thought Rayya Deed did an excellent job making the world seem like a place where we could plausibly end up, which is kind of scary in it’s own. Those are the dystopians that scare me the most. The ones that seem a little too realistic. I loved Doro, I loved the world building and the writing, but I wish the environmental aspect had been toned down to an 8 instead of an 11, and sometimes the writing seemed a bit abrupt. I could have used with a couple of extra pages on some scenes, rather than just having them be cut off. But other than that, I really enjoyed Seneca Rebel. I think The Seneca Society is going to be a very interesting series. If you are a big fan of dystopians, this is one that you should check out. It didn’t feel cookie cutter to me at all. However, if you are not a huge fan of this genre, you should probably skip this one.
Victoria
Thanks for sharing your review!