Review: Year One by Nora Roberts

Year One by Nora Roberts

Rating: 4 Stars

This year I'm participating in a number of book challenges across the web: Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge, the Popsugar Reading Challenge, and the Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge. This is an attempt to broaden my reading horizons and read books with more substance. I love a good romance, but I find myself going to that all the time, and there are so many other books I want to read! I'm hoping doing these challenges will help me push myself a little harder in my reading.

That being said, I'm easing into the challenges with the newest Nora Roberts novel, Year One. I used this to fill the "book with a cover you hate" category in the Read Harder Challenge. And I do hate this cover. I don't like birds, and that is a horribly ugly, creepy black bird!

I've been a Nora Roberts fan for a long time, so I wasn't sure how I would feel about this book when she announced last year that she was going in a different direction with her new trilogy. I like Roberts in a lot of ways because her books are similar in style and plot, so I was skeptical about this new direction, but I was pleasantly surprised. 

This is a definite departure from Roberts' traditional style, but I think she executed it well. I love dystopian fiction, and that's clearly what this is. It's got more magical and fantasy elements than the dystopian fiction I usually choose, but it fit together well for the most part. I did question some the idea that magical beings suddenly cropping up all over and everyone seemingly accepting it with no question. But other than that, the story flowed well. 

Some critical reviews have complained that the story dragged in the middle and that they didn't like the part about the settlement of the new towns. To me, that added to the story, and it helped me get to know the characters better, which got me more invested in the story. I did feel like the last bit, the last 100 pages or so, was a little rushed, but it did leave me excited for the sequel!

If you're looking for a slightly different take on dystopian fiction, or a Nora Roberts fan, pick this one up!