Colonization (Paradise Reclaimed #1)

SCI-FI/DYSTOPIAN:  Paradise 21 looms on the horizon! After traveling through space for generations, their final destination is, at last, in view. Most of the people aboard the New Dawn haven’t even set foot on land, so a bit of trepidation is to be expected. For Andromeda, she’d be perfectly content staying on board the ship forever, despite what her great-grandma Tiff says is her destiny. 

Andromeda is much more concerned with Sirius. They’ve been friends their entire lives, but a spark of something more has ignited, and Annie suspects he feels the same. But soon the Guide will announce their new positions, and reveal their life mates. Will the Guide allow them to finally be together, or will this be one more devastating change Andromeda must face?

It’s extremely difficult to make a fictional world believable. It’s easy to assume these stories are just as easy as any other fiction. Ms. Dionne makes us think it is easy. That speaks to her world-building abilities. With aliens, spaceships, faraway planets, and young love, she takes us on a fantastical journey. The love story is particularly refreshing. An element or two felt a little askew, and the heroine felt a little too weak at times, but the overall message is clear and bright. A definite coming-of-age triumph!

Sofia St. Angeles