A Girl Called Ari by P.J. Sky- ARC Review

How would you survive beyond the comfortable walls of your world?

For Starla, a struggle for power becomes a struggle for survival when she finds herself on the wrong side of the wall. Fleeing her abductors and lost in the wasteland, she faces starvation, warring factions, bloodthirsty creatures, and the endless burning sun.

And then there’s Ari… who is she really? And can she really trust this girl from the wasteland to lead her back to the city gates?

One thing’s for sure, Starla’s once privileged life will never be the same… (taken from Amazon)

Thank you to the author for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. It will be available on March 20th.

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve read a book that fits so well into the dystopian genre. The book starts behind the walls of a city. Starla, the mayor’s daughter, is warned that she is in danger. She ignores the warning and finds herself kidnapped and left on the other side of the wall, where there is nothing but wasteland and hardship. There, she meets Ari. Ari is a girl living outside the wall who reluctantly agrees to help Starla get safely back to the city.

It took me a while to get into this book. Starla annoyed the snot out of me. She felt very naive and spoiled. It made sense for her character arc, but it was difficult to read at first. Ari, on the other hand, was a fascinating character. She was tough and self-sufficient, but she also had deep compassion for others, a trait she tried to hide. She brought the story to life.

The journey back to the city covers the majority of the book, although Starla also needs to find out who kidnapped her and why. While there is action, this book focused more on themes of trust, friendship, and having the emotional strength to survive the things life throws at you.

If you enjoy dystopian fiction that focuses more on story development than on non-stop action, you’ll enjoy this book. It was an interesting and unique take on the genre, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for further books written by this author.