Thursday, August 25, 2016

Blog Tour + Review + #Giveaway: There Once Were Stars by Melanie McFarlane @McFarlaneBooks @XpressoTours


There Once Were Stars
Melanie McFarlane
Published by: Month9Books
Publication date: April 26th 2016
Genres: Dystopian, Young Adult



Peace. Love. Order. Dome. That’s the motto that the Order has given the residents of Dome 1618 to live by. Natalia Greyes is a resident of Dome 1618, a covered city protected from the deadly radiation that has poisoned the world outside for four generations. Nat never questioned the Order, until one day she sees a stranger on the outside of the dome. Now Nat wants answers. Is there life outside the dome and if so, what has the Order been hiding from everyone?




My Review:

Today is Natalia “Nat” Greyes birthday and she is eighteen. Today is the first day of the rest of her life. Nat starts her new job today but before she has to enter into the adult world Nat is going to visit her special place at the edge of the dome. Nat lives inside of Dome 1618, a covered protected city.

The dome has protected them from radiation poison for many, many years longer than Nat has been alive. Nat has been going to her special place since the day she lost her parents nine years ago. She knows she is breaking the rules by going there and will be severely punished if she is caught.  On this day Nat is almost caught when she spots a couple of people on the outside of the dome and one of them is captured and brought inside the dome.

Now Nat has lots of questions as to how are these two guys living on the outside when they are not wearing protective clothing to keep them safe from the radiation poison? Nat has a very inquisitive mind and so is determined to find out. But first she has to get to her new job she doesn’t want to be late on the first day.

Nat doesn’t know what she wants to do with the rest of her life or what job she wants to do unlike her two best friends Zara and Jak so Nat gets to try a few jobs until she finds the right one. But this doesn’t last long before she is uprooted from her apartment where she has lived with her Grandparents since losing her parents.  She is taken to work in the Science department where her parents worked and with some of the same people who worked with them as well.

Nat soon learns that there is more going on in the dome than meets the eye. Nat like everyone else has been taught all their lives that the dome is protecting them but that just might not be the exact truth. And what she was told about what happened to her parents all those years ago may not be the truth either.

With her inquisitive mind Nat has a lot of questions as to what is going on but luckily she just may be working in the right department and building and among the right people with all the answers. Nat is a very strong willed person and will not stop until she gets the answers she wants. If she doesn’t it won’t be because she didn’t give it her all.  

I knew when I read the summary that I was going to love There Once Were Stars but I didn’t realize just how true that was. Once I started I couldn’t put it down literally. My kindle stayed with me all day until I had turned the last page. I read There Once Were Stars in one day it was that good. I couldn’t believe it when I got to the end. I wanted more. Although lots of questions were answered I still have more. I would like to know more about the virus and how it started. I would like to know more about Nat’s parents her uncle and who they were and what really happened to them. I would also like to know where Nat’s Uncle was all those years.


I would definitely recommended There Once Were Stars to anyone who loves to read dystopian novels. Even if you don’t give it a try anyway who knows you might just like it. It may be a dystopian novel but there is a great under the dome.  



Author Bio:
Melanie McFarlane is a passionate writer of other-wordly adventures, a little excitable, and a little quirky. Whether it’s uncovering the corruption of the future, or traveling to other worlds to save the universe, she jumps in with both hands on her keyboard. Though she can be found obsessing over zombies and orcs from time to time, Melanie focuses her powers on writing young adult stories to keep the rest of the world up reading all night.
She lives with her husband and two daughters in the Land of Living Skies. 

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2 comments:

Giselle said...

Thanks for being on the tour! This sounds like a compelling and well crafted dystopian!

HiddenWorldsBooks said...

Thank you! There's a sequel coming in 2017!! Your questions will be answered, but you might end up with even more :)