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Today our guest reviewer over in Colorado USA, Kimberly Livingston reviews A Soldier and a Liar by Caitlin Lochner.
💫 A Soldier and a Liar by Caitlin Lochner
-Back of the Book
In a world on the brink of war, four superpowered teens must learn to work together for peace in Caitlin Lochner’s action-packed debut novel, A Soldier and A Liar.
Lai Cathwell is good at keeping secrets. As a Nyte, a supernaturally gifted teenager who is feared and shunned by the ungifted, this skill is essential to survival. Orchestrating her own imprisonment to escape military duty has only honed her ability to deceive others. But when rebels start attacking the city, Lai is dragged back into the fight with a new team of Nytes.
Thrown together with Jay, a self-conscious perfectionist consumed by the desire to be accepted; Al, a short-tempered fighter lying for the sake of revenge; and Erik, an amnesiac hell-bent on finding his memories and his place in the world, Lai realizes she’s facing an entirely different kind of challenge–one that might just be impossible. But if this team can’t learn to work together, the entire sector will be plunged into war.
About the Author
I studied creative writing at the University of South Florida and used my BA in words to become an English teaching assistant in Tokyo. I’m in love with storytelling of any kind, but especially in the form of books, manga, and video games. If you ever want to talk nerdy, I am VERY down.
Author Links:
https://www.caitlinlochner.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16950951.Caitlin_Lochner
https://twitter.com/CaiLochner
https://www.instagram.com/cailoc/
💫 Review by Kimberly Livingston
In A Soldier and a Liar, Ms. Lochner’s debut novel, the aftermath of a recent catastrophe has bred a new species of youth in a dystopian society. These young Nytes are stronger, smarter, and have individual powers that make the vast majority of normal Etioles suspicious and racist. The Etioles also find the Nytes useful and expendable in the rebellion that might wipe those without powers out. This fact does not come as a surprise to Lai, who shares the narrative’s perspective with another main character. A strongly written female Nyte, Lai’s past and powers are secretly guarded, earning her respect from the reader, and quite a bit of grief from her friends.
For fans of The Fifth Wave, The Hunger Games, and I am Number Four series, get ready to dive into another novel that you won’t be able to put down. Ms. Lochner masterfully creates a world and characters that readers from 14 to 84 will be entranced by. One of Ms. Lochner’s greatest achievements is that she engages the reader, not with excessive amounts of violence, but with constant tension and risk that the main characters – and the readers – feel. Not to say that A Soldier and A Liar is without violence, but when (and I do believe when is the correct word here) it is made into a major motion picture, finding a PG-13 rating will not be difficult. Likewise, there are only a few instances of profanity towards the end of the book, when the intensity of the situation warrants an occasional f-bomb. Though published as a YA novel – because the main characters are youth? They act much more like adults – there is nothing immature about this novel.
Published by Swoon Reads, a crowdsourced publisher of YA Fiction, the fans made a great choice on this one. The cover, with its beam of light across a mostly black background, is worthy of displaying on the bookshelf. The first edition comes out in hardback and on Kindle on February 19th, and it is nice to see a physical edition (hardbound even!) be offered. Preorders are available now.
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