Every year for the past fifty-four years, the residents of Pinsbury Port have received a mysterious letter inviting all eligible-aged boys to compete for an esteemed scholarship to the all-male Stemwick University. The poorer residents look to see if their names are on the list. The wealthier look to see how likely their sons are to survive. And Rhen Tellur opens it to see if she can derive which substances the ink and parchment are created from, using her father’s microscope.
GENRE:
Young Adult, Science Fiction? Fantasy?
PAGES:
314 pages
PART OF A SERIES?:
Standalone Novel
RELEASE DATE:
March 19th, 2019
PUBLISHER:
Thomas Nelson
SOURCE:
Physical Owned Copy
YOU CAN PRE-ORDER THE BOOK AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE/LIBRARY OR THE FOLLOWING LINKS:
GOODREADS SUMMARY:
In a thrilling new fantasy from the bestselling author of the Storm Siren Trilogy, one girl makes a stand against society and enters a world made exclusively for boys.
Every year for the past fifty-four years, the residents of Pinsbury Port have received a mysterious letter inviting all eligible-aged boys to compete for an esteemed scholarship to the all-male Stemwick University. The poorer residents look to see if their names are on the list. The wealthier look to see how likely their sons are to survive. And Rhen Tellur opens it to see if she can derive which substances the ink and parchment are created from, using her father’s microscope.
In the province of Caldon, where women train in wifely duties and men pursue collegiate education, sixteen-year-old Rhen Tellur wants nothing more than to become a scientist. As the poor of her seaside town fall prey to a deadly disease, she and her father work desperately to find a cure. But when her mum succumbs to it as well? Rhen decides to take the future into her own hands—through the annual all-male scholarship competition.
With her cousin, Seleni, by her side, the girls don disguises and enter Mr. Holm’s labyrinth, to best the boys and claim the scholarship prize. Except not everyone is ready for a girl who doesn’t know her place. And not everyone survives the deadly maze.
Welcome to the Labyrinth.
MY REVIEW
This book has been sitting in my TBR pile for far too long. I picked it up early when Mary was at Ontario Teen Book Fest. I loved that Mary toted it as a female strong novel and that she was inspired by a story her friend told her, a friend that I believe was in a STEM major. I knew I had to read it and then it sadly sat there for way too long. I had just finished Suzanne Young’s Girls with Sharp Sticks and absolutely loved it and was in the mood to continue the girl power.
I am not a science girl in the slightest. STEM is not made for me – but its also true that I may not like because its been conditioned into my brain that these are not subjects for girls. I’ve always liked English, History…the social sciences. But I know there need to more women in the STEM fields and I love that in Rhen’s society, its not even rare to have women do science, its absolutely appalling but she just sort of does it anyway.
There’s so much about Rhen that goes against everything that is “right” in society but she just sort of accepts it. There’s very few moments – even when she is with Seleni – that she feels ashamed or different. She is who she and I think her friendship with Seleni helps that. They’re two very different girls but there’s no competition or anything – they respect each other and love each other and it makes the two of them very strong characters. Neither of them is right or wrong – they are both just them and I think thats an important statement. Often in moments of feminism, femininity can be scorned and its super unfortunate because I think you can still be strong whether you’re super feminine or not.
Mary never says – Rhen is the right way to be a girl because she studies science and wants to go to university and doesn’t care about wearing pretty dresses. Seleni is also right because she’s whip smart and believes in Seleni and yes, loves to wear pretty dresses and talk about her beau. There’s a lot of strength in that in this novel and its what really truly stood out to me. There’s no right way to be a female and I’m glad more and more people are writing a variety of female characters like that.
But this book is also so thrilling too. The entire Labyrinth challenge is so fun – I only wish it would have lasted longer because it was just so fun. It was a combination of The Hunger Games meets Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott with a dash of Percy Jackson’s quests and the obstacles Harry has to get through in Sorcerer’s Stone. I’ll say it again – it was thrilling, not knowing who to trust, which way to go, what was the right answer. As the reader, you can sometimes guess which direction something might take you but I honestly had no idea and the labyrinth scenes had me at the edge of my seat, waiting to see what would happen next.
I don’t believe there are any plans for a sequel and I can see why – it ends very well. But I do sometimes wish I could have more. I really loved Rhen and I really truly adored Seleni. These two girls, their determination, their goals and dreams and most importantly, their friendship are really what make this such a phenomenal book.
RATING:
5 out of 5 Stars
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