Joshua David Bellin

Cam is eager to leave Earth with the rest of the elite 1% until he connects with one of the 99%, Sofie, and joins her in the fight for Lowerworld rights.

Freefall

When the 1% and the 99% clash, the fate of the human race hangs on the actions of two teens from very different backgrounds in this thrilling adventure that School Library Journal calls “a strong choice for YA sci-fi shelves.” In the Upperworld, the privileged 1% are getting ready to abandon a devastated planet Earth. And Cam can’t wait to leave. After sleeping through a 1,000-year journey, he and his friends will have a pristine new planet to colonize. And no more worries about the Lowerworld and its 99% of rejects. Then Cam sees a banned video feed of protesters in the Lowerworld who also want a chance at a new life. And he sees a girl with golden eyes who seems to be gazing directly at him. A girl he has to find. Sofie. When Cam finds Sofie, she opens his eyes to the unfairness of their world, and Cam joins her cause for Lowerworld rights. He also falls hard for Sofie. But Sofie has her own battles to fight, and when it’s time to board the spaceships, Cam is alone. Waking up 1,000 years in the future, Cam discovers that they are far off-course, trapped on an unknown and hostile planet. Who has sabotaged their ship? And does it have anything to do with Sofie, and the choices—and the enemies—he made in the past?

Sheila Goicea

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!

*Add on to my #ARCAugust tag reading list!

Release date September 26, 2017!

  
    "We are the world's people! We have come to you not as beggars pleading for a handout, but as children of the Almighty, demanding at long last the rights we have been denied. You may hide behind your walls of wealth, walls built by the blood and suffering of our people, but those walls will not hold forever. They will fall, as do all walls founded on injustice, and may God then judge who among us is in the wrong and who is in the right!"
  

For you fans of The Illuminae Files here is another one for you! Freefall not only satiates fans of space travel, foreign planets, and interterrestial turmoil, it also incorporates a lot of meaningful content. In this area, Freefall is unlike the books of The Illuminae Files, (which are no doubt action-packed, riveting, and unique in their premise.) I really liked what Bellin was able to accomplish with this story. 

The plot is told through the perspective of the main character, Cam Newell--an Upperworld young man who knows little about the true tyranny happening between the two nations. He and his friends have decided to volunteer and train to be passengers of the Executor, a massive spaceship traveling to a distant planet looking for a new place of residence as Earth’s resources have been depleted. 

Cam’s Upperworld deception stays intact until he and his tech-savy friends hack into a forbidden network, broadcasting uprisings led by a mysterious woman and protege going by the name of Sofie. Intruiged by her prowess, Cam becomes enamored with her and needs to know more about her and the movement she represents.

Events ensue in a way that allowed the two to meet in person. From that moment, Cam decides to adandon the life that he knows, in order to follow Sofie into foreign territory. Cam realizes then how lied to he’s been about what is actually happening between the two nations. Now, his goal is to help Sofie advocate for the Lowerworld citizens to be able to travel to other planets too.


  Let's start with a few things that I really enjoyed about this book:


#1 The way that the story is told between past, and present tense, is so engaging.

#2 Despite what you may believe from my comments further on in this review, I really enjoyed the incorporation of current events into the plot. It gives the reader the ability to connect with the characters on a deeper level of understanding, no matter what opinion they have of what’s happening in reality. 

#3 I appreciated how the representation of powerful, and respectful speeches were and are more effective than any other method to reach people. Sofie used this method, and was searching for peaceful resolutions to issues. She was like a female Martin Luther King Jr. 


  Now, for a few things that I didn't necessarily like, or had some issue with:


In the opening few chapters, the reader immediately feels the hostile atmosphere between the Upperworld and Lowerworld--two countries inhabiting Earth created through means of segregation, racism, and prejudice. The ironic “wall” separating the two nations not only refers to recent points of political debates, but is also metaphorical in showing the divide between social classes.

#1 While I believe this is an important current event to discuss, it was clear which opinion was being represented throughout this plot. This opinion is not necessarily wrong, but I felt there were definite times of misrepresentation, assumption, and also prejudism being exploited that people don’t always tend to realize. This is a fiction story, so I’m not going to discuss this point further, but I think it needs to be pointed out.

#2 Another point I wanted to discuss was that I found it odd how Sofie’s character was portrayed. Several times, it was brought up about how “civilized” she was, or, more “Upperworld” she acted. In a world where the speaker of the suppressed group needs to be like an Upperworlder, is she really standing for what she is supposed to?

#3 That insta-love showed up againnnn. Cam's reason for instantly falling for Sofie (other than her beauty) didn't have enough backing.

Overall, I thought this was a very interesting story. I appreciated the integration of current politics into a interstellar Sci-Fi novel.

Vulgarity: Far too much for my liking.
Sexual content: Just kissing.
Violence: Like most sci-fi's, there's a decent amount.

3.5 stars.

A big thanks to the publisher for providing a copy of this book!

Freefall

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