Kayla Olson

Before the war, Eden’s life was easy. Then the revolution happened, and everything changed. Now a powerful group called the Wolfpack controls the earth and its resources. And even though Eden has lost everything to them, she refuses to die by their hands. She knows the coordinates to the only neutral ground left in the world, a place called Sanctuary Island, and she is desperate to escape to its shores. Eden finally reaches the island and meets others resistant to the Wolves. But the solace is short-lived when one of Eden’s new friends goes missing. Braving the jungle in search of their lost ally, they quickly discover Sanctuary is filled with lethal traps and an enemy they never expected. This island might be deadlier than the world Eden left behind, but surviving it is the only thing that stands between her and freedom.

The Sandcastle Empire

When the world is taken over by a brutal ruling body that controls the planet's resources, Eden resolves to survive by finding her way to a neutral island where her efforts to track down a friend are challenged by enemies and traps.

This novel was both incredibly poetic and action-filled. It's a good dystopian stand-alone with a lot of mysteries and adventure. People who loved the TV show "Lost" would really enjoy this book.

Belle Ellrich

There's a reason I got this book's logo tattooed on my wrist.

My rating for this review just became higher than it originally was when I first read it! I feel like I understand so much more now, being a bit older than I was when I first got my hands on this book, which definitely helped shift and shape my perspective on a few things.

Kayla has to be one of the most kind and compassionate authors I've ever had the opportunity of knowing. And that definitely shows throughout her book.

In TSE, the world is in post-apocalypse mode. Those who aren't dead from Zero Day are in barracks, essentially working their lives away just to survive. However, our MC Eden decides that she's had enough of just surviving and plans an escape.

Though, she wasn't exactly expecting explosions to go off or three other girls to escape into the open sea with her.

The first few chapters of this are incredibly intense and eye opening. You'd have to not blink to make sure you catch everything. We're given so much information in these chapters, so much important information, and I absolutely loved that.

Kayla really broke barriers with this book, and this reason was one of them. Starting off the book with intense scenes is a risky play, but she pulled it off really well and managed to effectively catch our attention.

"The enemy wore sheep's clothes for many years before it bared its fangs and went for blood."

One of my favorite quotes is from one of these first, few chapters, and I absolutely adore this.

The Wolfpack could have attacked as soon as they banded together, but they didn't. They waited, gathered a bigger following—one large enough that more than half of rooms were missing—and then they attacked.

They took lives, they created fear. They were brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, aunts, parents, friends, coworkers, teachers, etc. They were everywhere and everything, and nobody saw it coming. They took the power and freedom from the people, and they enslaved them.

This is one of the reasons I love this story. This circumstance could very well happen one day, and when it does, we need to prepared for it. Kayla brought that thought process, that set of questions to us that every reader should have.

"Those with seamless skin, and those with scars.
We've been sliced into, every single one of us.
It's just some of our scars are less obvious than others."

This is another quote that I absolutely loved. Taken out of context, it could mean something entirely different. But in the context of the book, this quote is specific to the mental injuries sustained from the Wolfpack on Zero Day.

Kayla really painted a picture for us in these first few chapters of this book, and I absolutely love that. She set us up for impact by the time we reached the next parts.

I loved everything so much more than the first time I read this book. I loved the development all of the characters went through. I loved the flow of the plot, the ever coming surprises and plot twists. Everything.

For that, I raise my rating from 4 stars to 5 stars. I highly suggest y'all read this book if you haven't already. Trust me, it'll be worth your time.

Lisa Beasley

This was a pretty good dystopian story, I liked the little hints and things we got throughout the story and while I saw some of the twists coming I still enjoyed it. The characters were interesting and the plot the right level of intrigue and action. Overall a solid read.

Lauren James

I FREAKING LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!!! If you liked The Maze Runner and LOST, then I promise you will love this book. The characters are stuck on a mysterious island and are trying to find out it's secrets. This book was like a breath of fresh air. There wasn't any swearing or sex! *gasp* I know. So weird! So refreshing! Kayla Olson is officially one of my favorite authors. I really hope that Leonardo DiCaprio will make this a movie! 







*Spoilers****




I loved Eden. I thought she was extremely relatable. She was kind, but also careful. She had anxiety!!! And it was written perfectly! I loved that! 
And can we talk about Lonan?! *Swoon!!***

Read this book. You need to!

Liz Griffin

Move aside Maze Runner; The Sandcastle Empire is the cure for your post-Hunger Games woes! Throw in a little Lara Croft attributes, and you have Eden, the protagonist, searching for the sanctuary island that is her father’s legacy. YA dystopian done right, full of adventure and just a tiny touch of romance (not enough to overwhelm the story).

The Sandcastle Empire

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