“Some people always burn.”
THE LAST VOYAGE OF POE BLYTHE by Ally Condie is a YA adventure tale. I picked this up from new releases at the library and went in pretty blind as to what it was going to be about, but the book was quick to hook me in and provided a fun read.
The book focuses on the title character Poe. At the very beginning of the book we see Poe’s world fall apart while on a gold mining expedition. She and the rest of the crew lose their mining ship and Poe loses the only person she loves. Poe’s quest for revenge against the raiders is ignited in that moment.
Poe is inventive and intelligent and quickly makes a name for herself with the Outpost’s leader, developing a new ship with armor to prevent future attacks from the raiders. She navigates herself into the captain position on the next gold mining expedition in spite of her young age. Though in charge of a crew, Poe knows she is really all alone. She is unable to trust anyone around her and her paranoia isn’t entirely unfounded because there are traitors on board and Poe must consider everyone a suspect.
It was nice to see a YA novel with a strong female lead where the mission and the adventure is the focus, not a romance. Poe demonstrates great leadership both in her ability to stand firm, but also her ability to change her mind when merited. She is willing to sacrifice for her ship and for her crew when needed. This isn’t a book that is going to wrap everything up in a happily ever after for every character, but it does bring things to a satisfactory conclusion. Definite trigger warnings for violence and death as the warring parties engage.
I really enjoyed THE LAST VOYAGE OF POE BLYTHE and it kept me engaged from start to finish.
THE LAST VOYAGE OF POE BLYTHE by Ally Condie is a YA adventure tale. I picked this up from new releases at the library and went in pretty blind as to what it was going to be about, but the book was quick to hook me in and provided a fun read.
The book focuses on the title character Poe. At the very beginning of the book we see Poe’s world fall apart while on a gold mining expedition. She and the rest of the crew lose their mining ship and Poe loses the only person she loves. Poe’s quest for revenge against the raiders is ignited in that moment.
Poe is inventive and intelligent and quickly makes a name for herself with the Outpost’s leader, developing a new ship with armor to prevent future attacks from the raiders. She navigates herself into the captain position on the next gold mining expedition in spite of her young age. Though in charge of a crew, Poe knows she is really all alone. She is unable to trust anyone around her and her paranoia isn’t entirely unfounded because there are traitors on board and Poe must consider everyone a suspect.
It was nice to see a YA novel with a strong female lead where the mission and the adventure is the focus, not a romance. Poe demonstrates great leadership both in her ability to stand firm, but also her ability to change her mind when merited. She is willing to sacrifice for her ship and for her crew when needed. This isn’t a book that is going to wrap everything up in a happily ever after for every character, but it does bring things to a satisfactory conclusion. Definite trigger warnings for violence and death as the warring parties engage.
I really enjoyed THE LAST VOYAGE OF POE BLYTHE and it kept me engaged from start to finish.