The Sandcastle Empire | Review

“I am a bird, determined to fly despite my clipped wings and splintered feet. This cage of an island wont hold me forever.”

Synopsis: 

When all hope is gone, how do you survive?

Before the war, Eden’s life was easy—air conditioning, ice cream, long days at the beach. Then the revolution happened, and everything changed.

Now a powerful group called the Wolf pack controls the earth and its resources. Eden has lost everything to them. They killed her family and her friends, destroyed her home, and imprisoned her. But Eden 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.

“No one ever prepared me for hope to be so tangled with fear.”

This book had me absorbed entirely. Through every twist and turn, heart pounding betrayal, moments of loss and triumphs of survival – I was along for the ride sweating bullets and crossing fingers hoping they would make it out alive.

Kayla Olsen did amazing with writing this book, she has a way with words and weaving together a plot that is as unforgettable as it is exciting. I spent at least half of this book flipping pages with my mouth dropped open at the many “oh this didn’t just happen” moments and the other half in victory of my speculations being right. It kept me interacting with the book and curious as to what would happen next. It was a fun and quick paced read.

“If there’s one thing I’m learning, it’s that possibility won’t be confined to a cage. It will bend bars, break locks, and fly away when you’re not looking.”

The main character, Eden, was such a well blended character. She was strong, independent and determined – but also – very flawed, scarred and afraid. These qualities made her character easily relatable. So much so, that I couldn’t really portray her as a work of fiction, she harbored the same emotions any of us could have during a time like Zero Day and I think that’s what I enjoyed about her most, her character was a realistic heroine.

Kayla didn’t spoof her up and give her super strength, she didn’t make her stick out like a sore thumb with neat tricks she pulled out of thin air, (as cool as that can sometimes be..) no Eden was simply Eden. And while that sounds boring to some – she possessed bravery and courage, she fought to gain back her freedom and help others to gain there’s as well. She went on a blind journey unsure of this sanctuaries existence hoping to find a way to end the wolf pack, or at least find her way to safety. I find that to be a true heroine.

The other characters, were also really well written, I loved how each characters personality was different, no two characters were the same. Their personalities differed and didn’t blend too much or out weigh another’s too greatly, so it was a nice even mixture of characters. It made the read enjoyable to not have your brain fighting over which character to focus on, they all balanced out to where you could enjoy them all and not miss points of significance.

“It’s so cold the stars start to look like shards of ice that have chipped from the iceberg moon”

This book was a psychological mind game of action-packed survival, betrayal, and Sandcastle empires.

If that doesn’t sound completely mind-bogglingly-epic, I don’t know what possibly could! The writing in this book was remarkable, it seriously blew me away.
At first, I couldn’t possibly see how so many diverse elements could be compacted into one novel and not become extremely complicated. After reading, I stand entirely corrected. To my surprise each element meshed so well together and added such an intense impact on the plot while every turn of the page possessed some form of scientific/techno agenda – mind games, survival missions, hidden traps, unexpected enemies you name it – The Sandcastle Empire tosses you into this advanced world that won’t let you out until the finish. It’s a whirlwind of excitement wondering who will survive until the end and what the end will bring. I recommend this book highly especially for fans of the hunger games and divergent series.

I give The Sandcastle Empire 5 out of 5 stars for each unique quality this book possesses, it was a wonderful story and I cannot wait to see what else comes from this glorious author!

Survival is fighting, every single day, to climb out of the ruins and into the unknown, come what may. We are all as strong as we have to be.