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“The greatest pain is the love you leave behind.”

Release Date: July 2015

Genre(s): Young adult, fantasy, dystopian

Publisher: Fernweh Books

Pages: 264

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Note: I received a free copy of this book from the author. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis

Three hundred years ago, a terrifying event nearly devastated humanity; the survivors living in the mountains above the clouds. When their water supply is being poisoned, an expedition, including Icelyn Brathius, must face the monsters that destroyed most of civilization centuries ago.

Review

The Threat Below has such an intriguing setting and premise with a dystopian twist. The initial premise of the water supply being poisoned reminded me somewhat of Dune. But as the book progressed, the book became so much more than just that. I absolutely loved the exploration aspect of the book, and the societal critiques that this book makes that feel oddly parallel to our own society. 

I must admit that I had some difficulty with growing attached to the characters in the beginning. The Threat Below does set itself up to be both character and plot-driven, however, I feel this novel’s biggest strength is the story and world it creates. That being said, I wasn’t as focused on the character’s interactions towards the beginning. However, as the story continues, we get more backstories and vignettes of the characters from their own thoughts that help shape them. 

The dystopian elements and the world were easily my favorite aspects of this book. As our main characters make the descent into the world as it is known to us, they find a lot of abandoned objects (such as old cars), but they don’t have lots of knowledge on their purpose. Knowing what exists below coupled with their reactions was such an interesting reading experience. Plus, their lack of knowledge despite it not being that many generations passed in hindsight really adds to the dystopian feel of this book. A common theme I noticed was Icelyn’s discontent with the idea that there should be no time wasted on education on subjects they don’t deal with on a day-to-day, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this theme develop throughout the book. 

And while I am an adult who enjoys YA, I know that there are some adults out there that are hesitant to read books with younger characters. I think that The Threat Below is actually a great pick for adults that want to try YA. I primarily say this because the worldbuilding in The Threat Below is fleshed out in a way that’s reminiscent of some adult fantasy novels that I’ve read. This should bring a lot of familiarity to those readers, so it’s definitely a book that I’d recommend if you wanted to try YA fantasy/dystopian out. 

Overall, I really enjoyed The Threat Below! While the beginning was a bit slow for me, it really picked up by the end. I’m looking forward to reading A Gallery of Mothers soon so I can continue where Icelyn’s story left off.