Sarah Powell’s first book in her Alyssa series follows Alyssa Knight, a combat-trained 16-year-old who is thrown from life in New Zealand into a dystopian New York. In this version of New York, it’s a city cut off from the rest of the world where, despite her initial excitement at visiting, Alyssa is kidnapped days after her arrival. First, she’s got to use her skills to survive then she’s got to figure out what exactly is going on as everything she believes to be true is challenged.

As she is flung into a foreign land, Alyssa’s hopeful dreams of health and success are shattered and she is forced to adjust, inspiring readers with her determination and independence. Haunted by past traumatic experiences, Alyssa struggles with trust and truth so focuses on surviving and staying sane in this reality – one riddled with chaos and doubt.

Powell highlights the thin line between heroes and villains as Alyssa’s unquestioned trust in her parents is thrown into doubt. As she finds herself desperately seeking the truth, she struggles to keep a hold on everything while her mental state fluctuates and declines. Through this, she makes many impromptu compromises and friendships, finding safety and danger in unexpected places.

The formation and breaking of relationships are clouded by Alyssa’s internal conflict while her trauma significantly obscures the truth and results in her frequently losing her sense of reality. The isolation, due to mental illness and trauma, is prevalent in Alyssa’s experiences and the book highlights the significant impact that psychological damage can have on everyday life. This may resonate with some readers - along with other aspects of Alyssa’s life such as her isolation, being estranged from her parents and her perpetual feeling of loneliness.

Written from the enlightening perspective of a mentally ill teenager, the novel’s representation of trauma and fluctuating mental health in young people is heartening as reader’s eyes are opened to the hardships caused by emotional distress. As the novel is written from Alyssa’s perspective, we learn more about how those dealing with issues of this nature think and process the world around them.

Wellington author Powell’s writing is fast-paced and gripping, keeping readers thoroughly engaged in the snowballing chaos. I also really enjoyed the world that Powell built within the novel including taking a well-known place like New York to create a vastly new landscape and also incorporating familiar New Zealand locations into Alyssa’s background. The inclusion of a map provides great clarification of locations mentioned as it can be difficult to track when there is constant travelling. The incorporation of different languages creates diversity within the novel, yet Powell makes it comprehensible for most readers, by translating to English.

That said, younger readers may find this novel challenging due to its mature themes, fast-paced storyline, the characters moving quickly between locations and the inclusion of various languages and cultures which might, at times, make the text difficult to follow.

However, I enjoyed this novel because of the intriguing themes of psychological scars warping reality. I also really admire the cover art of the novel, created by Carolina Rodríguez Fuenmayor, a Columbian artist, as the cover seems to illustrate the pandemonium and anguish frequent within the text. Finally, the expertly crafted cliff-hanger at the conclusion of the novel leaves the next book in the series Shade highly anticipated. I am looking forward to seeing where Powell will take this series.

Reviewed by Link Pickering