Review: Reckoning (Silver Blackthorn #1) by Kerry Wilkinson

Dystopian which failed to shine

Title: Reckoning
Series: Silver Blackthron
Author: Kerry Wilkinson
Publisher: Pan Macmillan, UK
My ratings: 3 out of 5 stars
Released: 22nd May, 2014
Reckoning starts off strongly with a great dystopian setting, where Silver and her family are struggling to live a decent life. She lives in a small village called Martinsdale , with her best friend Opie. The beginning was well done with simplistic yet convincing elements of dystopian woven in. In Silver’s world, sixteen year olds have to sit for a Reckoning, an examination where their status ion society is determined as to whether they will be an Elite, Member, Inter or a Trog or if you are lucky, you can be an offering to King Victor. And go and live in the Castle with him.

The Reckoning itself was quite interesting and I loved Silver’s quiet relationship with Opie. Up to the half point of the story everything was looking goo but somehow the plot lost its hold on me. When the true atrocities of the castle were discovered I should have been horrified and I was too but somehow it failed to really sink it. Not only did it not feel ‘real’, it also did not interest me. I realised it was the writing and not the story which felt off for me. Kerry Wilkinson tried to tell rather than show me how the events were unfolding. Especially towards the end, when the last ‘twist’ came, I felt that it could have been shown rather than conveniently told to be as to what happened as an afterthought.

Overall, with a promising start Reckoning had everything going for it but failed after the second half of the story. It had bags of potential which reminded of Keira Cass’ Selection Series but all my hopes were dashed and I feel slightly betrayed by it all. It is not a bad book. No it is not a bad book at all, it was just a book which I went into with high expectations and was lured by the intriguing and well written start but was let down by the end.

ARC received from Pan Macmillan via NetGalley