It’s Hump day! I hope all of you are having a great week thus far. Today, I am bringing to you a young adult book that mixes a few different genres. Lyndi Alexander’s book, Windmills, is an adventure with a dash of apocalyptic danger thrown in there. It is quite a good read and definitely good for the young adult crowd. Be sure to check out my full review after the book blurb.
Book Blurb:
Bio-terrorists release a plague in the United States that spreads to kill most of the world’s Caucasian population. As the deadly virus mutates, Tzu Shin, a renowned medical doctor and biologist, defects from China to help develop a cure. His only daughter, Lin Kwan, is left behind in Hong Kong with her aunt.
Then Kwan’s father summons her from across the sea to bring him Chinese medicinal herbs he needs to develop a cure. Lonely and missing her parents, she accepts the challenge, traveling with her sensei Li Zhong to the New World.
But a Chinese assassin is on her trail, determined to kill her and Li Zhong, and when Kwan discovers her father has disappeared, she sets out on a journey to find him and deliver her precious cargo, a quest that she may not survive.
Review:
Kwan is a young girl living in China during a time when world is going through a terrible plague. China seems to be at the farthest reaches of the plague and she has been safe living with her Aunt and her cousin. Her father and mother have gone to America where the plague began and they hope to help find a cure. Six months after her parents left Kwan gets a letter from her father asking for specific herbs and for Kwan to travel to America to deliver the herbs. Kwan wants to desperately help her parents and seeks the help of her sensei. Soon they are on their way via a cargo ship. But, unbeknownst to Kwan, she and her sensei are being stalked by an assassin. The dangers of a lawless and desperate society pose many threats. Kwan’s adventure leads her to find out how tough and determined she is.
This book was a refreshing young adult read. It had a lot of adventure elements along with the dangers of an apocalyptic society. I enjoyed characters of Kwan and her sensei Li Zhong. I thought it was quite interesting that even in a deevolutionized society the idea that the Chinese will still try to cling to the values and societal structures that have endured centuries. It was interesting to see Lyndi Alexander try to balance the new world deconstruction while trying to mesh the values of a society that values structure. Much of this book is looking at how Kwan will over come one’s engrained nature and find the courage to do what is necessary. What is necessary isn’t always right. I was a bit disappointed in the end though. The book abruptly ends with no definitive answers for any of the storylines or characters that you follow through the book. This may be the first book in a series but in anything I have read I do not see any indication that there will be a follow-up. I do hope there is because I feel resolution needs to be given to these characters. All in all, this was a good book with a lot of potential for more.
The publisher intended to make a note that the second book in the series will come out in 2014–I’m so sorry for the abrupt end! But I promise you there is much more adventure to come. 🙂 Thank you for your review.
It was my pleasure!