The End of Refuge

by Beth Martin

The only thing worse than living your entire life in a bomb shelter is dying there.

Isolated from the rest of the world, the inhabitants of the shelter called Refuge have been trapped underground for over 20 years.

At 19, Juliet has always called Refuge home. Despite her atypical surroundings, she strives to live a normal life. She just finished school, started a new job, and fell into her first romance. But when she receives a message from outside the shelter, her life begins to crumble. The safe haven she believed in is a lie and her future is doomed. The end is coming and she can't stop it.

Genres: Dystopia

392 pages, Paperback

Published March 7, 2017

About the author

Beth Martin has her degree in mathematics and enjoys all things numbers. She's always up for a board game. Other hobbies include playing the piano and making quilts. Although she's terrible at video games, she loves watching her husband play.

Most of her time is spent chasing her two adorable children. She also has two fluffy cats.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

I really enjoyed the story and the characters were so believable. Really wish there was more of the story to read.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

** I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. **

First Impression: I've never read a book about living in a bomb shelter that I recall, sounds scary.

Characters: Juliet is an innocent, literally sheltered young adult who comes of age amid the aftermath of conflict with North Korea. Her relationships and the supporting characters are realistic people with problems and charms like any of us.

World Building: There were moments of claustrophobia, which is not even something I struggle with in real life. While reading in bed I felt the walls close in and wondered what it might be like to never see the sun or feel its warmth on my face - to live in less than a square mile underground. What might that do to a person? The answer is many different things.

Writing Style: Martin's use of appropriate foreshadowing and answering questions as they unfold is comforting and like discussing a plot with a friend. I often wondered, "but what about this...?" only to be answered almost right away. The ending was satisfying yet unexpected, but I won't spoil the fun.

What I Enjoyed: The story really sparked for me around Avery and Juliet's relationship, as he shares his life story with her. From that point on I could barely put the book down as I wanted to know what became of these unlikely friends and the rest of the underground survivors.

Deal Benders: It takes about 10 chapters to really get into the story. I felt there could be less buildup to the main plot, or maybe a sideplot from another character's perspective. I was concerned for a bit, but after chapter 11 or so I was hooked on the story.

Overall Rating: 4 stars for an excellent last two thirds of the book.

For Fans Of: Anne Frank's Diary, Blast From the Past (movie with Brendan Fraser)

[LeAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a Goodreads giveaway. So, thank you to the author and Goodreads for this book. I was instantly interested in the concept of this book but I was a little disappointed once I started reading. I felt that there wasn't enough build up to make it very dramatic and some things I found to be unbelievable. There were also some things I didn't like about the ending, but mentioning them specifically would give away spoilers. Overall, I gave it three stars because the concept was very interesting, as was everyday life in Refuge.

[Linda Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Refuge From the Depths

I enjoyed this book to a point. However, it moved too slowly to hold my attention for very long. I kept waiting for it to get more interesting.