The Scourge Review

This time I am reviewing The Scourge by: A.G. Henley.

Fennel lives in a world run by fear of the scourge: savage people who eat the flesh of others. Fennel’s people are the groundlings, who call the earth their home and fear plagues them. The lofties live in the trees, protected from the flesh eaters. Both sides don’t get along, but they depend on one another. Fennel’s blindness is a gift that protects her from the scourge and that forces her to have the job of water-bearer, the sole individual responsible for keeping both the groundlings and the lofties hydrated during the long days the scourge ravages the land.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Going into it, I knew it was post-apocalyptic, but I didn’t quite realized it was a zombie novel, but that didn’t bother me at all. The way A.G. Henley approaches this cliched topic is so fresh and new that I really wanted to know more. I really liked the concepts in this world and found myself wrapped up in this book.

As a character, I enjoyed Fennel. She wasn’t perfect, but she learned to be strong. I have never read a book from a blind person’s perspective before and I really loved it. Having a family member that is blind, I felt like I could relate to this book and Fenn more. The only problem I had with Fennel’s blindness is that it wasn’t made clear that she could see changes in the lighting around her. From the beginning of the book, I thought she was totally blind and it really irritated me that she would talk about it getting darker or lighter. Once I realized she wasn’t one hundred percent blind, I finally stopped feeling like A.G. Henley was making mistakes in her writing.

Peree was a great guy and I really rooted for him and Fenn. I did find him a bit clingy at some parts in the book, but later his behavior makes more sense when the reader realizes Peree has watched Fenn for years (not in a creepy way). I really loved finding out his back-story and seeing some later events unfold that really challenge him.

I really loved the twists and turns of this book. So many times, A.G. Henley threw in things that completely twisted the story into a different direction and it was a very fun ride. The ending was very satisfying and even though this is part of a series, there luckily wasn’t a cliffhanger ending like so many series have. Overall, I really enjoyed this book.