A review by danimae1981
Beneath the Fallen City by Jamie A. Waters

4.0

Beneath the Fallen City is a post-apocalyptic story taking place at an unspecified time in the future. In this world, there are basically 3 levels of people: those who live in the OmniLab towers, the controlling entity, Ruin Rats, who scavenge the ruins for items of possible value, and Traders, who are people associated with the towers who live on the surface and trade with the Ruin Rats. The main character, Kayla, is an orphaned Ruin Rat with a lot of spunk and an obvious hate for the towers and everything they represent. Kayla is a fun character because she stands up for herself, is opinionated, and is good at what she does. A romance begins to bloom between Kayla and a trader named Carl, but to say things are complicated is an understatement. There are some interesting twists along the way that really surprised me and kept things interesting. Some paranormal themes eventually work their way into the story too. I feel like later in the story Kayla loses some of her spunk that I enjoyed in the beginning, but it also makes sense in the context of what is happening. The book ended rather abruptly, and it is obvious that the story is definitely not over yet. I would have enjoyed more back-story and descriptions of this world, but I see there is a prequel that may explain some of that. The blend of multiple genres kept the story interesting and unpredictable.

I received a free ARC copy of this book through Voracious Readers Only, but my review is voluntary.