A review by alicebme
The Lord of Opium by Nancy Farmer

4.0

Whoa. I didn't expect any sort of sequel to House of the Scorpion, but when my husband brought home the ARC, I flipped out. Living in Tucson, I find this storyline super fascinating and not a little bit eerie. So much of this seems possible. Of course, I think that about all of the futuristic stories... I appreciate the relationships that Farmer gave to Matt--his friendships with the boys, protective big brother attitude toward Listen, and the complicated feelings he has toward Waitress and Maria. Most of all, though, I enjoyed the characters of Cienfuegos and some of the other men in Opium who were chipped. They became father-figures to Matt, and helped to shape his views of how he should run Opium. This was a satisfying read. Every page. I feel like it was a little gift I wasn't expecting :-)