Book Review and Writing Lessons: Reclaiming Shilo Snow by Mary Weber

Known as a brilliant mind that could hack her world’s darkest secrets, seventeen-year-old Sofi Snow is the most wanted teenager alive. She found her way to the icy, technologically brilliant planet of Delon to find Shilo, the brother everyone but Sofi believes is dead.

But as she and Ambassador Miguel partner to find her brother and warn those on Earth of Delon’s dark designs on humanity, Sofi’s memories threaten to overtake her, distorting everything she holds true. She knows the Delonese once kept her in a dark, deceptive place . . . and destroyed a portion of her life. Now, the more they discover of Sofi’s past, the more Sofi feels herself unraveling—as each new revelation has her questioning the very existence of reality.

In this harrowing sequel to The Evaporation of Sofi Snow, Sofi and Miguel must trust each other and discover the secrets locked inside Sofi’s mind as the line between what’s real and what they imagine begins to slip away . . . threatening to take the human race with it.

Series: The Evaporation of Sofi Snow (Book 2)
Genre: YA Science-Fiction
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (March 6, 2018)
Page Count: 320 pages

A couple of years ago I attended a class taught by Mary Weber about writing things so you can write the books you’re most passionate about and she spoke about how she wrote the Storm Siren series as a stepping block to writing this book. This was a book that was on her heart.

The Plot

The story picks up immediately where the last one ended. It’s fast-paced throughout as Sofi strives to save her brother and friends, unravel a massive conspiracy, and discover her artificially created powers. There are a lot of trippy sequences where you’re not sure what is and isn’t real as the aliens mess with Sofi and the other characters. There are also a lot of flashbacks big and small as Sofi reveals the mystery of her past. Matters definitely get very intense at the end when you really wonder how all of this is going to get resolved!

The Characters

Sofi is a really great main character. She feels very authentic and real and struggles with very human emotions. She’s someone I would be friends with.
Miguel is equally multidimensional. He’s such a complex and interesting character with a heart of gold.

The third most unexpected point of view in the story was with Inola, Sofi’s mother, who was more of an antagonist in the first book. She has a really great character arc. It was interesting getting into her head and seeing how she justified what she did to Sofi and Shilo, how it was a mix of selfish and selfless motivations.

Ethos is an intimidating but believable villain. There are also an array of side characters who made me smile as well.

“As much as humankind adores playing savior to chosen causes, we just as passionately love seeing the power fall.”

The Setting

The majority of the book takes place on the alien planet of Delon which mostly involved characters inside the creepy interior of the icy landscape. Lots of labs and alien scariness. The other large portion of the book takes place in Manhattan which is certainly very different in this sci-fi future. And then a small portion of the book takes place in North Carolina, my birth state. ☺️

Epic Things

Sofi’s powers are pretty darn awesome. Controlling machinery and telepathy with other Delonese are awesome powers.

“You could control technology and agendas and public impression, but you couldn’t control human conviction to interrupt a game—let alone an entire planet—to care for their fellow man. Especially in the face of a messed up world.”

The Theme

The main one is all life is precious. No one person has more value over another person. To do good doesn’t mean we step on others or neglect others to do it. At the front of the book, Weber dedicates the story to victims of human trafficking which is one of the most heinous industries on the planet. Obviously, the issue weighed very heavily on the author. Miguel gives a beautiful speech near the end of the book solidifying this theme.

“How do we lose our humanity? And how do we gain our humanity back?”

Content Cautions

There’s not a lot of content. Some swear alternatives, some blood, and a couple of people are murdered and their bodies are found but it’s not graphic.

What We Can Take Away For Our Writing

1.) Near Future Settings – This book is set in 2031 so only 11 years in the future from the time of this post. The story world has a lot of advanced technology and speaks of the past World Wars III and IV.

How this can be applied to writing: Setting a book this close to the future has its pros and cons. It can give you a break in thinking up insane technology and how exactly far in the future culture would change, but it can also be a little awkward when that date passes, and those events didn’t happen. Some other stories that had near future settings were Back to the Future II and Code Geass.

2.) Little Flashbacks can be Strong Moments – As mentioned before, this book has a lot of flashbacks. Some are a page or two long and others just a paragraph or two. These scraps of memories provided some very deep moments in the story as the characters recollect these pivotal times in their lives.

How this can be applied to writing: Oftentimes, we can remember a whole day in our past even it was a significant one, but we do remember moments that were so strong they were unforgettable. A flashback doesn’t have to be long to be strong.

Conclusion

Overall, this was a good book with a great message!

About the Author: Mary Weber is the multiple-award-winning author of the bestselling young adult Storm Siren Trilogy, and The Evaporation of Sofi Snow series (all by HarperCollins). An avid school and conference speaker, Mary’s passion is helping others find their voice amid a too-loud world. When she’s not plotting adventures involving tough girls taking over the universe, Mary sings 80’s hairband songs to her three muggle children, and ogles her husband who looks strikingly like Wolverine. They live in California which is perfect for stalking L.A. bands and the ocean.