Kat Falls has done an astonishing job with her debut novel, Dark Life.  From the fantastic and compelling setting, to the endearing and complete characters, to the vision of a future that manages to be both apocalyptic and hopeful, Dark Life is a fascinating combination of thriller, future-projection, and young adult coming of age story.

It all begins with a teenage boy, exploring and out for adventure:

I peered into the deep-sea canyon, hoping to spot a toppled skyscraper. Maybe even the Statue of Liberty. But there was no sign of the old East Coast, just a sheer drop into darkness.

And, with that, Kat Falls plunges the reader directly into a new world. The world as we know it is gone, drowned under rising seas, and people now live stacked one on the other in crowded high rises on the little land left or, if they are brave, or desperate, enough, they farm the sea beds and pioneer a new life under the ocean. Ty’s family was one of the first.  His mother and father helped research and design the buildings, farms, and life he now lives, but there is one thing they didn’t plan for, something that Ty has kept a secret for fear that it would drive him from the undersea world he loves.

Into this exploring life of Ty’s tumbles Gemma, a Topsider, a girl his own age, a girl looking for her brother, a girl confident in her own abilities to survive, a girl with little knowledge of what life is like under the water.  Gemma has secrets of her own, and when her search catches the attention of the local outlaws, it puts Ty, his secret, and his entire family in danger. Soon, Ty will have to decide how important his secret is, and what its revelation might mean to the family and his future in the place he loves.

This is an excellent book.  Falls really uses her setting and dystopic future to the fullest, but manages to make it seem real, a world filled with unique people, instead of a projection of what might happen.  The setting is, quite simply, where her characters live and breathe, love and explore, and it is easy to see the world through Ty’s eyes and wish desperately for a chance to live surrounded by the ocean and the animals within it. It is easy to love Ty, and his family, and Gemma, and to feel the power of the ocean world they live in. The world is not without danger, but the beauty to be found there is paramount, and Ty’s connection to his world is an integral part of the novel.

At times funny, mesmerizing, and thrilling, Dark Life is one of those books that leaves you happy to have had the chance to share in the world its author imagined and is an adventure not to be missed.

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