Teen Tuesday: The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie

Image: Penguin Random House

The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~9 hours. Read by Sophie Amoss. Listening Library, March, 2019. 9781984837929. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library. Arc courtesy of publisher.)

Poe Blythe is bent on revenge. The eighteen-year-old is about to captain a ship that she designed. Two years earlier, her best friend, Call was murdered while they were crew on a ship that was dredging gold. The ship was stolen by the Raiders. Poe vowed to take revenge on the Raiders by designing an impregnable ship. That was the only thing that kept her alive these past two years and now she gets to take the ship on its last dredging mission. She has been assigned a crew by the Admiral. But can she trust them? Can she trust the Admiral? And, what of the Council, who are divided in their loyalty to Poe.

This dystopian unfolds slowly. Poe is aloof and difficult to know and so her first-person narration is guarded. Is she an unreliable narrator?  The world seems dangerous and forbidding and hopeless. People are desperate and vicious. This steampunk/ sci-fi/ dystopian is dark and unsettling. The narrator's terse, succinct delivery underscores Poe's detached demeanor effectively. 

If you're a fan of the dystopian genre, this book is for you. The patience needed in the beginning pays off as pieces start falling into place. Recommended!