Controlled Descent by K.M. Herkes

In my home, there's a door.  It's made of gorgeous, aged wood.  It's a warm, safe, comforting and sturdy.  One side is left with a clear varnish so that you can see the beauty and history in the wood.  The other side is slathered with several coats of white paint.  It's sterile and clean.

That's how I felt reading this book.  The first nine chapters are covered in white paint.  It feels like it's been restructured so many times that it's lost Herkes' natural storytelling beauty.  Once I hit chapter ten, I flipped back over to the beautiful natural grain side.

I put the book down several times and nearly didn't pick it back up.  I'm glad that I did!  If I hadn't read Rough Passages before beginning The Restoration series, I probably wouldn't have.  I knew going into this that Herkes has natural talent. 

Once you get past chapter ten, you begin to fall in love with the characters.  They start to get to you and when they hurt, you hurt.  When they bleed, you don't bleed because that would be silly, but it still hurts your feelings.  Every triumph they make, you share with them. 

The world that she's created is still a little hazy to me, but that's my own fault.  In the beginning, there's just entirely too much description and I skipped over most of it.  You really don't need to understand the world to enjoy the story.  I've just been picking things up as I go along and I've done just fine that way. 

If you pick up this book from the blurb on the back and the front cover, you go into it expecting dystopian romance.  There's a bit of both in there, but it really isn't the focal point.  It's a story of humanity, survival, insanity, and overcoming your own self for the greater good.  It's a story of desperation and hope. 

There's a little bit here for nearly every reader.  Don't let the first nine chapters get you down!  You'll be glad you got past them!  It took me nearly two weeks to force myself through them, but it's more than worth it. 

If this is a series you're interested in, it has a bit of a different order.  Start with Controlled Descent, then read the first story in Weaving in the Ends (hopefully somebody knows where I hid my copy), then move on to Flight Plan, and finish up with the second story in Weaving in the Ends.  I'm told there's a prequel that's only available in e-format, but I won't be touching that until it's in print.