Goodreads Monday (12/21/20)–Elysium Girls

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

WHEW, I’m out of school for the semester! I SURVIVED AN ENTIRE SEMESTER ONLINE! And to everyone else who has done the same, pat yourself on the back! You did it!

Anyway, Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme created by Lauren’s Page Turners. All you have to do to participate is pick a book from your Goodreads TBR, and explain why you want to read it.

I’ve had this book on my TBR for almost exactly a year, and it sounds like an exciting mashup of YA fantasy and…Western vibes? I think? We’ll see, but it definitely looks like something new…

Let’s begin, shall we?

GOODREADS MONDAY (12/21/20)–ELYSIUM GIRLS by Kate Pentecost

Blurb from Goodreads:

In this sweeping Dust Bowl-inspired fantasy, a ten-year game between Life and Death pits the walled Oklahoma city of Elysium-including a girl gang of witches and a demon who longs for humanity-against the supernatural in order to judge mankind.

When Sal is named Successor to Mother Morevna, a powerful witch and leader of Elysium, she jumps at the chance to prove herself to the town. Ever since she was a kid, Sal has been plagued by false visions of rain, and though people think she’s a liar, she knows she’s a leader. Even the arrival of enigmatic outsider Asa-a human-obsessed demon in disguise-doesn’t shake her confidence in her ability. Until a terrible mistake results in both Sal and Asa’s exile into the Desert of Dust and Steel.

Face-to-face with a brutal, unforgiving landscape, Sal and Asa join a gang of girls headed by another Elysium exile-and young witch herself-Olivia Rosales. In order to atone for their mistake, they create a cavalry of magic powered, scrap metal horses to save Elysium from the coming apocalypse. But Sal, Asa, and Olivia must do more than simply tip the scales in Elysium’s favor-only by reinventing the rules can they beat the Life and Death at their own game.

So why do I want to read this?

Okay, waaaaaaaaait, wait wait–

We’ve got:

• Demons?
• Girl gangs of witches?
• False prophecies?
• Alternate history of the Dust Bowl?
• Robot horses?
• AND DID I MENTION DEMONS?

Elysium Girls definitely has something of a bold premise, and there’s quite a lot of elements crammed into it; alternate histories are hard to get right, and harder still when there’s a whole host of fantasy elements in it, like this one has. But that’s exactly what hooks me in–from the synopsis, it’s unafraid, it’s daring, it’s bold, and man, it sounds like a whole lot of fun. Also, I REALLY like the premise of the whole plot being the result of a decade-long game between Life and Death. That seems promising.

This one’s available at the library, so I might have to put it on hold soon…

Today’s song:

That’s it for this week’s Goodreads Monday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!