'Dystopia' by Anthony Ergo

It’s Friday the Thirteenth and it’s Sasha Hunter’s birthday. It’s also the anniversary of Dystopia day; a catastrophic world-wide blackout, and the day Sasha’s mother disappeared. Three years on, the world has started to recover. But for Sasha, everything is falling apart…
Sasha Hunter is a socially awkward walking-bad-omen, cursed with asthma and as superstitious as they come. When a strange boy delivers a mysterious game of hangman, Sasha makes a shocking discovery which will change her life forever.
The world, still in recovery from Dystopia Day, is no longer the safe place she thought it was. Only by uncovering the truth can Sasha hope to save herself and everyone around her.​

What first drew me to Dystopia is the fact that its author, Anthony Ergo, launched his book at last years YALC (Young Adult Literature Convention). What a better way to release your first YA novel than in a room full of YA’aholics?! I can honestly say that I am honoured to have got my hands on an ARC of this book!


I went into Dystopia blind, which I sometimes think can be the best way. What I really like about the way Ergo writes is that he drops you straight into the story, but at the same time he does not rush a single second. Dystopia is about a sixteen year old girl named Sasha Hunter who, after the disappearance of her mother on Dystopia Day, lives a lonely life with her father and house keeper, Katalina. Before she had never really given much thought to her father’s work but when a boy turns up at her door brandishing a parcel and claiming he works for her father, Sasha’s suspicions raise around the mystery of his job. When she decides to break government curfew to follow her dad one evening her life is changed forever and so begins the riddle of the Hangman Ghost.


This spooky supernatural story will have you hooked from the very first page; I could not put it down!


Ergo has created a unique story but what I love most is although Sasha is in someway a ‘strong female lead’ she is physically flawed. Beautiful, yes, with shocking crimson eyes, but Sasha is extremely superstitious, unsure of herself and battling her fear of the dark and her on-going asthma problem. Through all this she still manages to stay focused on the task at hand. Even with hotty Aaron in the picture!


Ergo does something most YA authors tend not to do and, although it is clear Sasha and Aaron are crushing on each other, he does not rush their relationship. It develops throughout the story from Sasha hating him to her falling for his sarcastic and witty personality. The whole time she constantly doubts that he could look at her in that way without it being a joke.


I have definitely fallen for this spooky novel and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book! Ergo sums up the story in an appropriate way but still leaves you wanting answers to things that will come to play a roll in the next books, and definitely leaves you craving more Sasha and Aaron romance!


To buy your signed copy click here!


If you are attending YALC this weekend head over to Anthony Ergo's stall where he and I will be selling copies of all his books, including his latest release Plague Risers!


Keep up to date with Anthony via:
T: @AnthonyErgo
IG: @AnthonyErgo