Elysium Girls
by Kate Pentecost

WOW! That's the word that expresses my overall feelings for this book! It left me speechless and amazed! I loved every bit of this fantastic fantasy world!
A world in an alternate USA and during a time of a dust bowl. A small town in Oklahoma is chosen to be the site for a game between god sisters. Death and Life. The ten year game is almost up and everyone's life in the town of Elysium is at stake.

The main characters include a gal, Sal, that sees visions of rain since she was a little girl and is thought of as a liar but possesses great magic. Asa, a demon (not the evil kind but a go between gods and humans who adores humans and their lives). He is chosen by Life to be a Wild Card in the game. Mother Morevna is the leader of Elysium and a powerful witch. Olivia lives outside of the town and that's who Sal and Asa meet when they are exiled from the town for an incident. Then Lucy, Sal's best friend. Treated differently too but not because she's a liar but she's black, beautiful, and creative. Most minorities are treated differently.

Sal, Olivia, and Asa are determined to outfox the god sisters at their own game. They make mechanical horses charged with magic. They have to hurry if they want a town to save because the dust sickness is killing people at an alarming rate.

The characters are so fleshed out I felt I knew each of them. The world building was so great! Creatures outside of the town! Giant grasshoppers to eat! Other tremendous excitement happens outside the city. Everything about the world is painted in detail. The plot was full of twists, turns, totally unpredictable, odd situations come up, and it was amazing!

I certainly want to get her next book! I love finding new terrific authors! ( )

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got an eGalley to review through NetGalley.

Story (5/5): This was an amazing book. The whole story has this fantasy dust bowl type of feel to it. Elysium was like any other town until the Dust Soldiers came and the Gods returned. Now Elysium is isolated from the rest of the world and its denizens are part of a 10 year old game being held between the Gods of Life and Death. Then Sal comes along and breaks it all.

This was a very unique story that is an interesting blend of magic, survival, and interactions with selfish gods. This amazing story was very creative and engaging and I loved how it was written. I could not put this down.

Characters (5/5): I loved the characters; especially Sal and Asa and the gang of girls they stumble upon. However, even the side characters are really well done. They were so intriguing and engaging. Sal is struggling to learn her magic and Asa is trying to figure out to fit into the human body he’s been given. I also love that this isn’t your typical boy meets girl type of love story wrapped in a fantasy setting.

Setting (5/5): Again this is amazing. Most of this story takes place in a sort of pocket dust bowl world that’s been set apart in time. It’s a creative and interesting setting and the description throughout is spectacular; I swear I could almost taste the dust in my mouth and feel the heat on my back while I read this.

Writing Style (5/5): The writing style was incredible. Everything comes alive for the reader and there is an urgency to it that makes it hard to put down. This is one of those books that almost read itself for me; I was just completely sucked into this world!

Summary (5/5): Overall I loved this and will be keeping an eye out for Pentecost’s future books. This was just exactly what I wanted to read at the time and it absolutely sucked me into the story. So, well written, I loved it!!! ( )