Pandora Jones: Admission (Barry Jonsberg, A&U)

Pandora Jones has survived the apocalypse, caused by a deadly virus that has wiped out most of humanity. She wakes, confused, in a hospital on a hill. Like others ‘lucky’ enough to survive the outbreak, she is taken in by The School, a survival camp that teaches students how to navigate the new world. As Pandora starts to regain her strength, she starts noticing things that don’t quite fit. Like the giant wall supposedly built to keep them safe—but from what? Who are the villagers on the other side? And why are some of the students having the same horrific nightmare? Pandora digs for answers with vehemence and readers will follow her at the same furious pace. Page after page, Barry Jonsberg maintains the suspense. Every answer is met with a new question. This relentless pace offers no time for guessing, so each shocking plot twist comes as a jarring slap, as much to the reader as to Pandora herself. Jonsberg is an exceptional writer who seems just as comfortable with dystopian world-building as with the more lighthearted realism of 2013 award-winner My Life as an Alphabet. In this trilogy, Pandora Jones will push her way through the wealth of dystopian fiction to stand rightfully at the forefront of the genre.

Bec Kavanagh is a Melbourne-based writer and reviewer

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Category: Reviews