Gr 7 Up—Fifty years ago, the Cursed Ones escaped their underground prison and nearly destroyed all life on Earth. Survivors cluster within the walls of Baalboden, living in constant fear of attacks and relying on the protection of cruel Commander Jason Chase. Unlike the other women, who are helpless and submissive, Rachel Adams is a survivor and a fighter. When her father goes missing while on a secret mission to retrieve a device that would enable its holder to control the Cursed Ones, the Commander recruits Rachel to find him-and, more importantly, the device-at any cost. If she fails, Logan, her true love and Protector, will be killed. Rachel has everything to lose. And she has a plan. But will it work? Redwine's YA debut is an admirable attempt at following in the footsteps of such genre benchmarks as Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games (Scholastic, 2008) and Scott Westerfeld's Uglies (S & S, 2005). Unfortunately, it doesn't quite measure up. Pacing is slow, and stock characters are predictable and two-dimensional. With so many dystopian novels on the market, this title is not one of the better options.—Alissa J. Bach, Oxford Public Library, MI