It seems unusual to find an apocalyptic story without zombies and/ or magic these days, but I think this does it well. Instead we have the power-hungry madness of a politician-cum-scientist to contend with.
This is actually the second book in the Divided States series. You don’t need to have read the first novel, South, but it WILL make it easier to understand what’s going on in this book! The privations of the South can’t really be fully comprehended if you’ve only read this book.
I really liked this book: the descriptions of the landscapes (the North doesn’t seem to have escaped from the viruses and the aftermath of the civil war), the people and the madness of those in power, virus inflicted or not, was really well portrayed.
The ending was somewhat satisfying, and reassuringly open ended. I’m looking forward to the possibility of another book in the series!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book to read and honestly review.

I am a huge dystopian fan. I was looking forward to the South/North duology and ultimately ended up being disappointed by them both.
I thoroughly enjoyed the concept.... America split into two halves. The losing side ravaged by virus and illness and the winning side tormented by dictatorship. However the execution was not what I expected. I found the writing to be very convoluted and long winded.
The characters were strong, brave and clever, the series just fell short for me due to its general execution, however I think this book would be a massive hit for fans of The Wind Up Girl and The Water Knife

North, part of the Divided States series, had so much promise with its post-apocalyptic setting, but, unfortunately, it didn't live up to the hype and excitement I'd created in my mind. First things first, it's essential to have read the first book in the series, South, before this one as very little will make sense otherwise. Right, my initial issue with this novel was being unable to connect and thereby invest in the characters, and this is quite a substantial problem given that we are meant to be able to sympathise with them and the situation they find themselves in. There was also rather a lot of characters to keep tabs on, and I found the plot was often confusing and convoluted. Despite finishing it, it left me feeling deflated and disappointed that a fantastic concept has gone to waste.

Many thanks to Corvus for an ARC

I have now read both North and South by this author and my feedback applies to them both. I found the plots confusing and irritating. I was bored by the overlong descriptive passages and could not feel any empathy for the characters.