Hope and Lies by C.H. Lyn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pangaea is a world which has suffered great loss and great changes, ever since a plague ripped through its citizens, nothing has been the same and the aftermath was only able to be handled by those who survived after the changes. These individuals became known as the Grey Stars and they restored order amid the chaos, but it came with a price, a caste system which separated the have’s from the have not’s, but the price was not paid by them, it was paid by those they deemed to be less, those that were put into the lower classes.

At one point long after this process was perfected, there were some who discovered abilities which were not of the norm and they decided to fight against the Grey Stars and the caste system and so a rebellion was created, but in order to win, they knew that they had to break a few rules to attain their goal and this is where they decide to kidnap a Grey Star and find out exactly how they manage to keep the masses in line. The person they kidnap however unbeknownst to them, they are about to discover that they are more than they seem, it turns out that they are an alter, someone with unusual powers, but although they try and keep this ability a secret, they are distraught to find out what their fellow Grey Stars have been doing and so they turn traitor and agree to help the rebellion.

Many years after this rebellion, a young woman is turning the age of majority that means she is now an adult, this also means that she has to go through the Coding, a process which will determine which caste she will belong to for the rest of her life, she has high expectations, as do those around her, but what happens is the last thing she expects and she is thrust out of the life she knows and into one in the lowest caste of their society and she is devastated when it happens and she has to leave her life behind and enter a camp. A young man meanwhile, is fighting for his survival, he has been hidden from the world because of his unusual ability and the myriad of emotions surrounding him and although he has his brother who is helping him with it, his life is still fraught with danger and a fear of the unknown, so when things develop and his brother tells him that he expects him to continue to look after those living with them and become the leader they need, he is not so sure that it is a good idea.

What really happened during the rebellion, what injustices were they fighting to correct and what happened to them in the intervening years between the uprising and the present day? Will the young woman be able to accept and grow into her new life in the camp filled with the lower caste people she has been thrown in with and can she live without the luxurious life she was used to? Can the young man embrace his powers and the leadership role his brother wants him to fulfil, or will events conspire against him and the life he wishes he could have? This is an epic adventure spanning time and place where nothing is as it seems and life is as unpredictable as can be, where secrets and lies reign and people will do anything to keep it that way in this book you will not want to put down.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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