The Echelon

By: Ramona Finn

Narrated by: Amanda Davidson

Length: 28 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

On an Earth ravaged by toxic waste and violent mutants, one girl with power in her blood will rise to save them.

Only the Decemites—carefully selected children injected with nanobots and trained to survive the treacherous terrain Earth has become—can survive the outside long enough to collect resources for the domed city of Echelon. Decemites who serve long enough have a chance at a better life. But few live to experience their reward.

Myla’s only ever known the stratified life inside the dome. As the secret child of a forbidden Decemite relationship, she has abilities like no one else, abilities she’s had to keep hidden her entire life. But when her Decemite sister goes missing on a mission, Myla’s search to bring her home will uncover the truth about the Outside and the secrets the leader of Echelon has been keeping. No normal human is supposed to be able to survive outside the dome, but rebel Outsiders prove that wrong.

By her side is Lock, the Decemite golden boy and unlikely companion in her quest. As she grows closer to Lock, a rebel boy, Ben, shows her the lies that Echelon has been keeping. He draws her deep into the rebel world and a life she never could have imagined.

As she uncovers the ugly truths about Echelon, Myla will have to make a choice: can she ever go back to her old life, or is her only chance at freedom to tear down the only world she’s ever known?

©2021 Relay Publishing (P)2023 Relay Publishing

Discord

Trilogy of a dystopian world with two major factions in constant conflict. As the risks and knowledge increases the desperation to save as many as possible leads to extreme measures. The characters are 3 dimensional and the mental/emotional turmoil is relatable.

Good YA Dystopian story

I received a free copy of this audio book omnibus.

It took a few chapters for me to get into this story, but it wasn't long before I was invested in the characters enough that I listened to the whole story over 1 weekend.

This story has a lot of twists and turns in relationships. The main character learns about different societies in her world at the same time learning about her own values. At times this is frustrating when things seem obvious to the listener and we have to wait for the heroine to discover things for herself. There is a very small amount of romance with the main character having feelings both for an outsider boy and a boy who comes from "the dirt" (where the heroine grew up). The relationship between the heroine and her adopted sister provides much of the tension in the series.

I plan to look around for more books by this author.

The narrator was very good. The voice is pleasant and she changes well to differentiate characters.

binge

book 1: Myla’s young sister disappears after her first mission Outside and Mayla goes looking for her and learns she's been lied to her whole life.
book 2: Mayla seeks out the truth about what Lady Lazrad is truly up to.
book 3: Mayla is on a mission to prove Lady Lazrad has been lying to everyone but along the way she has been pitted against her own sister.

Great YA series

I really enjoyed this series. It captivated me from the beginning and has many twists. I liked how it gives a different aspect of the usual good vs bad guys and how things can be different. The narrator does a wonderful job with the characters and story.