Elysium Girls by Kate Pentecost

Hi, my name is Deven, and this is my third article that I am posting on the Illiterete blog site. Have you ever heard of the phrase: don't judge a book by its cover? Well, I did the exact opposite when I picked Elysium Girls. I looked at the intricate cover and decided to read it. In hindsight, I got very lucky that this book had an interesting plot and was written in a genre that I liked. This article, like my previous ones, will describe the plot, what I enjoyed and what I didn't like about the book.

Plot

Elysium Girls is a historical fiction book that takes place in the 1930s in Oklahoma and has witches, magical creatures, Gods, and Goddesses. As a result of the time period, the main characters must deal with a depressing historical event: The Dust Bowl. The Dust Bowl is a depressing historical event that started from dry farmland and extreme winds, which created an abundance of dust storms. This not only prevented farmers from growing crops, but it also caused a deadly disease called dust sickness.

One day, the two Goddesses, Life and Death, come to a town and inform the people living there that they have ten years to live. At the end of the ten-year period, they will need one third of the town’s entire harvest throughout the ten years. If the town provides this sacrifice, Life will win but if they fail, Death will win. Although this task seems impossible at first, their leader is a highly gifted witch that unites, guides, and protects the village to success for nine years. When the witch becomes sick, she is forced to recruit a successor who is one of the main characters. While the successor is training to lead the town, they let in a daemon who is disguised as a mysterious magician. After he enters the town, events start to worsen until the successor is exiled from the town because she accidently destroyed all the food that was stored for Life and Death. Lost in the endless desert, she is forced to accept reality, make unexpected friends, and discover hidden truths about the true personality of the "benevolent" leader of the town.

What I liked

Some amazing features about this book were the level of detail in the setting, the unique magic and spells, the endless amounts of mysteries and shocking truths, and the characters’ development. When you believe you understand what's going to happen next, the author twists the plot into the least expected direction which not only surprises the reader but also makes them more engaged with the book. I am also a major fan of historical fiction and I believe the author did a fabulous job at not only incorporating the Dust Bowl in her book but also maintaining that unique setting. When writing historical fiction, having the reader constantly remember the historical event is often hard and is usually forgotten about, however, this author references effects of the setting throughout the book to help remind the reader what these characters are undergoing. 

I also really liked the type of magic used in this book because it reminded me of Children of Blood and Bone and Akata Witch. The main characters in Elysium Girls would use exotic and rare items to cast spells and some even shared blood to help others cast spells. I remember in Akata Witch that Sunny, Chichi, Orlu, and Sasha would use rare items to help cast spells. Whereas, in Children of Blood and Bone the main character would use a special type of magic called blood magic to cast stronger spells.

What I Didn't Like

One major feature I did not like about this book was that it switches perspectives throughout the book. Mainly, the perspective changes when a new chapter starts but there were times where the point of view shifted inside of a chapter. This aspect sometimes made the book confusing and hard to follow, especially in the beginning. Another part of the book I think the author could've expanded upon is the end scene. As I approached the end of the book, I was surprised at the quick resolution to which I believe the author could've expanded and created a better ending.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who's liked Akata Witch, Children of Blood and Bone, romance, adventure, and historical fiction.