THE PLAGUE CARRIER
by Merrie Destefano
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian
Pub Date: Jun 26, 2012
Publisher: Ruby Slippers Press
Length: 43 pages
Spoilers: N/A
Goodreads ♦ Amazon($1.99)
A teenage runaway’s post-apocalyptic world comes tumbling down when she discovers a survivor in a field of dead bodies.
Condemned as a runaway and sentenced to work as a Cleaner, fifteen-year-old Anna now spends her days searching for valuables in a field of dead warriors. Her life goes from bad to worse, however, when she stumbles upon a plague carrier, a boy her age who could kill her entire camp with a single drop from the flask he carries around his neck.
Delicious Bite
Hee hee! This probably sounds silly, but I quite enjoyed this story because it was just a quick morsel of what could have been a huge story. There is definitely some world building going on. It leads to a lot of questions that never really get answered, but enough are answered for you to have context and the world building isn’t the key. The story between two people is. That’s what is so great about this. It focuses on what is important and offers only enough of everything else to make sense. Yay!
Rushed Ending
While the story was quick, fun, and interesting, the ending just felt out of place. You have this wonderful story that really delves into just one day of interactions only to suddenly leap forward. The pacing just felt off for the last segment of the story. Part of me understands why this particular choice was made and another part of me wishes it would have better matched what the rest of the story was like.
Melanie Noell Bernard 