Plus One by Elizabeth Fama

“Four hundred billion suns spiraling through space together. Our solar system just one grain on that galactic carousel. The carousel itself a speck in the cosmos. And here I am in this small clearing, on the surface of the earth, as transient and unnoticed to the universe as the dry blades of grass that are poking into my shirt.”

 This is the story of Sol. Who lives in a world where modern civilization has been divided into Night-dwellers (Smudges) and Day-dwellers (Rays). When I started this book, I admit I had something like Twilight in mind. I had a stressful week, and I wanted some light hearted, young adult nonsense, that oozed happiness from beginning to end. This did not ooze happiness, it oozed desperation. And I couldn't make myself stop reading it, because I was equally desperate to know what happened next.

 Sol, a Smudge, is about to be left alone in the world. Her brother Ciel was reassigned to Day, she has no parents, and the grandfather who raised her is dying. Her grandfather's dying wish is to hold his great grandaughter before he dies... and Ciel refuses to cooperate. With nothing left to lose, Sol decides to steal the newborn for her grandfather. What's a little kidnapping among family?

Her choices set her on a collision course with a crime spree, a government conspiracy, and the Ray who loves her. D'Arcy, a medical apprentice whose own family has been left equally damaged by the Day-Night divide.

At the end of this book, I have just one question: Where is the rest of it? This book pulls you along, pulls you along, stops short and pushes you off a cliff. I just wanted a damned happy ending this week. And it wasnt sad ending it was just...desperate. I glanced at the reviews that came before  and I see I'm not the only one who thought this book needed a sequel.

But I give this book 4 stars, because it did its job. It took me elsewhere, it kept me captive, and I enjoyed every word of it.