Ataxia and the Ravine of Lost Dreams is a dystopian novel set in a boarding school where teens are trained to fight. Weekly tournaments are held in the ‘Cube’ a futuristic, ever-changing, indoor battlefield where they wear specially designed battle uniforms and use ‘fireballs’ as weapons.

Based on the above and the enticing cover, I should have loved this book. I didn’t. The story has lots of potential and it may have had the chance to develop into a brilliant novel if it had been in the hands of a good editor.

The story-line has so many gaps that I searched on-line for the preceding book, convinced this must be the second book of a trilogy. I found it difficult to make sense of the confusion in the first few chapters, but the story got quite exciting after this and I really liked the action scenes in the ‘Cube’.  Unfortunately the ending felt very rushed and I came away disappointed.

Recommended age: 13+

Title:  Ataxia and the Ravine of Lost Dreams
Author: Rachel Barnard
Publication Date: 25 March 2014
Publisher: Createspace
Source: Free copy from author in exchange for honest review

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As the U.S. government prepares to take over the world, MC infiltrates one of their elite academies that trains future leaders. MC must rise to the top in the Cube training grounds in order to be placed high up within the government so she can stop them in their takeover. It is not until her fourth and final year at the academy that her top-student status is threatened by the sudden arrival of Li, the new transfer student. MC is completely focused on her self-created mission until she gets sidetracked by Li, who might be bad news in more ways than which she bargained. — Extract from Goodreads.com

The fact that I received this copy of this book from the author does not influence my policy to write an honest review.