The world is in ruins, food is scarce and humanity is dying. Arks, designed to shelter people, have eventually given rise to struggling city-states that compete with each other for resources and technology. Aeva Storm, an athlete from the agricultural city of Agria, is content in playing a brutal sport just to feed her family. A destruction of unimaginable proportions jolts her out of her own world and thrusts her into one filled with betrayal and brutality. Battered from playing a bloodthirsty sport, everything she knows is taken from her in an instant. She must now retrace her steps and find her way in an increasingly dangerous world. Aeva must learn to make do with what she has while facing off against MODIs or modified human beings, all while trying to achieve a dangerous and distasteful task.

With brutal fast-paced action and a young protagonist that actually revels in it, Anne Soliveres has created a young adult series that can easily entice readers and turn them into willing converts. Aeva Storm is someone who just wants to lead a better life and is willing to make sacrifices to get it. She is easy to like and root for, more so as she weathers the series of unfortunate events that come her way. The plot may be straightforward and the twists somewhat expected, but it is the characters and their own individual personalities that truly make this novel shine. The deeper underlying questions of beauty vs. personality, or scientific advancement vs. humanity are all things that are great to see in a young adult title. With a story set in a world that defines ruin, with characters that people can identify with and a plot that truly engages, Anne Soliveres has created a first book that has the potential to fly off shelves. Violet Storm is one great YA offering and the MODI series is one that people should keep an eye on.

Violet Storm, the first in an engaging YA series by Anna Soliveres, starts off with a bang – literally. As an athlete, Aeva Storm has reached her moment of greatest triumph when she is struck by lightning and her fate changes irrevocably. Waking up in the middle of the woods with only a dim recollection of what happened, she is shocked to learn that her hometown has been burned to the ground by the Monarch, a man, she's told, seemingly consumed by greed and lust for power. Vowing revenge, she joins the Alliance, a group of people who also feel wronged by the Monarch and are determined to take him down. But Aeva soon learns that everything isn't as it appears as lies are revealed and double-crosses are unleashed. The good guys might not be so good.

Violet Storm by Anna Soliveres is an enjoyable, interesting read with a unique plot and creative world building. Many of the plot twists I didn't see coming and often I was just as surprised as the other characters. There is a potential love triangle and, though it gets a lot of attention, it actually doesn't feel like the main focus of the book as I was more interested in Aeva and her struggle to solve the mystery around her (I am Team Ruven, though). I did wish that Aeva was able to find out more stuff on her own instead of being given the important pieces of information by other characters, but since Aeva lost a lot of memory in the book it's something I’ll let slide. If you're looking for a book with a cool heroine and a unique storyline, Violet Storm by Anna Soliveres is it.