Review: The Never Dawn (The Never Dawn #1)

Deep down below where the dirty waters flow,

Where the sun don't shine and the wind don't blow,

You can hear the screams as the Shovellers cry,

For a breath of clean air and an open sky,

Deep down where the dirty waters flow.

★☆☆☆☆

From Goodreads:
All his young life, Noah has longed to see the sky he's only heard about in stories. For over one hundred years, Noah's people have toiled deep beneath the Earth preparing for The New Dawn – the historic day when they will emerge to reclaim the land stolen by a ruthless enemy.

But when Rebekah, the girl of his forbidden desire, discovers a secret their leader has been so desperate to keep, Noah suspects something is wrong. Together, they escape and begin the long climb to the surface. But nothing could prepare them for what awaits outside. 

You have never questioned anything. You have never had a thought of your own. And then, you start having both.
Noah has lived underground, under the protection of Mother, for all his life. They all have. His teammates, neighbours, everyone, living under the dome-like sky. Mother is everything they have ever had. Mother is a deity to be worshipped, she is their everything. And Mother knows best.


I was uncomfortable for the entire time I read this book. The way the characters are brainwashed to believe in everything Mother tells them, to live without questioning anything. The main character Noah is an 18-year-old boy following Mother's every wish. He, like everyone else, doesn't own his thoughts. The blind faith he has for Mother is repulsing at times. And I would've been fine with it, had it been just in the beginning and then had some character development, but no. The Noah that I met at the beginning of the Novel I also said goodbye to him in the end.


The underground dome they live in isn't introduced very descriptively at any point. The reader has to piece a lot of information together before getting an even remotely clear picture of what the surroundings look like, or even more importantly, how everything works in there. The author trusts the reader to be immersed in the plot so deeply that they won't realise that there is a lot more to the story than just the characters and their perverted thoughts.


My uncomfortable feeling increased, even more, when it came to Noah's way of dealing with things. I know, I know, you are brainwashed from birth, but. But finally having your own ideas and questions doesn't mean that everything you think of is in the line of possession of a certain redhead that showed you some attention or getting caught thinking about that.
The point is that I wanted to hide the screen of the Kindle from others while reading in public, and not because I wanted peace while reading. So, yeah, I didn't DNF the book, even if I felt like it at times. This just definitely wasn't my cup of tea.