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Deadlands book review.

Essentially The Hunger Games meets Dawn Of The Dead set in South Africa, YA apocalypser Deadlands is simultaneously massively derivative and enjoyably fresh.

In a dystopian Cape Town, years after the dead have risen, teenagers are singled out by the sinister city “lottery” to be delivered to the otherworldly Guardians. Our feisty teenage heroine Lele must navigate family problems, a love triangle and her first day at a new school before joining an underground faction, uncovering a conspiracy, learning to fight with throwing stars and battling the undead.

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A good natured anti-capitalist message, pacey prose packed with cliffhangers, and an ensemble of diverse and likeable characters elevates Deadlands from generic teen mush to digestible political satire via a pop-culture plot.

Rosie Fletcher twitter.com/TotalFilm_Rosie

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