Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Four-star review for Fortune Falls by Lou Vane

 The first book in a relatively new series begins slowly with a group of older teenagers attending a leadership camp where the instructors are not much older than they are. Friendships form quickly and the lessons prepare them for skills they don’t expect to use often like scaling mountains. Jess, one of the students, connects with Matt and Priya on the bus to the camp and thereafter they spend a lot of time together, but a triangle forms, unnecessarily for me, between Jess, Matt and one of the instructors, Ethan. Their week is over and they’re about to head home when word comes of an epidemic that’s led to quarantines. The action picks up after that with searches for ways to leave and failing that, to survive the coming winter. Of course, there are more people thrown into the mix and a few deaths along the way as the story becomes more dystopian than apocalyptic. This was a quick read and I’m still not sure what Jess’ previous personality was, but I enjoyed it enough to read more of the series.