The Goliath Code by Suzanne Leonhard was SUCH a good book! I absolutely enjoyed it. I particularly loved the main character’s, Sera, arc. She started out kind of a brat, someone who didn’t really respect her parents and was in that rebellious stage of her life. But then, there’s a natural disaster, and she is forced to grow up fast.

I also loved that Sera was a twin, and her brother, David, suffered from dwarfism. I can’t recall a story where a character has that issue, and it was quite interesting to read about. And there’s a correlation between this little David, and a possible cure for him that his dad has been working on, that was so clever. I also liked the changes–from the townsfolk reeling from the aftermath of this natural disaster, to their world being taken over by a kind of Nazi-ish army, to characters forming their own rebellion. It was just terribly fascinating, and the end left me looking forward to book two!

All in all, this was a such a good dystopian/apocalyptic story. I so heartily recommend it.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by the Author

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  8 religious exclamations; 13 mild obscenities; 2 religious profanity; 6 derogatory names; 6 scatological words. 

Violence/Gore:  Many instances of violence and gore, including but not limited to: a character is pursued by soldiers; report of devastation that destroyed animals; characters are often threatened by enemies; a man is attacked by a world; characters undergo an earthquake, involving injuries and death; a character is killed by a shard of glass; a boy and girl are trapped in a destroyed church; characters have nightmares; two boys fight; characters almost drive into a ravine; a city is left underwater after a catastrophic disaster; townsfolk become a militia; a character sees dead people; a man is brought in, badly beaten; a character is killed from a tank shot; characters set up an ambush; mention of people eating their dead; a character is shot between the eyes; characters are captured by foreign soldiers; characters are constantly barraged by raids and searches; characters frequently witness violence; a character is shot in cold blood; a character is mentally imbalanced from time in an internment camp; report of slave trading; a character is found shot and injured; a character accuses people of being part of a rebellion; a character betrays others.

Sex/Nudity:  A man mentions someone disappearing without a lick of clothes; a boy holds a girl while she cries; a character jokes about someone making out with another person; a boy and girl share a moment; a boy flirts with a girl; a girl has feelings for a boy; a character remembers her feelings for a boy; mention of girls being used as concubines; a boy and girl touch hands; a girl puts her arms around a boy; a character wants to be kissed by a boy; a girl will be used as a concubine.

Mature Subject Matter:

Militia, suicide, murder, army experimentation, vengeance, attempted suicide, death, tattoos.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Mention of cannabis; a character smokes a cigar.