The Lost Code by Kevin Emerson (The Atlanteans, #1)

The morning after I arrived in Eden, I drowned for the first time.

I got my hands on The Lost Code via a contest on Authors are ROCKSTARS!, which is a podcast that interviews YA authors. I absolutely love listening to their podcasts and following their blog, so I was quite excited when they had a contest for a signed ARC of this book. I'm sure I don't have to tell you I won. Otherwise, I wouldn't have started out this post with that story.

When Owen ends up at a summer camp that he would really rather not have come to, he assumes he's just going to have to deal with his misfortune and tough it out. That was before he drowned. Owen spent ten minutes at the bottom of the lake floor, surrounded by plastic plants meant to reflect the plant life of old, looking up at the dome that kept the toxic ozone from burning them all as badly as those nomads that had the misfortune of being outside one of the seven domes placed around the world.

Owen's drowning ought to have killed him. Instead, he wakes only to discover new gifts that he could never have imagined and new friends that have found similar gifts of their own. Overnight, Owen grows in confidence and begins to relish in his newfound friendship. He had never known a companionship like the one he shares with others like him, but it doesn't last long.

Things aren't at all what they seem in Camp Eden. The more Owen learns, the more suspicious he becomes- and for good reason. Someone is on to their secret and if he doesn't figure out a way to save each of them, they'll all go down together.

I'm usually not a big fan of the post apocalyptic themes that lean heavily on "We ruined the world!" It feels overdone and starts to great on the nerves after a bit. However, I really enjoyed the way Emerson handled this one. It wasn't nearly as straightforward are I had first believed it: he made it complex without becoming incoherent. I really liked the protagonist and his somewhat awkward relationship with Lilly, as well as the other campers. He starts out not really knowing his place and we get to watch as he slowly morphs into the hero everyone's looking for. He still has a lot of growing to do, but that's why it's a series!

This book definitely caught my attention and I look forward to seeing where the author goes with it. It could easily go both ways, but Emerson sees to have a handle on the mythos he's created and I'm definitely eager to see more.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

My mouth was open, my tongue pushing around against a stream of liquid pouring in, but not reaching my lungs. My cheeks were expanding and contracting, creating the flow. I could feel the water passing into my throat, then pouring out of me in currents, causing movement on the sides of my neck. Fluttering, like the light waving of fingers. I felt there, felt the wounds . . .
That they weren't wounds at all. They were--
Gills.