The Rift Uprising
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ☆ ☆
The Rift Uprising (The Rift Uprising, Book 1) by Amy S. Foster
A long walk for a short drink of water.
This book threw me for a loop. The Rift Uprising is marketed as science fiction, and not in the loose “of course it’s sci-fi” sense. It’s shelved right alongside hard sci-fi novels. But once you start reading, it’s clear: this is pure YA.
Thankfully, I caught onto that early and was able to “switch gears,” which made it a lot easier to enjoy.
Now, aside from the occasional awkward make-out scene, the biggest issue here is that not much actually happens. The plot beats are very by-the-numbers:
Soldier girl goes on duty
Boy from another dimension shows up
Girl falls for boy
Boy warns her about her world
Girl discovers the truth
They escape together
That’s basically it. Formulaic, and it doesn’t dig deep into the characters, the world, or the story the way it could have.
That said, it’s still a solid read. There’s action, romance, aliens, and even a decent twist. There’s a certain comfort in its simplicity, it doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, but it does deliver a fun, easy ride. As I’ve said about other YA titles: it won’t blow your mind, but if you’re looking for something light and entertaining, this will do the trick.
Side note: Honestly, The Rift feels like the book The 5th Wave was trying, and failing, to be. (Dear God, how The 5th Wave sucked.)
