Mystery and legend abound in Ally Condie's (the Matched trilogy) stand-alone novel Atlantia, which mixes the myths of Atlantis and sirens in an undersea world where the ocean hides many secrets.
Fifteen-year-old narrator Rio and her twin sister, Bey, have never been Above. Humanity created Atlantia, an underwater haven where people live long, healthy, happy lives, when the world Above became too polluted to inhabit. Those remaining on land have chosen to sacrifice themselves to short, brutal lives of disease and suffering in order to keep Atlantia thriving. But Rio wants to see the trees and sky, and longs for the day when she can choose the world Above. After the sudden, suspicious death of their mother, the Minister of Atlantia, Bey makes Rio promise to remain Below with her. Rio's sacrifice for her sister's sake grows even more painful when Bey turns the tables and elects to go Above. As Rio struggles to accept her sister's apparent betrayal, Maire, her mother's mysterious and estranged sister and a known siren, appears with offers of assistance, claiming that even Rio's mother had sought Maire's help. After all, "There are some things you only tell a sister," Maire insists, "And some things you only ask of a sister."
Rio's greatest secret, known only to her mother and sister, is that she is herself a siren. As Maire hovers in the shadows, Rio also comes to know True, a young man whose best friend Fen also unexpectedly chose the Above. Is there a connection between Bey and Fen? Rio and True must work together to solve the mystery, even as Rio desperately works to conceal her true identity. Maire claims to know a way for Rio to reach Above, but is such a thing possible? At what cost will Rio find the answers to her sister's departure?
Condie's greatest strength is the vastly believable and thorough world-building. She explores the history of Atlantia, its architecture, governance, cultural practices and religious history. While these summations occasionally read like exposition, Condie's writing is detailed enough to be thoroughly enjoyable. Rio makes a fascinating heroine, and Condie's secondary characters--particularly the mysterious Bey and complex Maire--are fantastically captivating in their own right. Each mystery leads into another, and Condie keeps readers guessing to the end. In a world with secrets as deep as the ocean it inhabits, trust is a luxury not all can afford. --Kyla Paterno
Shelf Talker: A secret siren searches for answers after the sudden departure of her twin from an Atlantis-like undersea world.