The Q

Amy Tintera

YA Dystopia

In this action-packed adventure from a New York Times bestselling author, two teenagers from opposite worlds must fight their way through a vast walled quarantine zone in a dystopian America toward their only chance for survival.

Seventeen-year-old Maisie Rojas has spent her entire life in the Q–a post-pandemic quarantine zone that was once Austin, Texas. Born and raised behind the high security walls that sealed their fate, she’s now a trusted lieutenant for one of the territory’s controlling families.

Lennon Pierce, the charismatic son of a US presidential candidate, has just been kidnapped by his father’s enemies and dropped out of a plane into the Q with nothing but a parachute strapped to his back. Lennon is given a temporary antidote to the disease and crucial intel for his father, but Maisie must get him out of the zone within forty-eight hours–or he will be permanently infected and forced to remain.

With unrest brewing both inside and outside the Q, reaching the exit is a daunting and dangerous task. But if Maisie and Lennon fail, it could mean disaster for the entire quarantine zone and its inhabitants–and could cost Lennon his life.

Strap in for breakneck action and compelling characters in this timely, nonstop thriller.

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

(4.5 / 5) Almost a full five stars for entertaining me in my slump. Few books are doing that these days!

Maisie is locked inside a part of Texas that has been walled in to prevent a virus from spreading. Lennon is outside the wall and is kidnapped and dropped into the quarantine zone (the Q) inside the wall.

I’ve had a hard time liking any YA recently. I could definitely be growing out of them (I’m definitely no teenager) but they seem to be lower quality lately. I did not feel that with this book, it was refreshing to be fully entertained and enjoy the story.

I immediately liked all the main characters. They’re tough, snarky and loyal. The whole book was an adventure that had me laughing. It’s fast-paced, entertaining and don’t you worry, it does not have Covid vibes! That would be depressing and this was just fun. It is modern day but had serious dystopia vibes which is exactly what I was hoping for. It’s full of lots of snort laughs, snide remarks, funny banter and it added so much fun to the book. Few authors can get snarky banter to come off well and this was well done.

Honestly, the only thing I didn’t like was that it needed a bit more “he said” and “she said” because those longer conversations got a bit confusing at times. Nothing that was severe, it would just be my preference. I also thought the older ages would not be relatable to other teens (not living with parents etc) but that did not feel like an issue.

I read Tintera’s recent duology All These Monsters and loved it. It was once again fast-paced but with fabulous monsters that teenagers fight. Now that I’ve read another of her books and loved it, I’ll be diving into the rest of her works. I always love finding a new favorite author!

General content summary: This one had a lot of F words, but beyond that, the details were not extreme. There were small kisses, a noted m/m relationship with no details and some violence. The violence could be too much for some as they were intense (guns, explosions etc) but the details were kept at a minimum.

F words= 24, language, captivity (multiple), previous parental deaths, physical violence (weapons), references to cannibalism, explosion and gunshots (multiple), bullet wounds and dead bodies (multiple, few details), shooting and killing with a gun (multiple, few details), m/m relationship, gunshots (multiple, aimed at houses, blood, death, injuries, few details), a man supposedly cut someone’s artificial lungs out of them when they weren’t paid for, small bombs dropped near teens, m/f kiss.

Thank you to Random House Children’s for the gifted copy!

The book releases November 8, 2022.

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