They said it was for our own good. They lied.

From the number sewn into her sleeve to the scraps of food in her rations, Simone’s days in the run-down protection camp have been dictated by the harsh, restrictive demands of the Colonel. Unfortunately, Simone doesn’t like following rules. A defiant break from camp brings her face to face with the ivory tower and the festering secrets of their dark history.
Faced with a forgotten past, a rippling effect of consequences from her disobedience, and a bleak future of mind-numbing factory work, Simone must decide—how much she is willing to give up for protection?

awesome, but hated the cliff hanger

I honestly could tell by the writing of the first 2 chapters that it wouldn't be a good fit for our box and had to put it down. I may read it again in the future!

This topic is no longer of interest to me and I will not be finishing this book.

I'm sorry but due to personal reasons I've been unable to review the book

This dark book is not for the faint of heart. If your scare easily DO NOT read it... The world is in ruins because of a war and its set in a camp, protection camp. They tell you how important you are by number. Orphans adult or not are so mistreated its sicking. It was a great book I will never read again.

Pale Bricks is a dark dystopia where the world has been ruined due to nuclear war and is set in one of the protection camps that have sprung up to safeguard the remaining humans. The survivors are each given numbers, how low your number is, delineates how important you are, with the highest numbers being the least important. Our main character Simone, is and orphan and since orphans can’t contribute to the camp until they become adults they’re mistreated, often go hungry and in general ignored.
Simone of course is a trouble maker. She isn’t happy with the status quo and tends to skip as many classes as possible to run around and play in the forest which is where she comes across the ivory tower and her already hard life gets a whole lot harder.
I liked Simone initially, she has a hard life but she’s still a kind person to the younger orphans, who all adore her. She’s headstrong, tough and tends to get in trouble a lot. But none of the main characters can be classified as completely good really, and Simone’s less nice half comes out later in the story. And the fact is that if the story went from her taking control of her life to actually helping make a change in everyone else’s life for the better I would have enjoyed this book.
While this was an interesting dystopian idea, I have a couple of problems with it. While I appreciate a dark ending I didn’t feel there was proper conflict resolution. How does Simone know what she’s actually missing when she doesn’t manage to actually do anything? We know that the camp was set up to protect survivors from contaminants due to nuclear fallout, we get bits and pieces from Simone and from things others tell her. What we don’t have a grasp on is exactly when this happened. The specially created camps also just seemed to be walled in places with barbed wire fences, so how are the supposed contaminants kept at bay? Why has no one questioned this for years? While there is a nod to this hole in the story by Simone there are no satisfactory explanations provided. Also maybe the ending would have been more of a twist if Simone actually got a look outside the camp to see what was really going on. As it stood, the ending felt abrupt because it was predictable.
For me it felt like a lot of effort for too little a prize and I’m left feeling disappointed.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

Pale Bricks was a bit difficult to read in that it showed the ‘realities’ in a dystopian society (sexual assault, beatings, etc). The characters are frustrating and I was very unclear about the plot itself and wondered if it would eventually flow together naturally (not really). Overall, I’m a bit disappointed in the book but it may be only because it was darker and more depressing than I had thought it would be.

After a series of nuclear accidents, Earth is practically uninhabitable. The only places where people can live safely from contaminants are specially created protection camps that follow a strict hierarchy and set of rules.
Being number 677 in said hierarchy and an orphan, 16 year old Simone's life is as hard as can be. But instead of succumbing to apathy like most everyone else, she moves through life with her head held high and a healthy disregard for rules. When she discovers a stone tower deep in the forest and unwittingly attracts the attention of someone more malicious than she's ever known before, the consequences are life-changing - leaving her with only two options: fight for her beliefs or surrender to a life of misery.

"We need to follow the rules. They're here for a reason."
"What sort of reason?" I rolled my eyes. "To glorify submission? To numb our lives into a routine of nothingness?"



K.L. Stein has created one hell of a grim and cruel dystopian setting. With the way she unapologetically depicts Simone's everyday struggles and the desolation surrounding her, it's hard to not become affected by it yourself.

Cool air crept in from a gap under the windowsill, freezing my face into an impression of wakefulness. I accepted the fantasy - illusions of life were all I could muster.


As for Simone, she was a spectacular protagonist. There weren't many characters to like, let alone root for in this novel, but with Simone, I connected on a level I haven't experienced many times before with a fictional character.
I admired her strength, felt her vulnerability and suffered right along with her when she was being mistreated by those who should have protected her and betrayed by those she loved.

"A simmering fire can be as dangerous as a wild flame. And you are both. That scares a lot of people."



This was a depressing and harsh future vision that doesn't feel the need to sugarcoat anything, and I'll be chewing on this one for quite a while yet.

They said it was for our own good. They lied. From the number sewn into her sleeve to the scraps of food in her rations, Simone’s days in the run-down protection camp have been dictated by the harsh, restrictive demands of the Colonel. Unfortunately, Simone doesn’t like following rules. A defiant break from camp brings her face to face with the ivory tower and the festering secrets of their dark history. Faced with a forgotten past, a rippling effect of consequences from her disobedience, and a bleak future of mind-numbing factory work, Simone must decide—how much she is willing to give up for protection?

I was in for a surprise with this book - thought it was going to be the same old rubbish but wow what a delight. I am going to buy a hard copy for my sister as she loves this sort of book.