I received an Advanced Reader Copy of Last Light Falling: The Covenant by J.E. Plemons from Dog Ear Publishing, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way impacted my review.
Trigger Warning: Rape, Police Brutality, Murder, Guns, & Gun Violence
If your fate has already been chosen for you, would you change it? Fifteen-year-old Arena Power blindly accepts her destiny in a world filled with tragedy, chaos, and a lingering wickedness that will tempt every man’s soul until the last days on Earth. Set in the United States in the year 2053, America, like most of the world, has undergone catastrophic earthquakes, famine, and an economic collapse, which has rendered the nation hopeless. It has turned to other nations, like Russia and China, to help restore what was once a world power. Unfortunately, the new America has grossly caused civil unrest that will eventually be the precursor to a much bigger war of biblical proportions.
Orphaned at the age of nine, Arena and her twin brother, Gabe, have learned to rely on each other through the toughest times. Not only do they share the same birthday and the tragic loss of their parents, they both have a birthmark on the back of their necks in the shape of a crucifix. This is only but a small sign of the destiny that will follow. On their fifteenth birthday, they receive a mystery letter and key from their estranged Uncle Finnegan. This key will unlock their fate, and it will be up to a priest, who has vowed to protect them since birth, to unfold the layers of their destiny-to undo the evil that has spoiled the world, and to help unleash God’s wrath upon those who have turned from Him in the last days of history.
Last Light Falling weaves righteousness with evil, treachery with truth, and shows just how far the will of man can survive on faith alone. Arena and Gabriel’s fate will determine that course of history for which has already been written. They were not born to save the world; they were chosen to prepare it for the final days.
Publication Date: April 15, 2014.
I marked Last Light Falling: the Covenant as Did Not Finish (DNF) at 42%.
I genuinely wanted to like this novel, even though I went into this novel not expecting to like it. Unfortunately at 25% I knew that Last Light Falling wasn’t the book for me. I generally stay away from books that seem to, or have, Christianity as a theme in books. However I disregarded that because I was truly interested in the dystopian aspects of this novel.
For the most part, this book was interesting and quite the read. I enjoyed quite a few snippets of this story. However Last Light Falling has a ton of religion references and I just didn’t like reading about those parts. I thought that I could endure it for the sake of this story but there’s just too much of it for me. Last Light Falling seemed to be doing two things at once: telling the dystopian story/aspects of the novel, and then infused the story with almost pages full of references to god and how Arena and Gabe are the Chosen Ones.
I was very happy that Arena was a kickass lady who did not take any bullying from anyone. I also really liked that Gabe was the brainiac to Arena’s brawns. They’re both smart, it’s just that Gabe seems to be the genius of the twins.
There’s also a ton of dialogue and scenes that felt entirely too forced and unnatural.
Overall, Last Light Falling was a great idea, but the story had poor execution.
I give Last Light Falling: The Covenant, 1 star.
Happy Reading!
— Adele
Adele Is Reading 
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