The Chaos Grid by Lyndsey Lewellen
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

I love retellings, especially stories that riff on either a fairytale or a Bible story. Some stories—like “Beauty and the Beast” or the Book of Esther—have been retold often. I’ve read quite a few takes on both of those, some of which have been wonderful. But then there are stories that reimagined less frequently, like the story of Jonah. I can only remember encountering one other loose retelling of that particular tale, but it didn’t hold a candle to this book in terms of originality. The Chaos Grid is the first half of a duology that blends Mad Max with the Book of Jonah, set within a post-apocalyptic, dystopian Texas. I found it fascinating and unique, fast-paced and compelling. There was never a dull moment in this first half of the story, and it left me hungry to know what happens next.

Juniper Conway will do anything to avoid returning to Plex City, one of the domed cities that are the only safe haven from the wild weather and wilder mutated beasts that populate the rest of the dystopian wasteland that is now Texas. Plex City is where her parents were murdered, and Juna would honestly be okay with that entire dome just exploding and vanishing off the face of the earth. When the aunt and uncle who are now her guardians feel called by God to move to the Plex for ministry work, Juna will do anything to avoid returning. Even if that means joining the shippers, the wild crews responsible for getting natural food to and from the dangerous Grid outside the domes.

The characters were fantastic, especially Juniper and Dax. Thankfully Juna, our Jonah character, has more redeeming qualities than are visible in the Biblical prophet’s story. She is tough and driven and caring, even when she doesn’t want to be. Juna grew tremendously over the course of the novel, and that growth spurred a softening in Dax toward Juna that felt sweetly believable. Romance was not at all the focus of this story, but the light glimpses we were given of the potential for it added an extra layer of depth to the tale. Another element I loved was the descriptive portrayal of the wild weather and the enthralling mutated creatures in the Grid. The depictions of the shippers’ trucks and the subterranean Grid farms were equally fascinating and unique. And the Frankensandwiches. Never has anything sounded as simultaneously disgusting and delicious. The violence might be a little much for some readers, but I thought it added to the tension of the story overall.

Lewellen did a phenomenal job balancing the very unique setting and plotting against the Biblical allusions woven into the story. I was equally captivated by both aspects. I’m glad I had the sequel, The Crier Stone, on hand, because even though The Chaos Grid could work as a standalone, I really want to know the rest of the story. This is the best kind of YA. If you’re a fan of The Maze Runner, Divergent, Blade Runner, or Mad Max, you should definitely give this duology a try.

You can purchase this book via the publisher’s storefront, Amazon, Blackwell’s, Audible, Libro.fm, or Bookshop.org.

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