Review: Legacy by Jesikah Sundin

Legacy by Jesikah Sundin
Series: The Biodome Chronicles #1
Published by Forest Tales Publishing on 2014-01-19
Length: 342 pages
Reviewing Kindle from Kindle Unlimited
Rating:

She's from the past, locked inside a world within a world.
He's from the future, haunted by her death.
A chilling secret binds their lives together.

A sensible young nobleman and his sister live in an experimental medieval village. Sealed inside this biodome since infancy, Leaf and Willow have been groomed by The Code to build a sustainable world, one devoid of Outsider interference. One that believes death will give way to life.

All is ideal until their father bequeaths a family secret with his dying breath, placing an invisible crown of power on Leaf's head. A death Leaf believes is the result of murder. Now everyone in their quiet town is suspect. Risking banishment, the siblings search for clues, leading them to Fillion Nichols, an Outsider with a shocking connection to their family. Their encounter launches Fillion into a psychological battle with his turbulent past as he rushes to decode the many dangerous secrets that bind them together--a necessity if they're all to survive.

The Middle Ages clashes with the near future in an unforgettable quest for truth, unfolding a story rich in mystery, betrayal, and love.

Are you ready to discover what is real?

Future collides with the past in Legacy by Jesikah Sundin, the first book in her series The Biodome Chronicles. Following the story of three young adults, you get a clear picture of what is happening. I became lost in the world Sundin created, and y’all I couldn’t get enough! It’s unlike anything I’ve read before, which is refreshing to say the least. 

The story opens with Leaf and Willow. They’ve just lost their father to what appears to be a massive heart attack. As the eldest, Leaf is now responsible for his younger sisters and at a loss as to what to do next. His father was the Earth Element, a noble in their medieval village. Leaf must determine his next steps in order to gain his father’s title and the respect of the other town elders. As new information comes to light, his father’s death becomes more of a mystery. Did someone murder him, and if they did, why?

Grieving and heartsick, Willow is oblivious to her older brother’s grief. Never being close before, she lashes out at her brother’s apathetic attitude. She wants to hurt him, but instantly feels shame when he shows his own pain to her. Together they are responsible for raising their baby sister Laurel, a responsibility neither is ready for. Willow is also nearing the age when the women in her village marry, which is expected of her. When her best friend shows that he would like to marry her, Willow recoils. This isn’t the relationship she wants with him, and she’s not sure she ever wishes to marry. At 15 (almost 16), I can understand and identify with her small acts of rebellion. 

Then enters Fillion. Fillion lives on the outside of their small town. What appeared at first to be a medieval English village is actually an enclosed Biodome. Willow and Leaf aren’t from the past, but actually are the second generation born inside the dome. The two have only heard stories about technology and life outside their village from their parents and town elders. Fillion’s father happens to own the company and is managing this science experiment, proof that a colony on Mars can exist with certain conditions in place. The condition this experiment explores is how an enclosed community can function if communications are cutoff from the outside. To do this, they decide to incorporate LARP (live-action role playing). The parents of Willow and Leaf (and all the elders) are playing a game, but the game isn’t a game to the second generation. This is their life, the only one they’ve ever known. 

Fillion rebels against what his father has done. They are essentially lying to the second generation, at least in his opinion. The experiment should have been terminated years ago when the Watson children (Leaf, Willow, and Laurel) were reported dead by the community. When Leaf and Willow find a link to the outside, they encounter Fillion. Shocked by the ghosts from the past, Fillion has to reexamine what he knows and find the mystery surrounding the Watsons. 

Overall, I really enjoyed Legacy. I love the contrast between Leaf’s world and Fillion’s. I can’t wait to see where the author takes their story next. If you enjoy technology, sci-fi, and dystopias, I highly recommend this one.

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