1. A dark tale

Dystopia /dɪsˈtoʊpiə/: Literally: “bad place.” It refers to a society (generally imaginary) in which a ruling class, a government is brutal and there is no freedom for individuals and oppression for the lower class.

In a dystopian world, people lead a miserable life. They can be under constant surveillance. They are trapped but some individuals / groups try to escape.

A dystopian story often takes place in the future.

In “The Hunger Games”, a government controls its people by maintaining constant fear through fights to the death.

About the novel

In a future world, vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity. Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost (=farthest out, farthest from the inside or center: le plus reculé, le plus éloigné) circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge (=search fpr anything usable among discarded material: faire les poubelles) for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of the vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked – and given the ultimate choice: die... or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises (=hates) most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad. Then Allie is forced to flee (=escape) into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged (=tired) band of humans who are seeking a legend – a possible cure to the disease (=illness) that killed off most of humankind and created the Rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn’t easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, 17-year-old young man, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what – and who – is worth dying for.

Book trailer: