Book Review #4: The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Summary:  

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau revolves around two kids: Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow. Lina Mayfleet is a twelve-year-old girl who lives in the city of Ember. The city stays very dark and gets lit only by giant flood lamps that were built when the city was first made, about two and a half centuries before the events of the book. The city is surrounded by darkness that stretches out for miles. Everyone can tell that the city is dying - the storerooms are running out of food, and the lights keep blacking out from time to time. Lina wants more than anything to be a messenger, who can take messages across the city to others. Meanwhile, Doon Harrow stands as a twelve-year-old boy who wants to learn how the world works. He wants to find a way to save the city from its impending destruction. When job day comes, both the young children get their jobs, and as luck would have it, they each get the job the other person wants. They quickly trade, and their life goes as planned until there is a seven-minute-long blackout, which is more than double any of the previous ones. Doon decides that he wants to immediately save the city. When Lina discovers a mysterious box in her closet, she finds the remains of a paper there. Unfortunately, most of it has been ripped up by her sister. When she looks at the paper, she thinks that “[s]he had found something strange and important: instructions for something” (DuPrau 113). This makes her decide to decode the message and find out what the instructions say. To decode this message, Lina talks to her friends Clary and Doon, and eventually, the kids figure it out: the message contains ‘Instruction for egress’, or instructions to leave the city of Ember. Doon and Lina were planning on telling everyone about the way out, but as things take an unexpected turn and they both become wanted criminals, they decide to make the perilous journey on their own and find just what lies beyond their dark city. 

Ranking: ★★★★☆

This book stays fantastic. The world-building stays detailed enough that the reader can visualize the setting at all times, and the characters stay appealing and well-written. The characters' conflicts, both inner and outer, add meaning to the story. While all of these prove as great aspects of the story, the text stays fast-paced. This causes the story to be unclear for some. Overall, The City of Ember remains a wonderful, action-packed novel full of suspense and mystery.

Other media: 

The poster of the live-action movie.

Readers who enjoy the book may want to check out the other books of this series, as well as the live-action movie.