The Artful Blog Tour: Review and Giveaway

Welcome to Unabridged Bookshelf's stop on The Artful Blog Tour!  Make sure to check out everything going on during this tour by clicking the banner above. 

About the Book

Title: The Artful

Author: Wilbert Stanton

Series: Shadows of the City #1
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press

Publication Date: May 27, 2014

Genres: Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult

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New York City, 2025: Everything is changed. The city that never sleeps is now a land of death and decay. A rampant virus has taken over and the survivors have become carriers, quarantined from the rest of the world.
Twist and Dodger grew up in the streets, the sewers and underground tunnels – their playground. They aren’t heroes. They just like attention; and stealing meds from the rich and giving them to the poor is their golden ticket.
On their latest raid, they unknowingly steal a cure that puts them square between the ailing Emperor of Manhattan and the war hungry Governor of Brooklyn and forces them on a quest into the darkest shadows of their putrefying world.

About the Author

Wilbert Stanton was born and raised in New York City. From an early age, Wilbert decided he would either

write books or take over the world; everything else was just a precursor to his end game.

Along the way, he has studied Psychology, English, and Computer Science. He’s held jobs in a wide range of fields and met people from all walks of life. Wilbert is constantly learning and growing as a person, in order to solidify his dreams.

In the end world domination was a bit tedious, so he decided to focus on writing books.

   

My Review of The Artful

The Artful is an extremely well done novel with main elements common in a post-apocalyptic novel, but Wilbert Stanton takes them and makes them his own. There is so much that goes on in this book, and it is action packed right from the beginning of Dodge and Twist’s story until the very end. I also love that both characters are named after Oliver Twist, because I think the names really fit them. I loved how this story managed to stand on its own while reminding me so much of other post-apocalyptic books, and movies. 

Twist is the main character, and he has all the same qualities of Robin Hood. His idea is to take needed medicine from the empowered and rich, and divides them up among the needy. Dodge has this same quality, but he hides it beneath a tough, reckless exterior. Even with these differences, these two are a well-oiled machine, and they still show each other how much they matter. 

The conflict in this novel is centered on New York City, which after a virus wiped out half the population and made everyone allergic sun is in shambles and ruins. The districts each have their own ruler and they are on the brink of a war. Twist and Dodge are on a standard medical run, when their world is about to get a lot more complicated. 

I love the character development that takes place during The Artful, and the journey that Twist goes on. There is so much that happens in just a short amount of time, the fast pace made it hard to set this book down. I am glad this is only the first novel in the series, and I cannot wait to see what happens in the next book. 

**Unabridged Bookshelf received this book, in exchange for an honest review**

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