The first book in a gripping YA duology by acclaimed author S.K. Ali that imagines a class-segregated world on the brink of either Enlightenment or war. . . .
In a future world devastated by a global disaster, humanity has organized themselves into Upper Earth, the Bridge, and Lower Earth. The Lower Earth is a volatile region beset by war between "brutes" and the civilized classes. The people of Upper Earth and the Bridge have reached Enlightenment after being knitted into an intelligence system which facilitates peaceful coexistence between the distinct populations.
Raisa, daughter of an elite Upper Earth guardian, is travelling to get engaged to Lein, the son of the leader of Lower Earth. Raisa has only ever lived a life of easy luxury, and while she's nervous to relocate to Lower Earth upon her marriage, she is not one to reject, or even question, her father's advice. Her marriage to Lein will usher in the Enlightenment for all those on Lower Earth, though many on Lower Earth have been protesting against this infusion of tech into their consciousnesses.
In the aftermath of an air carrier crash orchestrated by the Lower Earth separatists, Raisa discovers cracks in the facade of Upper Earth's Enlightenment. Raisa is soon kidnapped by separatists, who claim they have taken her on the command of her deceased mother, who is in fact both very much alive and leading the Lower Earth revolution. Everything Raisa knew to be true is turned on its head, and she soon sees that being knitted into the system may bring a kind of compliance, but it also extracts a high personal cost.
For the first time in her life, Raisa is faced with a choice she must make on her own: follow the Enlightened ways of Upper Earth and risk being manipulated for political ends, or follow the simplistic ways of Lower Earth and turn her back on a life of luxury and the two people she loves most: her father and her fiance. The question is, if she decides on the latter, will they let her go so easily?
