"Some people always burn." - Ally Condie, The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe
Poe Blythe is the seventeen-year-old captain of the last mining ship from the Outpost. In this dystopian fiction, she wants far more than the gold they tear from the Serpentine River. She is looking for revenge, and she is going to use her steampunk-ship to do. Poe has vowed vengeance on the river raiders who robbed her of everything two years ago. This woman of steel navigates the treacherous waters of the Serpentine. As she does so, she realizes there might be a traitor among her crew.
The book's pace is intensifying. Poe must face who she has become, and who she wants to be. She also must come to terms with the ways love can change and shape you. The storyline is very character-driven. Everything that happens is because of Poe's obsession with revenge. The reader feels Poe's thoughts and dreams come to life in the compelling writing style, and yearns with her to find a way to survive.
Poe Blythe is very brooding, especially when she focuses on all that she has lost. While Poe is fighting to save her crew, or remembering her lost love, she shows her complexity. Even the way she feels about her ship and the weapons against the raiders displays her growth.
This is a very unique adventure story. Grief and intrigue are set against a backdrop of gold mining. Love and revenge intermingle together. The thoughts of a ship's captain that is a teenage girl who is dealing with sabotage flows quickly along.