Hundreds of years ago, or so it is believed, humanity escaped a dying earth, searching for a new place to call home. 
 They never found one. 
 Now, there is only survival. 
 Way Down Dark by James Smythe is an altogether darkly disturbing and gritty dystopia set on the broken and decaying remnants of The Australia, a ship lost for generations in the vast emptiness of space. The Australia is a brutal landscape, adrift in the void and built upon violence and disorder, crumbling infrastructure and dwindling resources. It is overrun by fanatics, scavengers and murderers, loosely governed by a brutal gang mentality; you fight or you die. The story follows 17 year old Chan, determined to persevere against the bleak and horrendous darkness that is her existence and who accidently stumbles upon an extraordinary discovery that will change everything that she believes. 
 I wouldn't outright say that I enjoyed this book, the author is a master at creating tension in the plot and the atmosphere is so darkly disturbing and unsettling that I was on edge the entire time I was reading it, equal parts horrified and intrigued. This is a world that is brutal and dangerous and broken, but also shockingly compelling and well actualised. The main character is tough as nails, incredibly strong willed, capable and determined, with a moral compass that flies in the face of her violent world. The story telling is fast-paced and filled with plenty of action, carnage and bloodshed. It is probably not suited for the faint hearted. This is a bloody fight for survival and it pulls absolutely no punches, never letting up the action or tension for a second. There is no beauty here, just fresh horrors and jagged wounds, decomposing bodies and the worst that humanity has to offer. 
 And yet... even in darkness there is hope. 
 The only downfall was that the plot felt familiar to me. If you have read much dystopia I think you will recognise where this story is going early on in the piece. This felt like an arguably darker and more horrifying version plot wise of several young adult dystopias that came before (view spoiler)[such as Inside out by Maria V. Snyder or Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano (hide spoiler)]. This didn't really lessen my overall enjoyment of the book, but I was a little disappointed that it did not break new ground, so to speak. 
 I'm definitely interested to see where this series can go. That is, if I can stomach it. 
 Actual rating 3.5 stars.