Mountain Arrow – Book Two of The Burning Days

Mountain Arrow – Book Two of The Burning Days by Rachel Hennessy (Midnight Sun) YA Science Fiction RRP $19.99 ISBN: 9781925227741

Reviewed by Jeffery E Doherty

Mountain Arrow is the second instalment of the post-apocalyptic Burning Days series by Rachel Hennessy, following on from River Stone. Pandora is reluctantly settling back into life in her village, still torn between her chosen partner Matthew, and Bayat, the young hunter from the Mountain People. She also harbours guilt over her friend Fatima who went missing during their mission in the first book. Pandora is determined to leave the village to find her missing friend. Her plans are complicated when Bayat and his people arrive in her village.  

This volume of the series delves deeper into village life, which, although interesting, tended to slow the action of the story. Pandora’s indecision about following her heart or her parent’s expectations was angsty and at times grated like fingernails on a chalkboard.

The interludes in the first book, shown through the letters to Pandora from her mother are mirrored in Mountain Arrow through tape recordings by Fatima. These sections were a highlight for me, coming closer to the action of the first book. It is apparent that Mountain Arrow is the setup for the conclusion of the series in the next book. I have higher hopes for the next book.

Hennessy has created an interesting cast of characters in an exciting post-apocalyptic world. There are questions still to be answered about the city and the creation of the strange once human feral creatures inhabiting it.

Although Mountain Arrow is a lot slower than River Stone, I would recommend it to readers 12 years+ and fans of character-driven dystopian fiction.