#71 - U4: Koridwen by Yves Grevet

Koridwen - Yves Grevet

U4 is a post apocalyptic novel taking place in Europe, mostly in France. A virus decimated 90% of the population and the survivors are mostly teenagers. We follow four characters trying to survive in this dangerous world and maybe trying to save the world.

U4 is a series of four books telling the same story from four different POv’s (and by 4 different authors). I found the concept really interesting and read the one about the character Jules a few months ago. I decided to pick up the one about Koridwen next. What is really interesting about this series is that you can read the books in any order you like. I picked Koridwen because she is more present in Jules’s story than Stephane or Yannis.

 

Koridwen is from Bretagne, a region in the north of France. She lives in a farm and continues to take care of the animals after all her family died of the virus. She used to play this game online called WOT (Warrior Of Time), and before losing the internet connection, she received an e-mail from the creator of the game, telling her to go to the oldest tower of Paris on December 24th in order to go back in time and save the world. All the “experts” of the game also received this e-mail and Koridwen decides to go to Paris (with her tractor!) to meet the other.

 

I totally enjoyed this one! Kordiwen is a really interesting character. She is a badass without even knowing it (I had some Katniss’ vibes from time to time) but she is also just a teenage girl who has some teenage girls’ interests (let’s be honest, I’m talking about sex here). I liked that. She is quite solitary but she likes taking care of other people, she has her cousin Max, who is a bit older than she is, but who has some mental deficiency. She sees him as a younger brother and feels like she needs to take care of him. She also meets other people but she always prefers to be alone. I preferred reading about Koridwen than about Jules, maybe because it was easier for me to connect with this character.

 

Another really interesting thing about this book was Kordiwen’s heritage. Her grandma (her mamm-gozh) was a kind of guerisseuse (a kind of healer), but mostly people says she was a witch, and she wants Koridwen to take after her and be a witch just like she was. Koridwen does not really believe in this magic at first, but after seeing all the signs, she can’t ignore the fact that some magical force is in action. All the little details about her heritage were really interesting. Bretagne is not really far from where I live and I don’t know a lot about its culture and its really particular language. I liked to learn more about it through this book.

 

I am currently reading the book about Yannis and I can’t wait to read more about him. He meets Koridwen at some point, and I am really excited about reading their common scene from his POV’s.

 

I definitely recommend this book to lover of YA post apocalyptic. It is a really honest book about what happened and what to do when the world as you know it totally disappear.

 

I read this book in French and unfortunately, I don't think it has been translated into English (but maybe I'm wrong)