Review: Blue Running by Lori Ann Stephens

 In this universe, Texas has seceded from the United States. Texas is now an authoritarian country in its own right, with travel in and out strictly forbidden. Everyone is required, by law, to have a gun. 

Blue grew up with her father, her mother having fled Texas before the changes. Though her mother was desperate to leave as a family, her father kept Blue behind. 

Blue is no stranger to hardship in her life but things get worse when her friend is killed by a gun accident that gets blamed on Blue. Blue decides on the only thing she can do - she runs for the border. She meets a young woman on the way, called Jet, who is fleeing so she can seek an abortion. 

It’s eery that I read this book for review just as the six week abortion restriction was made legal in Texas. It’s also frightening how so many elements of this book weren’t so far away from the truth. While Lori Ann Stephens has written a fantastic YA novel in its own right, it’s almost as important to note the lessons within, that Texas seems on its way down the slippery slope to the world of this novel. The friendship that Blue and Jet have is founded on fear and mutual survival but develops into something much stronger. Though they face many obstacles, they find the strength they need in each other.