Review by: Samantha M. Siciliano
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Quick Summary:
Control is a soft progression fantasy/dystopian world where every day is a fight for survival against shaders—terrifying creatures with a long, black blade for an arm and thick carapaces. To survive, three stone-walled communities, separate but nearby to each other, each specializes in a key job—lumber, rock quarry, and farming—to both live and protect themselves from the danger lurking outside their mostly safe enclosures. Our story kicks off in one of these communities, Karr’ahyr, housing around 28,000 people fighting to survive in an unforgiving world.
For a long time, shaders have been known for their predictable movements and attacks. Recently, however, they have begun to evolve—using new strategies to wreak havoc.
It’s within this growing danger that we follow Jote as he quests to create his own path in this shader-infested world. We watch Jote grow—not all at once, but through steady, grueling effort—from a 15-year-old into a strong, compassionate, and stubborn young man. He couldn’t do it alone, though, and that matters: Jote is surrounded by wonderful family, close friends, and Crew who want to see him succeed.
If you are searching for a soft progression fantasy in a dystopian world, an underdog story built on persistence and work, or a behind-the-scenes look at every step our protagonists make in their training, this book is for you. Love Attack on Titan or The Last of Us—for the stakes and emotional weight, not the pace? This book will be one you want to pick up.
The Review:
In Control, we follow Jote, a 15-year-old boy who passionately dreams of joining the elite Outrovers alongside his friends—Rye, Velen, and Arnt—to protect their community from shaders. Outrovers are a group of specialists—think army—trained to fight using a karrak (a grounding stick), thrown stones, and their karr, which fuels their strength, power, and energy. Unfortunately, when it comes to killing a shader, there aren’t many options. One of the most effective methods is by whipping a good-sized stone at their head, which appears to be their only real weak point.
This dream isn’t abstract for Jote. His older sister Zarya is a strong leader of the Gib’ahwhyn Outrovers and works with Kira, Hynna, Kam, and Rems, and their triumphs are well known within the community. His Ma is a member of the Wall Guard, making sure the shaders don’t climb over the wall into Karr’ahyr. Wanting to follow in both their footsteps, Jote, Rye, Velen, and Arnt show up for the first day of training with the Commander of the Wall Guard (Brakyn, also known as the Kin Fahr). Things did not go as planned—being forced to run on a damaged leg isn’t for the faint of heart, and Rye just couldn’t do it. Refusing to leave her side, both Jote and Rye were kicked out of the Wall Guard training cohort and forced to find a new path forward.
Getting booted wasn’t the end of the road—it just forced a different one, one that has not been traveled before. Luckily, Rems and Zarya had anticipated that something might go wrong with Pakin Brakyn (pakin is a swear word). The plan: join the lumber Crew, work and train hard, and participate in the ryakarr tournament against Brakyn’s trainees. If Jote and Rye did well, they would be accepted back into the program. And let me tell you—it’s a rollercoaster of a ride! Their days are filled with long hours of labor, training their pathways to pump full of karr, grabbing meals, and then heading right back into training. All of it is continuing preparation for a world where failure isn’t an option. Jote and Rye are all about becoming the strongest they can—not only to meet their goals, but to protect their community and survive.
Over time, we get to watch Jote and Rye grow stronger as they learn, assess, modify, and evolve. Their progress feels earned—they don’t go to bed one night and wake up completely changed. That steady growth was merited—there’s hardly any time in Control when they aren’t pushing themselves. I was in heaven watching them take such an unconventional path toward becoming Outrovers, working brutally hard, day after day.
In an average day, they completed backbreaking work for Seynt, for the first half of the day, pushing themselves so hard they were throwing up, blacking out, and bursting—a beyond physically painful experience (think a bone snapping clean in half). After that, they went to a warehouse and trained until dinner with Manard and other Crew learning Charge, Control, and Convalesce—ways of drawing, manipulating, and using karr. After dinner, Behan schooled them on skills for Pit fighting (think MMA, but just arms). Then they would drag themselves back to the Crew lodging and practice drawing and pushing karr until they fell asleep. At least once a week, they would go home and learn from Velen and Arnt on what they had drilled with Brakyn. Later on, they were mentored twice a day with Manard—one extra session a day just for Jote, Rye, Behan, Koryen, and Cen.
That exhaustion didn’t just stay on the page for me. Watching the end-of-day fatigue Jote and Rye felt brought me right back to my childhood and young adulthood, where I spent many years landscaping. The labor-intensive work that Jote and his friends were doing reminded me of the long hours I put in during summers—being covered in dirt, grass, wood chips, dust, and sweat. Just like Jote and Rye, I would come home drained and still need to spend time enlightening myself to become an educator and historian. Then, I would pass out and do it all again the next day. That kind of hard work made me feel great—both physically and mentally—and it shows in Jote and Rye, especially in the way it bound them together.
The deep connection between Jote, Rye, and Velen in the younger years stood out right away and helped me understand the decisions Jote made. Jote’s Ma and Da had adopted Rye and Velen. It was wonderful to watch all of them love each other—the sibling sarcasm mixed with genuine care. When Jote and Rye joined the lumber Crew, Behan took them under her wings and introduced them to Pit fighting. That jump-started their journey toward winning the hearts of Crew. It didn’t take long for Koryen to warm up to Rye and Jote. And Cen—I am waiting for him to ask Rye out!
Just like Behan, other Crew made room for Jote and Rye’s goals. More often than not, that acceptance translated into time, training, and patience. Both knew that they were not going to get the standard training of an Outrover, so they created their own unique training program. They started preparing for Pit fights with Behan. Koryen’s support was especially meaningful for both of them—in and out of the Pit. Eventually, Jote and Rye told Manard about their goals and, although he was a bit sad that they didn’t want to stay Crew, he still agreed to help prepare them for the Outrovers.
I felt that support most clearly in the small, human moments. With how Murray handles these relationships, I found myself smiling and laughing out loud throughout Control. One of my favorite scenes is Seynt giving Rye a little 1-2 about her leg being busted. Rye angrily sasses back as nobody else could, and Seynt just keeps pushing her about how difficult and demanding the job is. Seynt then tells Rye to kick her leg, and we find out that it is wooden! This earned Rye the award of Seynt’s favorite. The horror in this exchange from Jote’s point of view made each of Rye’s snarky comments and actions all the funnier. Another interaction that had me rolling—on page 98—is between Jote and his sister Rye. After sleeping in a ridiculous position all night on her mat, Jote asked her how she slept:
Rye finally freed a hand, wiping at the drool stuck to her face and smearing what hadn't dried yet. "Best sleep of my god's-damned life. You?"
"Same, same, never better." He replied, deciding to push his luck. "That a new sleeping style you got there?"
"Aye. All the best warriors do it, you wouldn't understand."
Jote nodded. "Probably right." He stood a long moment holding her stare. "You a great enough warrior to stand?"
Rye just lay there, body cramped in that awkward angle. "Why stand? Got everything I need right here."
"True enough. Well, if you change your mind, I'll be at breakfast," he replied, turning to leave.
"Wait, wait. Even the best warriors need a hand up, every now and then. Reckon I could use it just this time."
I absolutely loved the dialogue. It felt natural, it brought out the different characters’ personalities, and it made the world feel lived in. That said, I do have to admit, my favorite interactions usually included Rye with her swearing (pakin!) and feisty attitude. She reminded me of my younger self… and, honestly, my current one too!
***
Not every moment, however, was hopeful. Some scenes stabbed me in the gut like a shader blade—which is an unfortunate death some characters have experienced. One important moment was when Brakyn (Kin Fahr) told Jote and Rye they would not be entering the ryakarr tournament as second years. The dejection in this one line on page 235 killed me. The line: “Might as well be useless somewhere familiar.” DUDE. I felt that. Hell, my ancestors felt that.
There were other situations in the book that made my heart sink, but the hope that D.H. Murray sprinkles throughout is so well-placed, especially after heavier moments. One such instance is after the refusal for entry to the ryakarr tournament from Brakyn, Jote and Rye processed that disappointment the only way they knew how—by working until it stopped owning them. This response did not go unnoticed by Manard, and he gave them new purpose and energy. I feel like my mentor is saying, “If you don’t do anything with sadness, disappointment, or anger, nothing will get better.” When I am upset, this quote royally pisses me off (see, I am like Rye after all), but after I have weathered the storm and pushed myself, I often look back at this quote and say, yeah, that moment sucked, but it led me to here, and now I am much happier (usually).
Even with those lows, the book insists that getting back up is a skill—one that can be trained. It was awesome to watch Jote and Rye forging their own paths. I think of all of the times I had been knocked down in my life and how I got up, dusted off the dirt, and after a little bit of moping, I’d say screw it, and jump back in, eventually finding the answer I was looking for. Jote and Rye did that. Again and again and again.
That balance between pain and hope doesn’t happen by accident. It works because D.H. Murray knows exactly when to press and when to pull back, bringing the reader into this world. Sometimes, fantasy can dump too much information onto a page, and Murray made sure to introduce something and then integrate it for deeper understanding throughout later chapters. I never felt overwhelmed with information or weighed down by an inaccessible understanding of various vocabulary.
My complaints of Control are minor overall. Chapter 26 was a bit confusing in the context of the book. The previous chapters had been Jote’s story, and then it jumped to Kiinar’s story. Now that I have finished the book, I can tell that both of these stories happened during the same time frame, but while I was reading it, I couldn’t wrap my head around when the events of this chapter were happening and how they connected to earlier ones. I also struggled to visualize one of the antagonists—a karrgolem (I kept picturing Kong). Who was Patheater? What were the other creatures that were fighting? I felt a bit discombobulated.
A smaller issue was that there were some sentences within various chapters that I would have to reread several times to understand what was being said. Now, this could be because I read into the wee hours of the morning, but the sentence structure seemed to have played a role. There were a couple of sentences where information was placed (I hypothesize this was for emphasis) in odd parts of the sentence. If that was the case, it worked. If not, I think I need to start reading during the day! This only happened around 10 times, and in a 550-page book, I think that is pretty good.
One last itch I had was that even though I didn’t feel like the book became bogged down with jargon, it would have been lovely to have a glossary of people, places, and vocabulary. I would have also liked to see a shader standing next to a human for reference, and maps would be great as well (I think that is my fantasy hang-up). Please hear me out: those additions would have been welcomed, but not having them did not hinder the book’s epicness!
***
Control is immersive, entertaining, and compelling enough that its flaws barely register. My rating is 4.75/5 stars. I absolutely cannot wait for the second book to come out. I have to say that I loathe reading books where the whole series isn’t finished!
Control is a story about what it takes to keep going when the work is hard and the danger doesn’t let up. I am excited to follow Jote and Rye wherever the next stage takes them. The world doesn’t get safer—but the people facing it get stronger together. The skills and discoveries Jote and Rye develop aren’t just impressive on their own—they’re going to be vital to the survival of Karr’ahyr and neighboring communities as the threat of evolving shaders grows.
If you are looking for a read that will keep you invested and surprise you with random smiles, do yourself a favor and READ THE FRACKING BOOK.
I received an advanced review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Up Next: Dark Age by Pierce Brown
