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1338831844
| 9781338831849
| 1338831844
| 3.41
| 1,941
| Oct 11, 2017
| Feb 07, 2023
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it was ok
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None
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Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 22, 2023
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Aug 22, 2023
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Aug 22, 2023
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Hardcover
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1250315344
| 9781250315342
| 1250315344
| 3.72
| 13,970
| Aug 28, 2018
| Aug 28, 2018
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liked it
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None
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Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 24, 2018
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Oct 25, 2018
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Oct 26, 2018
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Hardcover
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1628574534
| 9781628574531
| 1628574534
| 3.50
| 24
| Mar 21, 2014
| Mar 21, 2014
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did not like it
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A copy of After the Parch was provided by the Author. I was not obligated to write a positive review. This is my full and honest opinion. Cover Blurb: A copy of After the Parch was provided by the Author. I was not obligated to write a positive review. This is my full and honest opinion. Cover Blurb: Yes or No? The cover is quite boring, and I don't quite understand it. Is it supposed to be cracked dirt? Dry twigs? Veins? Characters: The back of this book promised three-dimensional characters, and thus presumably characters that I would love and care about. The back cover lied. Big time. I did not care one iota about Bran the protagonist, June the seventeen-year-old slut, Nikanor the fiddler with a secret rebellion, Ephus the twelve-year-old wild boy, or Jonah the less-than-honest traveling actor and magician. I just plain didn't care! They all blended into one, or in the case of June (and Bran, for that matter), they were slutty. The Author tried to go for a strong rebel leader type personality in Nikanor, and if it had been someone else writing him, I think I could have really come to like him. June, at least, didn't have a bitchy attitude or a chip on her shoulder, but that was a small favor given everything else. There are no real villains in this book; none that you can remember the name of or even what they're trying to accomplish. The "all powerful" corporation is even entirely forgettable, as is their agenda, because the Author never tells you. The Romance: There is no romance; it's all lust. Love and commitment have nothing to do with it. It's all down to repopulating the earth and all that. Does it take up a lot of the story's time? Oh yes. Bran notices June's superior body, right along with every other dirty male in this book, and the only reason he doesn't succumb to sleeping with June sooner is because . . . . well, it actually doesn't say. Maybe it can be assumed he feels some very minor commitment to his current girl, but I doubt it. Plot: Quite honestly, I don't know what the plot was. Bran is traveling to Los Angeles (I think) to buy some sort of land permit for the little community he lives in, so some random corporation doesn't push in and start mining the land. Along the way, he runs into some people that tag along and have their own storylines that go absolutely nowhere. The world building in After the Parch sucked, to be quite honest. It simply wasn't there. It was like the Author assumed that if you read the synopsis (which obviously you did), then you knew all you needed to know about this 2075-era USA, and he didn't need to do any further explaining in the actual story. The synopsis says there's this all-powerful corporation controlling California now, but that's never actually made clear in the book, nor is it ever made clear what the corporation is even trying to accomplish. The origins of the massive drought are explained in a totally convoluted, insensible manner. There's some talk about a giant earthquake, which caused a nearby nuclear power plant to go into meltdown, which then somehow led to a flu outbreak that couldn't be cured. So California was quarantined, and then everyone started shipping their criminals down there, and that all somehow led to how California is now in the book. However, it's never at all made clear if any of those disasters are linked. Did the nuclear meltdown cause the drought? Did it cause the flu? Did an overpopulation of criminals make the rain dry up? The Author had a couple of really good ideas in the story, but didn't do anything with them. There was, for instance, the school that Bran and his friends find June. It's a school where they train girls - and young boys - to be companions to rich people. Totally creepy; doesn't go anywhere. Then they run into these people that steal other people and sell them as labor, and if the person is too old, they harvest their organs and use the ashes of their burnt body for fertilizer. Totally creepy; doesn't go anywhere. The rebellion doesn't go anywhere, either. Their sole purpose seems to be to bail Bran out when he gets into a tight spot, and then give him a lift home so he gets the permit in time. How boring! Believability: I don't even know where to begin. None of it was believable. Corporations don't have private armies. There is no rhyme or reason for the government to suddenly ship their criminals to California. The massive drought isn't explained, and therefore makes no sense. Everyone is supposed to be starving, and yet there seems to be an awful lot of obese people. Writing Style: Third person, present tense. The style itself wasn't necessarily bad, though the Author seems to have some personal vendetta against the comma, and his accents were totally inconsistent and absurd. The Author also took every opportunity he could to use the word "groin," "buttocks," "thigh," and "breasts." Some of his similes were seriously disturbing (example below), and never, ever should the word "scrotum" ever appear in a book. There's just some words you don't write. Oh yes, and peeing scenes. Again, another example below. "I sure try to," says Nikanor with the embryo of a laugh. (pg. 119) "Excuse me," says June and she walks away, drops her pants and relieves herself. [Bran] sits down on a soft hummock of dried grass and listens to her stream sizzling against a rock. (pg. 154) Content: Ephus, the eleven-year-old boy, has sex with one of the girls at the school (pg. 42). I do not care how you try to explain it away; it is purely disgusting to have an eleven-year-old boy have sex. He is a child! Not only that, but of course Bran and June sleep together (pg. 154). And it's graphic. On top of these scenes, the Author takes every opportunity he can to describe June's perfectly formed buttocks, breasts, and thighs. Dude, stop being a pervert! We don't want to read it! Conclusion: As boring as the rest of it. One thing surprised me about this book: considering the Author is a lawyer and an executive in a wind energy company, I expected a lot more bashing of corporations and green talk. However, the Author was too busy writing sex scenes and being perverted that he didn't have time. After the Parch annoyed me. It was boring, it was sleezy, it had no good characters, and it fell more in the category of New Adult than Young Adult. And as my Review Policy states, I don't do New Adult. This was a waste of my time. Recommended Audience: I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, and certainly not teens. And to close this review off, I'm going to share one more "favorite" quote: The ascent grows steeper and the switchbacks in the path pass through groves of live oak yielding to sparse fir and sides of a bowl into a wide, mutilated valley. Earth slides and erosion have taken great bites out of the hills, leaving pocks from which protrude the torn muscle and bone of the earth. Skeletons of fallen trees, their roots twisted in anguish, lay upturned on the slopes or in great tangles. In the notch of the valley a river, yellow with mud, moves like sludge over the surface of its stone and silt-filled bed, watched over by isolated laurels and cottonwoods. To Bran it is like discovering a body abandoned and decaying by the road. Nikanor explains that the forest was clear-cut after the Parch to provide housing for the homeless and never replanted. (pg. 33) Where's the crying American Indian? ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 10, 2014
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May 11, 2014
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May 10, 2014
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Paperback
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0385743602
| 9780385743600
| 0385743602
| 4.18
| 88,912
| Feb 16, 2016
| Feb 16, 2016
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really liked it
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None
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Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 23, 2016
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Aug 02, 2016
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Dec 21, 2013
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Hardcover
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0545675995
| 9780545675994
| 0545675995
| 3.78
| 9,726
| Apr 28, 2015
| Apr 28, 2015
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it was amazing
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Dear Rook, From the moment I picked you up, I knew I would like you. Part of that may be because of your author, whose previous works I enjoyed so thor Dear Rook, From the moment I picked you up, I knew I would like you. Part of that may be because of your author, whose previous works I enjoyed so thoroughly that I am convinced I’ll never dislike anything she writes. Ever. So yes, I went into you with a bit of bias, but I did my best to have an open mind regardless. Rook, you were the furthest thing from a disappointment. It’s about 700 years in the future. The magnetic poles shifted way back in time, causing technology to malfunction and life as we once knew it to cease to exist. The time of cars, computers, and other electronics has sunken into the past as mysterious, forbidden legends of how people once lived. Paris, now known as the Sunken City, is in the middle of another Revolution. Convinced that technology was the cause of the Ancients’ downfall, the Premier of the Sunken City is executing aristocrats who (he claims) are funding laborers to recreate technology and “steal jobs from honest, hardworking common folk.” And like times of old, they are being put to the guillotine. But the wrongly condemned are not without hope. There’s the Red Rook - a mysterious figure who spirits them away from their prison cells before they can be executed. No one knows who the Red Rook is; divine spirit? Ghost? Mortal man? But the premiere wants his head. Only Sophia Bellamy knows the Red Rook’s secret: that he is a she - and in fact Sophia herself. But her plans are put in danger with her upcoming nuptials to a Parisian gentleman whose marriage fee might just save her family from ruin. But like Sophia, Rene Hasard is not all he seems, and suddenly she and her family are caught up in a very dangerous game of cat-and-mouse. The world building is incredibly well done. While 700 years in the future, society has regressed to a Georgian-style era. Technology is banned, because it caused the downfall of the old society - the Ancients - and it steals away work opportunities for the peasants (so Premier Allemande and his Minstre of Security LeBlanc claim). But like civilizations in the past that have fallen and there’s very little left of them, Sophia’s world has turned things like plastic and old CDs into priceless artifacts. They wonder at what they used CDs for, theorize that little action figures might have been idols or representations of what the Ancients wanted to look like. So much information and history was lost in that 700 years. It was really fun and unique to read about “our society” from this viewpoint, and it actually was very realistic. While it’s hard to imagine, living as we do now, that plastic could ever be a mystery or people would value it, give humans a natural disaster big enough to wipe out records and 700 years to bury the remaining knowledge and maybe it isn’t so hard to believe after all. And of course, with the regression of technology and ways of living, Sophia’s world still had the historic charm that a retelling (or homage) of The Scarlet Pimpernel needs. In this somewhat strange, yet amazing, landscape we have our main characters: Sophia Bellamy, her brother Tomas Bellamy, Rene Hasard, Tom and Sophia’s best friend Spear Hammond, Orla, and Rene’s mysterious manservant Benoit. On the other side of the spectrum are the villains: Albert LeBlanc and Premier Allemande. I could go on and on and on about each of these characters, but I will try and be fairly concise. I loved each and every one of them. Sophia is quick-witted, strong, and fiery. She has what it takes to be the Red Rook and save wrongly condemned aristocrats and anyone else LeBlanc wants to execute. Her brother Tom was wonderfully supportive and loving. He wants to protect Sophia, but knows that she has to do what needs to be done, so he doesn’t smother her. Orla and Benoit were mostly background characters, but had so much personality. Orla cares for Sophia as if she’s her own daughter, but also doesn’t smother Sophia. Benoit was quiet and mysterious and there was obviously so much more to him, and I just love characters like that. He knew things and turned up in odd places and clearly held more power than you realize, and he was just awesome. Rene is complicated, and I can’t say too much without giving things away. Suffice it to say, he’s a bit of a rogue, but it’s mostly an act, and when we get to know the real Rene, I fell in love. Spear is also another complicated character; I loved his support of the Bellamy family, and then he started to get his own agenda and I stopped trusting him, and in the end I kind of hated him. LeBlanc is a downright intimidating villain. He is totally and absolutely convinced that the Goddess of Fate is real; that he serves her and can hear her wishes; that Fate has plans for him. He becomes obsessed in his role, in killing anyone and everyone he thinks is standing in his way to bringing the Goddess glory. He’s zealous and it’s creepy. Allemande just serves himself, is cold and calculating, almost thinks of himself as a god. But these two together and they make for realistic dictators. I even liked your love triangle, Rook. It’s safe to say that Sophia’s initial dislike of Rene doesn’t stay that way after a while. But she struggles with realistic feelings. She’s getting to know an entirely different Rene from who she originally met, and she likes this new Rene. But can she trust him? Is this really Rene or just another facade? She wants to trust him, but can she? Meanwhile, her childhood friend Spear has fallen pretty hard for her. And this is where I actually liked the love triangle: Sophia doesn’t feel that sort of love for Spear and she never did. He’s like a second brother to her, and unlike most protagonists in her situation, once Spear reveals his feelings, Sophia doesn’t suddenly start to wonder if maybe she does like him in that way after all. She knows she doesn’t. But Spear won’t take no for an answer, and he starts acting like there’s already an understanding between him and Sophia, and that’s when I started to dislike him. He wouldn’t listen to Sophia’s plans, he went behind her back, he ordered her around, and it just made me like Rene all the more. And that last move Spear pulled. . . .I couldn’t forgive him after that. Your plot is half world building, half build-up, half action. I love world building if it’s done well, and yours was. I loved the attention to detail Sharon Cameron paid to the real French Revolution and how she incorporated it into this “history repeating itself” scenario. Here’s an author who took the time to research the Revolution ideals and how destructive they were. So many people glorify the French Revolution; try to claim that the American Revolution copied it (which makes no sense, since the American Revolution happened first. . . .). But the American and the French Revolutions were motivated by two very different things; their ideals were almost complete opposites. And in doing her research, Sharon Cameron presented a very real and very frightening regime. The cat-and-mouse game was so much fun to follow; it got to the point where I really didn’t know who I could trust. I followed my gut feeling, but I honestly didn’t know for sure. And the ending is so suspenseful and exciting and perilous that any slowness the plot might have suffered (and I didn’t think it did) was totally justified. I loved everything about you, Rook. I loved your characters - main ones and side ones; especially all of Rene’s uncles and his maman. I loved your world and the detail and history Sharon Cameron utilized and blended in to create a relatively plausible 700-year-later future. I loved your nod to The Scarlet Pimpernel; enough to be obvious, not so much that it can be called a straight-up retelling. I loved your premise, your twists and turns, your writing style, and your conclusion, which is one of the most satisfying ones I’ve ever read. Feeling completely pleased, ~ Mara A. ~ ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 27, 2015
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Apr 30, 2015
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Sep 18, 2013
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Hardcover
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006208576X
| 9780062085764
| 006208576X
| 3.63
| 5,520
| Feb 26, 2013
| Feb 26, 2013
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did not like it
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Cover Blurb: Yes or No? Admittedly, it was the cover that first caught my interest. A floating tree isn't something one sees every day. That and it al
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? Admittedly, it was the cover that first caught my interest. A floating tree isn't something one sees every day. That and it also eerily looks like the cover of Insurgent (hmmm). Here's a fun activity for you guys. Hold Pulse and Insurgent up to each other. Deja vu? No; they're just that similar. Characters: I am saving the protagonist for last, and beginning with Hawk, the nerdy little dude who also has a tendency of talking way too much and cracking jokes that, in the hands of a different character, might be a little funny, but were mostly annoying in this. I liked Hawk literally for half a second. And then he started invading the two main girls' personal space and sniffing their perfume and their grape bubblegum-scented breath and eyeing their bottoms in tight jeans . . . Um, when did creepy little twerp become a positive trait in potential friends? After that, I just knew that Hawk was one of those geeks who used his ridiculous techie talents to hack into people's personal lives and probably access porno, and it's impossible for me to feeling anything but revulsion for such a slimy little creature. Wade is a jerk, and at least we're supposed to agree with this feeling. But he is so obviously a jerk that not only is he no fun to hate, but it also calls into question our protagonist's good sense. You have to be completely brain dead to want to hang out with a guy like Wade - and his inexplicably power-hungry sister Clara, whose obsession with power and force was so ridiculous that she could audition to be the next Sith Lord (and yes, she was that horribly cliche as well). Then there's Liz, our protagonist's best friend. I didn't really care either way about Liz, until the Author introduced her obsession with touch. And just the way the Author talked about Liz's attraction to how things feel running through her hands came across as majorly creepy. Now, my mind does not jump in that direction in general. Something has to come across as seriously wrong for my radar to go up. Liz touching things and holding Faith's hand and dating the guy she did simply because his hands were softer than a baby's bottom . . . . It just felt so very wrong. And I am not the sort of person who, when seeing two girls holding hands, I think they're a couple. I have nothing against best friends holding hands. But in this case, it felt like it was supposed to be more. Dylan, the obvious love interest, was okay. Yeah, he watched Faith sleep every night and had a tendency of stalking people, but compared to everyone else in the book, he really didn't seem all that creepy. He was quiet, matter of fact, kept to himself, and just didn't really do anything that set off alarm bells. Though he was described as looking like a skater dude and had a bad propensity towards wearing V-neck T-shirts, that isn't how I pictured him. So Dylan, at least, I liked relatively well. As for Faith, the protagonist. Talk about a bland heroine, not to mention pretty flaky. I got really tired of her drooling over tall people, tight jeans, and going off with complete strangers when common sense screamed, "Hold it right there, missy! Are you begging for something bad to happen to you? Again?" Yes, because the very first time Faith just goes off with someone, something bad happens to her. So what does she do? Goes off again with someone she doesn't know, in the middle of night! Brilliant, Faith, just brilliant. Other than her magnificent lack of street smarts, she was just dull. There wasn't much of a personality in her, even though the Author kept insisting that she had all of these traits. Sorry, but I didn't see 'em. The Romance: There are two love triangles: Wade, Faith, and Dylan. And then Clara, Dylan, and Faith. Wade likes Faith, and Faith thinks she likes Wade for a while, but then discovers that Dylan is way hotter (the book's words, not mine). Clara likes Dylan, but Dylan likes Faith. Oh, and Hawk has a crush on Faith as well, because she's just totally the best-looking girl in the school and everyone is just dying to date her. There's a bit of posturing between Wade and Dylan, but Wade does most of it and Dylan just kind of ignores him (smart boy). Clara dreams of power and having Dylan at her side while she takes over the world - because she hates her twin brother for some reason that isn't made clear. Faith, thankfully, doesn't spend too much time drooling over Dylan's looks. I was actually surprised at how few eye-humping sessions there were. Except when the narration switched viewpoints and one of the guy characters was oodling Faith's butt. Evidence that this was written by a male author, I suppose. For the most part, the romance itself didn't bother me all that much. I didn't get why Faith liked Wade so much, since it was so glaringly obvious that he was a jerk, and I knew that she and Dylan would end up together eventually. The romance between Faith and Dylan happens fast and with very little actual emotion. That is, the Reader doesn't feel their attachment. The Author states that it's there, but I didn't tune into it at all. It was flat. Plot: You will have noticed that the official synopsis is pretty vague. I think this is because the person writing it didn't know what the book was about any more than I do. I expected a dystopian novel with teens finding out about their amazing powers and having to face down a government. That's not exactly what happens, so the Author should get points for originality, right? Well, maybe, except that whatever new idea he chose wasn't made very clear in the book. The year is 2051. Global warming has wiped out a good portion of the population (of the world, I think, not just the US, though that isn't made entirely clear). In order to save what remains of humanity, a brilliant scientist had the idea of creating these bio-dome-like places called States. They are basically massive cities contained in force fields, where people live in perfect little houses and in perfectly clean and safe cities. So global warming doesn't spread, things like fossil fuels are outlawed. But not everyone lives in these States. Some have chosen to live outside of them. But because this well-intentioned governmental body (that isn't explained, either) is so benevolent and only wants what's best for humanity, they have supplied the world with Tablets (no, the Author doesn't bother to change the name, which is both good and bad), so the outsiders can be monitored and sent "this is what you're missing" propaganda films that really aren't propaganda at all. And when an outsider decides to go into the city, they can contact the States and this friendly regime sends white vans out to collect them. I kept waiting for something sinister; it didn't come. I also kept waiting for it to be explained why living outside of the States was such a bad thing. No one was starving, kids were still being educated, they had homes - it all seemed perfectly fine outside of the States. Faith Daniels is living outside of the States, and when she starts attending a new school, she meets Wade and Clara - unbelievably tall and beautiful twin brother and sister. Faith also meets Hawk, the creepy little hacker who we're supposed to think is cute and funny, and Dylan - the quiet kid of the school who is labeled as a troublemaker, even though he doesn't seem to cause any trouble whatsoever. Pulse takes a hefty 175+ pages to actually get into Faith and Dylan's amazing telekinetic powers. The first 175 pages are spent on daily life at the school, interjecting ineffective bits of foreshadowing, and not explaining the economics/politics/structure of this futuristic 2051 America. And when we finally get to learn about the telekinetic stuff (which is the only thing Readers will care about), it's pretty lame. Laughable, in fact. It's just . . . silly. Nothing like The Darkest Minds. The rules feel like they were made up on the spot, sudden plot twists are revealed that just come across as pathetic attempts at - well, a plot twist, there's more worthless foreshadowing, and then the whole book dissolves into - you guessed it! Futuristic Summer Olympics! Just what I want to read about in a story with telekinesis! Boredom went straight to sheer agony. I wanted to scrape my nails across my brain; at least the pain caused by such an act would have been more interesting than the sharp headache pounding against my skull from dullness. Believability: If you're going to go with a natural disaster scenario, don't choose global warming. Whether you believe it's real or not, as soon as an Author goes with global warming, it automatically feels like they're pedaling their personal political opinions, and no Reader likes that. And this whole idea that the nations of the world will come together to save humanity in such a crisis is laughable. Sorry, but nations don't work like that. Something happens to weaken a country, another country is there to take advantage of that. And can I just say: a huge, thoroughly clean city? Really? Cities aren't clean! They are some of the dirtiest places on Earth! Writing Style: Third person, past tense. However, the point of view kept changing mid-narration. One minute, we would be following Faith's thoughts and feelings (in third person), and then we would suddenly be receiving Hawk's thoughts and feelings. The writing style itself really felt juvenile. The Author tried too hard to create a sense of foreboding without actually delivering on that. He kept hinting at higher powers, people working behind the curtain, ominous dealings, and it all fell flat. The dialogue felt like something a kid would write - or an adult who was trying to write what they thought was believable teen dialogue, when in fact all of their expressions have gone out of fashion several years ago. When he tried to sound profound, that's exactly what it sounded like: a writer trying to sound profound. Content: 4 s-words Conclusion: It was just silly. Just absolutely hilarious - and it's not supposed to be. There was one plot twist that did surprise me - (view spoiler)[Liz's death (hide spoiler)] - but that was it. If Pulse hadn't left me feeling so bored, I might actually care that there were questions that were not answered: how exactly to Wire Codes work? How can a string of computer code (which is what Wire Codes were, I think) become a drug that actually affects the mind like cocaine or meth? What's the political regime exactly? So if the rebels aren't wanting to get rid of the States, who exactly are they fighting? What's this about Clara and Wade being invincible against everything except living things? Okay, that deserves double question marks. The bottom line is, though, that I didn't care about any of the characters, nor the plot, nor the world, so I don't even care that these questions aren't answered. Will I read Book #2? Only if you pay me. Recommended Audience: Guy-read, sixteen-and-up. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 29, 2013
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Sep 2013
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Jul 24, 2013
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Hardcover
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0062125958
| 9780062125958
| 0062125958
| 3.45
| 2,057
| Jan 08, 2013
| Jan 08, 2013
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really liked it
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Cover Blurb: Yes or No? As much as I dislike staring covers, for a book like this, a cover that creeps me out is totally suitable. The one thing I don
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? As much as I dislike staring covers, for a book like this, a cover that creeps me out is totally suitable. The one thing I don't like is the person on the cover is clearly a girl, and Nick is the one who gets the cyborg eye. Characters: I wouldn't say that the cast of Revolution 19 is my absolute favorite group ever, because they're not. In truth, Nick, Kevin, Cass, and even Lexi and Farryn have pretty basic personalities. They're not as bad as being cardboard cutouts; they're just not complicated. Kevin is the techy guy, Nick is the older brother trying to protect his siblings, and Cass keeps her brothers sensible like a good sister (or at least tries to). And she's an artist. Lexi is their "inside help" and the girl looking for adventure, while Farryn is another tech guy who at first starts out as someone who only helps the protagonists so long as there is something in it for him, but deep down he really is a good guy. There's practically no character development in the fact that no one has any real changes in personality, but I liked the characters well enough the way they were. And I'll admit - the characters are not this story's strong point. Nor are they its weak point; it's just average. None of the cast offended me, and I actually grew to really like Lexi and Farryn after a while, but I wouldn't tag any of them as all-time favorites. They suited the needs of the story, and I was all right with that. The Romance: There is, of course, a bit of romance. But no love triangles! And for the most part, Lexi's attraction to Nick and Farryn's flirtation with Cass doesn't get all that terribly annoying. It's there long enough to let the Reader know that there's feelings there, but it mostly takes backseat to the rest of the story. But while I didn't find it annoying, I also didn't think it was necessary to the plot. Lexi and Farryn could have cared about Nick and Co. without involving mushies. My overall opinion, though, is oh well - it didn't annoy me, there isn't a love triangle, and it's a pretty straightforward, non-complicated romance. Plot: Far in the future, humans have built robots to fight new bloodless wars. But the robots have rebelled and turned on their creators, determined (according to robot propaganda) to "keep humans from destroying themselves." They've massacred thousands, and those humans they've let live are incarcerated in Cities run by the bots, where they live out their days at peaceful, obedient citizens who can't leave - or they'll be sent to the re-education center. Or executed. But there are several secret bands of people who have carved a living in the wilderness, at places called Freeposts. Nick, Kevin, and Cass live at Freepost 19, and when the bots discover and raid their Freepost, the three siblings have to travel to the nearest City and free their parents, before the bots destroy them permanently. With the help of Lexi and Farryn, the three struggle to hide in the City, but Nick is a wanted criminal after destroying a scout bot, and unlike the rest of the Citizens, they aren't chipped. But they have to break into the re-education center before it's too late. No, the bots are not scary. I have never found robots scary. People are fare more frightening to me, so I didn't go into this book expecting to be alarmed by the bots. I read this book for the world and the plot, and I was not disappointed. I enjoyed reading about Nick, Kevin, and Cass trying to find their parents, and I enjoyed reading about the world they inhabit. Sometimes I wanted to yell at the characters, because they often acted without thinking. It was always with the best intentions, but the lack of communication between the siblings got a little aggravating, and a lot of their escapes seemed a little too lucky. And I will also admit that for being in such a dangerous place, the siblings really didn't act all that scared. They weren't cautious enough for people who were afraid of being caught, and neither did Lexi. They ran around the City with hardly a notice, and when the bots did notice them, they got away just soon enough and weren't ever traced back to their hideout. Still, the overall plot was interesting enough to keep me engaged, especially when Nick ends up in the re-education center. Believability: This is what clenched my good opinion. The bots' City was one of the more convincing totalitarian regimes I've read in Young Adult fiction. Citizens who were not good members of the society were automatically snatched and sent to the re-education center, where they were either brainwashed back into being good Citizens, or they were executed. All of the buildings were bland, concrete blocks, creativity was not encouraged, while informing on one's neighbors was, and there were secret police-like neighborhood patrols. The bots didn't hesitate to kill people, and while there were fences and gates, that's easily explained with the chips. The bots know where everyone is at all times, so the Citizens can't leave, and if they try, they're executed. And we're not just told this; we're shown. The re-education center is also properly cruel. Very harsh punishments, executions used as examples, frequent torture, complete brainwashing. It worked very well; the one thing that really bothered me was the fact that everyone got their own house. They didn't have to share their house with a bunch of other families. Writing Style: It isn't anything special. The slang is little, but annoying Why the Author just couldn't call them lasers instead of some lame term like "lases" is beyond me, and I never did catch what the slang term "fletch" meant exactly. I will give him props for this: he didn't spell "tech" with a "k." But a lot of times, the writing was a bit sloppy with lots of short, choppy sentences. So, no, the writing style was not this book's strong point. Content: 1 g--damn. Conclusion: To be honest, it was too easy almost to a point of being unbelievable. Cheers to Kevin for inventing that awesome invention - that wasn't my issue. My issue was how easy it was to break into the central building - a place that essentially works as all of the bots' mother computer. I think their security would be a lot tighter; not just a simple chip scan. But I have to admit that I am intrigued to know what exactly the bots are doing. Clearly, bettering mankind is not their real mission. So what is it? Guess that's the purpose of the sequel! Revolution 19 is perhaps not the strongest book when it comes to writing style or characters, but I loved the world, and that is what made this book as good as it was, in my opinion. It beat out a lot of the totalitarian regimes in these really popular dystopian novels by miles. The bots were not scary, the slang - however slight - is annoying, and there is no character development. But the world is solid. Recommended Audience: Guy-read, fifteen-and-up, fans of science fiction, dystopian, and futuristic novels. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 09, 2013
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May 10, 2013
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Apr 24, 2013
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Hardcover
| |||||||||||||||
0399256776
| 9780399256776
| 0399256776
| 4.31
| 230,093
| Nov 05, 2013
| Nov 05, 2013
|
it was ok
|
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? Like with the other cover art, it does catch my attention for some reason or other, but isn't horribly exciting or interesting
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? Like with the other cover art, it does catch my attention for some reason or other, but isn't horribly exciting or interesting. Out of the three, it might be my favorite. Characters: Maybe it's because both Day and June have finally grown as characters, but I actually didn't find either of them as aggravating in Champion as I did in the last two book. A lot of Day's cockiness is gone, as he struggles with his illness, and his description of his "outfits" and long blonde Rapunzel-like hair are less. Still not a favorite character, but I found him tolerable and maybe even a tiny bit likable. Though he did still have a tendency of flying off the handle about things (though his anger was rather understandable; I just care so little about him that I didn't sympathize). June, too, is back to being strong and rather sensible. She still experiences a lot of guilt moments, which always got irritating, but compared to Prodigy, her guilt trips were few and far between in this installment. Still don't really care for Anden, mostly because of the love triangle, and none of the minor characters held much interest for me. Tess, thank goodness, isn't behaving badly anymore. The villain, Jameson, just didn't scare me at all. It's not that she wasn't capable; she just talked too much. I don't know; she just fell flat for me. The Romance: Less irritating than in past volumes, though still kind of bleh. June doesn't do as much flip-flopping between Day and Anden as she did in Prodigy, and Tess has finally let go of her crush on Day (and Day, thank goodness, has stopped noticing her). But the tension between June and Day got old, as it always does. Especially since I didn't really get why they parted ways in the first place. Okay, Day is dying and he doesn't want June to tie herself to a dying man - I got that. And June was feeling guilty to being responsible for Day's family's deaths. All good reasons, I suppose, and to be honest - and fair to the Author - the tension between them actually didn't feel forced. As far as romantic tension goes, the Author did a fairly good job. I just personally hate this sort of thing - especially in a book about rebellions and war. There should be enough tension and action that alone; why add the romance? Plot: With Anden as the new Elector Primo, the Republic is slowly but surely turning around and becoming benevolent towards its people. June is set up to be one of Anden's political advisers, while Day enjoys the rank of people's champion and high military standing. But whatever Day and June pretend, they are not happy. Day is dying of a brain illness/disease, and June finds herself forced to ask Day to give up the one thing he would never do: his brother. It seems that a plague has broken out in the Colonies - a plague that is suspiciously like the one the old Republic engineered under the rule of the old Elector Primo, Anden's father. And the Colonies have declared that unless the Republic produces a cure, they will invade. With the advanced technology of Africa backing them, the Colonies could win - and the Republic may be doomed. But Day's little brother may have the cure within him, having survived the plague before. To get it, Day must hand his brother over once more to the scientists who were responsible for his illness in the first place. And even finding the cure may not be enough. The Colonies is determined to take over the Republic, and the Republic's uneasy alliance with the Antarctica city is their only hope for survival. So there's a lot of political turmoil going on in Champion, and I have to admit that I did enjoy that. It was nice to see more world building, especially when Prodigy offered such a disappointing and minor glimpse into the Colonies. I didn't really get the purpose behind the Antarctican system of government - how it worked and all that - but it was kind of interesting, if not wholly plausible. But Champion isn't a fast-paced book; not at first. A good portion of the book is spent on Day and June's continued romantic tension, June's reluctance to ask so many impossible favors from Day, and Day fighting his brain illness. Honestly, in a book about wars and political intrigue and rebellions, one shouldn't have a main character dying of a disease; it's just setting things up for a massively disappointing and pointless death. I wasn't surprised by the slow pacing, of course; it's become a regular habit of this trilogy. At least all of the parkour and ridiculous stunts have been taken out this time, which is partially why I found it to be a much more tolerable book. Believability: Again, the Antarctican system of government isn't very plausible. Kind of a neat concept that actually would have made for a good basis for an entirely different story, but still not plausible. And of course, the "evil corporations" that rule the Colonies. The government of the Colonies was in debt, so four major corporations bought the government's debt and took over . . . . Where did these corporations get an army in which to maintain their hold on the government? Corporations don't have private armies. Writing Style: First person, present tense. I still cannot stand the slang, and I got really tired of the font color be changed between narrations. If you need different font color to distinguish which character is narrating, then you need to examine the narration itself. Not that Day and June's narrations were hard to tell apart, because they weren't - I will give the Author props on that. And it may not have been the Author's choice to make Day's narration red, and then June's black. It still bugged me, though. Content: 2 s-words. We're given more details on June's brother's, um, romantic relationship with Thomas. And Day and June sleep together (pg. 213-215), though it isn't horribly explicit. Conclusion: This is where the action picks up, and it threatens to get too drawn out, but surprisingly isn't. And then there's a twist on the romance that yes, made me roll my eyes because it was very silly and soap-opera. But I have to admit that I did, in some ways, see how it could be a very emotional ending for Readers who actually liked the characters. As silly as it was, the Author did a relatively good job pulling it off. I've never been a big fan of this trilogy. I couldn't stand Day and found the pacing slow, and many very implausible concepts. Champion is still a far cry from being a likable book, but I was able to actually tolerate it and understand how some people liked it. I was . . . pleasantly surprised. Recommended Audience: Girl-and-guy read, seventeen-and-up, fans of the Divergent Trilogy. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 27, 2013
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Dec 29, 2013
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Mar 27, 2013
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Hardcover
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0312642962
| 9780312642969
| 0312642962
| 4.24
| 452,151
| Feb 05, 2013
| Feb 05, 2013
|
really liked it
|
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? I don’t like it quite as much as the cover for Cinder; it’s just kind of bland. But I love the title font and the red cloak is
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? I don’t like it quite as much as the cover for Cinder; it’s just kind of bland. But I love the title font and the red cloak is very pretty, I’ll admit, and it does give a clear indication of what fairytale the book is going to explore. Characters: Cinder continues to be pretty awesome. Her emotions get the better of her a few times in this book, but she eventually gets over them and does the smart thing, even if it’s not quite what she wants. She goes through the “I’m a monster!” phase for a couple of chapters, but gets over that in a timely fashion as well, thank goodness. I still don’t quite know what to think of Scarlet as a character. She’s a pretty classic/cliché redhead in the sense that she has a quick temper and tends to lead with her emotions more than logic. She spends a lot of the story perpetually angry and feeling betrayed, and normally I hate girl characters like that. It makes them seem bitchy and like they have a chip on their shoulder. But with Scarlet, I could understand her anger and betrayal. Her only family had been kidnapped and the police aren’t doing anything about it. At least she takes action, and she does think her plan through somewhat (not as much as I would, but she does her best, I suppose). The only thing that keeps her from having The Attitude is she never pulls feministic arguments - and she packs a handgun, so she doesn’t have to engage in any ridiculous hand-to-hand combat that she would totally lose in reality. But I’m still not sure how I feel about her as a character. I don’t dislike her, but I don’t really like her, either, and I would be all right if she wasn’t in the story. However, I accept her importance to the plot, so I’m equally okay with her being there. Despite my uncertainty about Scarlet, I have a definite opinion on Thorne: he’s obnoxious, and I look forward to the day that he dies. I think he’s supposed to be funny and kind of charming, but the effect is lost on me. I tolerate him, but I don’t like him. Wolf, on the other hand, I absolutely adore. No, not the fan-girl adore; I adore him for the kind of character he is. He’s quiet and shy and even a little awkward. He’s the sort of guy that if I saw him standing in the rain, I would feel so sorry for him, because he would look so unfortunate and depressed. And yet, Wolf still manages to maintain something of a mysterious air without being overly grim. I still like Kai well enough, but is he seriously not yet figuring out why Levana is so intent on capturing Cinder? I don’t expect to put all the pieces together perfectly, but he doesn’t even seem to be suspicious. I do, however, like how Kai has conflict over what to think of Cinder. He doesn’t believe entirely in her innocence, but he also has difficulty accepting that she’s as dangerous as everyone is claiming. The Romance: I’m not a big fan of the Scarlet/Wolf pairing. Wolf deserves someone with a gentler nature. But I’ll give them this: at least they both acknowledge that they’ve known each other for too short a time to really know whether or not they’re properly in love. Still, I would rather they had a good brother-sister relationship, and not a romantic one. Despite the synopsis, however, the romance isn’t really all that prominent, thank goodness. Plot: Like in Cinder, there’s a lot happening in Scarlet. In Cinder’s plot, she’s escaped prison with Thorne, and is now on her way to France in Thorne’s ship to find the woman who knows about her past - who happens to be Scarlet’s grandmother. Meanwhile, in Scarlet’s plot, said grandmother has disappeared, Scarlet meets Wolf - a mysterious, quiet street fighter who knows who took her grandmother. So they set out on a journey to track her down, discovering along the way that the Scarlet’s granny knows something that the people who took her want. And then there’s Kai’s plot, which basically serves to keep Readers abreast of the political situation between the Commonwealth and Queen Levana. In splitting up the characters into three groups, and giving them a couple of chapters, and then switching to a new set of characters, the Author keeps the different plots and twists running smoothly and comprehensively. And then, when the characters meet up, the Reader knows who is who, what’s going on, and the two stories meld cleanly into one. The story, as a whole, is very exciting, with not quite as many twists as Cinder, but still some surprising events - some predictable, some not. I was never bored at any point in the story, between the character developments, revelations, and seeing how the Author integrated the story of Little Red Riding Hood into everything else (and she does a very good job; this might be my new favorite retelling of that particular story). She even managed to make werewolves cool, and that’s a feat; I don’t like werewolves, but her twist is awesome, and fits into the world she’s created very nicely. During the whole book, I kept thinking, If she throws werewolves into this, that’s just going to be weird. I was proven wrong. Believability: Not applicable. Writing Style: Pretty much the same as Cinder: not really pretty, not it fit the story well, wasn’t overly movie-ish, and somehow she managed to make the technical details comprehensive. We get to explore more of the story’s world than in Cinder, and while I still feel like I’m not seeing as much of it as I could, there’s still two more books to go, and I am content to learn about this place over the course of many volumes. Content: None, beyond a bit of violence that isn’t graphic, but a little messy. Conclusion: It’s literally heart-pounding. The end could have taken several different turns, and I wasn’t sure which one the Author was going to choose. I was genuinely afraid for Wolf’s life, because I wasn’t sure if the Author would kill him or not - either option would have the story in new and interesting directions. I was never worried for Cinder’s life, of course, because without her there would be no story, but she could have been captured, badly wounded - any number of other things. It’s been a while since I’ve read something that actually caused me to hold my breath in anticipation. Scarlet was, in short, a success. It was every bit as good as Cinder, if not better. I personally think it was better in the way that a second book in a series is supposed to be, and I cannot wait to see what happens next. Recommended Audience: Girl-and-guy read, thirteen-and-up due to some violence, fairytale retelling fans who are looking for something new. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Mar 21, 2013
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Mar 23, 2013
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Jan 18, 2013
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Hardcover
| |||||||||||||||
0312641893
| 9780312641894
| 0312641893
| 4.13
| 993,286
| Jan 03, 2012
| Jan 03, 2012
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liked it
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Cover Blurb: Yes or No? Yes, because it is definitely attention-grabbing. When one sees a book with the title Cinder and a slipper on the front, one a
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? Yes, because it is definitely attention-grabbing. When one sees a book with the title Cinder and a slipper on the front, one automatically thinks, Fairytale retelling. But then one notices the cyborg parts of the foot, and that gave me a, What is this about? reaction. Characters: Cinder is a remarkably relatable protagonist. She’s not overly emotional, like most female protagonists nowadays, and while she often expresses the difficulties of living as a cyborg, and the unfairness that comes with it, she doesn’t play the victim. She bears up remarkably well against her life and does all she can to improve it. She’s also wonderfully practical, though perhaps not the best at forming ideal plans. Her attempt to escape at night without working headlights on her car was a rather important mistake, and her “disguise” for the ball was worse than slapdash. But she was still a good protagonist, and a believable mechanic. Prince Kai isn’t the most memorable prince in the string of fairytale retellings that I’ve read. I liked him well enough, but I also felt like I didn’t really get to know him very well. I won’t say that he was cardboard; that would be too harsh, and untrue. He just lacked the personality of previous princes, and he was also not a very believable prince. Kai has spent his entire life being groomed as the future emperor, and yet he completely lacks any sense of diplomacy, and seems incapable of behaving properly during an important meeting with other nation leaders - not to mention that he’s late for said meeting. While a general dislike for politics is a fine characteristic in a prince character, there’s nothing wrong with him knowing how to be diplomatic, or adhering to propriety when dealing with planetary rulers. The Author “took a page” from Ever After and made one of Cinder’s stepsisters nice, which I liked. Pearl, the mean stepsister, didn’t really stand out at all until the very end. But Adri is properly cruel; I had a lot of fun hating her. Iko was kind of cute, but I’m not really in to androids with personalities. As far as that sort of character goes, though, I did like her. Levanna, the true villainess of the story, at first genuinely frightened me. When a villainess is done properly, they can be so very scary, and in order for that to work, they can’t express anger or frustration - and if they gloat, it has to be in a below-freezing manner. This is how Levanna came across, at first. But then she began to openly show her anger and fear and hatred, and it kind of ruined her. The Romance: Most retellings of Cinderella revolve entirely around the romance, and there is, predictably, sparks between Cinder and Kai. But the Author is taking time in developing their relationship. It isn’t “love at first sight.” In fact, the book makes it pretty clear that their feelings are friendship, and then they both gradually become smitten with the other. It’s a realistic, sweet romance, without feeling juvenile. I really liked it. Plot: The political and economical upheaval is what takes center stage in terms of major plot, which I liked. A mysterious and deadly plague is wiping people out on Earth, and people are growing desperate for a cure. Meanwhile, the mysterious and sorceress-like queen of Lunar (the moon) wants to form a marital alliance with New Beijing, but her open cruelty and habit of brainwashing her subjects into absolute obedience deters Kai from any such pairing, and instead looks for an alternative solution. But Queen Levanna is threatening war, perhaps not directly, but certainly without question. And Earth cannot withstand her forces. The plot is as interesting as it sounds, and I enjoyed it. However, the story’s “main” twist is extremely obvious, so the time it takes for it to finally be “revealed” gets a little irritating after a while. It’s a case of “the Reader knows, so why don’t the characters?” Even so, the twist fits into the story, and maybe the Author wasn’t really trying to hide it from the Reader at all. I really liked how the Author connected the traditional parts of the Cinderella story into the plot: Cinder’s reason for going to the ball, the “glass slipper,” and even the pumpkin carriage (the latter requires some interpretation). It was all done cleverly and with purpose. Believability: Not really applicable. Writing Style: The writing is nothing special. The Author creates a very engaging world, that is slightly reminiscent of Firefly (in a good way), but I do wish she had taken a bit more time to explore it. However, she might do this in further installments, and I would rather learn about the world through the course of several books, than have a bunch of descriptions bog the first one down. Content: None. Conclusion: Like I said, the “twist” is so obvious that by the time it’s revealed, the Reader won’t blink. But at the same time, Cinder doesn’t take a long time accept that it’s true, either, so there’s no frustration on that part. Actually, Cinder is pretty quick to accept everything that she finds out, after a few moments of self-denial. The very end is somewhat abrupt, and I have to wonder where exactly the sequel is going to begin again. I hope it doesn’t skip Cinder’s escape entirely! Overall, Cinder pleasantly surprised me. I wasn’t expecting it to be very good. Cyborgs and fairytale retellings don’t go hand-in-hand; not in my mind. And cyborgs aren’t my thing. But I actually enjoyed Cinder a lot, and I look forward to Scarlet. Recommended Audience: Girl-and-guy read (surprisingly), any age. I really would encourage fairytale retelling fans to give this a try, even if science fiction and cyborgs aren’t your thing. You may find that you like it, as I did. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 11, 2013
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Feb 14, 2013
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Jan 18, 2013
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Hardcover
| |||||||||||||||
0545387892
| 9780545387897
| 0545387892
| 3.51
| 1,160
| Jan 01, 2012
| Nov 01, 2012
|
did not like it
|
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? I don’t really care either way. It’s a relatively interesting cover, and I like the silhouette, and it looks futuristic. But I
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? I don’t really care either way. It’s a relatively interesting cover, and I like the silhouette, and it looks futuristic. But I neither hate it nor am I especially attached to it. And the title makes a bit of sense, but not really. Characters: Banyan, our protagonist, is such a guy. And not in a good way. He reeked of guy cologne (y’know - the type that guys swear attract girls, but in reality repel them; the type that sisters scream at their brothers for spraying about in the bathroom), Cheetos, and sweaty socks. Unsurprisingly, he had no real personality. For the record, I didn’t just hate Banyan, but I sure as heck didn’t care about him, either. Sal was just a creepy little slime-ball; I was looking forward to the moment when something bad happened to him. Alpha, the “pirate gal,” could have, I will admit, been so much worse. She didn’t wholly have The Attitude, and she could have. But like with Banyan, I just didn’t care. Zee was about the only character I kind of liked, but that was mostly out of desperation for someone to attach to. And she wasn’t, not surprisingly, in the story all that much. I couldn’t take Crow seriously because of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Sorry, but the name is just ruined for me now. I will forever see a little gold robot with a serious god complex. The Romance: When Alpha showed up, I groaned very loudly. Especially when Alpha and Zee meet and their hair starts standing on end like cats. But the Author actually destroyed any possibility of a love triangle between Alpha, Banyan, and Zee (I won’t tell you how, but it worked), and for that I am eternally thankful. But the romance between Alpha and Banyan just didn’t work. For one thing, it was super rushed - and I mean super rushed. Banyan starts ogling Alpha’s thighs pretty much immediately (no joke), and Alpha tells him to sod off (yay), and then suddenly - and I mean suddenly - Alpha is all, “Oh, Banyan, kiss me!” Because you know, every girl wants to be kissed by a guy who hasn’t had a shower in forever, and who hasn’t brushed his teeth in forever, either. Not that Alpha’s hygiene is much better, but still. Plot: Oh boy. I kind of had my doubts from the beginning, but I was willing to give it a try. Who knew - maybe it would surprise me. Well, it didn’t. The only thing that surprised me about it was the fact that it wasn’t nearly as preachy as I was expecting it to be, so thumbs up for that. But the plot is just silly. For one thing, it starts out feeling a lot like Waterworld (the movie) - only without the water. How? Well, in Waterworld these baddies, who reek to high heaven of axle grease and cigarette smoke, are after this girl, who has a tattoo on her that leads to the last bit of dry land in existence. In Rootless, the baddies already have the girl (or woman, rather), and she has a tattoo on her that leads to the last place in existence where trees grow. This ends up being a bit of red herring, but the similarity is certainly there, be it by chance or on purpose. But as the plot progresses, I began to miss this plotline, because it got just plain stupid. The “twist” in the end - (view spoiler)[GenTech is turning people into trees that the locusts can’t eat (hide spoiler)] - doesn’t work. It feels like the Author put it in simply for shock factor; to turn it into one of those sci-fi thriller with genetic experiments. But it plain didn’t make sense. Why does certain human DNA keep locusts from eating the trees? Sorry, but I didn’t buy it. The Author also threw in Rastafarians, which was just totally strange. Out of all of the religious peoples to pick, why Rastafarians? Was he trying to be original? Because it came across as random and pointless to the story. How exactly the world came to be the way it is (high ocean levels, man-eating locusts) is not really explained, either. I got the impression that it was all linked to the locusts, but I didn’t understand how. Believability: There are things about the Author’s world that didn’t work for me. First off, the flesh-eating locusts. I will grant that this is kind of a science fiction book, and impossible things happen in science fiction. So in the world of Rootless, the locusts have turned to eating people because they’ve eaten everything else. If it wasn’t for the fact that it felt like this was in the story purely for scariness factor, I might have been somewhat okay with it. But my real problem was with the corn. Yes, the corn. GenTech has genetically altered corn so the locusts can’t eat it, therefore corn is all people have to eat. But GenTech owns all corn production, and they won’t sell it to everyone (why they won’t, I don’t entirely understand, because they could, in fact, make bigger profit by selling corn to everyone, especially since their corn can’t be destroyed and therefore they can only gain profit, and not lose it). But, they don’t just use corn as food, but fuel as well. No. Just no. If corn is their only source of food - and the majority of the population can’t have it anyway - they would not be burning it as fuel. Also, why isn’t GenTech looking into ways to kill off the locusts? This, to me, seems like a much easier thing to do that finding ways to grow genetically-engineered food. There’s also an astounding lack of government. I don’t know if GenTech is the government (logically, they have to be, since laws cannot exist without one), or if they’re just a “big bad” corporation (which couldn’t exist without a government, either, actually). And then there’s the pirates . . . I’ll put it simply and sweetly: they’re all butch chicks, and Alpha - one of the pirate gals - wears a fluffy pink vest. Need I say anything more? Writing Style: It was bad. Choppy, tons of short sentences, and so guy. The Maze Runner was a guy book - I’ll admit that. And I liked it. But there’s a difference between guy and guy. The Maze Runner didn’t reek of Axe and pizza and Cheese Whiz and dirty laundry. In short, it didn’t smell like a frat-house. This did. For once, the protagonist’s narration voice was too accurate. Due to the choppiness of the writing, I had the hardest time visualizing the Author’s world. Content: 32 s-words. Some of the violence can get a little graphic. Conclusion: Not nearly as exciting as I was expecting it to be. In fact, it was rather lame. The twist concerning Banyan’s parents and the trees seriously belonged in a bad 1970s sci-fi flick, and the graveness of the rebellion was lessened considerably by the fact that the people who were running away from GenTech hadn’t a stitch on. Now that made for some hilarious mental images. In short, this book was a waste of time. It was silly, it made positively no sense, and I have little doubt that the sequels will be any better. Recommended Audience: Guy-read all the way, eighteen-and-older. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 26, 2013
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Jan 30, 2013
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Dec 14, 2012
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Hardcover
| |||||||||||||||
0060721936
| 9780060721930
| 0060721936
| 3.92
| 26,600
| Sep 19, 2003
| Sep 2004
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really liked it
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None
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Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 2022
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Aug 02, 2022
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Oct 05, 2012
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Hardcover
| |||||||||||||||
1442409096
| 9781442409095
| 1442409096
| 3.78
| 27,004
| Feb 12, 2013
| Feb 12, 2013
|
it was ok
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Cover Blurb: Yes or No? No. I love the dress (so pretty!), and how the little things on the cover are connected to things in the story - I’ve always l
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? No. I love the dress (so pretty!), and how the little things on the cover are connected to things in the story - I’ve always liked that about the covers. But now the character impersonator is leering at the Reader!!! I don’t like that. Characters: My feelings for Rhine have settled into being lukewarm: I don’t dislike her, but I don’t like her either. I just plain don’t care. Cecily went up five notches in my eyes in this installment, for the simple fact that she’s the only character who actually does something in the end - and she’s not afraid of guns. What is it with these protagonists who act like if you look at a gun crosswise, it’s going to go off? The gun isn’t the enemy; it’s the person holding the gun who can be. Cecily, however, takes initiative, learns how to handle one, and eventually has occasion to use it. She’s also not quite as bratty anymore, and she’s a bit more aware of what’s going on. Linden, on the other hand, is just dense. Here his father lied to him about Rhine, has kept Rhine in the basement, to conduct experiments, and Linden still trusts this guy? Seriously? Oh, sure, Vaughn just gets “carried away” sometimes, but he’s not a villain. Please. Gabriel is hardly in Sever, and when he is, he’s sedated - again. This guy never gets a chance to be a character; I almost feel sorry for him. With Rowan, I felt like I should be attached to him because he’s Rhine twin brother, but I found that I wasn’t. When we meet him, he’s a crazy fanatic, and we don’t ever get to know the Rowan that Rhine knew. As for Vaughn . . . Originally, I found him genuinely creepy. But now he’s just ineffectual and lame. He shows up, makes a few threats in sweet, sugary tones, then disappears. Only to show up again to do the exact same thing, and then leave without actually carrying out any of his threats. And then the Author tries to justify what he’s doing; tries to get the Reader to sympathize with him. Um, excuse me? This guy has been experimenting on people, which often results in death, and he murdered one of his own grandchildren, then lied to his son about it. You can’t sympathize with someone like that. The Romance: It’s pretty much nil for this final installment. Gabriel isn’t there long enough for Rhine to go all gooey-eyed over him, and Linden . . . Well, her relationship with Linden in complicated, and he spends a lot of the book mad at her, and then looking like a lost puppy (which didn’t, by the way, endear him to me). So no real complaints in this quarter. Plot: Wither had an idea with potential. It was kind of slow, but I enjoyed becoming acquainted with Rhine’s world, and then once she escaped, I was like, Yes! Now something will happen! Well . . . Fever felt like a massive drug trip, and nothing happened beyond Rhine becoming addicted to drugs, getting off them, and then spending the rest of her time in a lab and then a hospital. Maybe Sever will pick things up, I thought. Um, no. More hospitals, more sleeping, and a pointless return to Madame’s carnival. For a moment, when this happened, I wondered if maybe the whole point to Madame’s carnival would be made evident. Turns out the only point behind it was so Rhine and Co. would discover Rose’s past, and that had absolutely no bearing on the story. The rest of the book is spent with Cecily and Rhine trying to convince Linden that Dear Old Dad really isn’t as good as he thought, and then the Author trying to convince the Readers that maybe Vaughn’s methods weren’t the best, but he really was trying to do the best thing. In the end, I realized that there are no sympathetic characters. You can’t pick a side in this story. On the one hand, you have the pro-scientists, who are like Vaughn. And then you have the pro-naturalists, who are a bunch of terrorists. The book just kind of meanders through all of this with no real purpose, until it reaches the climax, and I have a fair bit to say about that. Believability: Not applicable. Writing Style: The same as all the others: present-tense, works fairly well for the story itself, but still very modern and not to my taste. The Author does love to write about pregnancy. I’m a girl, and even I don’t like to read about that. It’s just . . . No. Content: None. Conclusion: Can we say some of the most abrupt and pointless deaths in literary history?! (view spoiler)[So Linden dies. He’s not murdered and he doesn’t sacrifice himself to save someone else. No, what happens instead is this: when his “oh-so-lovably eccentric” uncle takes Rhine, Cecily, and Linden up for a spin in his newly renovated plane, they discover that oh-so-lovably eccentric uncle doesn’t really know how to land a plane. So it’s a bumpy ride, Linden hits his head on the windshield, and suddenly - and I mean suddenly - Linden’s gushing blood from his nose, his mouth, his eyes, his ears. And he’s dead. Just like that. (hide spoiler)] Seriously! What was the point? I’m fine with characters dying, but there has to be a point behind it beyond “Oh, this character needs to go.” And the deaths have to be good deaths. (view spoiler)[Vaughn’s demise was pretty good, but it was still very sudden. And I love how no one really investigates. A super famous scientist has just died mysteriously by gunshot; shouldn’t we wonder how this happened? (hide spoiler)] And as for the final “revelation;” there were so many hints and nudges that it didn’t come as a surprise at all. If it had been a surprise, I might have thought it was kind of a good twist. But as it was, no. All in all, Sever did nothing good for the trilogy, and I’ve decided to not waste my time with it ever again. Recommended Audience: Girl-read, fourteen-and-up, fans of benign dystopian novels. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Mar 23, 2013
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Mar 24, 2013
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Oct 05, 2012
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Hardcover
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144240907X
| 9781442409071
| 144240907X
| 3.78
| 45,693
| Feb 21, 2012
| Feb 21, 2012
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it was ok
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Cover Blurb: Yes or No? No. Once again, it has a character impersonator on it, and while the girl looks the way I felt reading this book (that is, dru
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? No. Once again, it has a character impersonator on it, and while the girl looks the way I felt reading this book (that is, drugged), I don't care for it. I do, however, like how there's items on the cover that link directly to the story. Characters: Rhine really is a pretty basic protagonist. She's not bursting with personality or brains, nor is she completely lacking them. These sort of protagonists I find that I don't dislike, neither do I especially care about them. Rhine continues to display an uncanny ability at bad escape plans and just, in general, making no plans before she acts. It gets annoying, I'll admit. Gabriel spends so much time in the book suffering from drug withdrawals that his personality isn't very prominent, so I found that I didn't especially care about him, either. At first, I thought Maddie was going to turn into a drag. Never burden a protagonist down with a child when they're trying to escape, unless said child serves a purpose to the overall plot, and therefore cannot be excluded. Maddie doesn't really serve a purpose to the overall plot, but she didn't get in the way, either, so I didn't mind her too much. Vaughn continues to be a rather genuinely creepy villain, though certainly not the most memorable I have ever encountered in literature. The Romance: Gabriel, like I said, spends most of the book drugged or suffering from withdrawals. And once he gets over his problems, Rhine falls ill and spends all of her time either in fevered dreams or, later, strapped to a gurney with drugs pumping into her veins. So the two don't have a whole lot of opportunity to go all googy-eyed over each other. As far as the love triangle goes, I am more supportive of Gabriel, if only because I really can't see that many redeeming qualities in Linden. He's totally clueless and it okay with impregnating a thirteen-year-old girl - a child. So, yeah, I have a hard time liking him. But the love triangle isn't horribly prominent, because either one or both of the protagonists are drugged out. Plot: Here's where I had real issues. There wasn't a plot; not really. The whole book felt like one giant drug trip. Gabriel and Rhine stumble upon this weird carnival place, where a nasty older woman is selling prostitutes. There wasn't much of a point to this part, other than this is where Rhine and Gabriel pick up Maddie. This is also where Gabriel gets hooked (unwillingly) on a drug - angel's blood, - which he then spends practically the rest of the book getting out of his system. Meanwhile, Rhine spends most of her time in a drugged haze as well, since that's how the prostitutes are kept from running away. Well, then Rhine does run away, helps Gabriel get over his addiction, and then Rhine falls ill, and then Rhine ends up on more drugs. So basically, the entire book is a series of weird, trippy hallucinations and dreams, Rhine being poked with needles, passed out, knocked out, drugged out, and every other kind of out there is. I literally felt physically dizzy and disorientated and glitchy and ill by the time I was done reading the book, and I felt like the Beatles' Go Ask Alice should have been playing in the background. In a word, I felt drugged, or like I had missed some rather important medication. Believability: Characters kept pulling Rhine's IV needles out and then "slipping" them back in. Does the Author not realize how painful that would be? This is a small matter to complain about, I know, but have had enough experiences with IV needles myself to take issue with this. You do not just slip IV needles in and out like they're minuscule splinters. If you want to stop an IV feed, there's this handy little plastic toggle that squeezes the IV tube. Writing Style: Present-tense, naturally. The Author definitely seemed to have a lot of fun coming up with different hallucinations and nightmares, which is definitely a complaint, since this is all the book consisted of, and there was no point in relating every single one of Rhine's hallucinations. Content: Rhine is almost raped (pg. 163-164), but the slimeball doesn't get very far. Conclusion: The end consisted of Rhine being drugged up some more, and then a brief interlude between her and Linden, where Linden feels betrayed, and Rhine feels oddly bad about it. Oh, and then something "shocking" is revealed about Rhine's twin brother (just so you know, I wasn't shocked). And then it ends. Nothing terribly exciting about it, I'm afraid. Fever was painful to get through, because it was essentially like being on drugs. Nothing really happened, nothing new was really revealed, and the characters spent so much time out of it, that I didn't feel like I got to know any of them any better than before. I desperately hope Sever is better. Recommended Audience: Girl-read, fifteen-and-up, fans of "gentle" dystopian/romance novels (even though I still don't consider this a dystopian story). ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 15, 2013
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Feb 17, 2013
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Oct 05, 2012
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Hardcover
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0062059963
| 9780062059963
| 0062059963
| 3.94
| 850,897
| Apr 23, 2013
| Apr 23, 2013
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did not like it
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Cover Blurb: Yes or No? Though I am a sucker for pretty dresses, the cover for The Elite doesn't do it for me. Quite frankly, I am not a fan of the re
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? Though I am a sucker for pretty dresses, the cover for The Elite doesn't do it for me. Quite frankly, I am not a fan of the red dress, and the character impersonator is much too evident. Characters: I dearly wish I could say that America Singer has gone from an airheaded, whiny protagonist to a strong and practical young woman. That's what I wish I could say, but the sad fact is that America is worse in this installment than she was in The Selection. She cannot for the life of her sort out her feelings, and her constant flipflop between which guy in her life she cares about more is just aggravating. She turns into a virtual puddle every time something doesn't go her way, or if Maxon doesn't spend enough time with her, and her low self-esteem feels much more like she's fishing for compliments than actual humility. There's nothing sincere about her. And her ineptitude - or, rather, unwillingness to do her best - doesn't make her a charming, lovable common girl who just doesn't fit in. I wanted to scream at America, "Just do it right for once! Practice poise and dancing and everything else that is required of a princess! Just do it!" It's honestly a wonder why she's still in the competition at all - or even why Maxon likes her. Celeste continues to be a real brat - the snotty girl every Reader out there hates, but she's also failing to serve a purpose to the story, other than as a character simply there for the Reader to hate. And then there's Kriss, who I quite honestly wish was the story's protagonist. She serves as an added complication to the love triangle, and I was totally on her side. Kriss was poised and intelligent and quiet; in short, the logical choice. Why couldn't she be our narrator? The other girls, except Marlee, were a blur of names and no personality. The only positive thing I can say about the returning characters is at least Maxon doesn't come across as to completely dense as he did in The Selection. The Romance: Yes, this book is mostly focused on America's struggle between choosing Prince Maxon - a kind, unendingly patient, and relatively handsome young man who would do anything for America - and Aspen; another relatively attractive, unendingly patient, and kind young man who would do anything for her. And she doesn't deserve either of them. I never got emotionally attached to either Maxon or Aspen, and I never will. They are just not my kind of guys. But I disliked America so much that I wanted to tell both guys, "Walk away right now and don't look back." Maxon couldn't be away for two minutes without America breaking down in tears and growing jealous and suspicious of what he was doing. And Aspen couldn't turn his attention to any other girl without America bearing down on him. Now, America has been stringing these two guys along for two full books, and it looks like she'll continue to do so for the third. They both keep professing their feelings for her in every way they can, and America accepts their kisses and caresses and tells them that no, there is no one else in her life, but she just needs some more time to think about it. And still more time. And even more. While Maxon doesn't know that America is double dealing, Aspen does, and I personally would just tell America to forget it and move on. It's so obvious that she's clinging to Aspen simply so she can have a second choice if Maxon doesn't work out. One minute, America is all hot for Maxon, and then next she's cold to him and all warm toward Aspen. And then it's visa-versa. Make up your mind, girl! Plot: With only a few girls left out of the original thirty-five, the Selection is drawing to a head, as Prince Maxon of Illea decides which one will be his bride, and the next princess of Illea. Every girl is eager for the chance, and the competition is fierce. But America is undecided. Her first impressions of Maxon have proven to be wrong and her feelings for him are slowly deepening. However, the presence of her first love, Aspen, cause a conflict in her heart that will end in a tough decision. Should she accept Prince Maxon's love and the duties of being the princess of Illea along with it? Or should she return to the outside world as Aspen's bride and leave behind the luxury she has known since the Selection? Added to the stresses of a torn heart, rebels have been making more and more frequent raids on the palace, leaving warnings on the walls in their wake. What are they after? And when Maxon is forced to make a difficult decision as prince of Illea, will America have to seriously reconsider what she knows of the handsome young man? Now that I have properly misled you about how exciting the story is, let me debunk it. The rebels play an extremely small part in the story. They do two or three raids, leave the message "WE'RE COMING" on the walls (helpfully informing the palace security that yes, they will be back. And yet the palace security is always taken by surprise), and then disappear. Oh, and they kill a couple of unnamed, expendable guards. This might all be a bit exciting if America was somehow unable to make it to the panic rooms in time, but unfortunately she always does make it and we Readers never get to see much of the rebels. And as for Maxon's "true nature revealed," it's not character development, but an incident that is merely there to create even more tension and complications between him and America. While the scene offers up some gore (finally!) and a tiny glimpse at the supposed totalitarian regime Illea has become, it mostly extends the book's length and causes America to melt into a puddle yet again. The discovery of the journal of the first Illean king offered the potential of a developing plotline that would get away from the Selection and actually into political struggles. Nope! America takes her dear sweet time reading the journal, and what she discovers in it just makes her doubt Maxon even more, and doesn't lead to a brilliant plot packed with rebellions and political struggles. Instead, we Readers suffer through still more dress fittings, sitting in the Women's Room drinking tea and listening to Celeste be a brat, America's makeover (and makeout) sessions, her continued self-doubt, everyone's illogical adoration of her "obvious" wit, and still more makeout sessions. Believability: The kingdom of Illea is still quite unbelievable. The fact that people in lower castes are given an opportunity to climb out of their caste totally destroys what plausibility the caste system has. We're given one brief glimpse of totalitarian cruelty, but not much else. America comes from a low caste, and yet she has never heard of anyone being caned as a punishment; I find this hard to believe. And the rough explanation of how the United States went from presidential leadership to a monarchy didn't make much sense at all. Writing Style: First person, past tense. Probably the only blessing in this book is that I didn't have to put up with present tense, which seems to be a prevailing fashion in dystopian novels (though I would not call this a dystopian; not even remotely). There is nothing special about the style, nor anything particularly bad about it. It just was. Content: None. Conclusion: When given the chance to do a political-orientated speech on live television, America decides to be completely reckless - and all because she's mad at Maxon for something she won't even let him explain. Which, of course, once he does explain, America is all forgiving, but by that time she's made a permanent enemy of King Clarkson. For a moment, the book looked like it was going to set Book Three up for an actual interesting plot. But at the last minute, it destroyed my hopes and I am prepared for yet another boring set of afternoons in the Women's Room, more of Celeste being a brat, and so on and so forth. I wasn't expecting to like The Elite. I didn't like The Selection, and only read this one as a obligatory read - it's a popular series, so I had to read it. I can't imagine what Book Three will be like. Recommended Audience: Girl-read, fifteen-and-up, good for fans of the Eve Trilogy by Anna Carey, The Bachelor, and who read The Hunger Games for the romance, and not the actual games. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 14, 2013
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Jun 16, 2013
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Oct 03, 2012
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Hardcover
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0385742495
| 9780385742498
| 0385742495
| 3.71
| 13,577
| Jan 01, 2013
| Jan 07, 2014
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liked it
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Cover Blurb: Yes or No? I'm not sure if the cover bothers me so much because it doesn't match the rest of the series, or if it's because it really is
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? I'm not sure if the cover bothers me so much because it doesn't match the rest of the series, or if it's because it really is a horrible cover. Both, I suppose. Starters' cover was creepy; this is just obnoxious. Characters: Callie is still a pretty good protagonist. She thinks on her feet and knows how to use a gun. She's much more emotional in this book, but I excused it because it didn't become too much of an issue. What did weaken her character a bit was the love triangle (more on that later). Michael really proves himself as a good friend in this; I just really liked him. He's always there for Callie and Tyler. Blake makes a surprisingly early exit, and instead we meet a new character - Hyden. I . . . didn't know what to think of him. I didn't dislike him - not at all. But I didn't really trust him, either. And the Old Man - whose real name is Brockman - wasn't a very intimidating villain. The Romance: So Starters ended where a plot involving Blake and Callie would continue in Enders. But Blake disappears very rapidly and is instead replaced by Hyden. And this is where Callie begins to appear flaky. It doesn't take long at all for her to fall for Hyden. I'll give Callie this - she doesn't play with Michael's emotions at all, who really likes her, too. But really, Callie, you don't anything about Hyden. And when it turns out that he's been keeping some big secrets, she forgives him way faster than I ever would. Forget that - she believes him, and I don't think I would have. But like Starters, the romance is there, but not focused on too much. Plot: With the fall of Prime Destinations, Callie and her brother Tyler are living comfortably in the house of Callie's kind and deceased renter Helen. She's searching tirelessly for Helen's missing granddaughter Emma, but with little luck. Then in a terrifying display of power, Callie discovers that the Old Man - who escaped - can hijack former donors and make them do anything he wants, including self-destructing their chips. Because of Callie's specially enhanced chip, the Old Man is after her - and he will kill anyone he has to in order to get to her. Enders starts off with a literal bang, and I was very much hooked. The plot isn't slow at any point, and that is actually its biggest problem: it goes too fast. The Author crams far too much in one rather short book. She should have written a third. It's not long before Callie and Hyden are rescuing "Metals" (former donors) from the streets before the Old Man can hijack them. Callie and Hyden perfect their method in less than three pages. And then suddenly there's a second party that also wants Callie's special chip, and they're on the run, then captured, then on the run again . . . If it were a longer book, it would have been exhausting. Believability: Not applicable. Writing Style: First person, past tense. Liked it just as well as in Starters. It worked for the book. Content: None. Conclusion: Oh my gosh - too many revelations! Bad guys turn out to be good guys (so I guess we're supposed to forget all the bad things they did), good guys are bad guys, and there's guys in between. Once again, the end was too tidy. And the Spore Wars aren't explained any further. I liked Enders, but it had more holes than even Starters. This should have been a trilogy at least. Recommended Audience: Girl-and-guy read, fifteen-and-up, fans of futuristic dystopian. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 04, 2014
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Feb 07, 2014
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Sep 27, 2012
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Hardcover
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0385742371
| 9780385742375
| 0385742371
| 3.88
| 45,187
| Mar 12, 2012
| Mar 13, 2012
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liked it
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Cover Blurb: Yes or No? I don’t like covers that leer at me, but I do actually like this one. It’s unsettling in a good way. My first impression was,
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? I don’t like covers that leer at me, but I do actually like this one. It’s unsettling in a good way. My first impression was, That looks weird, but now that I’ve actually read the story, I get the whole thing behind the two different colored eyes; how it suggests two people in the same body. The title’s font fits the whole futuristic theme, as does the steel-gray electronic background. Characters: Callie is a surprisingly good protagonist. She's pretty level-headed and takes the time to think things through before acting. She cares very deeply for her little brother Tyler and her friend Michael. But best of all? Callie knows how to use a gun - and she's not afraid to, either. I'm so tired of female protagonists being squeamish about guns, so it's such a relief to have one that knows her guns. Tyler is adorable and patient, and Michael is extremely caring of both him and Callie - it's hard to not like him. I really liked Blake, too; he was really nice, perhaps a bit presumptuous, but not very, so I didn't get mad at him. The Romance: There is a bit of a love triangle going on between Michael, Callie, and Blake. And there is a short moment when another girl - Florina - shows up and Callie gets a little jealous of her hanging out with Michael. But thankfully Callie's jealousy is very short lived and Florina was actually pretty cool. The romance between Blake and Callie is very fast, unfortunately, and I did prefer Michael and Callie getting together. But I did really like Blake, so I couldn't hate where the love triangle was going too much. And also, the romance actually isn't focused on a lot. Plot: Sometime in the future, an event called the Spore Wars will have occurred, resulting in the extinction of everyone between the ages of eighteen and sixty (or maybe it's seventy). Those that have survived are old rich people - Enders - and teenagers - Starters - who were given the vaccine in time. Starters who are unclaimed by a relative or some other adult are sent to institutions and used as free labor. Most Starters would rather live on the streets, starving and fighting unfriendlies, than go to an institution. Callie and Tyler have chosen this route, along with their friend Michael. But Tyler has bad lungs, and living in damp buildings isn't helping. Callie needs money for medicine, so she decides to go to Prime Destinations. A illegal and secret company, Prime Destinations rents out teen bodies to Enders so they can experience being young again. In return, the Starters who volunteer for this are given enough money to live off of for life. But something goes wrong with Callie's rental. She isn't supposed to wake up while her renter is occupying her body, but she does, with a gun in her hand. It doesn't take her long to discover that her renter has an assassination planned, but who? And why? She's on her own to find the answers to these questions, because going back to Prime Destinations might result in her own death and that of her renter. The premise of Starters is awesome and makes for a very engaging read. The Author does a great job of blending suspense, action, and glamour together. Sometimes Authors focus too much on the clothes and the makeup and not enough on what the Reader really cares about (the fighting). But Starters offers a good balance of both. My only real complaints are with the world building. We do get to see a lot of the Enders' lifestyle and we even get to visit one of the institutions. But we aren't given many details on the Spore Wars themselves. Who was the USA fighting and why? Were any other countries affected? Why was so little of the vaccine made? Believability: Not applicable. Content: None. Conclusion: After Callie finds out more about what her renter is trying to accomplish, she decides that Prime Destinations needs to be brought to its knees. You'd be amazed at how quickly this is accomplished, and I really wish it had taken longer. Such a quick and smooth climax was a little disappointing. Another thing that bothered me: (view spoiler)[If so many Enders were bothered by what Prime Destinations was doing, why did they become renters? And how did Prime Destinations stay in business? (hide spoiler)] Even so, Starters is fun. It's a fast read, has good characters, and a good premise. Recommended Audience: Fans of futuristic/dystopian/post-apocalyptic stories. It’s more of a girl-read than a guy-read, but both would enjoy it well enough. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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Jan 26, 2014
not set
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Jan 29, 2014
not set
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Jul 30, 2012
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Hardcover
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0399256768
| 9780399256769
| 0399256768
| 4.22
| 277,415
| Jan 29, 2013
| Jan 29, 2013
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it was ok
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Cover Blurb: Yes or No? Yes. While not especially exciting, I do like its simplicity and the gray-blue color scheme. I don’t care for the one-word tit
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? Yes. While not especially exciting, I do like its simplicity and the gray-blue color scheme. I don’t care for the one-word title, though; I never have been excessively fond of one-word titles. Characters: My opinion of June and Day has not changed much from Legend. June is an okay protagonist; she doesn’t have The Attitude, and makes a somewhat believable military woman. Somewhat. I must say that for a girl trained in the ways of combat, one would think that she would realize how bloody idiotic it is of her to keep her hair in a long, high ponytail - that’s an ideal handle for an enemy to grab a-hold of! As for Day . . . Oh my gosh (and that is not an oh my gosh of girlish delight). I got so tired of reading about his “incredible hotness” and his long, bright, silky tresses. It completely destroyed his “tough guy” imagine. Completely. His unending “charm” and flirtatious smirks were down to a minimum in this installment, due to bad attitude and a rather incapacitating injury, so I am glad for that, but his annoying aspects were somehow not lessened by it. I also had the hardest time believing that for a guy who had virtually grown up on the streets, Day didn’t know anything about hand-to-hand combat. Nothing! Yeah, sorry, not buying it. Tess was all right, except jealousy didn’t suit her, and then there’s Anden . . . Anden is the new Elector Primo, and the Author tries to convince us that he’s a pretty nice guy - a decent one, in fact. I will go into this a lot more later, but let me just leave it like this for now: it didn’t work. The Romance: There’s actually two love triangles going on here: June, Day, and Tess. And then Day, June, and Anden. Neither work. As I said earlier, jealousy doesn’t suit Tess. She’s generally a sweet girl, and then she turns all nasty, and I didn’t like it. There’s also the fact that Day has always considered Tess as a little sister, and then he’s suddenly like, “Hey, Tess, you’ve got a woman’s body!” And now he’s unsure about his feelings for her. That just struck me as weird. Guys who have an older-brother-little-sister relationship with a girl generally don’t come to think of them as a potential love interest. As for the second love triangle: the relationship between June and Day has always annoyed me. Why can’t there ever be any good-comrade relationships between male and female characters in literature anymore?! June and Day don’t really get too much of an opportunity to get horribly mushy and physical in Prodigy, but I did get tired of June drooling over his hair and his muscles. Throwing Anden in was an element that didn’t work in the end. It mainly seems like it’s there to cause tension between Day and June, and there’s already enough of that the way it is. Plot: The rebels want June and Day to assassinate the new Elector Primo - that is, Anden. Exciting, right? While the Author doesn’t waste a whole lot of time in initiating the assassination plot, the book somehow feels a little slow. Maybe because the Reader is able to predict how things, in general, will turn out. And maybe it’s because the Author spends so much time on June’s compromised emotions, and Day worrying about her possible loyalty to the Republic. To a certain extent, these feelings need to be dwelt on, for both realistic reasons and for character development. But it’s hashed over so much that June begins to come across as an indecisive character, and Day a irrational worrier. I’ll admit, the plot takes a sudden turn that I wasn’t quite expecting, and it worked pretty well. And then the self-guilt and blame sets in. Day makes some rather valid points to June, and rather than being logical and saying, “Yeah, Day, you’re probably right. I messed up big time,” she starts throwing the accusations back at him. And then she gets a martyr complex and is all, It’s my fault! I wish the Reader had gotten more time to see the Colonies. The Author offers about a two-chapter glimpse, and then we’re back to the Republic! I hope we return in later books, because it felt like the Author just threw the few scenes in the Colonies in to illustrate that it wasn’t much better than the Republic, and that’s it. Believability: Here’s where I had issues. In general, the type of totalitarian regime the Author is trying to portray is really good. The citizens of the Republic seem to revere their Elector Primo almost like a god, which is exactly how it is in real totalitarian regimes. The brief interlude in the Colonies contrasts the severe styles and black and white colors of the Republic very well. However, while the Author tries to convey this, I actually failed to see it in the behavior of the characters themselves. Sure, when June is in the presence of Anden, she battles with herself over how she’s been taught from birth that the Elector is supreme; that he can do no wrong. And yet, I never got the sense that she was actually that convinced at any time in her life that the Elector Primo was so wonderful. Or that the citizens of the country are all that convinced, either. Then there’s Anden himself, and here’s why he didn’t work for me: it becomes evident very quickly in the story that Anden is actually not a bad person; that he genuinely wants to help his people. Problem: history has repeatedly proved that the sons of tyrants are often far worse. But this is fiction, right? I mean, the Author can decide that this is one instance where that isn’t the case. Yeah, she can, but it rendered her world so much less believable for me than if she had done differently. Other than this major flaw, there were some “smaller” things that actually didn’t stand out in Legend, but hit me in this one. June’s family was put to death for treasonous acts - her father, her mother, her brother. If June and her brother’s parents were enemies of the state, there is no way June and her brother would have continued to live as elite members of society; I don’t care how special June’s abilities are. The children of treasonous parents are sent to concentration camps, or shot. Writing Style: Choppy, as usual, first-person present-tense narration, movie-ish. In a word, I don’t like it. And what was up with the font’s color changing between June and Day’s narrations? It got on my nerves. I’m not giving this book a low rating due to that, though; that was the least of my dislikes for writing style. The Author probably had no control over format. No, I had more issue with the Author’s insistence on writing moment-by-moment scenes of Day and his gang doing parquer up and over trains. Parquer is fun to watch; not so much to read. And while it may seem a trifling thing, I hated - absolutely hated - the slang. I’ll admit, the slang in The Maze Runner was irritating, but the stuff in Prodigy irritated me so much more. Why couldn’t the Author just call “comps” computers, since that is so obviously what they were? Between the exclamations of “goddy,” “trot,” “cousin,” (an endearment term that died out with the Elizabethan era, and should stay that way), and everyone ending their sentences in “yeah” (I thought “eh” was bad!), I developed such a twitch that I finally had a emotional breakdown and started shouting at the book, causing my sister no small amount of concern for my mental health. And really, JumboTrons? That bothered me in Legend, too. Content: The Author decides to “reveal” that June’s brother was gay. How this furthers the plot is beyond me. And there was nothing cute and endearing about Pascao flirting with Day. Conclusion: The flight from the Colonies was so ridiculously movie-ish that I visibly shuddered. It reminded me a Mission: Impossible movie, which is not a compliment. And then the ridiculously emotional conclusion between Day and June was way too dramatic, and clearly put there for the fangirls. It promises for a rollercoaster of emotional misunderstandings and miscommunications in the last installment. I am really not looking forward to the third book. Prodigy was what I expected: annoying characters, unfortunate believability issues, movie writing, and emotional blowups. So in that respect, I wasn’t disappointed. Recommended Audience: I would say this is a guy-read, but the emotions are so high that I’d peg this for more of a girl-read. Sixteen-and-up, good for fans of Legend. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 09, 2013
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Feb 11, 2013
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Jun 11, 2012
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Hardcover
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1442409053
| 9781442409057
| 1442409053
| 3.80
| 100,694
| Mar 22, 2011
| Mar 22, 2011
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liked it
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Cover Blurb: Yes or No? Yes. Though it has a “character impersonator” on the front, we’re given a side profile, and I do love how the cover uses the l
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? Yes. Though it has a “character impersonator” on the front, we’re given a side profile, and I do love how the cover uses the little circles to indicate that the girl is supposed to be the bird, and her wedding band is the cage the bird is contained in. I love the colors and the title font as well. Characters: While not the biggest fan of Rhine’s name, she is for the most part an okay protagonist. She’s practical and doesn’t waste a whole lot of time on tears. She has more loyalty to her sister wives than I probably would, and for all of Cecily’s jerkiness, Rhine tries to help her when she can. Jenna was my favorite, though. She just wanted to be left alone, behaves maturely, and helps Rhine with her escape plan with extreme risk to her own personal safety. The only thing that kept Jenna from being better protagonist material than Rhine was the fact that Jenna was completely resigned to her fate. And Cecily was the world’s brattiest, most annoying little pampered princess to grace the pages of literature (in recent years, that is). Even though Rhine kept insisting that the poor child was just innocent; that she hadn’t a clue about what was really going on, I never managed to like Cecily, not even in the very end. The Author tries to make Linden likable, but I struggled with my attachment. He was just so completely clueless. But she succeeded with making Vaugn creepy. The Romance: The love triangle between Linden, Rhine, and Gabriel is, in all honesty, a little weird. I liked Gabriel well enough, and I hope Rhine ends up with him, but if only because Linden is too messed up. He may be an all right guy, but he’s completely clueless, and I’m sorry, but any guy who would sleep with a thirteen-year-old girl is just creepy! I don’t care if he’s been told it’s okay to do - it is still creepy! That fact alone obliterated my good opinion of Linden, and I just really don’t understand how Rhine could even entertain the notion that she might like a guy who claims to love her, but is perfectly all right with sleeping with two other girls. Plot: I did actually really like the premise of the story: people’s lifespans being shortened considerably by a genetic defect. The storyline of Wither itself kind of lagged. Here we have a protagonist whose very first instinct is to escape her prison, at all costs. But Rhine does a whole lot more talking a lot less planning. She has a very, Oh, I’ll do it tomorrow kind of attitude when it comes to escaping. She goes on and on about how much she hates it there, and she has this grand plan of becoming first wife and gaining Linden’s trust so she can have more access and privileges, and run away. But it is in fact the other wives - Jenna especially - who get her what she needs in order to run away. Rhine doesn’t do much for herself but struggle with her weirdly growing affection for Linden and sigh over the loss of her twin brother. Believability: The girls Linden didn’t choose for wives being gunned down in the back of a truck was a very grim and realistic touch, though I do have to wonder about one thing: if the society is trying to keep up human population by making girls produce as many kids as possible, why would they gun a bunch of them down? It seems a little counterproductive. I also failed to see the dystopian aspect of the story. Sure, science tried to make a genetically perfect generation - no illness, no deformities - but I didn’t get the sense that it was because they were trying to create a perfect world. They were just trying to eradicate disease, which isn’t the same thing as creating a utopia. Writing Style: Present-tense, unsurprisingly. It was okay for this particular story, though for some reason I didn’t think it worked as well as it has for some. Content: The girls have a lot of conversations about consummating their marriage with Linden, and the girls often ask each other what it was like to “do it” with Linden. While no details are ever offered about what’s going on behind the door, I did get very tired of it always coming up in conversation. I don’t need to know every time Linden visits one of his wives, thank you. Conclusion: (view spoiler)[Rhine’s escape from the estate is pretty uneventful, and almost too easy. I found it a bit disappointing. (hide spoiler)] Overall, I found Wither mildly entertaining. The concept with the genetic disorder was intriguing, and Rhine was an acceptable protagonist. The writing style was nothing spectacular, but it wasn’t bad, either. Recommended Audience: Girl-read, sixteen and up. Even though I do not classify this as a dystopian, fans of dystopian romances will enjoy this one. ...more |
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Dec 22, 2012
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Dec 26, 2012
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Apr 20, 2012
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B0DLSYCPSK
| 4.15
| 556,275
| Nov 29, 2011
| Nov 29, 2011
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it was ok
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I was not impressed with this particular dystopian story. I don't know why dystopian Authors think that they have to write their stories in present-te
I was not impressed with this particular dystopian story. I don't know why dystopian Authors think that they have to write their stories in present-tense, and while I was able to tolerate it in The Hunger Games, I couldn't stand it in Legend. It was too movie-ish, and was employed as an excuse for short, incomplete sentences. Also, the Author's descriptions were way over-the-top detailed. As the story went on, I realized that the Author was using the majority of her random and unimportant descriptions to illustrate the fact that June notices details, but the manner in which she did it felt hurried, random, and they were always placed in sudden parentheses right in the middle of a sentence. Now, I am all for the parenthssis method. I myself employ the parenthesis to have a character add an afterthought right in the middle of a description or whatnot. But, in using the parenthesis, an Author must be careful with it, and the Author must not allow the sentence in the parenthesis to be so long that the Reader forgets the character's original point. I cannot say that the Author was successful in Legend. And if the Author wished to illustrate June's ability to notice details, she ought to have found a better way of doing it. As far as characters go, June was okay. Her constant sassing of her superiors was, to say the least, absurd. I am sorry, but in the military - especially a totalitarian state military - no soldier, not even a top student, could get by with sassing his/her superiors. It just doesn't happen; not without consequences. However, once June's brother dies, June's attitude levels out as she concentrates on tracking down his killer, and the Author manages to not make her into a macho-chick. The street-fighting match between June and Kaeda was semi-believable because of June's military training and the fact that Kaeda was another girl, and not some muscleman that June simply would not, realistically, be able to beat. Day, on the other hand, just reminded me of hair grease, gold rings, and a really annoying smile. Perhaps it was his name. Perhaps it was the fact that he, the hero, actually took time to tell the Reader what he was wearing, and even described his outfit - yes, outfit - as being pretty snazzy. Okay, he didn't use the word snazzy, but he came mighty close to it. I am sorry, but if you want the Reader to retain any amount of respect for the hero, and to imagine him as some tough guy who has an unrealistic knack for resisting the effects of concussions and retain only a few cracked ribs after hitting cement from a three-story jump, you do not have him take a minute or two to describe his clothes! It takes all of the toughness out of him. I admired him for caring for his family so much, but that's about it. And when romance blossoms between him and June (sorry if I'm spoiling anything, but if you didn't predict that, then clearly you haven't read enough books), he just gets all the more annoying. And how believable was this particular totalitarian regime? Well, it was a bit more believable than the Capitol in "The Hunger Games." Police busted down doors on a regular basis, arrested people, and even shot them. And the interrogation scenes, while not graphic, are brutal and properly vicious for a totalitarian government. Such occurrences were mentioned by the characters in "The Hunger Games," but the Reader never "saw" it actually happen until the second half of "Catching Fire." But yet again, there was a painfully obvious lack of secret police, which comes with all totalitarian governments. To keep a tight grip on people, you need to be constantly monitoring them. The story, as a whole, was interesting enough, but predictable. If you start suspecting that there is something funny about the random plague outbreaks - well, I'm sorry to inform you that yes, it's that obvious of a "twist." The end offered a few occurrences that were surprising, and of course it concludes with the promise of a sequel. I have hopes that maybe the sequel will be better; this is a series that is not a total loss. Even so, I found enough faults with this one to not put it on my top ten list. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Mar 23, 2012
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Mar 24, 2012
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Mar 19, 2012
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my rating |
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3.41
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it was ok
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Aug 22, 2023
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Aug 22, 2023
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3.72
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liked it
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Oct 25, 2018
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Oct 26, 2018
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3.50
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did not like it
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May 11, 2014
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May 10, 2014
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4.18
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really liked it
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Aug 02, 2016
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Dec 21, 2013
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3.78
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it was amazing
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Apr 30, 2015
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Sep 18, 2013
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3.63
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did not like it
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Sep 2013
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Jul 24, 2013
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3.45
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really liked it
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May 10, 2013
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Apr 24, 2013
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4.31
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it was ok
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Dec 29, 2013
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Mar 27, 2013
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4.24
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really liked it
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Mar 23, 2013
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Jan 18, 2013
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4.13
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liked it
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Feb 14, 2013
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Jan 18, 2013
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3.51
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did not like it
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Jan 30, 2013
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Dec 14, 2012
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3.92
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really liked it
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Aug 02, 2022
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Oct 05, 2012
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3.78
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it was ok
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Mar 24, 2013
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Oct 05, 2012
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3.78
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it was ok
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Feb 17, 2013
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Oct 05, 2012
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3.94
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did not like it
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Jun 16, 2013
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Oct 03, 2012
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3.71
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liked it
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Feb 07, 2014
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Sep 27, 2012
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3.88
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liked it
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Jan 29, 2014
not set
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Jul 30, 2012
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4.22
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it was ok
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Feb 11, 2013
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Jun 11, 2012
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3.80
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liked it
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Dec 26, 2012
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Apr 20, 2012
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4.15
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it was ok
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Mar 24, 2012
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Mar 19, 2012
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