Now I know where ‘Hunger Games’ and ‘Squid Game’ got some ideas from although I still prefer the first two than Battle Royale. Obviously, the only reaNow I know where ‘Hunger Games’ and ‘Squid Game’ got some ideas from although I still prefer the first two than Battle Royale. Obviously, the only reason I read this was because I was still so hung up on ‘Squid Game’, I even watched ‘Alice in Borderland’ after but it still pales in comparison to the latter.
Anyway, the plot is impressive and quite original and is well thought out considering the time it was written. Sadly, I am sure the translation didn't do it justice and that's what kept me from fully appreciating the novel. It is also a bit longer and more violent than what I'm comfortable with. But perhaps had I read this ten years earlier, I would have given it 5 stars. I'm going to see if I could get my hands on the movie....more
Originally, I didn’t plan on reading the book because I was led to believe that The Fate of Ten was already the final book in the series. I wanted to Originally, I didn’t plan on reading the book because I was led to believe that The Fate of Ten was already the final book in the series. I wanted to throw a tantrum when I finished the supposedly final book learning it wasn’t yet final. So I was adamant in my decision to abandon the series for years until I found a copy of the seventh (and yes, for crying out loud, the final) book, that was on a really awesome sale.
Of course, I had to go through online summaries of Books 1 through 6 because how in the world would I be able to remember them all when I’ve already read hundreds of books between book 6 and 7?!
So onto my actual review or just more whining really.
I must say that the long wait is totally worth it because the last book is very enjoyable except for the mourning part of course over the death of *****. But it’s probably this book that has the most action, pow wow, and all that. I was so excited to see the human Garde who developed legacies and also elated at witnessing the members of the Garde hone further their legacies and add to their powers, especially John who could practically do everything already. Really cool! Of course, he is fueled by grief, rage, and revenge but I kind of like his very confident and super bad-ass self. “We either end this war, or we die trying.” is his mantra although as the plot moves forward, it seems like the latter is more likely.
I mean the deaths did not shock me anymore. There’s no time to grieve for them to be honest with the war raging and with so many countries getting toasted by Mogadorian warships. It almost feels like their efforts are a lost cause but I remember ‘The Avengers: End Game’ and the ‘GOT’ finale (which are so 2019, how updated am I? I should be referencing “Squid Game” but I have only seen the first episode at the moment) and I guess the same is true for United as One. When winning seems impossible, of course something happens at the last minute so that our heroes could once again claim their victory. ...more
A much younger friend loaned me all six books of the Gone series and I felt a little pressured to read them and felt like I had toStopped at page 141.
A much younger friend loaned me all six books of the Gone series and I felt a little pressured to read them and felt like I had to start the first book right away. At first, I was immediately riveted because by some unknown, super mysterious reason, everyone ages 15 and up suddenly vanish and kids get left behind without any choice but to fend for themselves. Imagine the disaster! The book pretty much showed an accurate picture of what would have happened if the world were rid of adults and kids started taking on adult roles and responsibilities.
But as the story progresses, I find the plot getting more and more like that of the Lord of the Flies (which I wasn’t a huge fan of in the first place, sorry) but with characters who have X-men like mutant powers.
Events get weirder and weirder and characters pile up like dirty clothes, it’s really hard to remember them. And slowly my interest starts to fade. I guess I could no longer summon that kind of patience. Perhaps if I read these books when I was much younger, I probably would have enjoyed then more but now that time is essential to me more than ever, I really prefer more unique plots and faster-paced stories. I would have to satisfy my curiosity on the ending by reading online summaries. :( ...more
I admit, I’m a little disappointed which was exactly how I felt when I learned that Gemina wasn’t mainly about Kady and Ezra. Lilac and Tarver, I shipped from the very start of the story but Jubilee and Flynn, I feel kind of meh for their ship. I mean, I could move on even with them not ending up together.
With the mentioned similar patterns, obviously I kind of found the second book a bit predictable and thereby losing the feeling of suspense and sense of adventure while reading and thus the three stars. Still, the writing is undeniably simply beautiful and the characters are not hard to like. I’m not sure though if I would still read the third book since its predictability rate is probably going to be a hundred percent. ...more
What started out a space opera ended up in a story of survival out in the wilderness of a strange, abandoned planet and once again, it surprises me hoWhat started out a space opera ended up in a story of survival out in the wilderness of a strange, abandoned planet and once again, it surprises me how much I enjoyed the book from start to end. In some instances, the reading experience reminded me a little of that when I read Illuminae especially in the last quarter of the story when the plot reveals the ultimate twist explainable by scientific stuff like hyperspace, other dimensions and temporary energy-matter conversion. I won’t pretend to understand all of it but I grasped enough to appreciate the general idea.
What I enjoyed most about These Broken Stars though aside from the simple but beautiful and fluid writing is the progressive character development of our hero and heroine, Tarver and Lilac.. How they do their best to survive in a strange planet that whispers to them and gives them visions is very admirable and I find them both growing on me each day they struggle hanging on dear life. Of course, I’ve been rooting for their romance since the start of the book but how theirs developed is even better and more adorable than I expected....more
“Funny how simple things became when you didn’t have a choice.”
As in the first book, the title of the second is just as perfect. The story begins “Funny how simple things became when you didn’t have a choice.”
As in the first book, the title of the second is just as perfect. The story begins as KK or Kick-ass Kate (as I call her) plays the role of Puffy the Monster Slayer in the City of Prosperity while August has become a leader in the South of Verity trying to keep monsters from the North at bay and attempting to save as many lives as he can. The title is very genuine because these two main characters can certainly call the plot of their story, Our Dark Duet.
In the first book, I said I wasn’t very scared but now I definitely am. Ms. Victoria Schwab took the concept of monsters to a whole new, very creepy level but ironically, I was very much mesmerized.
The Corsai got more frightening with their chorus sinking into me more seriously this time… “beatbreakruinfleshbonebeatbreak” *shudders*
The Malchai are more cunning, powerful and terrifying. Sloan has become more dominant, more sinister and more blood thirsty and then there’s Alice who scares the crap out of me, I don’t know why. But the scariest of all is the lone shadow monster, the Chaos Eater that feeds on violence allowing humans to turn against each other. Just Bravo!
And because the plot has to get thicker and more twisted, we follow Kate as she decides to go back to Verity and face monsters that haunt her including that within her and because of course, she has to be reunited with August.
Their song is a Dark Duet that started with a Savage Song and I’m wise enough to know from the very start that no happy ending can come out of it. Saving a life always has a cost but saving an entire city means having to sacrifice certain, very important lives and yes I am definitely pissed because (view spoiler)[Ilsa and Kate! *cries (hide spoiler)]…but like I said, it makes perfect sense and the Elegy gave me a very lyrical, satisfying and hopeful ending....more
“Even if surviving wasn’t simple, or easy, or fair. Even if he could never be human. He wanted the chance to matter. He wanted to live.”
Very lyrica “Even if surviving wasn’t simple, or easy, or fair. Even if he could never be human. He wanted the chance to matter. He wanted to live.”
Very lyrical, right? Looking back, the story was indeed written like a song. Its theme is generally about monsters and humans, their differences and similarities in both their literal and metaphorical meanings. This Savage Song therefore is such a befitting title. It’s even more perfect when you actually read the book and see for yourself.
“You have to break them early,” her father once said. Of course, he’d been talking about monsters, not teenagers, but they had a lot in common.”
I must admit I didn’t expect to find the story to be very thrilling because from what I unfairly assume of Ms.Victoria Schwab’s books, she mostly writes fantasy stories that concentrate on world building but that do not necessarily abound with action and adventure which I admittedly am not a huge fan of (I know. I’m a very flawed human being). But I took exception with this book after learning from friends that this is a dystopian/fantasy read, a genre I’m quite starting to be fond of and I wasn’t disappointed because the plot is action-packed, very gripping and the main premise quite entrancing.
I am very impressed with the idea of monsters coexisting with humans in a dystopian world and play at the good ole fashioned game called survival of the fittest. It definitely paints a pretty scary world, one that seriously needs a strict curfew and a medallion of protection. Of course, the story is even more interesting because the main characters are the exact personification of the theme of the story-monster vs. human, a very thin line dividing the two, sometimes interloping actually.
“ It was a cruel trick of the universe that he felt human only after doing something monstrous”
For some reason though, I didn’t find the supposedly really scary monsters (the Corsai and the Malchai ) very fearsome because if they were, it would have added to the thrill and suspense. Maybe because they could talk or maybe I’m just weird? But I also admit how much impressive I find how these monsters are born, how from humans’ violence and crimes, a certain kind of monster is created. The idea isn’t far-fetched at all....more
“To care was to be helpless in the worst possible way.”
This year is about to end but I could only count with my fingers books that really wowed m “To care was to be helpless in the worst possible way.”
This year is about to end but I could only count with my fingers books that really wowed me. I didn’t expect Diabolic was going to be one of them. That cover though very simple and unassuming is also completely gorgeous and captivating. It’s honestly one of the reasons why I bought the hardback and it pleases me to the bones to finally fully connect with the symbol at the front cover after reading the story. It’s perfect!
The story is written in the standpoint of a Diabolic called Nemesis, a humanoid created with the sole purpose to protect a Senator’s daughter named Sidonia from the political threats of a cruel and tyrannical galactic emperor. The plot is simply brilliant. It started nice and slow with the perfect pacing and build up, rich with imaginative world building.
The futuristic world is very detailed and I could imagine the people looking like those from the Capitol of the Hunger Games except here, their beauty bots and enhancing machines are a lot more advanced. People could change hair style or color in a single command while humanoids or bots serve humans with their every possible need and caprice.
Multi, cruel twists of fate led Nemesis to finally decide what to do with her life by involving herself with the emperor’s “foolish” nephew, Tyrus. and thus putting herself in direct conflict with Emperor Rendevald and his power hunger, controlling creep of a mother, Cygna.
I must say the plot twists in this novel are endless and unpredictable. Events get more and more intense page after page that my heart won’t stop pounding. They get even more intensified by this fluid, majestic writing adorned with beautiful imageries and gripping metaphors. In short, it was a completely gripping read from page one till end.
The plot, character development, the philosophy, the politics, the literary writing, the romance and every other element of the story fits one another like unique individual pieces of this huge, beautiful puzzle of a novel. It was amazing!...more
I don’t think I’ve read a zombie book that I didn’t like. Sorry about the spoiler because yes, The Forest of Hands and Teeth is as story about [image]
I don’t think I’ve read a zombie book that I didn’t like. Sorry about the spoiler because yes, The Forest of Hands and Teeth is as story about zombies but it’s very gracefully written, you sometimes forget there are zombies in it. Carrie Ryan definitely has an effortless way of bringing art out of her words. Her writing seems to have this hypnotic effect on me and I just had to keep reading.
Writing aside though, I think the plot is also very commendable and I think very original. The utopian world is literally juxtaposed with the dystopian world and I was very impressed with the idea. The main characters live safely in a “Pleasantville-ish” village and believe they are the last humans on earth while outside the fence where lies the Forest of Hands and Teeth, the “Unconsecrated” surround them keeping the people inside and leaving them no choice but be content with how they live. But Mary, our main character is a curious (sometimes too curious it’s annoying) girl and couldn’t accept that all there is to life is their sorry one in the village. This is where all the conflicts in the story shall arise.
Perhaps one of the setbacks of the novel is the heavy romance despite not being really romantic. I’m not particularly sure why Mary earns a lot of affection from the boys since she’s not a very likable character to begin with. I didn’t find real chemistry with any of the matches and I don’t like how Mary is too indecisive of her feelings. I also find it weird that these sinister Sisters are the ones imposing these weird rules and rituals among the villagers. I don’t think this will be addressed in the sequel because WTH, I checked it and it has nothing to do with these characters. But I want answers on why the Sisterhood rules the village. What are these secret passages they’re hiding in their cathedral? What’s their connection with the Unconsecrated? What happens to the people left behind? To Mary? To Jed?
Overall, it’s still a gripping post apocalyptic read and I would have been eager for the sequel if it would answer all my questions but I guess it won’t so bummer. Guess I’ll just have to find out what the sequel is about.
P.S. I hear this is going to be adapted into a movie starring Maisie Williams. That would be so awesome!^^...more
Vincent, Survivor is an interesting read that mixes urban fantasy and apocalyptic elements. I was generously provided a paperback copy by Mr. O.L. EggVincent, Survivor is an interesting read that mixes urban fantasy and apocalyptic elements. I was generously provided a paperback copy by Mr. O.L. Eggert himself in exchange of a review and I would like to express my many thanks for his kind gesture.
I thought the premise of the story is unique while the writing pretty strong and accurate. I just felt like the main characters, save for Granny, could use more development and deeper characterizations. What I felt for these characters reminded me of how I feel for movies that have a strong plot but with actors that have below average acting skills. Sorry if that sounded rude but I honestly think the story would have been more relatable had there been better characterizations as well as smoother transitions.
Nonetheless, it was an overall entertaining read and the author has a lot of potential in becoming a great writer especially in the said genres....more
A very philosophical YA contemporary story in the eyes of four stereotyped teenagers, the jock, the slut, the slacker and the over-achiev 2.75 stars?
A very philosophical YA contemporary story in the eyes of four stereotyped teenagers, the jock, the slut, the slacker and the over-achiever as they face the end of the world head on when they were given only two months to live before the high probability of an asteroid wiping earth from the face of the universe.
Looking back at it, it kind of felt like a crash course on philosophy, particularly on existentialism- what it really means to live although this is so much more well-written than reference books. If you’re looking for an action-packed, fast paced plot, you’ll get none from the book. To be honest, it was at large, uneventful and at times even dull to read and yet, it was thought provoking. I just couldn’t connect much with the characters, with their actions and decisions and it’s probably why I couldn’t fully appreciate the novel although they pretty much answer Andy’s question in the early parts of the book.
“How could you not look at the end of the world in the face and not go crazy?”
I may not be the biggest fan of the novel, but I think We All Looked Up is something both new and familiar at the same time and nowadays, to achieve these two things in a novel is a rarity....more
Wow! Certainly one of the most unique, most original books I have read and I won’t do it injustice by spoiling it for other readersPossibly 4.5 stars!
Wow! Certainly one of the most unique, most original books I have read and I won’t do it injustice by spoiling it for other readers or giving away any hint as to what this book is about. I suggest for those who haven’t read it to read it blind. This is one of those books that you’ll appreciate more when you know less about it before reading. And as much as I would want to classify this book, I feel like it would be irreverent of me to dub the book as this clichéd genre because even though it could be pegged as such, it’s so much more than it is.
I honestly think the premise of the novel is utter genius. The author is an expert at breaking the reader’s heart by creating a completely loveable complex character. Make the reader see the world after a breakdown in her innocent but hopeful and imaginative eyes. Make her selfless and talented and compassionate and then damn! I should really stop now or else I’ll be breaking my promise in the previous paragraph.
The writing is completely enthralling and thought provoking, the plot very gripping and highly philosophical and the characters deliberately well selected and fleshed out. All my heart goes to Melanie who I want to wrap in cocoon of care and love (just let me apply what’s that chemical stuff called again? all over my skin). The “scienc-y” elements are also fascinating and I have to admit I was truly, completely glued in to the novel.
The abrupt ending is probably my only complaint although it still gives the entire story much sense and perhaps, poetic justice. I was just probably rooting for a more civilized way of wrapping it up but with the plot, the overall tone and structure of the story, who am I kidding? I am looking forward to seeing the movie. Hopefully it’s as good as the book. ...more
I’ll make this quick and painless like ‘DeathQuik’.^^ It’s a cheesy, gooey, melodramatic love story in the guise of a dystopian novel with a futuristi I’ll make this quick and painless like ‘DeathQuik’.^^ It’s a cheesy, gooey, melodramatic love story in the guise of a dystopian novel with a futuristic setting in which people are plagued with an epidemic that makes them want to go and kill themselves. Don’t bother with the whys because you won’t get any. Just go along with the story and the half absurdity of it all and I’m sure you’ll enjoy. Lol. If you don’t like that kind of stuff I’d say you skip it but if you gather much enjoyment and entertainment out of them like me, then go for it. ^^
For a beautiful, more elaborate, more positive review, do check out Chelsea's review.^^...more
A pretty SICK zombie book. A jaw hangs loose from its skull, a fist-sized hole in a throat gapes wide, facial skin slides away from the bone and kids A pretty SICK zombie book. A jaw hangs loose from its skull, a fist-sized hole in a throat gapes wide, facial skin slides away from the bone and kids go and be like cannibalistic lawn mowers while corpses of students litter the sidewalk. This is how graphic it gets and it was quite entertaining especially with the easy to read, funny at many places writing amplified by the pages of the book blotted out with blood-like splatters at their edges. It’s quite creative and it certainly achieved its very purpose, that is to crumple the reader’s face (in this case, mine) worse than a dried plum the whole time I was reading (glad my husband wasn't around while I was reading it, it'd be a major turnoff for him, lol!) Best read this while having a gooey blueberry pie, yum!
It has a fast-paced plot although predictable and far-fetched at times (read it in one sitting), a likeable hero-narrator, diverse characters with emphasis on human relationship and amusing references to the classic novel, The Lord of the Flies which had me feeling all smug and earning me a well deserved fist pump since I have just recently read the said classic novel. I was like “Ha! I know that conch shell reference!” I was just really bummed out by the death of a favorite character and a bit bothered by the boys’ obsession on wanting to use their male parts as weapons of destruction. Gross! Anyway, it’s kind of a blend between World War Z and Lord of the Flies so yeah, it’s pretty cool.
My awesome friend, (Ate) Shelbs read the novel too and liked it enough. Do check out her short but convincing review.^^...more
This dystopian novel “grazzed” as in surprised me (the language is very amusing) in terms of its totally awesome world building and completely impress This dystopian novel “grazzed” as in surprised me (the language is very amusing) in terms of its totally awesome world building and completely impressive premise. Imagine Earth being the last planet a person would want to inhabit after the “Exodus” (during which Earthlings hastily portalled all the way to all these more civilized other planets) leaving on Earth the Handicapped aka the “apes” *rolls eyes* or those immune system is not pliable (because of their “throwback genes”, LMAO!) for the living conditions of said other awesome planets.
Jarra is one of the so called Handicapped, an Earth Girl who wants to prove herself to be just as or even more capable as the non-Earth people by enrolling at a non-Earth university and pretending to be non-Earth Girl. Read how she proves herself extremely and impossibly well.*wink, wink*
The first half of the story was totally “zan!”. How the author was able to concoct a solid history of their world out of pure imagination was “amaz!” “Respect!” (Their language is really contagious. “Ooo eee!” Lol!) I really enjoyed a lot of the concepts. One of my favorites is the sensor box which reproaches misconduct. For example, it could say…
“Your current inter-person intimacy is exceeding that acceptable for your age group.” (Very handy for parents nowadays. Lol!)
The futuristic TV shows were also really amusing and it helps that the hero actor in one of the shows, Ajax Anthrax Domex, (sorry I couldn’t recall his exact name) looks something like this.
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You’re welcome, (Ate) Jilly. ;) You can click her name for her review.^^
The latter half however became a bit of a drag. My 100% attention during the first half diminished to about 68.752% during the second and I may or may not have skimmed a bit. *smiles guiltily*. The writing can be taxing because there were far too many dialogues and sometimes got a bit too techie/scientific. It had this tendency to hurt my humble average head. Lol! And because it was too invested on the world building, I felt like the character development was compromised. I couldn’t get real emotions from the characters and the romance was kind of a flop. *insert peace sign here* For a book that is huge on science-y stuff, there wasn’t any real chemistry between the hero and heroine. *tsk, tsk*
Nonetheless, it’s still a generally amusing, entertaining and recommendable dystopian read. Here’s another awesome review for third opinion. Neil’s.
The most important thing you have to notice about the book is the disclaimer written below the title. Even though the cover illustrates an awesome zom The most important thing you have to notice about the book is the disclaimer written below the title. Even though the cover illustrates an awesome zombie unicorn, this isn’t about unicorns turning into zombies. I guess Mr. John Green isn’t ready to write about that yet. Bummer! Lol.
What the story really is about is CORN. Lots and lots of corn which is the reason people got “z’ed up” or got infected by this virus that assumingly came from canned corn. Lol!
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Former people who got z’ed up or zombified became extremely loyal to corn and kept planting them. Such a hilarious deconstruction of Plants Vs. Zombies! LMAO! The tone of the story is indeed big on dark and weird humor.
But more than the story’s absurdity is the fundamental element usually present in Mr. Green’s stories. Only he can make a silly zombie apocalyptic story completely deep in philosophical meanings. Through the eyes of Mia, a 16 year old lone survivor of Chicago, whose will to live seems to depend on the remaining bottles of wine in her cellar, this story brings up the question on the reason of human existence, the answer to the question of the BIG WHY. Why do people make certain decisions? Why do people want what they want?
But the real question is do you want to read the book? If yes, it’s free! Go check it out here.
Buddyread with Evelyn . Check out her excellent review. Evelyn's review.
I am a huge fan of dystopia and fantasy. Put them together and I'll definitelyBuddyread with Evelyn . Check out her excellent review. Evelyn's review.
I am a huge fan of dystopia and fantasy. Put them together and I'll definitely squeal. This book managed to do exactly that until the halfway mark.
The plot started very adventurously and I was instantly gripped. The writing language is both engrossing and stimulating and despite the gloomy tone of the narrative, I enjoyed the hilarious banter between Raffe (an angel) and Penryn (a kick-ass teenage girl struggling to find her captured sister, Paige).
"You are nothing but a bird with an attitude. But you know, a bird is nothing but a barely evolved lizard..."
I was really enjoying the story until that enjoyment turned into a generally weird feeling when the characters reached freako-landia called "aerie" which is a multipurpose place for the angels. It functions as a nightclub, a den, a motel and a lab. There in the aerie are angels working as bouncers and organizing into gangster like groups.
The weird feeling later turned into terror as the plot veered into pure menace and horror with the unraveling of abominations like scorpion angels sucking on already emaciated humans, mangled corpses and gah! demon children. (view spoiler)[ Paige! *cries* (hide spoiler)]
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I feel really bad about writing this review especially because majority of my friends loved this and I really wanted to love this too. (Sorry, Melissa and all my other friends. Don't hate me, okay?)
But we have already established that I am a wimp and maybe this is a bit too gritty for me, a bit too dark for my taste. It also doesn't help that I don't feel anything special for Raffe. I don't know why but maybe because I'm more of a Daughter of Smoke and Bone kind of girl. (Hush now, Akiva. My heart still belongs to you. <3]
One redeeming detail about the story is the consistency of the heroine. She's smart, witty, strong-willed, faithful and because of her I still enjoyed many parts of the story and I would certainly want to know more about her in the sequels.
I was so excited to read this because its predecessor was really awesome. It’s ending completely intense and I expected the Me Before Reading
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I was so excited to read this because its predecessor was really awesome. It’s ending completely intense and I expected the exact same beginning for this third installment.
Me Beginning Reading till mid reading
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What happened to my snarky Cassie? Where is she? I guess constant struggle, hunger and war could zap the life out of a person. That’s probably the most logical explanation I could think of. I don’t care though. I just want her back!
Although the writing improved so much since the first book, I think the plot has become a bit too tight especially when a good portion of the story centered on planning, dialogues and bickering among the characters in their mission to defend themselves and the U.S. of A against the Omega.
There are also new characters but they lack that much substance or development to make them very memorable except for Manny who reminds me of Woody Harrelson as Haymitch.
It was only at the middle part where Cassie starts showing her leadership and heroic skills. Also, I didn’t get any Cassie-Chris romance at all except when at the middle of the battle, they praise each other’s strengths. (Very appropriate for the situation, I must say. Lol.)
And then the ending gave me that. omg. Why? Why take the life of a character I love? Why? And then take Cassie and Chris apart? Why?
I’m sure this is the most reasonable conclusion to this book and I’m sure everybody else agrees but I don’t. I just don’t.
Me after reading
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Ms. Lane, you’re awesome and beautiful and brilliant and all that but right now, I AM IN A STATE OF REBELLION AGAINST YOU !
Pfft! I’m just bluffing. I still enjoyed the book (the latter half in particular) ...more
I’m not very good at Science so I’m not the best person to ascertain the plausibility of a natural disaster consistingMaybe 3.5? I'm still not sure.^^
I’m not very good at Science so I’m not the best person to ascertain the plausibility of a natural disaster consisting of a volcano erupting causing mega-tsunamis inducing hailstorms and causing chemical damage to air which if inhaled by people will result to various ghastly effects depending on the person’s blood type. It sounds pretty exaggerated and maybe even ridiculous but I don’t know, the whole thing kind of worked perhaps because the concept paved way for the story of how 14 kids try to survive this apocalyptic setting (Monument, Colorado and thus Monument 14) when they got stuck at a superstore after the onslaught of the disasters. Sounds convenient, eh? I’m not complaining because there are really cute chubby kids so it’s a small relief that they ended up there.
The story is told by Dean, a high school junior and the certified “booker” or more familiarly, the geek of the group. I like his character development. He seems very real. It’s just there were many times he turned me off. There’s this one incident during which he turned me off big time. You’ll understand when you read this. He did say sorry for it and was genuinely regretful but still...
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What mainly attached me to the story are the cute little kids. I liked how the older ones had to take care of/over the younger ones and I also liked how the plot sort of resembles that of This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers where you don’t really see what’s happening outside the setting but could still visualize the doomed world outside.
Halfway through though, drama tension increased and the story has become more about the older girls and boys in the group which of course had to focus on teenage angst and hormones and rated PG scenes. Argh...Why can’t we just leave these scenes to NA novels? Also, nasty stuff occured including inappropriate behavior from a 13 year old girl and equally inappropriate response from older and supposedly more mature boys.
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The last two chapters did the trick though of winning my favor over and the reason I will still be reading the sequel. So don't vex, Dayvid, my friend. It's still a good read and I thank you for recommending this to me. Check out his review....more
This is a very strong second book to a dystopian/post-apocalyptic series. The events in the beginning are quite mellow as our MC’s try 4 to 4.5 stars
This is a very strong second book to a dystopian/post-apocalyptic series. The events in the beginning are quite mellow as our MC’s try to form their plans to find their loved ones. The story initially provides a general depiction of how two people adapt to the life after an apocalyptic EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attack.
Endless travel. Scavenging. General boredom.
“It sucks to be a survivor of an EMP. There’s nothing to do.”
For a little while, Cassie and Chris find short moment of peace and rest but since it’s a state of emergency and general chaos, of course it doesn’t last when Cassie is taken captive and becomes enslaved by the Omega soldiers (the bad guys whose real identity is still in shadows) and Cassie was sort of taken back to history and had to go through the ff. for several weeks:
Concentration camp. Torture. Forced labor. Humiliation (particularly by wearing potato sack clothes and eating concrete bread and flavored water soup. )
* It’s funny though that despite all these bad things, Cassie is still worried she’d be arrested by fashion police. Lol. * This particular attitude of the heroine is what made me feel very fond of this story.
Oh and speaking of history, the plot intensifies when a group of militia men enter the story to free the prisoners and implement guerilla war fighting tactics and guess who has become the leader of the free army?
The hunter becomes the hunted as the militia men and women (including Cassie) led by the steady, reliable, confident, logical and let’s not forget super hot Chris aim to create chaos upon the Omega. Constant attacks and battles mean more adventure (so yay!) but less romance (so bummer!).
What is good in the situation though is that while in many people such experience brought out the worst in them, our heroine learned or is forced to mature and grow up. She used to be just a speck of nothing in the used to be big busy world but now she has a clearer purpose.
“I’d never thought I’d fit into a society like this, but life has a way of surprising you. For the first time in my life, I actually feel like I belong somewhere.”
· * Cassie, I’m cheering for you and so is Pikachu!
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That twist in the ending, I’ve predicted it very early on in the story but I’m not really bothered by that. If anything, I was just elated when it already happened.^^
Defeating Omega is an impossible feat but the Freedom Fighters will keep fighting for freedom, for normalcy and for what they lost. They will keep doing the right thing.
Engaging writing. Funny and witty narration in the midst of war and chaos. Strong, admirable heroine and smoking hot, perfectlicious hero. What more can you ask for?!
And that concluding sort of persuasive speech by the heroine, more cheers for you, Cassie girl! Woohoo!
Aj the Ravenous Reader
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Books:
apocalyptic-post-apocalytic
(23)
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