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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The first part was a bit boring but parts 2&3 were so gooooood
Utopic dystopia experience with something to say to a YA audience.
With shades of Ready Player One (the plugged-in future), a gleaming and controlled environment, genetically-created food, Estrella is a Utopic vision of a near-future London where most are happy, fulfilled and busy. Alara though is frustrated and bored (not that she can express this or it would be picked up instantly), and puts her energy into gaming in high-stakes tournaments to feel alive.
Alara's life is safe. Never cold, never hungry, never allowed to feel pain, monitored for good health constantly: protected. But she isn't happy. Offered a mission based on her physical abilities and gaming skills, Alara must decide if she is willing to risk everything by journeying into the unknown - old London isn't meant to exist. But it does, and Alara needs to find out if the residents, unwilling to live as Alara does, are taking action to destabilise her society. Is she ready to face a world with cold, hunger, pain and even emotion?
There were some very interesting points raised here. I found Alara's friend, hooked on a digital world, very sad to see. The society monitoring you constantly through other people very unsettling, a brighter, whiter 1984. The differences between the two societies are stark, one appears to be Utopic - but is it really the other? A nostalgia for the past and a chaotic but freer world seems to be present throughout.
It's a good 'running out of time' quest, with romance, danger, friendship and subterfuge all present. There are some great visual scenes that I'm sure will end up convincing well on a screen some time soon, and Estrella is aching for a filmed version to be made. I loved the details the author includes - Alara's mum involved in concocting foods with convincing smells, the unique class system denoting your high-rise living space, the games Alara's little brother plays. It was a convincing if terrifying vision of a future world.
Exciting and fast-moving, very enjoyable read.
With shades of Ready Player One (the plugged-in future), a gleaming and controlled environment, genetically-created food, Estrella is a Utopic vision of a near-future London where most are happy, fulfilled and busy. Alara though is frustrated and bored (not that she can express this or it would be picked up instantly), and puts her energy into gaming in high-stakes tournaments to feel alive.
Alara's life is safe. Never cold, never hungry, never allowed to feel pain, monitored for good health constantly: protected. But she isn't happy. Offered a mission based on her physical abilities and gaming skills, Alara must decide if she is willing to risk everything by journeying into the unknown - old London isn't meant to exist. But it does, and Alara needs to find out if the residents, unwilling to live as Alara does, are taking action to destabilise her society. Is she ready to face a world with cold, hunger, pain and even emotion?
There were some very interesting points raised here. I found Alara's friend, hooked on a digital world, very sad to see. The society monitoring you constantly through other people very unsettling, a brighter, whiter 1984. The differences between the two societies are stark, one appears to be Utopic - but is it really the other? A nostalgia for the past and a chaotic but freer world seems to be present throughout.
It's a good 'running out of time' quest, with romance, danger, friendship and subterfuge all present. There are some great visual scenes that I'm sure will end up convincing well on a screen some time soon, and Estrella is aching for a filmed version to be made. I loved the details the author includes - Alara's mum involved in concocting foods with convincing smells, the unique class system denoting your high-rise living space, the games Alara's little brother plays. It was a convincing if terrifying vision of a future world.
Exciting and fast-moving, very enjoyable read.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
reflective