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ciaralo's review against another edition
4.0
I've been looking forward to reading Earthbound for awhile now, and was really excited when I got an ARC of it in a goodie bag! I've only read the first in the Wings series but I keep meaning to read more Aprilynne Pike and was happy to have the oppurtunity to check out her new series. Earthbound has one heck of an awesome concept and some cool characters!
The first few pages of this book had me completely captivated! Aprilynne Pike wrote a great and intriguing opening and I could not wait to unravel this mystery that was presented to me. After the initial interest though, I found myself getting a little confused. There were lots of events happen, lots of conclusions drawn, but there was no real explanation in between. I understand that some stuff is still a mystery to the narrator Tavia, but I feel like the "how" of the story was missing. The story would go from A to B with absolutely no explanation of how it got there. Tavia didn't have a lot of internal monologue showing how she came to certain conclusions and I thought her reactions to some events were unrealistic. She just didn't seem to be very shocked by a lot of the crazy stuff happening. Everything did get explained, and some of her reactions became justified but the confusion definitely brought me out of the story at points.
Despite my confusion, I found myself really interested in finding out what was happening. I wanted to see where the story was going to go, and see Tavia discover all the secrets that were hidden from her. There were so many mysteries and I wanted to unravel them all! When I finally did, wow. I mean wow! What an awesome and fresh concept. The idea itself was so original I was completely fascinated. I wanted to know more about it and cannot wait to see it further developed in the next book. The last fifty pages had me flipping ahead frantically cause I just needed to see what was going to happen! The very last scene was just superb and I am so insanely excited to read the next one. Now that I understand what's going on, this series is going to be crazy awesome!
As for Tavia, I had mixed feelings about her. I admired her determination, and her fight to discover the truth. She wanted to know what was going on and nothing and no one was going to stop her. I thought some of her reactions, though, were a bit unrealistic which kind of had me questioning her. Overall, I liked her and I'm excited to see how she evolves in the next installment! Then there's Benson. Oh man, Benson. Well, he was pretty awesome. A caring library nerd, I was into him from his first words. He was the kind of guy that Tavia needed: strong, supportive, and trusting. I kept getting frustrated with Tavia and her obsession with Quinn (who I personally was NOT a fan of) when she had such a great guy in front of her! Although, again, I didn't always find Benson's reactions believable (and I kind of understand why), I still really enjoyed his character.
In the end, I really did enjoy Earthbound. It has such a cool concept that I simply adore. It was a fun, addicting read and I can't wait for more of it!
- Ciara (Lost at Midnight)
The first few pages of this book had me completely captivated! Aprilynne Pike wrote a great and intriguing opening and I could not wait to unravel this mystery that was presented to me. After the initial interest though, I found myself getting a little confused. There were lots of events happen, lots of conclusions drawn, but there was no real explanation in between. I understand that some stuff is still a mystery to the narrator Tavia, but I feel like the "how" of the story was missing. The story would go from A to B with absolutely no explanation of how it got there. Tavia didn't have a lot of internal monologue showing how she came to certain conclusions and I thought her reactions to some events were unrealistic. She just didn't seem to be very shocked by a lot of the crazy stuff happening. Everything did get explained, and some of her reactions became justified but the confusion definitely brought me out of the story at points.
Despite my confusion, I found myself really interested in finding out what was happening. I wanted to see where the story was going to go, and see Tavia discover all the secrets that were hidden from her. There were so many mysteries and I wanted to unravel them all! When I finally did, wow. I mean wow! What an awesome and fresh concept. The idea itself was so original I was completely fascinated. I wanted to know more about it and cannot wait to see it further developed in the next book. The last fifty pages had me flipping ahead frantically cause I just needed to see what was going to happen! The very last scene was just superb and I am so insanely excited to read the next one. Now that I understand what's going on, this series is going to be crazy awesome!
As for Tavia, I had mixed feelings about her. I admired her determination, and her fight to discover the truth. She wanted to know what was going on and nothing and no one was going to stop her. I thought some of her reactions, though, were a bit unrealistic which kind of had me questioning her. Overall, I liked her and I'm excited to see how she evolves in the next installment! Then there's Benson. Oh man, Benson. Well, he was pretty awesome. A caring library nerd, I was into him from his first words. He was the kind of guy that Tavia needed: strong, supportive, and trusting. I kept getting frustrated with Tavia and her obsession with Quinn (who I personally was NOT a fan of) when she had such a great guy in front of her! Although, again, I didn't always find Benson's reactions believable (and I kind of understand why), I still really enjoyed his character.
In the end, I really did enjoy Earthbound. It has such a cool concept that I simply adore. It was a fun, addicting read and I can't wait for more of it!
- Ciara (Lost at Midnight)
leesuh's review against another edition
3.0
I was apathetic for a lot of this book, but I'm pretty excited now. Review soon. (I'll try to explain what changed without spoiling anything.)
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Earthbound by Aprilynne Pike was one of those books I went into without really giving the synopsis a glace. I knew there'd be a triangle and the events were paranormal... but other than that? Nada. I guess I should forget beating around the bush and just be honest. I almost quit Earthbound. DNF. Done. Goodbye. It's not that I wasn't liking it... It's that I wasn't really hating it either. I was mostly apathetic for a lot of the book, save some eye rolls or "omg"s every once in a while.
Honestly, I’m having a hard time thinking of what to say about the book because I just… didn’t really care. Again, I didn’t hate it and it was, by no means, a bad story… I was just less interested than I thought I would be. The pacing felt a bit… off to me. I was interested enough in the story to get through it, but at times it seemed to take forever to read. Information took way too long to present itself and it became rather annoying the more I read. Just give me the damn information, please! It was suspenseful in a bad, annoying way.
BUT: The idea of a huge, long-lasting conspiracy is damn interesting and one of the few things that made me pick up the book in the first place. I feel like I’m going to be looking for “signs” everywhere. I thought the story was going to be more government conspiracy, but it’s actually something different… and sort of hard to explain. Either way, it’s pretty intriguing and a bit Food For Thought-ish.
When it comes to characters I’m very good at giving people the benefit of the doubt. But Tavia... Oh, Tavia. She really seemed to be one of those people who would forget about everyone important to her for a guy. She technically didn't have anyone to lose in the story, but the feeling was and is just the same. I do realize some people are like that, but it's not something I can get behind (especially not in a main character). I didn't hate Tavia, honestly, but I didn't love her or even like her. I couldn't have cared less about what happened to her. I think that fact loans itself to my general apathy toward the novel. I didn't like (respect might be a better word) the main character, and that made it very hard for me to dig the whole story.
I did love 1/3 of the “love” triangle, though. Benson? Nooo. Quinn! He was mysterious and dreamy and polite (good manners goes a long way with me)... I loved him. And he may or may not be in the next installment of the series. That fact alone is enough to keep me hanging on. I want- no, scratch that. I need more Quinn. Without him I don’t think I would go on to the next novel. That’s how much I love him.
Sooo yeah. I have very mixed feelings about Earthbound. Like I said, I do plan to read the next book in the series, but I’m going to hop into it with tweaked expectations. Don’t let my weirdness with the book keep you from reading it. At the end of the day it’s a very interesting topic and one to keep in mind if you’re looking for something that will make you double take.
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Earthbound by Aprilynne Pike was one of those books I went into without really giving the synopsis a glace. I knew there'd be a triangle and the events were paranormal... but other than that? Nada. I guess I should forget beating around the bush and just be honest. I almost quit Earthbound. DNF. Done. Goodbye. It's not that I wasn't liking it... It's that I wasn't really hating it either. I was mostly apathetic for a lot of the book, save some eye rolls or "omg"s every once in a while.
Honestly, I’m having a hard time thinking of what to say about the book because I just… didn’t really care. Again, I didn’t hate it and it was, by no means, a bad story… I was just less interested than I thought I would be. The pacing felt a bit… off to me. I was interested enough in the story to get through it, but at times it seemed to take forever to read. Information took way too long to present itself and it became rather annoying the more I read. Just give me the damn information, please! It was suspenseful in a bad, annoying way.
BUT: The idea of a huge, long-lasting conspiracy is damn interesting and one of the few things that made me pick up the book in the first place. I feel like I’m going to be looking for “signs” everywhere. I thought the story was going to be more government conspiracy, but it’s actually something different… and sort of hard to explain. Either way, it’s pretty intriguing and a bit Food For Thought-ish.
When it comes to characters I’m very good at giving people the benefit of the doubt. But Tavia... Oh, Tavia. She really seemed to be one of those people who would forget about everyone important to her for a guy. She technically didn't have anyone to lose in the story, but the feeling was and is just the same. I do realize some people are like that, but it's not something I can get behind (especially not in a main character). I didn't hate Tavia, honestly, but I didn't love her or even like her. I couldn't have cared less about what happened to her. I think that fact loans itself to my general apathy toward the novel. I didn't like (respect might be a better word) the main character, and that made it very hard for me to dig the whole story.
I did love 1/3 of the “love” triangle, though. Benson? Nooo. Quinn! He was mysterious and dreamy and polite (good manners goes a long way with me)... I loved him. And he may or may not be in the next installment of the series. That fact alone is enough to keep me hanging on. I want- no, scratch that. I need more Quinn. Without him I don’t think I would go on to the next novel. That’s how much I love him.
Sooo yeah. I have very mixed feelings about Earthbound. Like I said, I do plan to read the next book in the series, but I’m going to hop into it with tweaked expectations. Don’t let my weirdness with the book keep you from reading it. At the end of the day it’s a very interesting topic and one to keep in mind if you’re looking for something that will make you double take.
battlehamster67's review against another edition
4.0
It was.... uh... interesting! That's a good word, lets just say interesting. Pike is working with the whole theory that gods and goddesses created the world, and they each had their perfect significant other. But like something always does, it all ended. Now each of them is forced to deal with reincarnation and finding their significant other until the end of time. Weird right?
To see the rest of my review click here.
To see the rest of my review click here.
siobhan27's review against another edition
4.0
I have been a fan of Aprilynne Pike's since I read her Wings series a couple of years ago. She has an imagination that captivates her readers into believing her worlds are real, and that makes this book no different.
What I loved most about this book was its originality. It was a world that I have never encountered before in the YA fantasy genre. I loved the Earthbound world. i loved that it encompassed everything I love about certain genres. It has the element of past lives which is something I love reading about, and it had the element of a thriller with a group of people trying to kill a supernatural race. The Earthbounds are creators, they have the ability to create anything out of thin air, and that is something that everyone wants. But for Tavia this is ruining everything. She just wanted to be normal after the plan crash that killed her parents, but her gift turns out to be more important than anyone knew.
I will say that I was a little disappointed with the love story (or triangle) since I didn;t really feel anything for the guy characters. But to be honest, I feel like the next book will be the kicker for this, and you will understand where I am coming from when you read the end. Now, there is a big reveal at the end, and I hate to say that I saw it coming a mile away. I have no idea if it was supposed to be super big secret, but I pretty much figured it out right from the start. And if you have read this book and want to chat with me about this part, please do! I want to know if it was just me being super suspicious of certain characters or if it was something everyone saw.
I will say that this series is very interesting and I will be picking up the next installment because I love Aprilynne Pike and there were so many unanswered questions that I am very curious as to where this series is headed. If you love fantasy with a dash of historical YA then this is definitely the book for you. It is fast paced and full of action, so pick it up! It's a great read!
What I loved most about this book was its originality. It was a world that I have never encountered before in the YA fantasy genre. I loved the Earthbound world. i loved that it encompassed everything I love about certain genres. It has the element of past lives which is something I love reading about, and it had the element of a thriller with a group of people trying to kill a supernatural race. The Earthbounds are creators, they have the ability to create anything out of thin air, and that is something that everyone wants. But for Tavia this is ruining everything. She just wanted to be normal after the plan crash that killed her parents, but her gift turns out to be more important than anyone knew.
I will say that I was a little disappointed with the love story (or triangle) since I didn;t really feel anything for the guy characters. But to be honest, I feel like the next book will be the kicker for this, and you will understand where I am coming from when you read the end. Now, there is a big reveal at the end, and I hate to say that I saw it coming a mile away. I have no idea if it was supposed to be super big secret, but I pretty much figured it out right from the start. And if you have read this book and want to chat with me about this part, please do! I want to know if it was just me being super suspicious of certain characters or if it was something everyone saw.
I will say that this series is very interesting and I will be picking up the next installment because I love Aprilynne Pike and there were so many unanswered questions that I am very curious as to where this series is headed. If you love fantasy with a dash of historical YA then this is definitely the book for you. It is fast paced and full of action, so pick it up! It's a great read!
misdawnty's review against another edition
4.0
Quick read, rather predictable, but an inventive world and story that kept me interested. Glad to have stumbled upon it now that all the books are out so I can just fly through them. (assuming it's a trilogy...)
bookdealer1415's review against another edition
5.0
All I have to say is DUDE! Kill me know. Wait never mind this book already did
bellezey's review against another edition
1.0
The read was a total drag!
I love aprilynne pike, i love wings.. I i i i i dunno how i can justify this work of hers!
I mean come on aprilynne, this was one of the most stereotypical book i've read, like everrrrr!
1- we got a protagonist something happens to her and she becomes special or discovers that she's special, and not to mention she is npt different from most of the YA protagonist with their annoying narrating.
2- the love triangle like the freaking looove triangle presents it self to us from the freaking start not past page 50 i swear.
3 - the love triangle in this book is soooo cheesy so predictable, so annoying so like unnecessary i swear i can't tell you how unnecessary it was!
4- the characters are so goddamn flat, not thought of much clearly. Like tavia is one of the most annoying characters i've read about she beats Juliette in the shatter me series i swear to god!!!!
And you can see right through Benson like why didn't he freak out why didn't he act like a freaking normal person through the entire book and tavia even though she freaking saw signs she freaking was sooo so so stupid not to put things together and figure out he's not what he seems!!
And don't get me started on thw Quinn Darius - Logan guy!!!! I mean his character was so flat i couls kill myself and be done with it and i get that he couldn't get much development of his character due to his condition but even so. It all goes back to this book hasn't been thought of very well!
5- don't get me started on the earthbound thingy! God like it's the most common idea ever. She could have directed it better with a good amount of research through the Egyptian mythology and stuff it would've been so awesome. But it felt all chopped off bits from here and their and random memories popping up here and there!
6- the events seemed rather over exaggerated most of the times, like everyone was freaking out over nothing. And the evil dudes who were chasing her were a total joke they didn't feel scary to me at all i guess that's one of aprilynne's weaknesses she can't write a good damned villian. She can't her villains are always a joke and nothing serious!
I so so so didn't like this book and i dunno if i have the ability to even think about reading the 2nd one in this series
I think i'm gonna quit Aprilynne for a good amount of time i need to recover from what she did to me because of this book!
I love aprilynne pike, i love wings.. I i i i i dunno how i can justify this work of hers!
I mean come on aprilynne, this was one of the most stereotypical book i've read, like everrrrr!
1- we got a protagonist something happens to her and she becomes special or discovers that she's special, and not to mention she is npt different from most of the YA protagonist with their annoying narrating.
2- the love triangle like the freaking looove triangle presents it self to us from the freaking start not past page 50 i swear.
3 - the love triangle in this book is soooo cheesy so predictable, so annoying so like unnecessary i swear i can't tell you how unnecessary it was!
4- the characters are so goddamn flat, not thought of much clearly. Like tavia is one of the most annoying characters i've read about she beats Juliette in the shatter me series i swear to god!!!!
And you can see right through Benson like why didn't he freak out why didn't he act like a freaking normal person through the entire book and tavia even though she freaking saw signs she freaking was sooo so so stupid not to put things together and figure out he's not what he seems!!
And don't get me started on thw Quinn Darius - Logan guy!!!! I mean his character was so flat i couls kill myself and be done with it and i get that he couldn't get much development of his character due to his condition but even so. It all goes back to this book hasn't been thought of very well!
5- don't get me started on the earthbound thingy! God like it's the most common idea ever. She could have directed it better with a good amount of research through the Egyptian mythology and stuff it would've been so awesome. But it felt all chopped off bits from here and their and random memories popping up here and there!
6- the events seemed rather over exaggerated most of the times, like everyone was freaking out over nothing. And the evil dudes who were chasing her were a total joke they didn't feel scary to me at all i guess that's one of aprilynne's weaknesses she can't write a good damned villian. She can't her villains are always a joke and nothing serious!
I so so so didn't like this book and i dunno if i have the ability to even think about reading the 2nd one in this series
I think i'm gonna quit Aprilynne for a good amount of time i need to recover from what she did to me because of this book!
delaneybull's review against another edition
3.0
I mean, it wasn't revolutionary, but I enjoyed it. It was predictable in some aspects (the romance), but the storyline was more complex than I was expecting, and the next book in the series should be interesting based on the semi-cliffhanger.