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bookph1le's review
4.0
After a string of disappointing YA books, particularly of the speculative fiction/dystopian sort, I am thrilled to finally find something that delivered everything a good book should: an interesting premise, fast-paced action that kept me reading, and a strong female protagonist. Some minor spoilers will follow.
First off, I would love to sing Mr. Wells' praises for creating a believable, flawed, strong, strong, strong female lead. Seriously, I can't emphasize that enough. I find it frankly alarming how many weak, frail female 'heroines' exist in YA lit. I'm sick to death of reading about whiny girls who need boys to rescue them. Kira is none of these things. She is hot-headed, highly intelligent, and more than capable of taking care of herself. That's not to say that she's perfect. At times, I wanted to shake her soundly or talk sternly to her about how mean she was being, but I felt that this only added to her character. Good characters need flaws, and Kira has them. However, she also has many attributes that I really loved. She's fiercely loyal to her friends and is willing to sacrifice herself for her ideals. Though she does sometimes need her friends' help, this is for logistical reasons and not because she's too weak to handle things on her own. I really think Wells deserves a badge of honor for creating such an awesome female lead.
I also really admired the way romance was handled in this book. Though Marcus is Kira's boyfriend, he doesn't own her. Sometimes they have differences of opinions that cause them to argue and that even create rifts between them. I thought Wells did a fantastic job of capturing how difficult it can be to maintain a relationship. I was also very happy to see that when the females in the book don't agree with their male significant others, they voice that opinion. This is very true of Kira, but also of Madison, who defies her husband in several big ways throughout the course of the book. These are not females who are defined by their relationships, which I sincerely and heartily applaud.
Wells's world building was pretty stellar. His descriptions of the crumbling remnants of New York made me think of the series Life after People, with nature taking over in a big way. I found it fascinating to read the descriptions of the buildings and of the scavenging habits of the people left behind. Wells has created a real, stark contrast between the world as we know it and the world as it could be. We like to think we're so significant but, really, everything we've created could simply crumble in a matter of decades if we weren't around to care for it. Wells uses iPods to particular effect, when he describes the inscriptions on the backs of them, the reminders of a consumer culture that was powerless to stop the collapse of the world.
I enjoyed the many factions that he created within this world, and I found them all quite believable. If the world fell apart, would humanity really hold hands and put aside their differences? The motivations of the various groups were eminently believable, in my opinion, and Wells handles them very well. No one is really clearly good or clearly evil in this book. The good characters sometimes do bad things and the bad characters have facets that make them more than just a cartoon villain.
Though this book was tied up in the end, there are still many compelling questions that make me look forward to the next in the series. I'm very interested in learning still more about the Voice and about the Partials, as well as Kira's background. At three quarters of the way through the book, I had a feeling that Wells was leading me somewhere juicy with Nandita, so I'm very eager to find out exactly what's in store there.
The one thing that kept me from giving this book five stars was the writing. Though Well is very innovative and I found the book exciting and a fast read, he lacks the polish of some of the other YA authors I've read. I couldn't shake the feeling that if I could combine him and, say, Maggie Stiefvater, the end result would be something exciting that also had a lot of lovely writing--something more like Ship Breaker. Still, much like James Dashner, Wells has a real flair for the high concept, rip roaring, pulse-pounding novel, and I am very much looking forward to the next installment.
First off, I would love to sing Mr. Wells' praises for creating a believable, flawed, strong, strong, strong female lead. Seriously, I can't emphasize that enough. I find it frankly alarming how many weak, frail female 'heroines' exist in YA lit. I'm sick to death of reading about whiny girls who need boys to rescue them. Kira is none of these things. She is hot-headed, highly intelligent, and more than capable of taking care of herself. That's not to say that she's perfect. At times, I wanted to shake her soundly or talk sternly to her about how mean she was being, but I felt that this only added to her character. Good characters need flaws, and Kira has them. However, she also has many attributes that I really loved. She's fiercely loyal to her friends and is willing to sacrifice herself for her ideals. Though she does sometimes need her friends' help, this is for logistical reasons and not because she's too weak to handle things on her own. I really think Wells deserves a badge of honor for creating such an awesome female lead.
I also really admired the way romance was handled in this book. Though Marcus is Kira's boyfriend, he doesn't own her. Sometimes they have differences of opinions that cause them to argue and that even create rifts between them. I thought Wells did a fantastic job of capturing how difficult it can be to maintain a relationship. I was also very happy to see that when the females in the book don't agree with their male significant others, they voice that opinion. This is very true of Kira, but also of Madison, who defies her husband in several big ways throughout the course of the book. These are not females who are defined by their relationships, which I sincerely and heartily applaud.
Wells's world building was pretty stellar. His descriptions of the crumbling remnants of New York made me think of the series Life after People, with nature taking over in a big way. I found it fascinating to read the descriptions of the buildings and of the scavenging habits of the people left behind. Wells has created a real, stark contrast between the world as we know it and the world as it could be. We like to think we're so significant but, really, everything we've created could simply crumble in a matter of decades if we weren't around to care for it. Wells uses iPods to particular effect, when he describes the inscriptions on the backs of them, the reminders of a consumer culture that was powerless to stop the collapse of the world.
I enjoyed the many factions that he created within this world, and I found them all quite believable. If the world fell apart, would humanity really hold hands and put aside their differences? The motivations of the various groups were eminently believable, in my opinion, and Wells handles them very well. No one is really clearly good or clearly evil in this book. The good characters sometimes do bad things and the bad characters have facets that make them more than just a cartoon villain.
Though this book was tied up in the end, there are still many compelling questions that make me look forward to the next in the series. I'm very interested in learning still more about the Voice and about the Partials, as well as Kira's background. At three quarters of the way through the book, I had a feeling that Wells was leading me somewhere juicy with Nandita, so I'm very eager to find out exactly what's in store there.
The one thing that kept me from giving this book five stars was the writing. Though Well is very innovative and I found the book exciting and a fast read, he lacks the polish of some of the other YA authors I've read. I couldn't shake the feeling that if I could combine him and, say, Maggie Stiefvater, the end result would be something exciting that also had a lot of lovely writing--something more like Ship Breaker. Still, much like James Dashner, Wells has a real flair for the high concept, rip roaring, pulse-pounding novel, and I am very much looking forward to the next installment.
uutopicaa's review
4.0
Me gustó. Debo admitir que no es mi estilo de libro, y que me esperaba otra cosa. Pero lejos de decepcionarme, me sorprendió. Me gusta la forma en la que el autor redacta los hechos, manteniendo siempre al lector en duda y obligándolo a formular sus propias teorias; gracias a ello, pude terminar el libro en aproximadamente 8 horas de lectura. Me impresionó el diseño de personajes y su evolución a lo largo de la historia, eso fue fantástico.
Hay un par de detalles que no me terminaron de cerrar, pero nada más.
Seguramente siga leyendo la saga (secuela y precuela) apenas pueda conseguir los ejemplares.
Hay un par de detalles que no me terminaron de cerrar, pero nada más.
Seguramente siga leyendo la saga (secuela y precuela) apenas pueda conseguir los ejemplares.
brittanylillyy's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
carlosdanger's review
5.0
In a similar vein to Battlestar Galactica or Terminator, but very well written and compelling
suyagotz's review
4.0
OH MY GOD! This book was so much better than I was expecting. Kira is such a strong character,smart and determined and didn't let her relationships get in the way of what she believed was right. She def is on my list of favorite protagonists. Also, I loved that there was no love triangle (though my friends disagree,) just a little "tension" between her and 'the other guy'.
Also, bonus point: the medicine!!! I felt like reading a cool biology book (which doesn't sound cool, but yeah it was awesome).
So yeah, this book may start out a little slow, but it's worth the read.
(sorry my review sucks)
Also, bonus point: the medicine!!! I felt like reading a cool biology book (which doesn't sound cool, but yeah it was awesome).
So yeah, this book may start out a little slow, but it's worth the read.
(sorry my review sucks)
madeklein's review
4.0
This is now the second time I have read this book after about a year. This book is amazing I forgot how much I loved this book. I spent my time completely gripped by the storyline and screaming at Kira to be rational even though I knew she wouldn't. I can't wait to start reading fragments, as I remember it being way better than the first book, I just can't wait!!!!!!!!!!
kayteaface's review
5.0
Can't deal. Actually can't deal. Near actual perfection, in my opinion. Loved it so much! I just want the next book right this minute, okay, I need more Samm.
The setting and situation were intriguing, the characters were great and worked so well together, and I really enjoyed the science-y side, too.
A faaabulous book and I'd definitely recommend it if you like post-apocalyptic dystopians :)
abaugher's review
5.0
I want more of this! thias was a great story that just got larger the further into the book i went. Let me sum up: humans create super intelligent warriors to fight for them, but they treat them badly so the warriors (aka Partials) revolt, and a virus is unleashed on the world that wipes out 99% of the population and no newborns have survived past 4 days for the last 14 years. THen a search for the cure by a young intern leads to contact with the Partials, which leads to everyone learning waaay more about each other than they ever wanted to know, and the world gets even more complicated for the main characters. awesome plot and writing, and there has GOT to be a sequel, or there will be riots outside of the ones in the story!