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kirstenmeek's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed reading book one of this series! I am a sucker for a good dystopian world, and this one has a lot of promise. In the future, anger has been erased from the gamut of human emotion in an effort to make the world more peaceful. I think the author does a good job of exploring the ramifications of this and she makes it into a pretty interesting world to read about. I am certainly curious enough to wait for the subsequent episodes of this series.
I am definitely going to keep reading this series, but a few things are keeping my rating down. Mostly, I am (as of yet) not completely convinced of the romance. It happened too quickly and there are perhaps a few too many formulaic cliches. I think most of it came from the dialogue, which felt clunky and awkward at times.
This 'episode' seems to just do the world building. It shows us the society and introduces us to some interesting mysteries, but at the end, almost none of my questions are answered. I will certainly be keeping up with this series to get some answers!
I am definitely going to keep reading this series, but a few things are keeping my rating down. Mostly, I am (as of yet) not completely convinced of the romance. It happened too quickly and there are perhaps a few too many formulaic cliches. I think most of it came from the dialogue, which felt clunky and awkward at times.
This 'episode' seems to just do the world building. It shows us the society and introduces us to some interesting mysteries, but at the end, almost none of my questions are answered. I will certainly be keeping up with this series to get some answers!
tmleblanc's review
4.0
I devoured Fury by Charlotte McConaghy. I received my review copy and inhaled the book in three days. Then lamented the fact I wouldn't be sharing my thoughts about the book until June! I then promptly went to GoodReads and recommended it to a BUNCH of friends with the note that if they felt there was something lacking in the Divergent series (or even if they were fans) they NEED to read Fury.
Josephine's story is told in a series of flashbacks until the current timeline catches up with the past from three different points of view--Josephine, Anthony (her therapist) and Luke. They live in a dystopian world where anger is considered a disease and the result of a world without anger is lopsided emotionally. Each character has their own voice, thoughts and opinions about the Cured world. McConaghy does a marvelous job of making each character unique and uses each one to advance the storyline in a way the begs the reader to turn the page.
The absence of anger in some humans and the presence of it in others is the driving force of the plot. It brings the characters together, for better or worse, and creates friction and chemistry. The government also plays a bit of a part in the novel, but the main goal of book one is to allow the reader to become familiar with the main characters and a world without anger. There is just a touch about the political dissent that the Cure has brought about (just enough to whet your appetite). That whiff of the larger game is laid out as one reaches the dramatic conclusion and may have some screaming, WHEN DOES BOOK 2 COME OUT?!
McConaghy has created a world that is intriguing and characters that are real. The book moves at breakneck speed and comes to an end with a moving cliffhanger. I give Fury by Charlotte McConaghy a thumbs up and I look forward to the next book in the series.
More reviews on my blog, Second Run Reviews
Josephine's story is told in a series of flashbacks until the current timeline catches up with the past from three different points of view--Josephine, Anthony (her therapist) and Luke. They live in a dystopian world where anger is considered a disease and the result of a world without anger is lopsided emotionally. Each character has their own voice, thoughts and opinions about the Cured world. McConaghy does a marvelous job of making each character unique and uses each one to advance the storyline in a way the begs the reader to turn the page.
The absence of anger in some humans and the presence of it in others is the driving force of the plot. It brings the characters together, for better or worse, and creates friction and chemistry. The government also plays a bit of a part in the novel, but the main goal of book one is to allow the reader to become familiar with the main characters and a world without anger. There is just a touch about the political dissent that the Cure has brought about (just enough to whet your appetite). That whiff of the larger game is laid out as one reaches the dramatic conclusion and may have some screaming, WHEN DOES BOOK 2 COME OUT?!
McConaghy has created a world that is intriguing and characters that are real. The book moves at breakneck speed and comes to an end with a moving cliffhanger. I give Fury by Charlotte McConaghy a thumbs up and I look forward to the next book in the series.
More reviews on my blog, Second Run Reviews
erinarkin20's review
4.0
When I read the summary for Fury by Charlotte McConaghy I thought it sounded intriguing and while I hadn’t heard anything about it, I decided I wanted to check this one out. I have to say, I opened this up and as soon as I did, I wasn’t able to put it down. The characters and the story pulled me right in and I couldn’t put it down until I finished. Even now I am excited to see when book two will come out.
The world has been changed by the decision to force “the cure” on its citizens. Now, people don’t feel emotions and the intent was that it would eliminate the problems happening due to how people reacted. This decision actually created another level of problems in that people now don’t feel anything and react inappropriately to things going on around them. As Josi calls people, they are a bunch of drones. What I would have like to have known is more about the decision makers and what the catalyst was to figuring this was the right solution. With that said, I though McConaghy did a great job building out the background of the creation of the cure and the goal behind the end result.
The book transitions well from different points of view as well as from the past to current time. Through all of this, I was able to see how things got to be as they are for Josi as well as see things from the other characters perspectives…which added to the story. The story starts out with Josi/Josephine, the main character, interacting with Anthony, her shrink at the asylum she is in and we begin to find out more about why she is there. Because she is telling Anthony her story, the flashbacks give us her past as well as more information about her relationship with Luke, her boyfriend and the person Josi believes will come save her.
Josi has grown up being shuffled around to various foster homes and when she was placed in a house that had a boy who did something horrible to her, she reacts and is turned in as someone with a rage issue. This was the action that changed things completely for Josi as when she is turned in; she is given to the scientists in charge of the cure to be used for testing.
Every year on the same day, Josi loses herself completely. She wakes up naked somewhere random with only brief memories of what happened the night before and it is because of this, she ends up meeting Luke and ultimately ending up in the asylum she is in. As the present time creeps closer and closer to that horrible day, both Josi and Luke are working to figure out how to manage this. They both know that this may be the last chance they have to save Josi from the beast that takes over every year and they are willing to do whatever is needed.
Luke is an interesting character and I really liked him. His story was interesting and I thought the way he and Josi met was great. Additionally, I know he had some secrets but I have to say that I appreciated the fact that he came clean to Josi before the end of this story. He is clearly willing to do whatever he needs to in order to save and protect Josi.
An added layer to this story is the idea that there is a rebellion “out there” somewhere that included other people that were fighting the idea that the cure was the answer to the issues of the world. I hope we get to learn more about them in the next story and where this one left off, I have an idea that we will.
I have only touched the tip of the iceberg with this review and that’s mostly because I don’t want to give anything away. I think McConaghy does a great job of revealing bits and pieces of the story but I do have to say, there is a pretty big cliffhanger at the end of this book. I am really looking forward to the next book of this series and can’t wait to see where McConaghy goes with this story.
Thank you to Netgalley and Momentum Books for the review copy.
The world has been changed by the decision to force “the cure” on its citizens. Now, people don’t feel emotions and the intent was that it would eliminate the problems happening due to how people reacted. This decision actually created another level of problems in that people now don’t feel anything and react inappropriately to things going on around them. As Josi calls people, they are a bunch of drones. What I would have like to have known is more about the decision makers and what the catalyst was to figuring this was the right solution. With that said, I though McConaghy did a great job building out the background of the creation of the cure and the goal behind the end result.
The book transitions well from different points of view as well as from the past to current time. Through all of this, I was able to see how things got to be as they are for Josi as well as see things from the other characters perspectives…which added to the story. The story starts out with Josi/Josephine, the main character, interacting with Anthony, her shrink at the asylum she is in and we begin to find out more about why she is there. Because she is telling Anthony her story, the flashbacks give us her past as well as more information about her relationship with Luke, her boyfriend and the person Josi believes will come save her.
Josi has grown up being shuffled around to various foster homes and when she was placed in a house that had a boy who did something horrible to her, she reacts and is turned in as someone with a rage issue. This was the action that changed things completely for Josi as when she is turned in; she is given to the scientists in charge of the cure to be used for testing.
Every year on the same day, Josi loses herself completely. She wakes up naked somewhere random with only brief memories of what happened the night before and it is because of this, she ends up meeting Luke and ultimately ending up in the asylum she is in. As the present time creeps closer and closer to that horrible day, both Josi and Luke are working to figure out how to manage this. They both know that this may be the last chance they have to save Josi from the beast that takes over every year and they are willing to do whatever is needed.
Luke is an interesting character and I really liked him. His story was interesting and I thought the way he and Josi met was great. Additionally, I know he had some secrets but I have to say that I appreciated the fact that he came clean to Josi before the end of this story. He is clearly willing to do whatever he needs to in order to save and protect Josi.
An added layer to this story is the idea that there is a rebellion “out there” somewhere that included other people that were fighting the idea that the cure was the answer to the issues of the world. I hope we get to learn more about them in the next story and where this one left off, I have an idea that we will.
I have only touched the tip of the iceberg with this review and that’s mostly because I don’t want to give anything away. I think McConaghy does a great job of revealing bits and pieces of the story but I do have to say, there is a pretty big cliffhanger at the end of this book. I am really looking forward to the next book of this series and can’t wait to see where McConaghy goes with this story.
Thank you to Netgalley and Momentum Books for the review copy.
thechaoshour's review
4.0
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
THOUGHTS WHEN I FINISHED:
I wasn’t really expecting anything going into this book. I didn’t read any reviews but I saw that it had a fairly high rating. While it was by no means a perfect books I found myself really enjoying it and I was a little sad when it was over. So sad that I started the next book right away!
WHAT I LOVED:
I think my favorite part of this book was the relationship between Josi and Luke. It was far from perfect and was border line insta-love but I really loved it. It’s one of those relationships where the author isn’t telling you everything so you think some things are a little weird but later on you find out more details.
I also really liked the idea of this world even though it could have been executed a little bit better. There were some gaps at times but I didn’t really care about them while I was reading. I only really noticed them afterwards. I loved that the author based her world around emotions. Anger has supposedly been “cured” but I’m sure you can imagine that curing an emotion doesn’t always end well. I like that anger was a huge part of this book. Our main character had too much of it and the other characters had none. It really messed everyone up.
The characters were all incredibly detailed while still giving us a little mystery. I don’t usually like multiple POVs but I found it really worked in this story.
Josephine: I love how she seems to be this incredibly badass, female heroine but she’s actually really emotionally unstable. She’s had a really rough life and now she’s getting weaker and weaker every year and she has no idea why. She knows she turns into this crazy version of herself every year but she blocks it out because she can’t handle it. We do see her get stronger throughout the novel though which I was glad for. She’s the character that develops the most.
Luke: I really love Luke. He’s basically the perfect guy. He strong, brave, athletic, and he loves to cook. He’s also a great liar which doesn’t turn out so well for him. Nobody is perfect right? But he truly does care for Josephine and I love how much he loves her.
Anthony: We don’t get as much detail about Anthony as I would have liked but I did love him too. He was the character that had been cured of his anger already but it was almost breaking through him. He had the hardest time I think because he couldn’t control his emotions anymore. I love that the author added him in as a character.
I’ve been getting bored of dystopia books lately but I was happy that this one didn’t quite fit into the typical plot we usually see. I loved the mystery aspect of the story. We never had all the pieces of the puzzle until the very end. There ended up being a resistance at the end so I’m nervous to see how that plays out because they’re usually all the same.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
The only part that really confused me was the going back and forth from the present to the past. I couldn’t keep the dates in my mind so when we switched again I had to stop and think “ok we’re in the past now”. The idea of switching back and forth was really cool because we got to see what happened in a different sequence than we normally would. I just wish it had been done a little bit better for people like me who apparently get confused easily.
REVIEW:
Characters - 5 stars
World Building - 4 stars
Plot - 4 stars
Entertainment - 5 stars
Writing Style - 4 stars
Total - 4 stars
WHO I’D RECOMMEND TO:
I’d recommend this to people who love The Program duology. I find it had a similar feel. The worlds both played on emotions and there was a lot of psychological issues happening. Even the love stories were similar in a way. They are by no means even close to the same book though! I just found they felt similar. I’d definitely say that this series is for an older audience though. Josi is 18 in the past and a couple years older than that in the present. There’s violence, sex, and just crazy things happening so I’d almost classify this as a new adult book. Don’t let that turn you off though!
QUICK REVIEW:
This is a great book for dystopia lovers who are looking for something a little different. The world and characters are all imperfect and that’s what makes the story. You’ll fall in love with Luke and Josephine as their story slowly unfolds one piece at a time. The mystery of what’s happening to Josephine paired with the wonderful romance makes for a really interesting and intense story. It’s definitely a book you don’t want to miss.
THOUGHTS WHEN I FINISHED:
I wasn’t really expecting anything going into this book. I didn’t read any reviews but I saw that it had a fairly high rating. While it was by no means a perfect books I found myself really enjoying it and I was a little sad when it was over. So sad that I started the next book right away!
WHAT I LOVED:
I think my favorite part of this book was the relationship between Josi and Luke. It was far from perfect and was border line insta-love but I really loved it. It’s one of those relationships where the author isn’t telling you everything so you think some things are a little weird but later on you find out more details.
I also really liked the idea of this world even though it could have been executed a little bit better. There were some gaps at times but I didn’t really care about them while I was reading. I only really noticed them afterwards. I loved that the author based her world around emotions. Anger has supposedly been “cured” but I’m sure you can imagine that curing an emotion doesn’t always end well. I like that anger was a huge part of this book. Our main character had too much of it and the other characters had none. It really messed everyone up.
The characters were all incredibly detailed while still giving us a little mystery. I don’t usually like multiple POVs but I found it really worked in this story.
Josephine: I love how she seems to be this incredibly badass, female heroine but she’s actually really emotionally unstable. She’s had a really rough life and now she’s getting weaker and weaker every year and she has no idea why. She knows she turns into this crazy version of herself every year but she blocks it out because she can’t handle it. We do see her get stronger throughout the novel though which I was glad for. She’s the character that develops the most.
Luke: I really love Luke. He’s basically the perfect guy. He strong, brave, athletic, and he loves to cook. He’s also a great liar which doesn’t turn out so well for him. Nobody is perfect right? But he truly does care for Josephine and I love how much he loves her.
Anthony: We don’t get as much detail about Anthony as I would have liked but I did love him too. He was the character that had been cured of his anger already but it was almost breaking through him. He had the hardest time I think because he couldn’t control his emotions anymore. I love that the author added him in as a character.
I’ve been getting bored of dystopia books lately but I was happy that this one didn’t quite fit into the typical plot we usually see. I loved the mystery aspect of the story. We never had all the pieces of the puzzle until the very end. There ended up being a resistance at the end so I’m nervous to see how that plays out because they’re usually all the same.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
The only part that really confused me was the going back and forth from the present to the past. I couldn’t keep the dates in my mind so when we switched again I had to stop and think “ok we’re in the past now”. The idea of switching back and forth was really cool because we got to see what happened in a different sequence than we normally would. I just wish it had been done a little bit better for people like me who apparently get confused easily.
REVIEW:
Characters - 5 stars
World Building - 4 stars
Plot - 4 stars
Entertainment - 5 stars
Writing Style - 4 stars
Total - 4 stars
WHO I’D RECOMMEND TO:
I’d recommend this to people who love The Program duology. I find it had a similar feel. The worlds both played on emotions and there was a lot of psychological issues happening. Even the love stories were similar in a way. They are by no means even close to the same book though! I just found they felt similar. I’d definitely say that this series is for an older audience though. Josi is 18 in the past and a couple years older than that in the present. There’s violence, sex, and just crazy things happening so I’d almost classify this as a new adult book. Don’t let that turn you off though!
QUICK REVIEW:
This is a great book for dystopia lovers who are looking for something a little different. The world and characters are all imperfect and that’s what makes the story. You’ll fall in love with Luke and Josephine as their story slowly unfolds one piece at a time. The mystery of what’s happening to Josephine paired with the wonderful romance makes for a really interesting and intense story. It’s definitely a book you don’t want to miss.
cassiejane33's review
3.0
I don't know if it's because I have read a few dystopian novels now and I don't find them as interesting or if it is just this book but I prefer Charlotte's other books. I still liked this book just not as much, I'm still interested in what happens next though.
maureensbooks89's review
5.0
A view weeks ago I received an invitation to participate in the blog Tour for 'Limerence' by Charlotte McConaghy. I read the book description and immediately wanted to sign up. But since ‘Limerence’ is the third book in the series and I haven’t read the previous books I thought I wouldn’t be able to be a part of the tour. Thankfully there was an option to read all three the books in the series. So as fast as I could I signed up and when I received the book I started reading the first book 'Fury' as fast as I could.
Well I can tell you one thing about this book: ITS AMAZING!! Really.. This book is so good I don't get why there aren’t movies being made about this one. From the moment I started reading I was completely hooked. 'Fury' is written in a very fascinating way. The story alters between the point of views of the three main characters and the story goes from a year ago to the present. This sounds confusing but really wasn’t confusing at all. This made this book all the more interesting, intriguing and completely addicting.
'Fury' is the story of a young woman called Josephine who is living in a world of people who have had the 'cure', and aren’t able to feel anger anymore. Josephine never had the cure and she is living with a terrible secret. She has been alone for years and doesn't interact with many people. That is until Luke starts talking with her. Luke is gorgeous, kind and really caring. He seems to really want to get to know Josephine. But life is hard and there is a lot wrong in the world.
Man, I loved these two characters. Josephine was so strong and I really admired her. She had been through so much and I think she was really brave. And Luke.. Sigh.. I loved that Guy. Seriously.. I developed a huge crush on Luke while reading this book. He was just so kind and caring. The romance and chemistry between Josephine and Luke was really fun to read about and I was totally hooked to every page.
This book gets a huge 5 star rating from me. I loved every single word and really couldn't put it down. Although a lot is revealed in the end, there is still a lot we don't know so I can’t wait to start reading the next book. 'Fury' is definitely a new favorite for me.
Well I can tell you one thing about this book: ITS AMAZING!! Really.. This book is so good I don't get why there aren’t movies being made about this one. From the moment I started reading I was completely hooked. 'Fury' is written in a very fascinating way. The story alters between the point of views of the three main characters and the story goes from a year ago to the present. This sounds confusing but really wasn’t confusing at all. This made this book all the more interesting, intriguing and completely addicting.
'Fury' is the story of a young woman called Josephine who is living in a world of people who have had the 'cure', and aren’t able to feel anger anymore. Josephine never had the cure and she is living with a terrible secret. She has been alone for years and doesn't interact with many people. That is until Luke starts talking with her. Luke is gorgeous, kind and really caring. He seems to really want to get to know Josephine. But life is hard and there is a lot wrong in the world.
Man, I loved these two characters. Josephine was so strong and I really admired her. She had been through so much and I think she was really brave. And Luke.. Sigh.. I loved that Guy. Seriously.. I developed a huge crush on Luke while reading this book. He was just so kind and caring. The romance and chemistry between Josephine and Luke was really fun to read about and I was totally hooked to every page.
This book gets a huge 5 star rating from me. I loved every single word and really couldn't put it down. Although a lot is revealed in the end, there is still a lot we don't know so I can’t wait to start reading the next book. 'Fury' is definitely a new favorite for me.
rntylr22's review
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
'When emotions are erased from the world, creating a civilization of mindless drones, only those with fury can survive'.
On the same day every year, Josephine wakes up covered in blood, bruises and no memory of the night before. She is alone in a world of drones; people who have had their anger stripped from their personalities. She is the only one left uncured.
This book advertises being a must read if you loved "Divergent". Personally, I didn't enjoy Divergent. There were a lot of flaws, and plot borrowing from other novels. This book however, I loved. I couldn't put this book down.
This book is told from the perspectives of Josephine, her physiatrist Anthony and her boyfriend Luke. As her tale unfolds we learn that Josephine has overcome a horrifying childhood and lonely teenage years trying to piece together what happens to her every September. The doctors don't her seriously. All she has in the world is Luke, a man who appears from nowhere and offers his help in figuring out what horrors fill her past before the full moon arrives on September 26.
I would place the book in YA over Adult, but it does address adult themes with more violence and the occasional sex scene.
There are a few flaws with the book (as there are with any) that I would like to address. The synopsis tells us that anger has been removed from people's minds. Yet in the book there are acts of violence and assault. This can be confusing as you would think anger would be a part of that. I did like that when people were being treated unfairly (like a woman being assaulted in a bar) without anger they aren't sure how to react. Some giggle nervously and space out while others break down in tears and hysteria. It was a component I thought could be worked on for future books, as the author hints that the next emotion to be wiped out is fear.
Regardless of genre and the small flaws, the book was captivating and the ending will leave you demanding more and eager for the next instalment.
'When emotions are erased from the world, creating a civilization of mindless drones, only those with fury can survive'.
On the same day every year, Josephine wakes up covered in blood, bruises and no memory of the night before. She is alone in a world of drones; people who have had their anger stripped from their personalities. She is the only one left uncured.
This book advertises being a must read if you loved "Divergent". Personally, I didn't enjoy Divergent. There were a lot of flaws, and plot borrowing from other novels. This book however, I loved. I couldn't put this book down.
This book is told from the perspectives of Josephine, her physiatrist Anthony and her boyfriend Luke. As her tale unfolds we learn that Josephine has overcome a horrifying childhood and lonely teenage years trying to piece together what happens to her every September. The doctors don't her seriously. All she has in the world is Luke, a man who appears from nowhere and offers his help in figuring out what horrors fill her past before the full moon arrives on September 26.
I would place the book in YA over Adult, but it does address adult themes with more violence and the occasional sex scene.
There are a few flaws with the book (as there are with any) that I would like to address. The synopsis tells us that anger has been removed from people's minds. Yet in the book there are acts of violence and assault. This can be confusing as you would think anger would be a part of that. I did like that when people were being treated unfairly (like a woman being assaulted in a bar) without anger they aren't sure how to react. Some giggle nervously and space out while others break down in tears and hysteria. It was a component I thought could be worked on for future books, as the author hints that the next emotion to be wiped out is fear.
Regardless of genre and the small flaws, the book was captivating and the ending will leave you demanding more and eager for the next instalment.
elephant's review against another edition
4.0
I received this book free to review from Netgalley. It is a short novella, young adult, dystopian story, that is rather good. In this future, most of society has been "cured" of feeling anger, which was supposed to be a good thing, but has left more crime in it's wake as not only do people no longer feel anger, but they no longer feel many other emotions as well, which makes it easier to commit and ignore crimes. Eighteen year old Josephine has not been "cured" for some reason, and once a year she blacks out and, from what she can sort of remember, she thinks she commits violent crimes. In this book, she is in a mental hospital, recalling her past and telling her story of how a man named Luke tried to help her find out what was going on. She begs her doctor to believe her as the day of the blood moon, when she fears that she will go insane and kill people, draws near. I think the book is interesting and well, written, although it is rather short.
amysofta's review
5.0
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley
This book looked interesting as I was browsing through Net Galley last week, so I decided to take a chance and request it for review. I am so glad I did, it is bloody brilliant. Most of the time I am reading simply for escape and nothing to deep or thought provoking. Mainly I pick books that look like they are going to be an entertaining story. This book was all that and more. It made me think. It made me ponder the questions it brought up and lead to some great conversations with my husband, who now wants to read the book.
The authors website describes this as a Romantic Sci-Fi, and Net Galley labels it as Dystopian that should appeal to fans of the Divergent series. Net Galley had lead me to believe this was a YA book, but I think it leans more towards a New Adult or Adult audience, but still enjoyable and appropriate for YA readers. I would classify the book as a Dystopian Sci-Fi, but more heavy on the Sci-Fi. Oh and there is a romance thrown in, but for me it wasn’t what kept me reading.
The story is told from three different perspectives; Josephine, Luke and Anthony’s. Josi (as Luke calls her) is the main focus of the story as we follow the events of her life for about three years. The story jumps back and forth in time, which reminded of The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. We first meet Josi in an institution and start learning her story as she recounts it to her therapist Anthony. For much of the book I can’t make out if this is all true or just the vivid imagination of someone who has been institutionalized. We learn of her life with Luke as they desperately search for answers as to what is going on in Josi’s life and why each year she ends up with missing time and a really bad feeling she has done something horrible.
The world this is set it is as captivating as the characters themselves. We have a society that has decided to alter its people. To remove some emotions, to cure people of them, making people drones as Josi calls it. This is really what got me thinking. The story made me wonder what would that do to us as people. If we remove only negative emotions how does that affect us. After can you really feel love or happiness if we do not have hate and misery. How would people react to situations if they can no longer feel passion or anger. Our feelings make us who we are, if you take them away are we still people. I love how this story asked me these things. And what of the people in charge? Should they have the right to do this to their citizens? This aspect of the story reminded me of The Giver by Lois Lowry.
The ended of course left me with a freaking cliffhanger, it is after all the first in a series or trilogy. I desperately want to know what happens next and will be looking for when book two comes out. I hope you add this one to your to-read list. Really a well done dystopian story that is unlike so many of the others that are popular right now. It is written by an Australian author and a few words are different from what American use, but it isn’t anything you won’t be able to figure out. I also look forward to seeing what else this author has written.
This book looked interesting as I was browsing through Net Galley last week, so I decided to take a chance and request it for review. I am so glad I did, it is bloody brilliant. Most of the time I am reading simply for escape and nothing to deep or thought provoking. Mainly I pick books that look like they are going to be an entertaining story. This book was all that and more. It made me think. It made me ponder the questions it brought up and lead to some great conversations with my husband, who now wants to read the book.
The authors website describes this as a Romantic Sci-Fi, and Net Galley labels it as Dystopian that should appeal to fans of the Divergent series. Net Galley had lead me to believe this was a YA book, but I think it leans more towards a New Adult or Adult audience, but still enjoyable and appropriate for YA readers. I would classify the book as a Dystopian Sci-Fi, but more heavy on the Sci-Fi. Oh and there is a romance thrown in, but for me it wasn’t what kept me reading.
The story is told from three different perspectives; Josephine, Luke and Anthony’s. Josi (as Luke calls her) is the main focus of the story as we follow the events of her life for about three years. The story jumps back and forth in time, which reminded of The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. We first meet Josi in an institution and start learning her story as she recounts it to her therapist Anthony. For much of the book I can’t make out if this is all true or just the vivid imagination of someone who has been institutionalized. We learn of her life with Luke as they desperately search for answers as to what is going on in Josi’s life and why each year she ends up with missing time and a really bad feeling she has done something horrible.
The world this is set it is as captivating as the characters themselves. We have a society that has decided to alter its people. To remove some emotions, to cure people of them, making people drones as Josi calls it. This is really what got me thinking. The story made me wonder what would that do to us as people. If we remove only negative emotions how does that affect us. After can you really feel love or happiness if we do not have hate and misery. How would people react to situations if they can no longer feel passion or anger. Our feelings make us who we are, if you take them away are we still people. I love how this story asked me these things. And what of the people in charge? Should they have the right to do this to their citizens? This aspect of the story reminded me of The Giver by Lois Lowry.
The ended of course left me with a freaking cliffhanger, it is after all the first in a series or trilogy. I desperately want to know what happens next and will be looking for when book two comes out. I hope you add this one to your to-read list. Really a well done dystopian story that is unlike so many of the others that are popular right now. It is written by an Australian author and a few words are different from what American use, but it isn’t anything you won’t be able to figure out. I also look forward to seeing what else this author has written.
themisscaitlin's review
4.0
The concept of this book intrigued me and it did not disappoint. Josephine lives in a world where at 15, teenagers are given "the cure", which takes away the ability to feel anger. But Josephine never got the cure. I liked this book more than I expected. McConaghy did an incredible job showing what a world without anger would be like. I loved the pace of the story. After finishing this book, I felt very connected to the world and the characters. I can't wait to read the next book!