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kim_j_dare's review against another edition
4.0
I feel like a stuffed toy that's been picked up and given a good shake by a really big dog-- a little dizzy and out of sorts. Jack's discovery of the brutal world if Marbury and his attempts to hold onto his sanity as he travels back and forth between worlds make for a very gut-wrenching reading experience. Don't start reading this if you're looking for a light story that doesn't require much thinking. But if you're looking for something that will pick you up and not let go, and characters who will stay with you for a disturbingly long time after you've finished, then this fits the bill. One thing you can count on with [a:Andrew Smith|26810|Andrew Smith|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]-- you'll always get highly original, no-hold-barred storytelling with wonderfully flawed and real characters.
bookwyrm76's review against another edition
3.0
Ok, I got about 1/3 of the way through this book before I gave up and read the last chapter. I thought that knowing what was coming be it good or bad would help me get through the creepier parts in the middle. Keep in mind I LOVE creepy books. Poe is one of my favorite authors. I adored Missing Girl and usually love books that can play with your mind. This one had me beat though. After I read the last chapter i went back and read a bit more, but in the end passed the book on to another fan of freaky sci-fi so i could go on to more on my to read list.
If you liked Missing Girl or Silence of the Lambs, I'd suggest you try this book.
If you liked Missing Girl or Silence of the Lambs, I'd suggest you try this book.
lyntwhit's review against another edition
4.0
Good book. It was more graphic and a much darker novel than I expected. But that was ok. It breaks the mold of other current teen lit I've read recently. I did wonder throughout the book though why it wasn't explained why Jack misses days instead of moments during his subsequent visits to Marbury. Also, if Marbury is so horrible, why on Earth would anyone want to return to it? I wondered about the two new lenses- sounded as if they may link to a 3rd world. Set up for a sequel perhaps?
baloo_is_best_27's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Lots of F bombs
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Vomit, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Rape
danielled75's review against another edition
4.0
I highly enjoyed this book, it was like being on a roller-coaster at night with the lights off.
lattelibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
Well...this was a book I read. I was at first excited to read this, because it looked like something I wouldn't normally read, and I like branching out, but I think if it wasn't for the class I had to read this for, I probably would have trusted my instincts. Not to be that person, but...this book was so clearly written by a man. I'm sure Andrew Smith is a nice person, but this book was so difficult to get through that many of my classmates didn't even bother to finish it.
Of course, that might have been because of the amount of rape and molestation and murder that happens in the first fifty pages. My problem isn't necessarily with those happening in a book--if I had more time, I'd go into my feelings about putting trauma into a book--but my problem is that this trauma seemed to be there simply to be there. It wasn't to show how Jack was coping with what had happened to him, or to show how he has PTSD or other trauma related syndrome. It just...was there. And I got the feeling that what happened with Horvath, his assaulter was supposed to lead to some sort of explanation, possibly one having to do with Marbury (especially since Jack thinks throughout the book that Horvath did something to his brain), but the trail just leads to nowhere. And the airplane scene? I mean...at least the Horvath thing was trying to go somewhere.
However, there were some things I did like about this book. Namely, the switch between first and third preson. There's something about switching so violently between points of view that creates a jarring effect (and that jarring effect is perfect given that Jack so constantly switches between our world and Marbury). I also really loved the friendship between Jack and his best friend (even if it was rife with homophobia..........).
This actually leads me to the romances in this book. I think this book takes place over the course of maybe...two weeks to a month? And yet both of the boys have found some English hottie and have fallen irrevocably in love with them. And vice versa. Which, okay, you're young, you have lots of feelings...except the women in this book are just sortof...there. They aren't even in Marbury? They were just very flat, and I really wanted to know more about them, especially as they've fallen in love hard with Jack, who is not only traumatized but addicted to going to Marbury. That's not easy, yo.
Okay, I've put off the main part of this review for too long. Marbury. What is it? We just don't know. It's an alternate/parallel universe where everyone has doubles (except for the ladies, apparently), and Jack simultaneously knows nothing and everything about it. There's also ghosts? And a war. And huge bugs. And everyone's scrambling and struggling to survive. And also, there's no explanation. Possibly, the explanation lies with Horvath. Probably not, though. I spent the whole book just being like, okay, we're gonna find something out--Horvath totally did something to Jack's brain and maybe Marbury is a coping/dissociation mechanism? Except that doesn't get explained. So maybe Marbury is real? Slightly more possible. But the history within Marbury? I have no idea.
Too much is left to speculation in this book. I recognize that this is a series, and that more will likely be explained in the later books, so if this is something that actually sounds interesting to you, please tell me if anything does actually get explained. I really wanted to like this book. But I just couldn't. Alas.
Review cross-listed here!
Of course, that might have been because of the amount of rape and molestation and murder that happens in the first fifty pages. My problem isn't necessarily with those happening in a book--if I had more time, I'd go into my feelings about putting trauma into a book--but my problem is that this trauma seemed to be there simply to be there. It wasn't to show how Jack was coping with what had happened to him, or to show how he has PTSD or other trauma related syndrome. It just...was there. And I got the feeling that what happened with Horvath, his assaulter was supposed to lead to some sort of explanation, possibly one having to do with Marbury (especially since Jack thinks throughout the book that Horvath did something to his brain), but the trail just leads to nowhere. And the airplane scene? I mean...at least the Horvath thing was trying to go somewhere.
However, there were some things I did like about this book. Namely, the switch between first and third preson. There's something about switching so violently between points of view that creates a jarring effect (and that jarring effect is perfect given that Jack so constantly switches between our world and Marbury). I also really loved the friendship between Jack and his best friend (even if it was rife with homophobia..........).
This actually leads me to the romances in this book. I think this book takes place over the course of maybe...two weeks to a month? And yet both of the boys have found some English hottie and have fallen irrevocably in love with them. And vice versa. Which, okay, you're young, you have lots of feelings...except the women in this book are just sortof...there. They aren't even in Marbury? They were just very flat, and I really wanted to know more about them, especially as they've fallen in love hard with Jack, who is not only traumatized but addicted to going to Marbury. That's not easy, yo.
Okay, I've put off the main part of this review for too long. Marbury. What is it? We just don't know. It's an alternate/parallel universe where everyone has doubles (except for the ladies, apparently), and Jack simultaneously knows nothing and everything about it. There's also ghosts? And a war. And huge bugs. And everyone's scrambling and struggling to survive. And also, there's no explanation. Possibly, the explanation lies with Horvath. Probably not, though. I spent the whole book just being like, okay, we're gonna find something out--Horvath totally did something to Jack's brain and maybe Marbury is a coping/dissociation mechanism? Except that doesn't get explained. So maybe Marbury is real? Slightly more possible. But the history within Marbury? I have no idea.
Too much is left to speculation in this book. I recognize that this is a series, and that more will likely be explained in the later books, so if this is something that actually sounds interesting to you, please tell me if anything does actually get explained. I really wanted to like this book. But I just couldn't. Alas.
Review cross-listed here!
ayaktruk's review against another edition
4.0
Picked this up out of the YA section at our local library. The cover and jacket description was enough to take it home.
Threw me for a loop. Not what I expected. Genre is hard to pin down, which is what really intrigued me about this story.
Ultimately, very satisfying not-just-a-setup-for-a-sequel ending.
Gruesome and violent at times. The F-bomb on just about every single page, which didn't bother me a bit, however due to the content and language, I don't think I'd let my 11-year old read it just yet. Perhaps when she's 13.
Parallel universe stories tend to suck me in, so keep that in mind in my 4-star rating.
Threw me for a loop. Not what I expected. Genre is hard to pin down, which is what really intrigued me about this story.
Ultimately, very satisfying not-just-a-setup-for-a-sequel ending.
Gruesome and violent at times. The F-bomb on just about every single page, which didn't bother me a bit, however due to the content and language, I don't think I'd let my 11-year old read it just yet. Perhaps when she's 13.
Parallel universe stories tend to suck me in, so keep that in mind in my 4-star rating.
kiersomething's review against another edition
4.0
Utterly strange and a little bit heartbreaking, this book might not be for everyone. Especially not for people who are heavy empathizers. But it's a great read, you find yourself needing to go back to the book almost as badly as Jack needs to go back to Marbury. Not that that's always a good thing.