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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
Sooooo slow. Roth uses way to much “made up” space language that it got so confusing. My copy included a glossary but it was frustrating having to constantly flip to the back page. A handful of words fine but she try’s to give us an entire fictional language. I have to look up how to pronounce things as well, finally I just gave up and listened to an audiobook. Even at 2.5 speed it seemed to take forever to get anywhere. It was well passed 300 pages before anything really exciting happened. I want to know what happens to the characters in the next book but I think I’ll just read the wiki page instead.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book, and I expected to. The tension and violence and world building was excellent. Roth is certainly a master. And man, the twists in this, especially at the end.
Can't wait to read book two.
5 stars!
Can't wait to read book two.
5 stars!
I love the characters, i love the new world imaginations, but the storyline is somewhat... Boring.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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:
Complicated
DNF at page 22.
Let's get a few things straight. Roth desperately, painfully, with every ounce of her being, wants to be Suzanne Collins. She so badly wants to write the next Hunger Games but Divergent was just not good enough, so she's trying again with this.
There's a simple reason for this: Collins critiques capitalism and our current world. The Capital (lolol could she be more obvious) is full of the CEOs and other industrialists we now hate. The districts are working class, having to sell their labour to an exploitation system to survive.
Roth's books lack all of this. It wants to be some grand retelling of society but it fails because it considers people and not systems to be the problem.
So let's get to this book. I tried. I tried three times. It was just boring and slow and plodding. I was surprised at myself because I both read and write fantasy with POC and usually will read anything with POC in it.
Then I started reading the reviews and realized my instinctual reaction has a reason: many of the reviewers who weren't paid and who have a conscience point out racism in the books.
I'm sorry but I'm simply not here for some light skinned heros while dark skinned people are turned into villains. I am most def not here for books which refer to dark skinned people's languages as guttaral vs the romantic nature of light skinned people's languages.
Like, you're basically reproducing every racist trope about culture out there.
This book has also brought out all the white women who peddle on their innocence on YouTube and get paid alot to lie about books. It shows how corrupt they are, how white this industry still is-both in publishing and reviewing- and how the rise of influencer-everything is disgusting.
Just remember that most of the good reviews were paid for by the publisher. How different is this to buying bulk to get on a bestsellers list?
Do yourself a favour and go read SA Chakraborty or NK Jemison. Roth and her ilk are why we ask that white people don't write about us, cos they consistently write about us in terribly racist ways.
Let's get a few things straight. Roth desperately, painfully, with every ounce of her being, wants to be Suzanne Collins. She so badly wants to write the next Hunger Games but Divergent was just not good enough, so she's trying again with this.
There's a simple reason for this: Collins critiques capitalism and our current world. The Capital (lolol could she be more obvious) is full of the CEOs and other industrialists we now hate. The districts are working class, having to sell their labour to an exploitation system to survive.
Roth's books lack all of this. It wants to be some grand retelling of society but it fails because it considers people and not systems to be the problem.
So let's get to this book. I tried. I tried three times. It was just boring and slow and plodding. I was surprised at myself because I both read and write fantasy with POC and usually will read anything with POC in it.
Then I started reading the reviews and realized my instinctual reaction has a reason: many of the reviewers who weren't paid and who have a conscience point out racism in the books.
I'm sorry but I'm simply not here for some light skinned heros while dark skinned people are turned into villains. I am most def not here for books which refer to dark skinned people's languages as guttaral vs the romantic nature of light skinned people's languages.
Like, you're basically reproducing every racist trope about culture out there.
This book has also brought out all the white women who peddle on their innocence on YouTube and get paid alot to lie about books. It shows how corrupt they are, how white this industry still is-both in publishing and reviewing- and how the rise of influencer-everything is disgusting.
Just remember that most of the good reviews were paid for by the publisher. How different is this to buying bulk to get on a bestsellers list?
Do yourself a favour and go read SA Chakraborty or NK Jemison. Roth and her ilk are why we ask that white people don't write about us, cos they consistently write about us in terribly racist ways.
This is a really complex world, and I enjoyed learning about all the aspects of it. I wasn't aware of the controversy surrounding this book when I started reading, but I acknowledge the elements of racism, colonialism, and self-harm in this book. There is a particularly egregious tie to scalping which is 100% not OK. With these things in mind, I did enjoy the story overall, and thought (although a little tired) the trope of villain-turned-renegade hero was a good one. I actually enjoyed the slower pace, which allowed for true character development and time for Akos to live in the Shotet world and slowly have some realizations about supposed villains. The ending of this book seemed very abrupt and featured the most slowly-delivered cliffhangers known to humanity, but I am interested in seeing some of these storylines wrapped up in the next book.
Original and complete/full review posted on Reading Addict .
love. love. love. this book was amazing, dare I say I enjoyed a little more than Divergent.