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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a fascinating read. A super interesting concept and really well executed as well. It takes complicated ideas about the human condition and survival instincts and makes them easy to read and understand.
Yet another half-star rating. This is 2.5 rounding down to two stars for reasons I'll discuss. When I saw this book, I thought it was going to be a perfect read. It takes a very real and timely subject and gives it the worst-case-scenario treatment. But maybe the problem is that it got too extreme, or focused too much on one story.
The book mainly stays with this one group, though now and then it gives snapshots of other people and events going on. But we never cut back to those snapshots. So the family stranded at the airport? We never hear from them again, or the reporter taking a helicopter without her studio's permission. We do get backhanded references to a few of the snapshots, but for the most part the stories are there and gone without ever coming back. I couldn't help thinking how much better the book would've been if it were structured like World War Z. We did get to see a lot of different perspectives and people in that book, and had a better, more full picture of what was going on and how people were reacting to it.
I feel like the plot went to the extreme way too quickly. Now, I've been through a hurricane so I know how quickly water and gas can run out when people are stockpiling/evacuating, but the way they acted on the first day was still insane and a bit unrealistic. Also, some of the characters were pretty stupid. Like how BOTH of Alyssa and Garrett's parents left to get water. That was clearly just to force the kids to be on their own. Or Alyssa telling the adults she had water with seemingly no plan. Again, it felt like just a plot device. It was like the authors were trying to recreate the hysteria of a zombie apocalypse, except it was just a water shortage. They even had "water zombies". If you want to do a zombie apocalypse, fine, but that really didn't fit in with this scenario.
By far my favorite character was Henry. Alyssa was your boring good girl forced to become hardened by the cruelties of humanity, her neighbor was the odd one, Jacqui was the token badass, while Garrett and Henry were both enjoyable. I like how proactive and observant Garrett was, and I love how unapologetically self-serving Henry was. He reminded me a lot of Sinclair from Bioshock 2. The only good part about the ending was showing what Henry did. It was really disturbing, though, how quickly the characters turned to violence and murder. And what a not-surprise that Alyssa gets creeped on by gross guys and there was a hint of a possible rape threat, only to be saved by Kleston. Can we please stop writing female characters into that situation?
I guess I should discuss the romance, what little there is. While I'm glad it wasn't a huge focus, I have to wonder why it's there at all. It adds nothing to the story or the characters. It feels a little too contrived that the next door neighbor happens to have a crush on Alyssa, who happens to be pretty enough to catch the eye of apparently every guy they come across. That part could've been left out and absolutely nothing would've changed.
The main reason I docked a star was the ending. To not spoil it too much, let's just say it's really, REALLY disappointing and a little too neat. And there's absolutely no explanation as to how it got to that point. There's just a time skip and a "where are they now" sort of thing. Which sucks, considering all that happened in the rest of the novel. Actually, the ending kind of makes you wonder what the hell the point of the book even was.
I can sort of see some of these things happening in real life, but I feel like it got extreme way too quickly and too unbelievably. I would've liked more focus on other people and places, but I'm so glad Henry was there. Still worth a read so people will take water shortages and droughts more seriously.
The book mainly stays with this one group, though now and then it gives snapshots of other people and events going on. But we never cut back to those snapshots. So the family stranded at the airport? We never hear from them again, or the reporter taking a helicopter without her studio's permission. We do get backhanded references to a few of the snapshots, but for the most part the stories are there and gone without ever coming back. I couldn't help thinking how much better the book would've been if it were structured like World War Z. We did get to see a lot of different perspectives and people in that book, and had a better, more full picture of what was going on and how people were reacting to it.
I feel like the plot went to the extreme way too quickly. Now, I've been through a hurricane so I know how quickly water and gas can run out when people are stockpiling/evacuating, but the way they acted on the first day was still insane and a bit unrealistic. Also, some of the characters were pretty stupid. Like how BOTH of Alyssa and Garrett's parents left to get water. That was clearly just to force the kids to be on their own. Or Alyssa telling the adults she had water with seemingly no plan. Again, it felt like just a plot device. It was like the authors were trying to recreate the hysteria of a zombie apocalypse, except it was just a water shortage. They even had "water zombies". If you want to do a zombie apocalypse, fine, but that really didn't fit in with this scenario.
By far my favorite character was Henry. Alyssa was your boring good girl forced to become hardened by the cruelties of humanity, her neighbor was the odd one, Jacqui was the token badass, while Garrett and Henry were both enjoyable. I like how proactive and observant Garrett was, and I love how unapologetically self-serving Henry was. He reminded me a lot of Sinclair from Bioshock 2. The only good part about the ending was showing what Henry did. It was really disturbing, though, how quickly the characters turned to violence and murder. And what a not-surprise that Alyssa gets creeped on by gross guys and there was a hint of a possible rape threat, only to be saved by Kleston. Can we please stop writing female characters into that situation?
I guess I should discuss the romance, what little there is. While I'm glad it wasn't a huge focus, I have to wonder why it's there at all. It adds nothing to the story or the characters. It feels a little too contrived that the next door neighbor happens to have a crush on Alyssa, who happens to be pretty enough to catch the eye of apparently every guy they come across. That part could've been left out and absolutely nothing would've changed.
The main reason I docked a star was the ending. To not spoil it too much, let's just say it's really, REALLY disappointing and a little too neat. And there's absolutely no explanation as to how it got to that point. There's just a time skip and a "where are they now" sort of thing. Which sucks, considering all that happened in the rest of the novel. Actually, the ending kind of makes you wonder what the hell the point of the book even was.
I can sort of see some of these things happening in real life, but I feel like it got extreme way too quickly and too unbelievably. I would've liked more focus on other people and places, but I'm so glad Henry was there. Still worth a read so people will take water shortages and droughts more seriously.
Although I didn’t enjoy this book as much as Scythe, I really enjoy Shusterman’s writing. I am happy to add it to my choice reading selections for my students next year.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Loved the premise... didn't love the ever-horrible-disaster-bad that continued to happen and happen AND HAPPEN to the teens.
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
była po prostu spoko, nic nadzwyczajnego, ale myślę że podejmuje ważny temat, którym jest co może doprowadzić bezsensowne zużywanie wody.
adventurous
medium-paced