Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
3.5 Stars. I really liked this but felt frustrated with the ending. I wanted a happy ending where the problems are all solved but after thinking about it for a second I realized that this was their reality. It ended the best possible way without being cheesy. I would like to read another novel, perhaps a sequel to this about what happens when the ship lands.
Don't let the science fiction category scare you if you aren't into that. It's all about the future, space travel and advances in technology and medicine. No strange space creatures - at least not yet!
Anyway, a very interesting premise to a unique book, but not one for young readers in my opinion. It has swearing with made-up words, so that didn't bother me. But, there were some mature themes, and a lot of sex in it in a 'dystopian society, we need to control the population and prevent in-breeding' sort of way. So for that reason I would recommend it for mature teens and adults.
Pretty unpredictable with some big twists. But, if you don't like to wait for sequels, then don't read this one until the others come out, because it's not the end of the story. I was happy to come across something so unique, and am curious to see what happens next.
Anyway, a very interesting premise to a unique book, but not one for young readers in my opinion. It has swearing with made-up words, so that didn't bother me. But, there were some mature themes, and a lot of sex in it in a 'dystopian society, we need to control the population and prevent in-breeding' sort of way. So for that reason I would recommend it for mature teens and adults.
Pretty unpredictable with some big twists. But, if you don't like to wait for sequels, then don't read this one until the others come out, because it's not the end of the story. I was happy to come across something so unique, and am curious to see what happens next.
So far, I am intrigued. The author is understandably evasive, avoiding telling us everything by viewing the story through the eyes of two characters who are not fully aware of what is going on. Lets hope this does not disappoint.
Follow-up:
Good book, great twist. I will say that the choice on the part of the author to allow one of the character to omit a significant piece of information is unique and a choice I don't entirely like, but I understand the reason for it. I suspect that this decision could be drawn back to a overall characteristic of humanity; when we do something fundamentally wrong, sometimes we won't even admit it to ourselves.
Follow-up:
Good book, great twist. I will say that the choice on the part of the author to allow one of the character to omit a significant piece of information is unique and a choice I don't entirely like, but I understand the reason for it. I suspect that this decision could be drawn back to a overall characteristic of humanity; when we do something fundamentally wrong, sometimes we won't even admit it to ourselves.
Good, but the ending was too abrupt for me. Was hoping for another book to tie up the loose ends. We'll see.
How did this book's presence elude me??? Phenomenal mystery/romance/science fiction/dystopia (of sorts) story of 16-year old Amy, who along with her parents, is cryogenically frozen aboard a spaceship called Godspeed, for the purpose of colonizing another Earth 300 years in the future. The first few pages of her experiences of being frozen were incredible...The novel then changes its perspective to those of the leader and potential leader of the ship, 250 years into the future. We are introduced to Elder, the leader-in-waiting-who is discovering that the life aboard Godspeed is not what he thought. Since its journey began, the population on the ship has been modified to fit an order decided by Eldest. No one complains or opposes the lifestyle imposed upon them. When Amy's pod is mysteriously opened and she awakens too early, she throws the daily existence on Godspeed out of balance. Amy and Elder are drawn to each other, not only because of their independent thinking and curiosity, but because more pods are being opened and people are dying. Simply excellent; I am onto the next book immediately!
Really, don't let the cover fool you: I wanted to dismiss this as nothing more than a cheesy science fiction teen romance after seeing the cover, but after some solid reviews I gave it a shot and discovered the romance is no more present than in most novels. Rather, this is solid mix of science fiction drama, involving cryogenic freezing and a 300 journey to a planet believed capable of supporting human life, and a dystopia as the people who have been on the ship for all those years have developed into quite a different society.
The concepts in here were pretty neat, although I wasn't impressed by the decision to have dual narrators. It rarely works to have two characters telling the story in first person point-of-view with their events overlapping so much, and this was pretty iffy in spots as a result. Elder's POV, especially, was pretty weak--I didn't have any problems with Amy's, but his got super sappy and whiny in places.
The plot itself has some very predictable twists right from the beginning,
I'm definitely looking forward to the next book to see if they can overcome the problems that Godspeed is suffering, and I really hope we get to see what happens planet-side.
The concepts in here were pretty neat, although I wasn't impressed by the decision to have dual narrators. It rarely works to have two characters telling the story in first person point-of-view with their events overlapping so much, and this was pretty iffy in spots as a result. Elder's POV, especially, was pretty weak--I didn't have any problems with Amy's, but his got super sappy and whiny in places.
The plot itself has some very predictable twists right from the beginning,
Spoiler
with only the twist of Elder being the one who removed Amy being a surprise. But, this was a bit disappointing because after reading so much from his POV, it was pretty aggravating that he never once would think about the fact he'd nearly killed her until the very, very end of the book. It definitely could have been handled better.I'm definitely looking forward to the next book to see if they can overcome the problems that Godspeed is suffering, and I really hope we get to see what happens planet-side.
Really enjoyed the book. I am hopeful for their future and I really like Amy and Elder.
I liked the idea of this book. WallE and The Giver, maybe? The self-sufficient ship moving to another planet idea is super exciting. The execution was fine. I sort of feel like the characters are a little flat. Hmmm.
3.5. Characters are compelling/both narrators have clear voices (this fact may have held more sway over me as I read the narrative mishmash that was "Allegiant" not that long ago)/Solid YA rec for readers who are sick of traditional dystopias (This time, we're in space!). HS kids who liked The Giver may be into this as a more grown-up/tragic riff on the same themes. I liked this better than Kass Morgan's "The 100" which is also a multi-narrator space-dystopia.