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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
tense
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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Absolutely fantastic read! Shusterman builds a fantastic world that feels very much alive and expansive, full of interesting characters and a challenging view of morality. This book takes a hard look at finding meaning in the meaningless, and the realities of a life without stakes and what that would look like. Compulsively readable and a series I will definitely finish. I do love that the ending of the story doesn’t leave a cliffhanger but rather a more expanded version of the same world, a very satisfying conclusion.
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Respectfully, I do not read science or dystopian fiction at all. But this was great. I loved the plot and the storyline, and Neal Shusterman delivered it well. I really could feel the tension while reading it and Rown and Citra were so different yet alike in the best way possible. The storyline got confusing at times which is why it's not a 5 star read. I couldn't understand their motives to do the specific things they did in the book, but maybe it's because I read it too fast. Anyway, go read it. Give it a try. I took a leap of faith to decide to read a science fiction book, but it was worth it. Seriously, go give this book a chance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder
I honestly wasn't expecting much from this book, but I really liked it. How does Neal Shusterman come up with these weird but fascinating book ideas??
Is it a 3.5 or is it a solid 4? Without half stars as an option on Goodreads, who can know? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Why is it possible to scrape someone together after they jump off of a 190 storey building, but not put together someone after they burn? Maybe it's the blood. Not that this is addressed in any way. Most of the world is not...really addressed. I found myself questioning how this dystopian future actually works. A general "The Internet God Has It Covered" doesn't quite do it. There are vague references to how it works, but they're skipped over for the morality plot.
Not necessarily a bad thing, but...the morality plot is very heavy handed. Enjoy your black and white morality, kids. I've come to expect gray from my YA. Shusterman is really very heavy handed and very obvious with his morals and standings. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that you'll only get one thought when you're reading.
But hey, at least it's a delightfully fun and fast read, hard to put down, with compelling characters and some zingy lines.
It's REALLY dark and really violent. Hideously so. I wonder about the movie they're working on, and predict a lot of shaky cam to avoid the R rating it likely deserves. Good luck with that one, film director.
And the romance does feel a bit contrived, but they're like 16 so I can give it a pass. Whatever. Even though they really only knew each other for a few months and then basically never spoke to each other again, whatever. It's YA. Romance is a necessary staple, apparently.
Team Faraday 4eva.
Why is it possible to scrape someone together after they jump off of a 190 storey building, but not put together someone after they burn? Maybe it's the blood. Not that this is addressed in any way. Most of the world is not...really addressed. I found myself questioning how this dystopian future actually works. A general "The Internet God Has It Covered" doesn't quite do it. There are vague references to how it works, but they're skipped over for the morality plot.
Not necessarily a bad thing, but...the morality plot is very heavy handed. Enjoy your black and white morality, kids. I've come to expect gray from my YA. Shusterman is really very heavy handed and very obvious with his morals and standings. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that you'll only get one thought when you're reading.
But hey, at least it's a delightfully fun and fast read, hard to put down, with compelling characters and some zingy lines.
It's REALLY dark and really violent. Hideously so. I wonder about the movie they're working on, and predict a lot of shaky cam to avoid the R rating it likely deserves. Good luck with that one, film director.
And the romance does feel a bit contrived, but they're like 16 so I can give it a pass. Whatever. Even though they really only knew each other for a few months and then basically never spoke to each other again, whatever. It's YA. Romance is a necessary staple, apparently.
Team Faraday 4eva.
First half of book was meh, second half was 4/5. Overall it was okay. Will probably read the second book
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced