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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
The most recent of my re-delvings into YA scifi. I quite enjoyed this one! I'm a sucker for good world-building, and I was intrigued by the idea of the current and how it affected each society differently. I got a ridiculous amount of glee out of the fact that these kids aren't gorgeous supermodels (unlike, it seems, the majority of YA, which spends an eon describing everyone's physical appearance in hyperbolic terms).
I was blissfully unaware of the controversy surrounding the book until after finishing it: racist overtones (I genuinely did not pick up on this), glorification of self-harm (never occurred to me to view it as such, especially given plenty of Earth cultures' history of marking for the dead), not condemning rape culture (in the sense that Cyra's gift is implied to be in some way her fault, so I can somewhat see their point there, although other characters refute this), and glorifying or downplaying those who suffer from chronic pain (again, would not have occurred to me, although perhaps because I'm not a chronic pain sufferer). It's very possible I'm just an oblivious reader, but I do think it's also possible some of the controversy may be an over-reaction. All of this was not helped by the scandal that the publisher paid for a ridiculous number of reviews, which Goodreads doesn't permit.
I was blissfully unaware of the controversy surrounding the book until after finishing it: racist overtones (I genuinely did not pick up on this), glorification of self-harm (never occurred to me to view it as such, especially given plenty of Earth cultures' history of marking for the dead), not condemning rape culture (in the sense that Cyra's gift is implied to be in some way her fault, so I can somewhat see their point there, although other characters refute this), and glorifying or downplaying those who suffer from chronic pain (again, would not have occurred to me, although perhaps because I'm not a chronic pain sufferer). It's very possible I'm just an oblivious reader, but I do think it's also possible some of the controversy may be an over-reaction. All of this was not helped by the scandal that the publisher paid for a ridiculous number of reviews, which Goodreads doesn't permit.
dark
emotional
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 think my favorite part of this book is Roth’s dedication to creating a new galaxy for her characters to live in while maintaining characters who were relatable and fallible. I enjoyed the book right up until the end—I felt like it was too much of a cliff-hanger and needed a little more conclusion; I just felt like there wasn’t really any storyline that got completely concluded in this novel. Still, I appreciated the characters and their development as well as the constant motif of survival and what that means to different people.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
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:
Yes
I know that a lot of people thought that this book made it seem like it had stereotypes of white people and black people, but I disagreed. Both of the planets had mixed races and the book never said that the harsher planet was made up of darker skinned people, and the softer planet was made up of white people.
this book.... this book.... my emotions...and how can it just end? ㅠ.ㅠ i need the next book!
I need to start this book again just so I can finally put my finger on the pulse of why it wasn't working out for me, but tbh life is too short for me to go back to boring books
adventurous
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:
Yes
The beginning was almost too slow and I almost gave it up. I got about halfway through the book and it finally started to pick up in pace. The ending was slightly anticlimactic and left me with more questions than answers. I want to know the answers to these questions so I will definitely be reading book two. Until then, I enjoyed this book more by the end than I did in the beginning and that is enough. Cyra was not my favorite character but Akos was really the character that I was most surprised by his transformation. I look forward to seeing these characters development throughout the forth coming series.
I have a hard time with fantasy sometimes because I struggle with envisioning their new planets and galaxies, but I still LOVED the plot and the characters!!
Second read: Getting ready to read the sequel so I had to re-read. The second read made it easier to envision the planets and the languages.
Second read: Getting ready to read the sequel so I had to re-read. The second read made it easier to envision the planets and the languages.