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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
I REALLY liked the first half of this. Then it took a slightly weird turn, and left me hanging with a very abrupt ending. I enjoyed it enough that I just requested that my library system buy book 2 though, because I need to know what happens!
An interesting dystopian concept...takes the reality TV shows of today to an extreme, and adds on some not-yet-developed medical technology.
It was a different type of the same story yet still interesting for awhile. However the ending was a disaster in my opinion with the guardianship and all the nonsense that happened. I would have much rather the author go into some of the concepts or anything else. Three stars might be strong but I was enjoying it for awhile.
mysterious
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
FIRST THOUGHTS:
I'm a sucker for a good story premise, and THE VAULT OF DREAMERS has a really interesting one. However, I'm not overly fond of any of the characters in it, nor am I sure exactly how I feel about the ending. I'm honestly quite conflicted. But I suppose the bottom line is I liked it enough to read it in a day, though I feel there's room for improvement too.
REVIEW:
(Originally posted on Alexa Loves Books)
The Vault of Dreamers possesses a very important quality: a strong premise. The Forge School is a well-known school for the arts, where students agree to have their lives filmed for public consumption. Rosie Sinclair is a first year student who thwarts the routines forced upon students, and discovers that there's something more happening in this place - something that could prove to be life-threatening.
Doesn't that sound like a haunting premise? And, truth be told, I was completely sucked in from the start. Not only did I have the side stories of day to day life as a student at this school, but I also had to keep up with Rosie's discoveries and subsequent actions. I constantly felt like I was shadowing Rosie for a good two thirds of The Vault of Dreamers, eager to discover what truth really lay beneath the surface here. However, the way things wrap up in the last third left me unsettled and troubled, and it certainly affected how I felt about the novel overall. Add to that the fact that I just didn't feel particularly strongly about any of the characters (and their relationships with one another), and it really changed the trajectory this novel had been following for me.
The bottom line is this: I still found myself curious enough to finish read The Vault of Dreamers in one day. Like I said, it's got an interesting premise with a mystery attached that will have you curious to see what the truth really is. But because the characters felt flat, and because I felt so conflicted by the end, this novel wound up being merely an okay read.
I'm a sucker for a good story premise, and THE VAULT OF DREAMERS has a really interesting one. However, I'm not overly fond of any of the characters in it, nor am I sure exactly how I feel about the ending. I'm honestly quite conflicted. But I suppose the bottom line is I liked it enough to read it in a day, though I feel there's room for improvement too.
REVIEW:
(Originally posted on Alexa Loves Books)
The Vault of Dreamers possesses a very important quality: a strong premise. The Forge School is a well-known school for the arts, where students agree to have their lives filmed for public consumption. Rosie Sinclair is a first year student who thwarts the routines forced upon students, and discovers that there's something more happening in this place - something that could prove to be life-threatening.
Doesn't that sound like a haunting premise? And, truth be told, I was completely sucked in from the start. Not only did I have the side stories of day to day life as a student at this school, but I also had to keep up with Rosie's discoveries and subsequent actions. I constantly felt like I was shadowing Rosie for a good two thirds of The Vault of Dreamers, eager to discover what truth really lay beneath the surface here. However, the way things wrap up in the last third left me unsettled and troubled, and it certainly affected how I felt about the novel overall. Add to that the fact that I just didn't feel particularly strongly about any of the characters (and their relationships with one another), and it really changed the trajectory this novel had been following for me.
The bottom line is this: I still found myself curious enough to finish read The Vault of Dreamers in one day. Like I said, it's got an interesting premise with a mystery attached that will have you curious to see what the truth really is. But because the characters felt flat, and because I felt so conflicted by the end, this novel wound up being merely an okay read.
What the crappity crap crap?
I liked it - I was genuinely enjoying this book. It was a little confusing, but that was cool, it was a twisty mystery with a potentially unreliable narrator and I was down with that.
Until the end.
Betrayed. Why did I spend time caring about these characters (Linus! Burnham! Otis! The Dean's creepy butt!) and this mystery just to majorly cop the fuck out?
A sequel MIGHT soothe my ruffled feathers, but I'm still calling cheap trickery and cheap writing. Feh.
I liked it - I was genuinely enjoying this book. It was a little confusing, but that was cool, it was a twisty mystery with a potentially unreliable narrator and I was down with that.
Until the end.
Betrayed. Why did I spend time caring about these characters (Linus! Burnham! Otis! The Dean's creepy butt!) and this mystery just to majorly cop the fuck out?
A sequel MIGHT soothe my ruffled feathers, but I'm still calling cheap trickery and cheap writing. Feh.
I'm so up in the air as to what I think about this. I need to read the next book because I'm just like left with all these questions. I love the setting because the big brother futuristic school feel makes everything just creepy because you're always being watched. You'd think there be no secrets because of all the cameras but Dean Berg is the creepiest and you clearly don't really know what is happening in this school and the ending like what even happens to Rosie?
SPOILERS:
I'm just like either everything's a dream or she's going crazy from the sleeping pills and whatever else their injecting this kids with. I just don't even know!
SPOILERS:
I'm just like either everything's a dream or she's going crazy from the sleeping pills and whatever else their injecting this kids with. I just don't even know!
I read most of it, but just skimmed the ending. The descriptions, dialogue, characters, everything ruined this for me. It had a good idea, but only ended up being a book I would not want to pick up ever again.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me a copy in exchange of an honest book review.
“The Forge School was an elite arts academy, while the Forge Show was the reality show that tracked and broadcasted the activity of each individual student at the school. It was a smart, interactive system. Viewers at home controlled who they watched by selecting their favorite students’ feeds. The feedback of their viewing choices, in turn, determined student blip ranks.”
Rosie Sinclair was on The Forge. But unfortunately, Rosie's ranking wasn't that good. Out of 100 incoming sophomore students, 50 will be cut. The top 50 will remain and the bottom 50 will have to say goodbye. And Rosie's ranking was 93.
It was a reality show. First of all, it is my first time to read something like this. And it really didn’t caught my interest. I don’t love the book. This is definitely not a page turner and it is not something special.
The story is written on Rosie’s POV. The beginning of the story was definitely not a captivating one. Even if the next chapters aren’t. The story just begun with a girl seeking out, but for me, that was okay, because it gives justice to the mystery of the book and how curious Rosie Sinclair really was. But what I really hate was what happened next. And the next. It has a slow phase and it really took me a long time reading this book because it didn’t made me wanting for more.
I basically don’t like the flow of the story. Not until I reached the last chapters.
But there are also some certain points which I really liked the most in this book:
Characters First of all, is the characters. YES! The characters. The characters of this book were not really perfect, they are not like those who you can always see on some fictional books. The characters of this books are flawed especially Rosie, and Linus which made the story more appealing.
Mystery I really don’t like mysteries but this one is really great! It doesn’t even need any action, or suspence anymore because the mystery itself of the book is already enough! It is mild but I love reading Rosie’s thoughts while doing something so dangerous for her student’s life at The Forge. The mystery of this book never failed to make me feel nervous all the freaking time whenever our heroine is seeking out.
Ending The ending! Ugh I really hate it but love it at the same time! All the boring and dull pages of the book when you already reached the climax or at least the last 15 chapters will be put aside! Seriously, I already forgot how plain and dull this story was! The ending made me want to read the book 2 too!
Psychological Aspect I love the twist of the story. I love how O’Brien made it into something which relates to some psychological aspects - something like that. I love how she made me amazed by the dreams, the imaginations, and the experimenting she was talking about. That was nice and not cliché for me.
3 of 5 stars
“The Forge School was an elite arts academy, while the Forge Show was the reality show that tracked and broadcasted the activity of each individual student at the school. It was a smart, interactive system. Viewers at home controlled who they watched by selecting their favorite students’ feeds. The feedback of their viewing choices, in turn, determined student blip ranks.”
Rosie Sinclair was on The Forge. But unfortunately, Rosie's ranking wasn't that good. Out of 100 incoming sophomore students, 50 will be cut. The top 50 will remain and the bottom 50 will have to say goodbye. And Rosie's ranking was 93.
It was a reality show. First of all, it is my first time to read something like this. And it really didn’t caught my interest. I don’t love the book. This is definitely not a page turner and it is not something special.
The story is written on Rosie’s POV. The beginning of the story was definitely not a captivating one. Even if the next chapters aren’t. The story just begun with a girl seeking out, but for me, that was okay, because it gives justice to the mystery of the book and how curious Rosie Sinclair really was. But what I really hate was what happened next. And the next. It has a slow phase and it really took me a long time reading this book because it didn’t made me wanting for more.
I basically don’t like the flow of the story. Not until I reached the last chapters.
But there are also some certain points which I really liked the most in this book:
Characters First of all, is the characters. YES! The characters. The characters of this book were not really perfect, they are not like those who you can always see on some fictional books. The characters of this books are flawed especially Rosie, and Linus which made the story more appealing.
Mystery I really don’t like mysteries but this one is really great! It doesn’t even need any action, or suspence anymore because the mystery itself of the book is already enough! It is mild but I love reading Rosie’s thoughts while doing something so dangerous for her student’s life at The Forge. The mystery of this book never failed to make me feel nervous all the freaking time whenever our heroine is seeking out.
Ending The ending! Ugh I really hate it but love it at the same time! All the boring and dull pages of the book when you already reached the climax or at least the last 15 chapters will be put aside! Seriously, I already forgot how plain and dull this story was! The ending made me want to read the book 2 too!
Psychological Aspect I love the twist of the story. I love how O’Brien made it into something which relates to some psychological aspects - something like that. I love how she made me amazed by the dreams, the imaginations, and the experimenting she was talking about. That was nice and not cliché for me.
3 of 5 stars
This book was equal parts strange, boring, intriguing, and ridiculous. I felt like it was all over the place and never really fully developed. The last 100 pages or so seemed to contain all the action but at the same time they too were all over the place and the ending was so annoying because of all the questions I'm left with! I assume there will be a sequel so we'll see what happens with that.