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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
After a wonderful tour of Macmillan Children’s office at the Flatiron building, we were given advance reader’s editions of coming books. I received The Vault of Dreamers by Caragh M. O’Brien and started reading it on the plane home. And I couldn’t put it down.
O’Brien welcomes you into the futuristic world of Rosie Sinclair. It’s year 2066 and whenever Rosie is awake, the cameras are rolling. She attends Forge, an elite school for the artistically talented, and the only way to ensure her place is to win the support of viewers. Her feed runs 12 hours a day, every day. She’s never truly alone; someone is always watching.
At Forge, students’ value is calculated by their blip rating. The morning we meet Rosie, the school is preparing to cut her class size in half, sending home the 50 lowest-ranked students. Rosie sits at number 93. Every move she makes must be calculated and pristine. She must stop being the shy, introverted student in order to stay at Forge.
When Rosie and the other students are off camera, they are sleeping. At 6p.m. every night, students are shuffled to their dormitories and given pills to make them sleep for a solid 12 hours.
But what happens when Rosie decides to skip her pills and stay awake?
A cross between The Hunger Games and The Giver, the world unravels as Rosie digs deeper into the truth behind Forge. Like Suzanne Collins, O’Brien takes reality television to the extreme. The mind is free to roam but the body is trapped by the confines of the cameras. Every student at Forge is acting for the audience. But who do they become when their main purpose is to provide entertainment, each move ranked? Like Lois Lowry, O’Brien creates a place that seems perfect but is teaming with secrets. What happens when the cameras aren’t rolling? When they are asleep? Rosie is determined to find out.
The ending surprised me and promised a sequel, Rosie’s fate left unanswered. That just leaves me with one question. What’s really happening at Forge? Check it out for yourself, available starting September 16th!
O’Brien welcomes you into the futuristic world of Rosie Sinclair. It’s year 2066 and whenever Rosie is awake, the cameras are rolling. She attends Forge, an elite school for the artistically talented, and the only way to ensure her place is to win the support of viewers. Her feed runs 12 hours a day, every day. She’s never truly alone; someone is always watching.
At Forge, students’ value is calculated by their blip rating. The morning we meet Rosie, the school is preparing to cut her class size in half, sending home the 50 lowest-ranked students. Rosie sits at number 93. Every move she makes must be calculated and pristine. She must stop being the shy, introverted student in order to stay at Forge.
When Rosie and the other students are off camera, they are sleeping. At 6p.m. every night, students are shuffled to their dormitories and given pills to make them sleep for a solid 12 hours.
But what happens when Rosie decides to skip her pills and stay awake?
A cross between The Hunger Games and The Giver, the world unravels as Rosie digs deeper into the truth behind Forge. Like Suzanne Collins, O’Brien takes reality television to the extreme. The mind is free to roam but the body is trapped by the confines of the cameras. Every student at Forge is acting for the audience. But who do they become when their main purpose is to provide entertainment, each move ranked? Like Lois Lowry, O’Brien creates a place that seems perfect but is teaming with secrets. What happens when the cameras aren’t rolling? When they are asleep? Rosie is determined to find out.
The ending surprised me and promised a sequel, Rosie’s fate left unanswered. That just leaves me with one question. What’s really happening at Forge? Check it out for yourself, available starting September 16th!
Featured in a column I wrote for School Library Journal, Reflections of Reality: Foster Teens and Orphans in Young Adult Science Fiction, in August 2015:
http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2015/08/reflections-of-reality-foster-teens-and-orphans-in-young-adult-science-fiction-a-guest-post-by-kerry-sutherland/
*and the audio is so much creepier than the text - yes, that IS even possible* (22 feb 18)
http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2015/08/reflections-of-reality-foster-teens-and-orphans-in-young-adult-science-fiction-a-guest-post-by-kerry-sutherland/
*and the audio is so much creepier than the text - yes, that IS even possible* (22 feb 18)
This will always be one of the most stressful and scariest books I've read...
Argh. This book. Where do I even start with how I feel about this book? I suppose I'll start with the fact that The Vault of Dreamers has a very original setting. Rosie Sinclair and the other Forge School students aren't just part of an extremely prestigious school for the Arts, they're also part of a reality TV show. Everything they do, everything they create, essentially everything they are is available for public consumption. This concept plays a huge part in the story and was one of the first things that I couldn't get behind. Talk of "blip ranks" and "banner ads" was everywhere. Mentions of camera angles and shots. The only thing about this that I did like was the fact that it created a dual world. One where these characters behaved one way during the day, and another at night when the cameras were off.
Had the story only been about Rosie and her school, I'm not sure I would have finished. As it happens, there's another plot line running underneath this unique school set up. There's a secret hidden by Forge School. One that requires its inhabitants to be put into a drugged sleep every night, only to wake with IV marks in the morning. I was intrigued by this at first. What could possibly be going on that they wouldn't want their students to know about? As Rosie dove deeper into the mystery, I felt more immersed in the story. This, above all else, was what made me want to keep reading on.
The problem was, that soon even this plot line plateaued. A good majority of the middle of this book just felt like it wasn't moving anything forward. There was a bit of a romance for Rosie, that felt a bit forced but was cute enough. There was also a few occurrences that attempted to build more tension for what was coming at the end. Sadly, they didn't really push me to want to read faster. Then the climax finally came and it was just so lackluster in feeling that I was devastated. I wanted more excitement. More intrigue and danger.
This isn't a bad story by any means. The premise is fascinating, even though I'm not a fan of the whole reality show concept. As I said, it did create a good opportunity for duality though. Rosie and her friends were decently fleshed out, and likable in their own ways. Even the romance was an okay addition. All of it just never added up into anything that made me want to commit to this book. I didn't have enough of a connection to it, and that stayed true right up until the end. I'd give this three stars, but I feel like it had the potential to be so much more.
Had the story only been about Rosie and her school, I'm not sure I would have finished. As it happens, there's another plot line running underneath this unique school set up. There's a secret hidden by Forge School. One that requires its inhabitants to be put into a drugged sleep every night, only to wake with IV marks in the morning. I was intrigued by this at first. What could possibly be going on that they wouldn't want their students to know about? As Rosie dove deeper into the mystery, I felt more immersed in the story. This, above all else, was what made me want to keep reading on.
The problem was, that soon even this plot line plateaued. A good majority of the middle of this book just felt like it wasn't moving anything forward. There was a bit of a romance for Rosie, that felt a bit forced but was cute enough. There was also a few occurrences that attempted to build more tension for what was coming at the end. Sadly, they didn't really push me to want to read faster. Then the climax finally came and it was just so lackluster in feeling that I was devastated. I wanted more excitement. More intrigue and danger.
This isn't a bad story by any means. The premise is fascinating, even though I'm not a fan of the whole reality show concept. As I said, it did create a good opportunity for duality though. Rosie and her friends were decently fleshed out, and likable in their own ways. Even the romance was an okay addition. All of it just never added up into anything that made me want to commit to this book. I didn't have enough of a connection to it, and that stayed true right up until the end. I'd give this three stars, but I feel like it had the potential to be so much more.
Actual rating: 3.2
I found the whole concept of the book to be really interesting, but at certain points, I felt like the pacing was a bit slow. The beginning really captured me, but by 3/4 of the way through, I was ready for it to be over. The mystery of what was going on at night was honestly what I finished the book for. Rosie just kept getting caught out of bed and then was too afraid to do anything, and that was kinda annoying.
Also, I never really connected with any of the characters; they felt really flat to me? Like we learn about Rosie's family situation, but there was nothing to connect to? I didn't really feel anything. And how Rosie just spent 9 days keeping to herself? Like, girl, what are you doing??? You're trying to make the 50 cuts, yet you're not trying to be interesting or hang out with people. How does that make sense?
Then there's Linus. I liked him, but I hated the insta love between him and Rosie. For heaven's sake, they asked for each other's ages AFTER they were dating and had shared multiple kisses. Linus was on the staff/crew, he could've been 20 or something!
The ending was just........I don't know. I didn't like the time skip, but it was okay, I guess. It kind of makes me want to read the second book, but it's not that compelling.
okay, onto the things I DID like about the book:
I liked how O'Brien played with the unreliable narrator concept towards the end! I really started to doubt Rosie because she was hearing voices for heaven's sake, and she wasn't telling anyone about it. This book also had diversity with the side characters, so that was nice to see.
Overall, I didn't hate the book, but I didn't really love it either.
I found the whole concept of the book to be really interesting, but at certain points, I felt like the pacing was a bit slow. The beginning really captured me, but by 3/4 of the way through, I was ready for it to be over. The mystery of what was going on at night was honestly what I finished the book for. Rosie just kept getting caught out of bed and then was too afraid to do anything, and that was kinda annoying.
Also, I never really connected with any of the characters; they felt really flat to me? Like we learn about Rosie's family situation, but there was nothing to connect to? I didn't really feel anything. And how Rosie just spent 9 days keeping to herself? Like, girl, what are you doing??? You're trying to make the 50 cuts, yet you're not trying to be interesting or hang out with people. How does that make sense?
Then there's Linus. I liked him, but I hated the insta love between him and Rosie. For heaven's sake, they asked for each other's ages AFTER they were dating and had shared multiple kisses. Linus was on the staff/crew, he could've been 20 or something!
Spoiler
What I hated most was when Rosie trusted a security guard she knew for FIVE MINUTES over Linus! He's your boyfriend, you should have SOME trust in him! That whole scene was just wack.The ending was just........I don't know. I didn't like the time skip, but it was okay, I guess. It kind of makes me want to read the second book, but it's not that compelling.
okay, onto the things I DID like about the book:
I liked how O'Brien played with the unreliable narrator concept towards the end! I really started to doubt Rosie because she was hearing voices for heaven's sake, and she wasn't telling anyone about it. This book also had diversity with the side characters, so that was nice to see.
Overall, I didn't hate the book, but I didn't really love it either.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was hoping for a little bit more from the ending of the book. It was a little unclear and such a big cliffhanger, even for a series. I liked the concept and interested to see where it goes in the next books
I loved reading this book but the ending drove me nuts because it left me with too many questions.