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micah_celeste's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
deborahharroun's review
3.0
I haven't updated for awhile, and I read this a few months ago, but I overall liked this book. There were a few things that bothered me - like the fact that that the main character seemed to know what a lot of things were, despite the fact that she had never seen them or knew nothing about them. And it's definitely not a book for children. But I really liked the concept, but just wish there were a few things that were different.
ikandree's review against another edition
3.0
This book was very meh. It has an interesting premise but the execution isn’t that great. The ending definitely sucked. It probably would have only given it 2 stars but it actually got pretty good in the middle after a slow build and a terrible ending. A lot of questions not only left but quite a few “what?” and “huh?” moments throughout.
kellerko's review against another edition
2.0
Didn’t love this YA post clime apocalypse survival tale.
trisha_thomas's review against another edition
2.0
"People like you and me, we're the next generation."
This was a very odd book. At first, it was jarring - full of weird lingo, a lot of food with the word 'jelly fish' in front of it, and jobs and locations that were familiar but not. Soon enough, I got the rhythm of the storytelling and it all started to meld together. The circus, the missing, the hunt, the rulers and the haves/have nots. It's still a weird story that didn't feel cohesive from beginning to end but it was interesting.
I thought finding out the information about each area and the food were intriguing. The order of the boats and how their caste system worked was interesting too. The search for the missing, though, was odd and full of weird sexual situations. It's not that I don't think these types of situations could be present, I'm sure they would be, but they just felt odd in the story.
But once we got moving on the plot and figured out what everyone planned to do and she got her ankle finally set (along with some answers), then the story went faster and was more interesting. The end is probably the most disappointing part of the story.
This was a very odd book. At first, it was jarring - full of weird lingo, a lot of food with the word 'jelly fish' in front of it, and jobs and locations that were familiar but not. Soon enough, I got the rhythm of the storytelling and it all started to meld together. The circus, the missing, the hunt, the rulers and the haves/have nots. It's still a weird story that didn't feel cohesive from beginning to end but it was interesting.
I thought finding out the information about each area and the food were intriguing. The order of the boats and how their caste system worked was interesting too. The search for the missing, though, was odd and full of weird sexual situations. It's not that I don't think these types of situations could be present, I'm sure they would be, but they just felt odd in the story.
But once we got moving on the plot and figured out what everyone planned to do and she got her ankle finally set (along with some answers), then the story went faster and was more interesting. The end is probably the most disappointing part of the story.
krystaaal's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not much of a reviewer, but I thought I'd put down my thoughts since I did get it in the Goodreads Giveaway.
Well, I thought the book was written very well. Sometimes I found it hard to picture the world Anna North created, especially all the Sea-whatever material, but I got by. There's a quite a lot of descriptions about areas the main character, Darcy, visits and most of them aren't pretty. I started to feel dirty when reading some parts, so I guess the author succeeded in that? I started to feel like I was actually there, seeing and smelling all the stinky mess.
There wasn't much action going on in America Pacifica. I suppose I've grown too accustomed to fast paced action filled dystopian novels (especially after reading Unwind by Neal Shusterman). I mean, there were slaps, jabs, punches and such, but I wanted more. The ending started to get some action though. But anyway, most of the time, I felt Darcy was just walking and talking, walking and talking. Darcy was very rooted in finding her mother, Sarah.
Overall, it's a pretty good dystopian novel with a lot of back story and flashbacks and a determined female lead. There's a couple of other characters as well, ones that Darcy meets on her journey to find her mother. The ending pretty much leaves it up to your imagination - yeah, it's one of those endings. But I didn't mind~
Well, I thought the book was written very well. Sometimes I found it hard to picture the world Anna North created, especially all the Sea-whatever material, but I got by. There's a quite a lot of descriptions about areas the main character, Darcy, visits and most of them aren't pretty. I started to feel dirty when reading some parts, so I guess the author succeeded in that? I started to feel like I was actually there, seeing and smelling all the stinky mess.
There wasn't much action going on in America Pacifica. I suppose I've grown too accustomed to fast paced action filled dystopian novels (especially after reading Unwind by Neal Shusterman). I mean, there were slaps, jabs, punches and such, but I wanted more. The ending started to get some action though. But anyway, most of the time, I felt Darcy was just walking and talking, walking and talking. Darcy was very rooted in finding her mother, Sarah.
Overall, it's a pretty good dystopian novel with a lot of back story and flashbacks and a determined female lead. There's a couple of other characters as well, ones that Darcy meets on her journey to find her mother. The ending pretty much leaves it up to your imagination - yeah, it's one of those endings. But I didn't mind~
megatsunami's review
4.0
Great book. Interesting and creative world-building, suspenseful plot as the young heroine tries to unravel the mystery of her mother's disappearance and uncovers threads relating to the founding of their island society (by refugees from the new ice age in North America). Although "good guys" and "bad guys" initially seemed fairly clear, both good and bad characters became more complicated as the book progressed, which I really appreciated. There were some details about the whole "new ice age" thing which seemed not fully formed - though as it wasn't a major part of the action, that's understandable.
jackolidus's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
1.0
There were several aspects of the plot and character traits that were inconsistent or unrealistic. The characters all seemed very shallow.
eric_conrad's review against another edition
3.0
At first I did not find the protagonist that sympathetic. Perhaps that was intentional on the part of the author. By the third act, I was definitely rooting for her to succeed.
Not heavy on science, but that was forgivable. Part of me was hoping that there would be more back story on how the island came to be new promised land, clearly that was not the intent of the author. The book was more concerned with social commentary than science.
Not heavy on science, but that was forgivable. Part of me was hoping that there would be more back story on how the island came to be new promised land, clearly that was not the intent of the author. The book was more concerned with social commentary than science.
fluffy8u's review against another edition
2.0
TL:DR Skip it. Wimpy, whiny, and undeserving hero who doesn't do anything the rebels could have lived without. Overuse of the words "sea" and "sweat".
How is this girl a hero? The only thing that she does that is the least bit heroic is in the final pages, after the battle and after she's been declared a hero. Everything that happens to Darcy is because time/place, not because she actually made decisions to affect something. Even then she does everything grudgingly while pouting.
It's not like she stood up for what she believed in, she just wanted to find her mom. She didn't care that the elections were rigged and that the government was set up in a way that no one could ever climb higher in the social ladder which is determined by which boat one arrived in on the way to the island. People were freely admitting how messed up their society was and all she could think was, "meh. I miss my mom. Ooh, that roast looks good. WTH, she forgot the roast was there?! Who forgets about real meat?! Can I have some? I miss my mom."
Nominees for most overused words:
>Sea
>Sweat
And holy crap were they used! Seafoam, Seaboard, Seafiber, Seaguard, seaweed... It goes on. "Hmm, I need to add some setting here, what word do I used... I know! I'll use our word and just add "sea" in front. Genius!" thinks Anna North.
Smelled like sweat, tasted like seat, sweaty seafiber, cuddled into the sweat, dried sweat, sweaty sweaty sweat-sweat. "Sweat" was particularly harrowing because I swear Anna North used it in rapid fire. I know it's a little hard to use synonyms for the word, but, ugh. It was too much.
I did never see "Seasweat" but maybe it didn't cross her mind. Either way, no one tell her, it'll end up in a sequel.
How is this girl a hero? The only thing that she does that is the least bit heroic is in the final pages, after the battle and after she's been declared a hero. Everything that happens to Darcy is because time/place, not because she actually made decisions to affect something. Even then she does everything grudgingly while pouting.
It's not like she stood up for what she believed in, she just wanted to find her mom. She didn't care that the elections were rigged and that the government was set up in a way that no one could ever climb higher in the social ladder which is determined by which boat one arrived in on the way to the island. People were freely admitting how messed up their society was and all she could think was, "meh. I miss my mom. Ooh, that roast looks good. WTH, she forgot the roast was there?! Who forgets about real meat?! Can I have some? I miss my mom."
Nominees for most overused words:
>Sea
>Sweat
And holy crap were they used! Seafoam, Seaboard, Seafiber, Seaguard, seaweed... It goes on. "Hmm, I need to add some setting here, what word do I used... I know! I'll use our word and just add "sea" in front. Genius!" thinks Anna North.
Smelled like sweat, tasted like seat, sweaty seafiber, cuddled into the sweat, dried sweat, sweaty sweaty sweat-sweat. "Sweat" was particularly harrowing because I swear Anna North used it in rapid fire. I know it's a little hard to use synonyms for the word, but, ugh. It was too much.
I did never see "Seasweat" but maybe it didn't cross her mind. Either way, no one tell her, it'll end up in a sequel.