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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
This was excellent, and sad and funny. Loved the chapter beginnings, with the summaries of the indie kids' dramatic activities, followed by the everyday lives of Mike, Jared, Mel and Henna. Thought Jared was a lovely character.
I liked this book. I like that each chapter started with a tiny story about the apocalypse, then continued with the "B" characters. It's been too many books ago to give this a proper review, but I remember being happy while I read it and not struggling to finish, so my vote goes to 'it was a good book'.
I didn't understand this story at all, so this is what I think happens:
- A group of teenagers are living in what seems to be modern society, though it is after the vampires and soul-eating ghosts have struck
- Mike, the main character, is in love with his best friend Henna
- Henna sometimes is and sometimes isn't in love with Mike, but is in love with another boy called Tony, but ends up dating a guy called Nathan instead
- Mike has another best friend, Jared, who is one quarter God and can heal things with his hands.
-He is also able to communicate with cats
- Mike suffers with OCD; his sister once almost died from anorexia
- Indie kids keep going missing
- Blue lights keep appearing, both in the sky and in the eyes of people and animals
And that's it. I couldn't piece it all together, yet raced through the book hoping that something would make sense. It didn't. The way it's written lacks any real memorable description - it's mostly dialogue (and a hell of a lot of brackets).
I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has read this and enjoyed it - I'm sure I must have missed something...
- A group of teenagers are living in what seems to be modern society, though it is after the vampires and soul-eating ghosts have struck
- Mike, the main character, is in love with his best friend Henna
- Henna sometimes is and sometimes isn't in love with Mike, but is in love with another boy called Tony, but ends up dating a guy called Nathan instead
- Mike has another best friend, Jared, who is one quarter God and can heal things with his hands.
-He is also able to communicate with cats
- Mike suffers with OCD; his sister once almost died from anorexia
- Indie kids keep going missing
- Blue lights keep appearing, both in the sky and in the eyes of people and animals
And that's it. I couldn't piece it all together, yet raced through the book hoping that something would make sense. It didn't. The way it's written lacks any real memorable description - it's mostly dialogue (and a hell of a lot of brackets).
I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has read this and enjoyed it - I'm sure I must have missed something...
although the concept was interesting I found the execution of it so dry, couldn't connect to any of the characters or the plot
perhaps I was just not the target audience
perhaps I was just not the target audience
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book it was such a breath of fresh air with books with a similar theme done backward with a character that is not the chosen one but instead a mostly normal person. I loved all of the characters but I liked Mikey and Henna best they were very well written. I loved the story the way it flowed and the fact it told bits and pieces from the chosen one characters to put it all together where it made sense. So overall I really enjoyed this book.
This review might be a little bias because I'm a Patrick Ness fangirl. Chaos Walking is my favourite triology ever so I had high hopes for this book. Although it isn't as good as Chaos Walking ( I mean is anything) it is still a charming and witty book.
Other reviewers have said the main characters don't do much for them, I disagree. I thought Mikey was a great narrator and I really warmed to him.
I also thought this book dealt with mental health issues like depression, anxiety, OCD and an eating disorder really well.
The book also detailed a bit about Alzheimers which many authors shy away from I thought Mikey's narration of the disease was very honest and true.
This book on the face of it is a getting through to graduation book but Ness has written it so it's so much more.
Overall this book is charming and witty and doesn't require much brain power. But if you're new to Patrick Ness it may not be the best book to start with.
Other reviewers have said the main characters don't do much for them, I disagree. I thought Mikey was a great narrator and I really warmed to him.
I also thought this book dealt with mental health issues like depression, anxiety, OCD and an eating disorder really well.
The book also detailed a bit about Alzheimers which many authors shy away from I thought Mikey's narration of the disease was very honest and true.
This book on the face of it is a getting through to graduation book but Ness has written it so it's so much more.
Overall this book is charming and witty and doesn't require much brain power. But if you're new to Patrick Ness it may not be the best book to start with.
Heard on audiobook. I didn’t get it and it took me WAY too long to understand what was happening… which was nothing, mostly. I never understood the mini-synopses at the start of each chapter and why they didn’t connect to the story until way too late… maybe I would have liked it better. Meh.
I'm going to put this out there. I'm not a YA fan. I tend to avoid it as it over does the "chosen one" trope along with unrealistic love stories, and of course, the hero is a demi-god, so at least there is relate-ability. But it gets kids reading which I'm all for so it can't be that bad.
That being said - this book is fantastic. It makes fun of those issues while making this a really great coming of age story. It begins each chapter with the story that the chosen ones, or indie kids as they are called here, are dealing with. This is a mini story by itself, and has very little bearing on the characters we very quickly grow to care for here. And those little blurbs have some of the best lines:
"Satchel goes into hiding at an abandoned drive-in with fellow indie kids Finn, Dylan, Finn, Finn, Lincoln, Archie, Wisconsin, Finn, Aquamarine, and Finn"...."he tells her she's beautiful in her own special way and that's when she knows she can trust him"
- from Chapter the Tenth
Gold. Even the chapter names! Aside from this tongue in cheek, though, is a really great story about a kid who is just a regular guy going through regular problems. He's dealing with anxiety and a troublesome family life, has friends also going through similar regular problems. And he learns that he doesn't have to do it all alone. Yes, this is a cliche message but the author delivers it so nicely I want to read it again. And I probably will.
That being said - this book is fantastic. It makes fun of those issues while making this a really great coming of age story. It begins each chapter with the story that the chosen ones, or indie kids as they are called here, are dealing with. This is a mini story by itself, and has very little bearing on the characters we very quickly grow to care for here. And those little blurbs have some of the best lines:
"Satchel goes into hiding at an abandoned drive-in with fellow indie kids Finn, Dylan, Finn, Finn, Lincoln, Archie, Wisconsin, Finn, Aquamarine, and Finn"...."he tells her she's beautiful in her own special way and that's when she knows she can trust him"
- from Chapter the Tenth
Gold. Even the chapter names! Aside from this tongue in cheek, though, is a really great story about a kid who is just a regular guy going through regular problems. He's dealing with anxiety and a troublesome family life, has friends also going through similar regular problems. And he learns that he doesn't have to do it all alone. Yes, this is a cliche message but the author delivers it so nicely I want to read it again. And I probably will.