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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
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
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
“Well, this is where you belong, isn’t it? I asked them. Who said you needed to breathe?”
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Reading this book gave a sense that you were being told an oral history by someone that was not comfortable being the storyteller but was very assured of their purpose. I liked that Koli narrates his tale in a kind of linear stream of consciousness. I was very intrigued by this world that is so different from the one we are living in that you have to piece things together to see what has come before and how the world works. I found Koli to be an engaging character and someone you want to root for even when he does stupid teenager things. I liked having to figure out the differences in frame of reference and was a little sad when it ended because I want to know more and puzzle out the way of things longer.
Really enjoyed this book - characters, world building are unique and worthy. Suspenseful.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Honestly 3.5 coz most of the book was engaging and enjoyable, but ending was just a "find out next time on dragon ball Z"
Rounded up coz book rickrolled me lmao
Rounded up coz book rickrolled me lmao
It took me a while to get into this book and for a while I thought the writing style was going to be the end for me, as the constant slang and disjointed syntax and speech patterns were doing my tree in. I'm glad I persevered though, as it didn't take too long before the language seemed to flow more naturally through my brain and it wasn't as distracting. The novel is a slow build up, with the first half being dedicated almost solely to setting the scene and building up the world and the characters. And it's a beautifully built up world; there's this strange juxtaposition of a harsh and dangerous lifestyle, where the trees and all the wildlife are quite literally out to get you and the only thing saving the village from ruin is a handful of old tech from the days before the world went to hell.
Told from the first person perspective of Koli, it is clear he is telling his story from some point in the future - a device that was beautifully realised in [b:The Name of the Wind|186074|The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1)|Patrick Rothfuss|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1515589515l/186074._SX50_.jpg|2502879], but is utilised far more simply here. Koli himself is perhaps one of the least interesting aspects of this novel, as he is a very typical YA protagonist; headstrong, thoughtless and determined to be something special in order to attract the attention of a girl he's crushing on and become a Rampart, one of the 'ruling classes' that can command the tech. That to my mind was far less interesting than a world in which the trees are quite literally out to get you, able to move and hunt humans and animals at will. Murder trees, if you like. I did like the way the narrative being set from the future allowed the adult Koli to highlight his younger self's immaturity and self-centred behaviour though.
The book does pick up pace in the second half, and whilst I quite enjoyed the first half it really does benefit from losing the overdone love triangle and focussing more on some of the really interesting secondary characters. When Koli manages to make a piece of tech work, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't the excellent character of Monono Aware. Between the sassy AI and the far more complex character of Ursula, the second half of the book comes alive in a way that the first half didn't. And whilst the initial narrative simply leads to the point of conflict with the village elders, those he was so determined to join by proving himself worthy of the tech, it quickly spirals out from that once Koli leaves the safe confines of the village walls.
I have to say, I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in this series as with much of the set-up already done, I imagine it will be more like the second half of this novel than the first and all the better for that. I had some qualms with this novel; the love-triangle aspect is overdone and always annoying and I'd have loved to read more about the unique setting of the world with the virulent and violent plants and what appear to be remnants of bio-engineered fauna. But this is a solid starting point, and one I really enjoyed. Even the strange dialect and broken speech patterns didn't annoy me overly once I got into the swing of them.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this title.
Told from the first person perspective of Koli, it is clear he is telling his story from some point in the future - a device that was beautifully realised in [b:The Name of the Wind|186074|The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1)|Patrick Rothfuss|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1515589515l/186074._SX50_.jpg|2502879], but is utilised far more simply here. Koli himself is perhaps one of the least interesting aspects of this novel, as he is a very typical YA protagonist; headstrong, thoughtless and determined to be something special in order to attract the attention of a girl he's crushing on and become a Rampart, one of the 'ruling classes' that can command the tech. That to my mind was far less interesting than a world in which the trees are quite literally out to get you, able to move and hunt humans and animals at will. Murder trees, if you like. I did like the way the narrative being set from the future allowed the adult Koli to highlight his younger self's immaturity and self-centred behaviour though.
The book does pick up pace in the second half, and whilst I quite enjoyed the first half it really does benefit from losing the overdone love triangle and focussing more on some of the really interesting secondary characters. When Koli manages to make a piece of tech work, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't the excellent character of Monono Aware. Between the sassy AI and the far more complex character of Ursula, the second half of the book comes alive in a way that the first half didn't. And whilst the initial narrative simply leads to the point of conflict with the village elders, those he was so determined to join by proving himself worthy of the tech, it quickly spirals out from that once Koli leaves the safe confines of the village walls.
I have to say, I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in this series as with much of the set-up already done, I imagine it will be more like the second half of this novel than the first and all the better for that. I had some qualms with this novel; the love-triangle aspect is overdone and always annoying and I'd have loved to read more about the unique setting of the world with the virulent and violent plants and what appear to be remnants of bio-engineered fauna. But this is a solid starting point, and one I really enjoyed. Even the strange dialect and broken speech patterns didn't annoy me overly once I got into the swing of them.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this title.
This book is putting me into a reading slump. I read about 125 pages and that was a struggle. Unfortunately not a lot happens, but every so often a sort of cool thing is dangled over the readers head to get them to keep reading, waiting for the cool plot stuff but even as far as I got which was about a third of the book, I feel like the plot was just barely starting. It was mostly about Koli being in love with a girl and jealous of his friend. The stuff about the walking carnivorous plants is sort of glossed over.
In addition I wasn’t a fan of the writing style. By this I don’t mean word choice like I’ve seen a lot of people complain about. I don’t care about the slang being used. That didn’t bother me. What bothered me is the way this is written as Koli in the future telling us about his life. Because of this, everything felt very much like exposition and we never really got to know some of the other characters well because they’re talked about in a past, detached sort of way. Mostly we are just in Koli’s head as a teenage boy and oh man that’s not a fun place to be.
Maybe I’ll give this another try at some point when I’m feeling less slumpy but seeing as this book is what put me into a slump, I sort of doubt I’ll give it another try.
In addition I wasn’t a fan of the writing style. By this I don’t mean word choice like I’ve seen a lot of people complain about. I don’t care about the slang being used. That didn’t bother me. What bothered me is the way this is written as Koli in the future telling us about his life. Because of this, everything felt very much like exposition and we never really got to know some of the other characters well because they’re talked about in a past, detached sort of way. Mostly we are just in Koli’s head as a teenage boy and oh man that’s not a fun place to be.
Maybe I’ll give this another try at some point when I’m feeling less slumpy but seeing as this book is what put me into a slump, I sort of doubt I’ll give it another try.