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ghutter05's review against another edition
2.0
Plot was ok, writing was a little repetitive and in-your-face. But it looks like there may be some deeper threads going into the next book; I'm just not sure I want to bother to find out.
jam143's review against another edition
3.0
In the beginning, I thought it was going to be an alien invasion type of cliche book. I was surprised that it wasn't or I would have returned it in a heartbeat. My only complaint is that there are too many question that are unanswered and I easily predicted Quinn's death. The witty humor was refreshing and I'm glad there was no instalove or any stupidly fast romance trash in this book that caused the main character to make foolish decisions
kmdomboski's review against another edition
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was having trouble putting it down, trying to figure out what happened. However, the ending lowered it from 5 stars to 4. I felt that the writing became a little less mature and started to sound fake. I also did not like the ending. Yes, it was a cliffhanger and I was frustrated but I also felt like it truly didn't end one part of the story and lead to another part of the story. NOTHING was answered by the end... I may be able to reevaluate it once I finish Storm but for now I was left as an unsatisfied reader.
mirable's review against another edition
4.0
SLJ review:
High-school freshman Tucker Pierce lives on isolated Pemberwick Island, just off the coast of Maine. He has the requisite wiseacre best friend, Quinn, and is crushing on two unobtainable girls, Tori and Olivia. But when a series of sudden and mysterious deaths, including one of Tucker's classmates, throws everything he knows into turmoil, it leaves him with no idea where to turn or who to trust. Tucker's conversational, first-person point-of-view draws the reader in as SYLO, a military operation endorsed by the president, takes over the island. It quickly becomes apparent that SYLO forces will stop at nothing to see that everyone stays put. But then Tucker witnesses several cold-blooded killings, and he and his friends are determined to escape to the mainland. Once there, they find more questions than answers, and the story ends with a wide-open cliff-hanger and no resolution whatsoever. With this extremely high-octane story that's the equivalent to a summer movie blockbuster (enough explosions and firepower to put Michael Bay to shame), MacHale kicks off an apocalyptic trilogy sure to leave readers demanding the next installment. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: MacHale is the author of the bestsetting Pendragon series so, clearly, there are more than a few middle-grade kiddos who'll be snapping up this one.--Osborne, Charli -
High-school freshman Tucker Pierce lives on isolated Pemberwick Island, just off the coast of Maine. He has the requisite wiseacre best friend, Quinn, and is crushing on two unobtainable girls, Tori and Olivia. But when a series of sudden and mysterious deaths, including one of Tucker's classmates, throws everything he knows into turmoil, it leaves him with no idea where to turn or who to trust. Tucker's conversational, first-person point-of-view draws the reader in as SYLO, a military operation endorsed by the president, takes over the island. It quickly becomes apparent that SYLO forces will stop at nothing to see that everyone stays put. But then Tucker witnesses several cold-blooded killings, and he and his friends are determined to escape to the mainland. Once there, they find more questions than answers, and the story ends with a wide-open cliff-hanger and no resolution whatsoever. With this extremely high-octane story that's the equivalent to a summer movie blockbuster (enough explosions and firepower to put Michael Bay to shame), MacHale kicks off an apocalyptic trilogy sure to leave readers demanding the next installment. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: MacHale is the author of the bestsetting Pendragon series so, clearly, there are more than a few middle-grade kiddos who'll be snapping up this one.--Osborne, Charli -
sarahjordan4's review against another edition
3.0
A really fun binge read. The entire book take place over a really short period of time, which makes a quick read feel like the right speed! My big complaint is that you can very easily feel the impact of the author being male. The way female characters are written is often painful. With the female characters either being matronly, vapid, or a “not like other girls” girl. With more dimensional female characters this could have been a 5 star read, because the plot is fun to follow.
lynnziego's review
4.0
fast-paced storytelling with interesting characters. 4 days to finish the book. I couldn't put it down, starting the sequel now.
redtemptation's review against another edition
2.0
I’ve spent this whole book being confused. I understand that we’re learning things as the characters do and I usually enjoy books like that (take Maze Runner for example) however, I feel like we haven’t learned anything. We’re still almost completely blind and I feel after a book this long, we should know more. I’ll read the second one to give it a chance though.
moogen's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't especially like this book. The writing was marginal and the plot derivative. But it should entertain a 12 year old boy - and any book that can do that gets three stars from me.