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katrinamarie's review against another edition
4.0
SYLO is a great book, especially for boys. It’s got action, explosions, and confusing feelings about girls. It was definitely refreshing for me to read. I was even telling my hubby about it, and he said, “Wow, that seems like a movie or something we would watch.” I was like yep, and it would translate well into a tv series.
The characters were great. Tucker likes being average. Everything he does in this book he tries to think of how it affects others. He just wants a chance to live his life, and he doesn’t think that will happen with the invasion of SYLO. Quinn is awesome! He’s the kind of best friend everyone wants. He’s witty, and not afraid to push the limits. He also has some pretty deep thoughts when it comes to life. This guy was made for greatness. Tori is a rough around the edges girl. She can take care of herself, and doesn’t necessarily need the help of Tucker or Quinn. Some other characters are Olivia and Kent. I didn’t care for them at the beginning of the book, and by the end, I still didn’t really care for them.
There is complete mystery involved in every aspect of this book. We don’t really know what’s going on, and nobody is who they seem to be. Where did the Ruby come from? Why is SYLO keeping the island contained? They aren’t telling the residents a lot, and still, as the reader, you don’t really know what’s going on either. You think one thing, and an event happens that makes you change your thoughts. The same goes for the people, who can you trust? The people you thought were okay, seem less trustworthy.
Anyway, the book was great. The ending took me completely by surprise! I wasn’t expecting THAT at all!!! I do know that I can’t wait to read the next installment, Storm. Too bad I have to wait until MARCH!!!!
The characters were great. Tucker likes being average. Everything he does in this book he tries to think of how it affects others. He just wants a chance to live his life, and he doesn’t think that will happen with the invasion of SYLO. Quinn is awesome! He’s the kind of best friend everyone wants. He’s witty, and not afraid to push the limits. He also has some pretty deep thoughts when it comes to life. This guy was made for greatness. Tori is a rough around the edges girl. She can take care of herself, and doesn’t necessarily need the help of Tucker or Quinn. Some other characters are Olivia and Kent. I didn’t care for them at the beginning of the book, and by the end, I still didn’t really care for them.
There is complete mystery involved in every aspect of this book. We don’t really know what’s going on, and nobody is who they seem to be. Where did the Ruby come from? Why is SYLO keeping the island contained? They aren’t telling the residents a lot, and still, as the reader, you don’t really know what’s going on either. You think one thing, and an event happens that makes you change your thoughts. The same goes for the people, who can you trust? The people you thought were okay, seem less trustworthy.
Anyway, the book was great. The ending took me completely by surprise! I wasn’t expecting THAT at all!!! I do know that I can’t wait to read the next installment, Storm. Too bad I have to wait until MARCH!!!!
angelariley03's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting book and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel. Definite mystery with elements of Under the Dome.
maggie_daydreaming's review against another edition
3.0
I almost didn't rate this because I feel like I should have loved it. In fact, I did love parts of it. The parts that I didn't love happened to be the parts that I read while sitting on a plane for two hours, and therefore I can't tell if I didn't like the book... or the plane.
Which brings me to another point... which I am sure about even if I'm not sure about my opinion of the book in general. That is... the overuse of ellipses. On a single e-book sized page, there are 0-3 '...'s, which is far too many for any author to use without distracting and annoying me.
Nonetheless, I did enjoy this book for the most part, and I do recommend it.
Which brings me to another point... which I am sure about even if I'm not sure about my opinion of the book in general. That is... the overuse of ellipses. On a single e-book sized page, there are 0-3 '...'s, which is far too many for any author to use without distracting and annoying me.
Nonetheless, I did enjoy this book for the most part, and I do recommend it.
ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition
4.0
This author is one of my favorites. I like that he writes from a characters perspective because it kind of makes you get inside their head and you almost experience what they are going through. This book started a little slow, but the action then picks up and doesn't really stop. You are left with a lot of questions at the end, but that's something I like (if there is another book to follow haha). There are a couple twists in this book that I didn't see coming!
taylorzeb's review against another edition
4.0
http://taysbookshelf.blogspot.com/2013/10/sylo-by-dj-machale.html
istalksnape's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
maidmarianlib's review against another edition
4.0
Fast paced read, has great potential for reluctant readers. Some uneven pacing and lots of unanswered questions in the end.
_fallinglight_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I was very hooked with this story but it got increasingly frustrating when the mystery and unanswerable questions kept popping up and no explanations were found, not even a little bit. I shouldn't be surprised after all bc I know this is how DJM writes but jeez, does he have to follow the same formula ALL THE TIME?! It feels like cheating. Also I don't believe for a second that Quinn, Feit and Captain Granger are dead . If you know DJM's writing like I do, you know it's true. Despite its bunch of flaws there were moments that shined and I'll be sticking around for book 2.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, and War
Minor: Abandonment
cgroff's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
crisp_pages_'s review against another edition
3.0
This book was clearly aimed at middle grade boys. I am not the target audience but I can still appreciate the good writing.