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adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A very interesting concept that is explored in ways I was unable to predict as a reader. I found myself wanting to see more of this world explored by the time I finished the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Violence, War
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation
Minor: Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
I was on board with this version of the world - no one above the age of 13 is alive, all the adults have died as a result of radiation from a dead star explosion - until we got to the giant Supernova War on Antarctica which went on and on and on ... it was treated as a kind of game, Olympic games to be precise, but there was no concern at all for the death toll it would take to say, shoot missiles at each other or crash tanks into each other.
The other issue I had is that the children's world, while modeled after the adult world, had none of the same motivations. So for example, the adults trained the children to do adult jobs, because they would need to keep the country running once the adults were all dead. And they do for a little while, but then they're just like, we don't want to work, we want to play. And so they just stopped working and played. Except ... that was not universally true. The leaders continued to try to manage the country, and there were one-off comments about reporters and newspapers being published and whatnot, and it's like ... but the primary motivator of capitalism is money - getting the paycheck. If that's not the motivator for children, then a) why are THESE children continuing to work, and b) WHY are these children continuing to work? I would have loved a longer explanation of the world rather than endless talk of various weapons and supply lines to Antarctica, just so they could all kill each other and then freeze to death while trying to escape Antarctica when "summer" ended.
I also wanted to know what was hinted at when the entire populations of the U.S. and China swapped continents, and they talked about how things turned out but didn't specify what those were. But apparently some of the people ended up on Mars in the epilogue, so I guess that's one outcome, but it's not clear why.
So. It was interesting in parts, but I wanted more of some things and less of others. It was slow going but the writing was good.
The other issue I had is that the children's world, while modeled after the adult world, had none of the same motivations. So for example, the adults trained the children to do adult jobs, because they would need to keep the country running once the adults were all dead. And they do for a little while, but then they're just like, we don't want to work, we want to play. And so they just stopped working and played. Except ... that was not universally true. The leaders continued to try to manage the country, and there were one-off comments about reporters and newspapers being published and whatnot, and it's like ... but the primary motivator of capitalism is money - getting the paycheck. If that's not the motivator for children, then a) why are THESE children continuing to work, and b) WHY are these children continuing to work? I would have loved a longer explanation of the world rather than endless talk of various weapons and supply lines to Antarctica, just so they could all kill each other and then freeze to death while trying to escape Antarctica when "summer" ended.
I also wanted to know what was hinted at when the entire populations of the U.S. and China swapped continents, and they talked about how things turned out but didn't specify what those were. But apparently some of the people ended up on Mars in the epilogue, so I guess that's one outcome, but it's not clear why.
So. It was interesting in parts, but I wanted more of some things and less of others. It was slow going but the writing was good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, Pandemic/Epidemic
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, War
Minor: Child death
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Violence, War
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent
Interesting concept. The more the story progressed, though, the less believable I found it - and this from someone who is very happy to suspend disbelief when reading!
I was bothered by some of the details. The cut off for 13 year olds seems incredibly precise, but people aren't machines, we develop at slightly different rates. So where are the 14 and 15yos who actually survived? What about the 11 and 12yos whose bodies couldn't recover from the radiation? It's just too neat.
I also want to know what happened with the supercomputer. It saves the day when everyone's losing their minds (proper deus ex machina), it runs the virtual Assembly, and then we never hear about it again. Presumably the US kids inherit it. Why doesn't that bother anybody?
The language felt clunky, which irritated me throughout - not sure how much is the author's voice and how much is the translation.
Last chapter and epilogue felt boring, confusing, unnecessary and anticlimactic. Whatever the point was, I missed it.I actually don't get why the Chinese kids said yes to the territory trade - they seem to be losing a lot and getting nothing out of it. And I feel like I'm lacking in a real conclusion. What happened to these characters?!
It started strong, and I enjoyed the first half - but the second half was increasingly disappointing.
I also want to know what happened with the supercomputer. It saves the day when everyone's losing their minds (proper deus ex machina), it runs the virtual Assembly, and then we never hear about it again. Presumably the US kids inherit it. Why doesn't that bother anybody?
The language felt clunky, which irritated me throughout - not sure how much is the author's voice and how much is the translation.
Last chapter and epilogue felt boring, confusing, unnecessary and anticlimactic. Whatever the point was, I missed it.
It started strong, and I enjoyed the first half - but the second half was increasingly disappointing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Death of parent, War
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, War
Moderate: Child death, Death, Violence, Xenophobia
Minor: Suicide
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, War
Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Murder, Alcohol
Minor: Child abuse, Medical trauma, Pregnancy
dark
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail