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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
Este libro me costo para terminar, mas que el primero. Pero me gusto.
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
This books is probably "GOOD" or even "GREAT" for many people, but for me...it's not. I need a bit more HOPE or JOY in my stories. These are just too depressing. I have to give up. These kids are stranded with mutant creatures and infighting and no food and...I just couldn't read about it anymore. This series is like "Unfortunate Events" in that I just have to give up and find something that has a little more silver-lining to the cloud.
I'm calling this one. It's been a year and I have no inclination to find out what happens to these kids. It's not you, it's me.
I'm very interested to see where this book series goes, but if these kids don't get less whiny I may have to put it down. Yes, there are problems, get over it and figure it out! You have to or you die!
🌶 Spice Level 1/5
This book was more boring than the first one.
I was surprised that Sam just let Drake and Caine go. I thought he’d at least lock them up somewhere. He knew they would attack again. They kill people easily. Sam should’ve protected everyone and locked them up. That was stupid.
For most of the book, Sam didn’t want to be the leader. I get that it’s a lot of pressure, but reading about it was boring. I wanted him to make smart moves and think ahead. But I guess this book was meant to show that he’s just a kid and to keep it realistic. Still, I hope that won’t continue in the next one.
I didn’t understand why Caine threw the food into the cave and locked the monster in there. He knows it’s drawn to food. He should’ve kept it as far from the cave as possible. That was dumb.
Poor Duck. He died saving everyone. But I don’t think they beat the monster that easily.
At least Drake died—I hope he doesn’t come back.
And why did it take them so long to think of fishing? Or using money? Why is it so hard to get kids to work? It’s simple—hire people to fish, give more food to those who work on the farms, etc.
I still want to keep reading. I just hope it gets more interesting. I’m glad I finished this one though. It was both boring and interesting. I just wanted to be done, but it wasn’t hard to read.
This book was more boring than the first one.
I was surprised that Sam just let Drake and Caine go. I thought he’d at least lock them up somewhere. He knew they would attack again. They kill people easily. Sam should’ve protected everyone and locked them up. That was stupid.
For most of the book, Sam didn’t want to be the leader. I get that it’s a lot of pressure, but reading about it was boring. I wanted him to make smart moves and think ahead. But I guess this book was meant to show that he’s just a kid and to keep it realistic. Still, I hope that won’t continue in the next one.
Poor Duck. He died saving everyone. But I don’t think they beat the monster that easily.
At least Drake died—I hope he doesn’t come back.
And why did it take them so long to think of fishing? Or using money? Why is it so hard to get kids to work? It’s simple—hire people to fish, give more food to those who work on the farms, etc.
I still want to keep reading. I just hope it gets more interesting. I’m glad I finished this one though. It was both boring and interesting. I just wanted to be done, but it wasn’t hard to read.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Re-read April 28, 2025
On reading this, I remembered why I have a tough time getting through these books: they're very exhausting to read. There are so many bad things happening all the time and there's hardly any time for the characters to breathe or have a moment of fun or anything. The pacing can make the reader feel on edge to the point where when they finish the book, they're tired. Which isn't a bad thing, but it does make it hard to get through these books without a break.
One thing I want to address is Mary's bulimia. I don't have any personal experience with it, but its inclusion made me uncomfortable at times. Like why add the narration that Sam thinks she's looking good and "model skinny" when everyone is slowly starving to death? It feels tone-deaf and harmful on top of the horror of what Mary's doing to herself. I mean, this boy says out loud, to her face, that she's looking good when she's losing weight and he knows there's a food shortage. Plus the narrative still hasn't explored why Mary feels this way about herself. It explores a lot of other characters and their inner thoughts, but for some reason Mary doesn't get that deeper exploration.
I also found the conclusion to have happened too fast. We go from a lynch mob to just about everything being cleared up within a few pages. Not that I had to read how Sam and the gang cleaned things up, but it still felt like a sharp left turn. I don't know how the author could have done it except to make the conclusion go on longer, but that probably would have killed the book. Still, it all felt a little too easily solved. I know it isn't, but that's the way it seemed.
Review December 11, 2021
So while this book is still well-written and there were definitely moments where I was anxious for the characters well-being, I feel like some parts of this book were definitely weaker than the one before it.
The countdown was probably the weakest aspect of the book. In the first, the reader learned what the countdown was for: the hours until Sam's fifteenth birthday. The reader also knew a probable outcome of what would happen when the countdown reached zero, so the dwindling time served to ramp the tension. This time it's not made very clear what the countdown is for until quite a while into the book. And there are so many other things that could have been counting down that would have hit much harder.
I also feel like the pacing was a lot slower in this book. While I do like how the narrative fleshes out the characters, sometimes it felt like it was dwelling too long on that instead of building on other things. This takes place months after the first book and while we do get some sense to how things are going, at other times they come right the hell out of nowhere because that huge chunk of time is skipped over. Zil and the Human Crew in particular could have done with a better build-up, as could Osprey.
That said, I can appreciate that the writing is still good. It doesn't shy away from violence or gore or the harsh reality that these kids have to live in. I love that the burden of leadership is really weighing hard on Sam and his snap feels very realistic and believable. It would've been nice to have more of a break from all the terrible things going on, but it did make me feel like I could never relax so I was pretty empathetic to the characters in that regard.
From what I remember, things just keep getting worse and worse. So that'll be fun to revisit.
Original rating: 4 stars. Date: July 2012
On reading this, I remembered why I have a tough time getting through these books: they're very exhausting to read. There are so many bad things happening all the time and there's hardly any time for the characters to breathe or have a moment of fun or anything. The pacing can make the reader feel on edge to the point where when they finish the book, they're tired. Which isn't a bad thing, but it does make it hard to get through these books without a break.
One thing I want to address is Mary's bulimia. I don't have any personal experience with it, but its inclusion made me uncomfortable at times. Like why add the narration that Sam thinks she's looking good and "model skinny" when everyone is slowly starving to death? It feels tone-deaf and harmful on top of the horror of what Mary's doing to herself. I mean, this boy says out loud, to her face, that she's looking good when she's losing weight and he knows there's a food shortage. Plus the narrative still hasn't explored why Mary feels this way about herself. It explores a lot of other characters and their inner thoughts, but for some reason Mary doesn't get that deeper exploration.
I also found the conclusion to have happened too fast. We go from a lynch mob to just about everything being cleared up within a few pages. Not that I had to read how Sam and the gang cleaned things up, but it still felt like a sharp left turn. I don't know how the author could have done it except to make the conclusion go on longer, but that probably would have killed the book. Still, it all felt a little too easily solved. I know it isn't, but that's the way it seemed.
Review December 11, 2021
So while this book is still well-written and there were definitely moments where I was anxious for the characters well-being, I feel like some parts of this book were definitely weaker than the one before it.
The countdown was probably the weakest aspect of the book. In the first, the reader learned what the countdown was for: the hours until Sam's fifteenth birthday. The reader also knew a probable outcome of what would happen when the countdown reached zero, so the dwindling time served to ramp the tension. This time it's not made very clear what the countdown is for until quite a while into the book. And there are so many other things that could have been counting down that would have hit much harder.
I also feel like the pacing was a lot slower in this book. While I do like how the narrative fleshes out the characters, sometimes it felt like it was dwelling too long on that instead of building on other things. This takes place months after the first book and while we do get some sense to how things are going, at other times they come right the hell out of nowhere because that huge chunk of time is skipped over. Zil and the Human Crew in particular could have done with a better build-up, as could Osprey.
That said, I can appreciate that the writing is still good. It doesn't shy away from violence or gore or the harsh reality that these kids have to live in. I love that the burden of leadership is really weighing hard on Sam and his snap feels very realistic and believable. It would've been nice to have more of a break from all the terrible things going on, but it did make me feel like I could never relax so I was pretty empathetic to the characters in that regard.
From what I remember, things just keep getting worse and worse. So that'll be fun to revisit.
Original rating: 4 stars. Date: July 2012
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes