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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
do you think it is better to fail at something worthwhile or succeed at something meaningless?
I ended up liking this book more than I expected to. At first, things came across as a bit cliched and the story seemed loose and lost. As it got going and the characters' individual storylines progressed, I settled into the randomness of events. I even thought, 'how else would it be if everyone knew there was a high chance of dying?' There were parts that could have been handled better, e.g. the hippy guy with all the money who disappears then reappears but overall it held me to the, ahem ... end.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Second time around trading this book. Definitely adding to my list of existential crises. I am around the same age of the characters, so I could relate to a lot of the emotions. I think a lot of us could. The book made me think, and that’s what counts. It loss two stars due to some of the characters’ actions that I disagreed with; however, I tried to be lenient because at the end of the day they are teenagers, so it was destined to be a little (or a lot chaotic).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
Giving this a solid 3.5 stars — the first half had me, 90% of the second half lost me, and the last 10% roped me right back in again.
Meh.
The conceit of this book is that an asteroid is hurtling towards earth. Astronomers give it a 66% chance of colliding with earth. We then follow the lives of four high school students whose lives interact as they try to deal with the very real possibility of death--or, at least, the end of civilization.
This book just doesn't really deliver, though. The characters are interesting, though not quite fully developed. The premise is certainly good, but the asteroid story fades into the background--though it's always there--as this becomes more about the four students finding themselves and falling in love. This is a YA book trying to be apocalyptic literary fiction, and it doesn't pull it off.
It's a good first effort from the author, but it just wasn't that interesting overall.
The conceit of this book is that an asteroid is hurtling towards earth. Astronomers give it a 66% chance of colliding with earth. We then follow the lives of four high school students whose lives interact as they try to deal with the very real possibility of death--or, at least, the end of civilization.
Spoiler
Science-related complaint: throughout the novel, the chances of impact are 66%. As the asteroid gets closer, astronomers would definitely be able to improve this prediction, but to the very end of the novel, the author keeps telling us there's a 66% chance of impact, and this is over a span of about two months. A bit more attention to astronomical details would have been appreciated.This book just doesn't really deliver, though. The characters are interesting, though not quite fully developed. The premise is certainly good, but the asteroid story fades into the background--though it's always there--as this becomes more about the four students finding themselves and falling in love. This is a YA book trying to be apocalyptic literary fiction, and it doesn't pull it off.
It's a good first effort from the author, but it just wasn't that interesting overall.
Spoiler
So, we never find out if the asteroid actually hits. I kind of thought that the author might take that route with this being more of a character-driven than plot-driven novel, but still, it was annoying. The whole draw of the book is the impending doom. And then we never find out if the death and destruction that has been threatening our four protagonists (one of whom dies just before the end of the novel) for the whole novel ever materializes. It was really disappointing for this novel to leave us hanging. If I had really cared about these characters, I'd be much more upset. As it is, it was just a disappointing ending to a middle-of-the-road novel.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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:
Complicated
The first half had me hooked because the characters and premise were interesting but the second half got really dark and far-fetched.
Like you're telling me (SPOILER) one of the main characters died because another character fell into a bush and couldn't get herself out in time to stop the whole train of events happening??? C'mon now.
But also it's a book about the end of the world so who knows if it really is that far-fetched.
Like you're telling me (SPOILER) one of the main characters died because another character fell into a bush and couldn't get herself out in time to stop the whole train of events happening??? C'mon now.
But also it's a book about the end of the world so who knows if it really is that far-fetched.