Reviews with content warning for Confinement - Survive the Dome

Mostly focused on how three teenagers respond to police brutality/government surveillance, but I wish there had been some attention to why Governor Ambrose made the choices she did and/or how the political atmosphere evolved to result in the creation of the dome. World building was very light, which is maybe explained by the fact that this isn't a far-flung dystopia. I never really connected with Jamal, Marco, or Cat. Jamal's narration was a bit corny at times, and the ending definitely had me rolling my eyes.

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aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

A generally good read. The characters could use some more fullness but overall they were good characters that advanced the story in an engaging way for me. The things happening in this book (outside of the advanced tech) has happened in real life and the way the treatment of black and brown people by cops and the general attitudes of cops in the book are also just like real life. That's what makes this book so scary to me is that society and cops are already like the book in so many ways but without the tech. And because of that, the tech that is used in the book feels like a very real/attainable thing.
I did enjoy the emphasis of "united we are strong" and that a lot of minorities were briefly included in standing up for black people and in the protests to remind those of us who are non-black minorities that we need to stand with our black counterparts because white privilege and white supremacy is so insidious and hurts everyone.

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1quillb's review

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tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This book has a really good idea attached to it, but was executed very poorly. The editing needs some work—at one point Marco is referred to as Jamal by the narrator, and there’s a couple strange spellings of words—and the whole idea isn’t very believable. If a giant impenetrable dome surrounded a city and martial law went into affect, things like clubs and hotels wouldn’t still be open. That’s just not realistic. It would be like the Purge, not a regular Tuesday. I appreciate what Jackson was trying to do, it just wasn’t written in a way that made sense.

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pey333's review

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adventurous dark emotional 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? No

4.5

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betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this to review! This book was on my radar after reading Kosoko Jackson's book, Yesterday Is History, and it hits all of the right notes. If you're looking for a timely YA book that highlights real world issues, this is the book for you!

Kosoko Jackson has a really easy to read writing style that's fast paced and pulls you along in the story. This specifically works well for this particular story, because everything is happening at a rate that adds stress and anxiety to the characters. What also makes this book work well is the fact that (unfortunately) this is something you could see playing out today. Which honestly makes it feel all the more real.

While the writing and story is relevant, some of the dialog and other writing elements could have used a bit of tweaking. Some of the conversations between characters just didn't feel realistic to me, and I wanted a bit more character development in the story. It felt like, at times, there was more telling than showing. But I do think that's something that gets better the more that you write!

All in all, this is a fast-paced, dystopian-esque story that will definitely get you thinking.

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