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suedas_books's review
5.0
It feels a bit difficult to write this review since I’m not 100% sure of what to say.
I’m giving it 4,5 stars because I enjoyed the first book a bit more than the second
This is my first ever review because I felt like I had to get this dump of thoughts off me :,)
This series really manages to give me the creeps 24/7 because of the sinister look it gives into the future which’s trigger are the people of today.
I found it a bit hard to find myself back in the story even though there is barely a month between me reading book one and two. The first 70 pages didn’t really catch me (it’s not that I didn’t like it but it just didn’t excite me the way the first 70 pages of “The Loop” excited me) however, I kept reading because “The Loop” convinced me that Ben Oliver knows what he is doing with the story. I’m very glad I did.
The reason it didn’t excite me too much was because I was scared that everything will just be a repetition of the pages before again and again, and I was certain that the book would be too predictable what then again sounded so stupid to me bc again “The Loop” proved that the author isn’t messing around and knows how to keep the reader on their toes.
The pace picked up very nicely, and we were introduced to new characters who I really liked!
Just one note that I think was disappointing: Samira is a beautiful name that holds a lot of meaning and information in it. One is that she’s not just another white character in a YA book. Therefore, calling her “Sam” all the time took away all the effect of her background and her being POC.
Continuing..
Purgatory:
I loved the name of that place. Even when it looked very peaceful and soothing in the beginning the name already made you alert and not give in to the temptation of finally settling down (even as a reader)
I gotta be really honest, in the beginning I really didn’t like the turn the story took when they entered a video game (also I found the NPC’s so scary, to imagine those zombie-like mute creatures in front of you was extremely unsettling)
However, when they started to feel dizzy and Molly’s warning slowly faded away from Lukas mind the whole thing started to get extremely exciting. As a reader you kept repeating “get out Luka get out Luka get out Luka” and hoped that Luka and Malachai would remind each other to leave that place, but then they actually started to settle down there.
Right when you thought they are completely lost that NPC receptionist managed to remind Luka that he needs to leave ASAP
Though I don’t really understand how that worked since he was a NPC. Like is that the whole point? Davis himself said “he barely manages to say his few lines” so were the warnings he said actually Luka’s subconscious? I think so.
Skipping to the part where they are back in the library:
That felt like the ultimate showdown to me since everything went down hill and everything escalated.
Tyco (someone please kill him already
I’m giving it 4,5 stars because I enjoyed the first book a bit more than the second
This is my first ever review because I felt like I had to get this dump of thoughts off me :,)
This series really manages to give me the creeps 24/7 because of the sinister look it gives into the future which’s trigger are the people of today.
I found it a bit hard to find myself back in the story even though there is barely a month between me reading book one and two. The first 70 pages didn’t really catch me (it’s not that I didn’t like it but it just didn’t excite me the way the first 70 pages of “The Loop” excited me) however, I kept reading because “The Loop” convinced me that Ben Oliver knows what he is doing with the story. I’m very glad I did.
The reason it didn’t excite me too much was because I was scared that everything will just be a repetition of the pages before again and again, and I was certain that the book would be too predictable what then again sounded so stupid to me bc again “The Loop” proved that the author isn’t messing around and knows how to keep the reader on their toes.
The pace picked up very nicely, and we were introduced to new characters who I really liked!
Just one note that I think was disappointing: Samira is a beautiful name that holds a lot of meaning and information in it. One is that she’s not just another white character in a YA book. Therefore, calling her “Sam” all the time took away all the effect of her background and her being POC.
Continuing..
Purgatory:
I loved the name of that place. Even when it looked very peaceful and soothing in the beginning the name already made you alert and not give in to the temptation of finally settling down (even as a reader)
I gotta be really honest, in the beginning I really didn’t like the turn the story took when they entered a video game (also I found the NPC’s so scary, to imagine those zombie-like mute creatures in front of you was extremely unsettling)
However, when they started to feel dizzy and Molly’s warning slowly faded away from Lukas mind the whole thing started to get extremely exciting. As a reader you kept repeating “get out Luka get out Luka get out Luka” and hoped that Luka and Malachai would remind each other to leave that place, but then they actually started to settle down there.
Right when you thought they are completely lost that NPC receptionist managed to remind Luka that he needs to leave ASAP
Though I don’t really understand how that worked since he was a NPC. Like is that the whole point? Davis himself said “he barely manages to say his few lines” so were the warnings he said actually Luka’s subconscious? I think so.
Skipping to the part where they are back in the library:
That felt like the ultimate showdown to me since everything went down hill and everything escalated.
Tyco (someone please kill him already
e_streeter's review
4.0
Phenomenal sequel to The Loop and I cant wait to see where Ben takes it in The Arc.
tallybae's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.0
alexandergrantwriter's review
4.0
~ Gripping, dystopian read! ~
This is a fun series!! I picked up the first book last summer and saw the sequel in the library and decided to read it!!
•
The plot is really good and super easy to get into and follow which is what draws me to the series and dystopian books in general! I loved the concept of the block and all the simulation stuff, and I kinda wish it was expanded on more!! Hopefully the third and final installment does this a little bit!!
•
The characters are pretty good, but also the reason for this dropping back to a four star. I just never felt particularly connected to the characters in either of these two books. It might have been worse for this one since I haven’t read the first one in a few months, but I just couldn’t bring myself to overly care about some of the characters deaths / triumphs throughout the story! That being said, the dialogue and character work within the book is good! I just personally never felt attached to anybody which annoyed me a little bit.
•
Overall though, if you need a quick and easy dystopian series (I pretty much read each book in a day / day and a half) then I would definitely recommend these! I’ll still pick up the third one too to find out what happens as the ending was quite a cliffhanger!
•
CWs - brief innuendo, strong language throughout, violence, psychological and bodily torture, and some gore
This is a fun series!! I picked up the first book last summer and saw the sequel in the library and decided to read it!!
•
The plot is really good and super easy to get into and follow which is what draws me to the series and dystopian books in general! I loved the concept of the block and all the simulation stuff, and I kinda wish it was expanded on more!! Hopefully the third and final installment does this a little bit!!
•
The characters are pretty good, but also the reason for this dropping back to a four star. I just never felt particularly connected to the characters in either of these two books. It might have been worse for this one since I haven’t read the first one in a few months, but I just couldn’t bring myself to overly care about some of the characters deaths / triumphs throughout the story! That being said, the dialogue and character work within the book is good! I just personally never felt attached to anybody which annoyed me a little bit.
•
Overall though, if you need a quick and easy dystopian series (I pretty much read each book in a day / day and a half) then I would definitely recommend these! I’ll still pick up the third one too to find out what happens as the ending was quite a cliffhanger!
•
CWs - brief innuendo, strong language throughout, violence, psychological and bodily torture, and some gore
louisek's review
3.25
I still think the writing is a bit mediocre and the plot is a tad bit convoluted but I love the characters and that is why I'm sticking with the series! The purgatory bits were so interesting but we didn't get a lot of it, ah well. Excited for the 3rd one!
metmaedl's review against another edition
5.0
The Block ist ein super spannender 2. Teil. Es gab für mich eigentlich keine Längen.
Einige spannende Konflikte werden aufgeworfen und auch wenn ich natürlich immer auf der Seite von Luka und seinen Freunden war, konnte ich manche "Gegner" doch irgendwie verstehen.
Wie schon im ersten Teil nimmt Ben Oliver keine Rücksicht auf seine Charaktere (die mir trotz ihrer Vielzahl doch ans Herz gewachsen sind) und einige Tränchen sind bei mir schon geflossen. Aufgrund des hohen Tempos, in dem die Handlung voran getrieben wird, war blieb nicht viel Zeit zum trauern - schließlich will ich ja wissen, wie es weitergeht.
Also immer noch! Ich warte sehnsüchtig auf Band 3 im August!
Einige spannende Konflikte werden aufgeworfen und auch wenn ich natürlich immer auf der Seite von Luka und seinen Freunden war, konnte ich manche "Gegner" doch irgendwie verstehen.
Wie schon im ersten Teil nimmt Ben Oliver keine Rücksicht auf seine Charaktere (die mir trotz ihrer Vielzahl doch ans Herz gewachsen sind) und einige Tränchen sind bei mir schon geflossen. Aufgrund des hohen Tempos, in dem die Handlung voran getrieben wird, war blieb nicht viel Zeit zum trauern - schließlich will ich ja wissen, wie es weitergeht.
Also immer noch! Ich warte sehnsüchtig auf Band 3 im August!
wolfgangus_lll's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
slamslibrary's review
4.0
I am loving this storyline. The main character cracks me up! At any given time he is fully ready to sacrifice his life and it’s comical how often this occurs! With an ending that’ll raise your eyebrow, it’ll be fun to see how this all wraps up in the final book.