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kshertz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I have a love/hate relationship with Shusterman. This author is brilliant but he’s telling dystopian nightmare truths that I don’t want to hear but need to hear. This one is all about the loss of drinking water. I live in San Diego so this is a real concern all the time. The fact that he wrote it with his son is interesting. It was such a good story and I was enthralled. Now I’m depressed. But also thankful for the warning. I definitely think he’s one of the best authors ever and his work is like a necessary evil. I highly recommend this book if you’re up for the warning!
Content Warnings
Minor: Abandonment, Physical abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Death
riffmonkey's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Something about this book just didn't click for me. Maybe it's because its about something way to real to have fun reading about. I love me some apocalypse books, but they usually have a sort of magical element. This was to real to be fully enjoyed. To depressing.
I think I would have had a different experience reading this if I had read it before our own generation's disaster time. After the pandemic though it feels though it makes some things much more mild or unrealistic. Like waiting a couple of hours to go to the store. I know now for a fact that if there was even a whisper of any shortage the public would make it a million times worse by preemptively buying it all out.
I think I would have had a different experience reading this if I had read it before our own generation's disaster time. After the pandemic though it feels though it makes some things much more mild or unrealistic. Like waiting a couple of hours to go to the store. I know now for a fact that if there was even a whisper of any shortage the public would make it a million times worse by preemptively buying it all out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Car accident, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Gun violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape
mpbookreviews's review against another edition
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Gore
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
quills4days's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Police brutality, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Sexual assault, Violence, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Death, Gore, and War
Minor: Vomit
housedominic's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This is probably the best book I’ve read this year and it was written four years ago. It was so thought provoking and real. I could not set it down. The writing style is perfect. If you love a good thriller, found family, morally grey characters, and apocalypse stories then you have to read this!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Classism, Cursing, and Death
kassidyreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual assault
liz_ross's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
"When we've lost the strength to save ourselves, we somehow find the strength to save each other."
Do you know those books that have such an amazing concept that you can't imagine any way the author (or in this case authors) could possibly mess it up? This was one of those books. And the authors did find that way to mess it up that I had missed.
California finding itself without water may not be a reality, but it's easy to imagine it as one. There is already a crisis whether people acknowledge it or not. If we don't do anything to change our habits and start living in a more susteinable way, it won't take many years for California and other places to find themselves in a situation like the one in this book.
Quite similar even, because if there's something the Shusterman duo did well, it was describing the whole scenario. The denial, everyone rushing to supermarkets and other places to buy as much water as they can find without thinking about everyone else around them, the chaos that followed when people found themselves without enough water. The authors created a very realistic and frightning picture of what would happen if people ever find themselves without access to water, an unvaluable resource that we so often take for granted. The world crumbled and shattered and all that mattered as to survive at all costs because that's the sad reality about being human and that we often forget as well - if we see ourselves in deadly danger, there's nothing that distinguishes us from wild animals, except for our exceptional and much more effective capacity for violence.
But the good things about this book end here. Yes, the concept was amazing, and yes, it was developed in a brilliant way. But choosing a bunch of teenagers as main characters? Not the authors' best idea.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against underage main characters. As long as they don't look like they can barely make reasonable decisions when the world is fine, let alone when it is quickly racing towards the apocalypse. Which is exactly what they look like in this book.
Alyssa, the female main character, is meant to be the good, smart girl who cares for everyone. First of all, she is clearly too dumb to be smart. Secondly, I would have no problem with her being a good person trying to keep her humanity in a world where everyone seemed to have lost it if all her good actions weren't used to either show how bad and cruel everyone else had became or for the authors to remind me once again of how selfless Alyssa is. Not to mention that all her good actions ended up putting herself, her friends and her brother (who she said over and over again that she would always protect) in danger. So, I just have one thing to tell Alyssa - Alyssa, dear, a bit of self-love and taking a moment to think before doing anything wouldn't hurt, you know? In fact, they could have saved you and your friends a lot of trouble.
Alyssa's brother, Garrett, is barely more than a background character and for me he is just there. Kelton is a creep. Period. I don't care if they were all almost dying every day, there's no excuse for what he did. The only character of the group that I did like was Jacqui - if the other teenagers were like her, the fact that they were all teenagers wouldn't have been a problem -, but ever her annoyed me quite often.
But wait, wait! I almost forgot Henry. And oh boy, I have a whole ranting about him. Well, not him. I couldn't care less about him. About how everyone else treated him. Like, seriously?! And you still wonder why I think they shouldn't have been the main chracters! In what world does anyeone decide to trust someone like Henry knowing what they know about him?! It almost makes me want to say that what happened to them served them right! Just why?!
And along with this bunch of annoying, unlikable characters, comes a plot that not only has a painfully slow pace, but that is boring as hell as well. The state the world is in is amazing and realistic, yes. But do you know how I had the chance to know that? The authors made the group travel around on something that felt way too much like a quest. Which would have been fine if I didn't keep reading the same thing over and over again. It was basically losing hope and freak out, find a way to deal with it, travel, arrive at somewhere. Repeat. And repeat. And repeat. But jeez, the book was so bad that I would have dealt with it as well if I didn't know fully well how it was going to end.
You know what would have been amazing? If I was wrong about the ending, if for once there wasn't a happily ever after waiting for the main character. The rating of this book would have been much higher that way.
And the point is, there wasn't no need for an ending like that at all. I appreciate the message the authors wanted to share. And trust me, they were successful in that department and it would be a mistake for anyone who read the book (whether they liked it or not) to ignore that message. But it would have been just as successfully shared if the ending would have been diffetent. In fact, if it had been different, less of a happy ever after I even think the message would have been stronger. And damn it, the book would have been much better.
Overall, the message the authors want to share is one that is extremely important. Everyone should be aware of how precarious is our situation right now. And all I wanted was to be able to reccomed this book to everyone I know. But the authors failed to deliever a story that would make justice to its message and I can't reccomed a book just for its message, because that's not all that matters about it. The book had a lot of potential and could have been amazing. But the characters choice, the pace and the predictability of the plot just ruined it all.
"As a kid you idiolize your parents. But there's that moment when you realize they're not superheroes, or villains. They're painfully, unforgivably human. The question is, can you forgive them for being human anyway?"
Do you know those books that have such an amazing concept that you can't imagine any way the author (or in this case authors) could possibly mess it up? This was one of those books. And the authors did find that way to mess it up that I had missed.
California finding itself without water may not be a reality, but it's easy to imagine it as one. There is already a crisis whether people acknowledge it or not. If we don't do anything to change our habits and start living in a more susteinable way, it won't take many years for California and other places to find themselves in a situation like the one in this book.
Quite similar even, because if there's something the Shusterman duo did well, it was describing the whole scenario. The denial, everyone rushing to supermarkets and other places to buy as much water as they can find without thinking about everyone else around them, the chaos that followed when people found themselves without enough water. The authors created a very realistic and frightning picture of what would happen if people ever find themselves without access to water, an unvaluable resource that we so often take for granted. The world crumbled and shattered and all that mattered as to survive at all costs because that's the sad reality about being human and that we often forget as well - if we see ourselves in deadly danger, there's nothing that distinguishes us from wild animals, except for our exceptional and much more effective capacity for violence.
But the good things about this book end here. Yes, the concept was amazing, and yes, it was developed in a brilliant way. But choosing a bunch of teenagers as main characters? Not the authors' best idea.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against underage main characters. As long as they don't look like they can barely make reasonable decisions when the world is fine, let alone when it is quickly racing towards the apocalypse. Which is exactly what they look like in this book.
Alyssa, the female main character, is meant to be the good, smart girl who cares for everyone. First of all, she is clearly too dumb to be smart. Secondly, I would have no problem with her being a good person trying to keep her humanity in a world where everyone seemed to have lost it if all her good actions weren't used to either show how bad and cruel everyone else had became or for the authors to remind me once again of how selfless Alyssa is. Not to mention that all her good actions ended up putting herself, her friends and her brother (who she said over and over again that she would always protect) in danger. So, I just have one thing to tell Alyssa - Alyssa, dear, a bit of self-love and taking a moment to think before doing anything wouldn't hurt, you know? In fact, they could have saved you and your friends a lot of trouble.
Alyssa's brother, Garrett, is barely more than a background character and for me he is just there. Kelton is a creep. Period. I don't care if they were all almost dying every day, there's no excuse for what he did. The only character of the group that I did like was Jacqui - if the other teenagers were like her, the fact that they were all teenagers wouldn't have been a problem -, but ever her annoyed me quite often.
But wait, wait! I almost forgot Henry. And oh boy, I have a whole ranting about him. Well, not him. I couldn't care less about him. About how everyone else treated him. Like, seriously?! And you still wonder why I think they shouldn't have been the main chracters! In what world does anyeone decide to trust someone like Henry knowing what they know about him?! It almost makes me want to say that what happened to them served them right! Just why?!
And along with this bunch of annoying, unlikable characters, comes a plot that not only has a painfully slow pace, but that is boring as hell as well. The state the world is in is amazing and realistic, yes. But do you know how I had the chance to know that? The authors made the group travel around on something that felt way too much like a quest. Which would have been fine if I didn't keep reading the same thing over and over again. It was basically losing hope and freak out, find a way to deal with it, travel, arrive at somewhere. Repeat. And repeat. And repeat. But jeez, the book was so bad that I would have dealt with it as well if I didn't know fully well how it was going to end.
You know what would have been amazing? If I was wrong about the ending, if for once there wasn't a happily ever after waiting for the main character. The rating of this book would have been much higher that way.
And the point is, there wasn't no need for an ending like that at all. I appreciate the message the authors wanted to share. And trust me, they were successful in that department and it would be a mistake for anyone who read the book (whether they liked it or not) to ignore that message. But it would have been just as successfully shared if the ending would have been diffetent. In fact, if it had been different, less of a happy ever after I even think the message would have been stronger. And damn it, the book would have been much better.
Overall, the message the authors want to share is one that is extremely important. Everyone should be aware of how precarious is our situation right now. And all I wanted was to be able to reccomed this book to everyone I know. But the authors failed to deliever a story that would make justice to its message and I can't reccomed a book just for its message, because that's not all that matters about it. The book had a lot of potential and could have been amazing. But the characters choice, the pace and the predictability of the plot just ruined it all.
"As a kid you idiolize your parents. But there's that moment when you realize they're not superheroes, or villains. They're painfully, unforgivably human. The question is, can you forgive them for being human anyway?"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Gun violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
graciejames's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
bill369's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This book got me out of a reading slump. The story is interesting and I like it, however, it didn't surprise me. Felt more average than amazing.
My favourite character is Jacqui. She's the typical outcast cool character and from all the characters she was the most fun and relatable. All the characters are forever changed by the end of the book, the character development is there. Despite all this, I didn't grow to love any of the characters and soon or later I will most likely forget them. They aren't undeveloped, but they aren't strong characters either.
On the other hand, the theme of the book is awesome! I enjoyed all the facts and how fast it all happened. It kept me hydrated throughout the whole book! Also, it was quite fascinating to see how quickly people turn on each other in just a matter of days. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
There isn't any line/scene in particular that caught my attention, but there is a term „water-zombie“, strongly dehydrated human, I liked that one.
I like that the ending was clear. It was known what happened to who, therefore I didn't have to wonder for hours to come.
Lastly, there isn't anything I disliked, but the book isn't emotional/deep enough for me to give it more stars. So overall fascinating, fast and dry read which is great for a reading slump.
My favourite character is Jacqui. She's the typical outcast cool character and from all the characters she was the most fun and relatable. All the characters are forever changed by the end of the book, the character development is there. Despite all this, I didn't grow to love any of the characters and soon or later I will most likely forget them. They aren't undeveloped, but they aren't strong characters either.
On the other hand, the theme of the book is awesome! I enjoyed all the facts and how fast it all happened. It kept me hydrated throughout the whole book! Also, it was quite fascinating to see how quickly people turn on each other in just a matter of days. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
There isn't any line/scene in particular that caught my attention, but there is a term „water-zombie“, strongly dehydrated human, I liked that one.
I like that the ending was clear. It was known what happened to who, therefore I didn't have to wonder for hours to come.
Lastly, there isn't anything I disliked, but the book isn't emotional/deep enough for me to give it more stars. So overall fascinating, fast and dry read which is great for a reading slump.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment and Death
Minor: Pedophilia, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Stalking, and Car accident
sarahreadsthings's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Loved it. Fast paced, interesting characters, and a very realistic approach for a dystopian.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Gun violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Death, and Sexual violence