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norcani's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of the rare books I dreaded to finish because I was loving it so much. I really expected so little from this book but it gave me so much. It was perfectly paced and every pov character (3 of them) was so perfectly realized, even if they might seem stereotypical at first.
This is NOT ya I don't know why people shelved this as such. One of the 3 povs is a teen but this is definitely an adult book. It's also very very dark and rather depressing so keep that in mind if you're interested.
This is NOT ya I don't know why people shelved this as such. One of the 3 povs is a teen but this is definitely an adult book. It's also very very dark and rather depressing so keep that in mind if you're interested.
ashwolff's review against another edition
4.0
I kind of wish there had been more, so it could have been more in depth with the characters. I felt the twists and reveals were well plotted. 4 Gay characters!
tiggum's review against another edition
2.0
Weird book. Not really sure what to make of it. The characters were good but the story was just odd and unpleasant. And I don't know what the point of it was supposed to be.
One thing that irritated me:
One thing that irritated me:
Spoiler
Why did the resistance want or need Jordan's cooperation? Surely it would have been easier to just infect someone (or, ideally, many people) destined for Seed without telling them. You can't give anything away if you don't know anything.dancing_librarian's review against another edition
4.0
I kind of wish there had been more, so it could have been more in depth with the characters. I felt the twists and reveals were well plotted. 4 Gay characters!
helenid's review
4.0
You know when you watch a film about half the planet dying from global warming or an autobiography about an over-achieving serial killer, then you leave the cinema saying that was good and realise that that comment was insanely insensitive and glib? Well, this is like that. So not wanting to appear inhumane, I won't state that this was good!
The author's review mentions that this book is not a YA and I'd have to agree. There are some graphic sex scenes and violent ones that 'young' adults probably should avoid.
So, the world has been conquered and essentially we are done for while trying to appear normal. Throw into the mix Jordan with an oppositional disorder and fun ensues.
There are two other POVs and each provides glimpses into the world and the terms 'feed, breed, seed'.
Multiple births are the norm, confiscation of a proportion then is upsetting but not questioned. Then later as teens, the removal to Summer Camp is lamented but what to do?!
This is a short read but packs a hell of a lot into itself! Clearly I'm a lovely human so I won't say I enjoyed it :)
The author's review mentions that this book is not a YA and I'd have to agree. There are some graphic sex scenes and violent ones that 'young' adults probably should avoid.
So, the world has been conquered and essentially we are done for while trying to appear normal. Throw into the mix Jordan with an oppositional disorder and fun ensues.
There are two other POVs and each provides glimpses into the world and the terms 'feed, breed, seed'.
Multiple births are the norm, confiscation of a proportion then is upsetting but not questioned. Then later as teens, the removal to Summer Camp is lamented but what to do?!
This is a short read but packs a hell of a lot into itself! Clearly I'm a lovely human so I won't say I enjoyed it :)
colossal's review against another edition
4.0
Note: Not a YA book. The potential fate of children in this book is horrible and there's some fairly adult sexual content as well as other adult content that's spoilery.
The Earth has been at devastating war with the alien Over, nine feet-tall avian humanoids, but humanity surrendered twenty years ago. Now people have large families, often using fertility drugs to have multiple births, because the Over demand tribute in the form of children.
The story focuses on fourteen-year old Jordan Fontaine as she is a candidate for the Summer Camps that only one in three children return from, the others going to one of the sinister options of Feed, Breed or Seed. The other points-of-view come from Jordan's mother June as she faces the candidacy of all three of her children and the Over-collaborating Liason Heaven Omalis assigned to the Fontaine family.
Engaging right from the start, but uniformly horrific in content. The compassion and overwhelming guilt of Omalis is a contrast to the grief of June and the stubborn defiance of Jordan. The Over are a horrible creation that can have almost no possible resistance. There's a feeling of threat and hopelessness throughout the book particularly when some of the worst of the things done to the humans are done so just because the Over enjoy their suffering.
The Earth has been at devastating war with the alien Over, nine feet-tall avian humanoids, but humanity surrendered twenty years ago. Now people have large families, often using fertility drugs to have multiple births, because the Over demand tribute in the form of children.
The story focuses on fourteen-year old Jordan Fontaine as she is a candidate for the Summer Camps that only one in three children return from, the others going to one of the sinister options of Feed, Breed or Seed. The other points-of-view come from Jordan's mother June as she faces the candidacy of all three of her children and the Over-collaborating Liason Heaven Omalis assigned to the Fontaine family.
Engaging right from the start, but uniformly horrific in content. The compassion and overwhelming guilt of Omalis is a contrast to the grief of June and the stubborn defiance of Jordan. The Over are a horrible creation that can have almost no possible resistance. There's a feeling of threat and hopelessness throughout the book particularly when some of the worst of the things done to the humans are done so just because the Over enjoy their suffering.
mdpenguin's review against another edition
5.0
The first half of the book put me in mind of Camus' The Plague in the sense that it seems to be an examination of how different people react to a horrible situation that everyone is stuck in and over which nobody has any real control. The second half was kind of twisted, though not in a bad way. It was twisted in the way that the world in which everything was taking place was twisted. The emotional understanding of the characters that was built up in the first half of the novel makes the second half all the more intense. I've read other books in which I was hoping for the death of the main character to deliver them from all of their suffering, but rooting for Jordan to be able to die and take the Over with her and cheering her giving Taylor cyanide produced a pretty horrific mix of emotions in me. The torment that Jordan and Omalis go through in this book is pretty intense and I honestly feel drained for having read it. The book does leave the reader with some hope, but so much of what the characters say in the novel is about how toxic hope can be under such horrific and impossible conditions; how it all hope is just a lie. Still, I certainly want to believe that the resistance's mission was a success and that it wasn't all in vain, even if the book really left me feeling conflicted on that matter. That said, I'm pretty blown away at how Ingram managed to build such intensity and humanity into the emotions expressed in this novel and, as painful as they may be to read at points, I'm absolutely glad I read it.