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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
A student who is tough to interact with brought this book to me because he loved it and wanted me to read it. Not surprisingly, it's not a book I enjoyed: 10-year-old boys seldom have the same taste as their teacher. It's not the *kind* of book I enjoy. Its dystopian, borrowing a little from Lord of the Flies and a little from The Hunger Games, though it is original enough in plot. Teen boys left alone for two years, a new one added each month, many dying from attack by half machine/half squishy amorphous beings called Grievers. A girl arrives, and she's such a complete token, I was deeply disappointed. The discovery that there is a They who have created these conditions for a good-on-paper but deeply immoral plot. And these two elements are the problems to me. I don't like a book aimed at middle school boys to drop a teen girl into the middle of a plot simply to be beautiful and a potential love interest. And I really don't like creating the cultural expectation of shadowy elites who would spend any amount of money and use the lives of others simply for a power trip.
What will I say to my student, whose fervor I don't want to spoil? I will tell him that the plot was exciting, that I think it was interesting to have the boys self-organize a farm to care for themselves and wonder if that's what people would really do--I would hope so; I will tell him that I could see through they eyes of the protagonist how tough decisions are about telling the truth which might go the wrong way. I will say I can sure understand how he'd be caught up in the excitement of the series. And if he asks if I like it, I will say it's in a genre of books that make me uncomfortable, but that it's ok to be unsettled by literature.
What will I say to my student, whose fervor I don't want to spoil? I will tell him that the plot was exciting, that I think it was interesting to have the boys self-organize a farm to care for themselves and wonder if that's what people would really do--I would hope so; I will tell him that I could see through they eyes of the protagonist how tough decisions are about telling the truth which might go the wrong way. I will say I can sure understand how he'd be caught up in the excitement of the series. And if he asks if I like it, I will say it's in a genre of books that make me uncomfortable, but that it's ok to be unsettled by literature.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I LOVED this the first time I read it and the atmosphere inside the maze was unlike anything I'd ever encountered in a book so far! I really loved how tense a lot of this story was while maintaining a high level of intrigue throughout.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Endlessly strange, compelling, and doesn't even begin to look like any of the dystopic books I've ever read. For those reasons alone, and adding the fact that the main character is far more believable than Katniss ever could be, this book trumps The Hunger Games. My desire to read further was quicker than it was in most fantasy/sci-fi trilogies.