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thomch's review against another edition
3.0
I wanna start with this: when I first read this book at 13 (many, many moons ago) it made me fall in love with reading. That’s how much I loved this book! It’s an action packed, edge of your seat roller coaster of a book that engrossed me so much I remember spending the whole weekend in bed reading it. The writing style is fun and casual, making it an easy read. It’s soooo Australian, there’s characters with names that are references to famous Australian, Aussie slang, the book is mainly set in Australia; and for these reasons made it feel sentimental to me when I was younger.
So I think for Aussie pimply teenage boys this is the PERFECT book. 10/10. End of review.
However, sadly, I am no longer 13 years old anymore. So rereading this book made me realise there are a few issues I may have this book as a 30yo adult that I may have glossed over or not realised was a problem when I was a child.
Such as:
1. This book fails the Bechdel test. The female characters are poorly written, with no personality traits or depth to them. We know everything about their dad and all his hobbies and quirks, but their mum? All she does is sew and cry.
2. There is very little character development in this book. The main character makes rookie mistakes or seemingly bad decisions which have negative consequences, only to repeat these very same actions later in the novel and they work out, without any lesson learnt or development made whatsoever! About two thirds in the main character begins A path of character development, however that doesn’t last long.
3. The whole premise of the book is so outlandishly ridiculous and over the top! Some events the main character is told no one has ever pulled off before or only have a 0.005% chance of happening. Yet, somehow he pulls it off! Every. Single. Time! Which can be fun to witness in an action scene, but for me it takes the element of doubt or surprise out of it if I know it’s gonna work out every time.
So I guess these issues pulled me out of the escapism of this young adult fantasy dream world, but it’s still a breezy fun read!
While this book is objectively enjoyable, light and fast paced, there are elements of this book that took me out of the immersiveness or the novel that left me not entirely loving this book.
But I dunno, maybe I’m too old?
So I think for Aussie pimply teenage boys this is the PERFECT book. 10/10. End of review.
However, sadly, I am no longer 13 years old anymore. So rereading this book made me realise there are a few issues I may have this book as a 30yo adult that I may have glossed over or not realised was a problem when I was a child.
Such as:
1. This book fails the Bechdel test. The female characters are poorly written, with no personality traits or depth to them. We know everything about their dad and all his hobbies and quirks, but their mum? All she does is sew and cry.
2. There is very little character development in this book. The main character makes rookie mistakes or seemingly bad decisions which have negative consequences, only to repeat these very same actions later in the novel and they work out, without any lesson learnt or development made whatsoever! About two thirds in the main character begins A path of character development, however that doesn’t last long.
3. The whole premise of the book is so outlandishly ridiculous and over the top! Some events the main character is told no one has ever pulled off before or only have a 0.005% chance of happening. Yet, somehow he pulls it off! Every. Single. Time! Which can be fun to witness in an action scene, but for me it takes the element of doubt or surprise out of it if I know it’s gonna work out every time.
So I guess these issues pulled me out of the escapism of this young adult fantasy dream world, but it’s still a breezy fun read!
While this book is objectively enjoyable, light and fast paced, there are elements of this book that took me out of the immersiveness or the novel that left me not entirely loving this book.
But I dunno, maybe I’m too old?
lachlan_steele's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
meowzik's review against another edition
4.0
This was just such a fun read - moments of wtf-ery aside, you can't help but root for Jason and his Argonauts his racing team. Yes, there were faults, but looking at it as very much a kids/tween book, it ticks all the boxes - fun characters, action, adventure, extreme sports, girls, fame and villains. It's another one of Reilly's that I've read multiple times, and I enjoy it every time. :)
megadan777's review against another edition
3.0
High-octane and fast paced novel. The story follows a young 14 year old boy and his brother who race in amateur events of the world's biggest sport, Hover Car Racing. After winning an event they get invited to learn at the prestigious International racing school. The first 3/4 of this novel was surprisingly brilliant and very engaging. But the final 1/4 was predictable and knew the ending early. Still a good weekend read.
lewis_fishman's review against another edition
5.0
There is something about that book that always manages to lift me up when I am feeling absolutely awful. Maybe it's because its a simpler story than some of the other stuff I read, maybe it's because of the sheer speed the books races at (figuratively and literally). Whatever it is, thank you Matthew.
novelology's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
antithesis's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.25
emmaeden93's review against another edition
4.0
I’ll start by saying that although I am a HUGE fan of Mathew’s writing, I was a little bit worried I wasn’t going to enjoy this one simply because it is aimed at a YA age group. I’m glad to say that I was very wrong, this was super fun and action packed in typical Matthew Reilly fashion. I’d describe it as a very similar vibe to Pod Racing in Star Wars, but with real cars that hover.