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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The ending fell short. Im happy there was an epolog because without it, it would have been terrible.
A mix of Snowpiercer and Annihilation for the upper middle-grade, younger YA set.
Engrossing and well-written. Would have a higher rating except ending was a huge letdown and I expected this to be written for adults.
Weiwei is very reminiscent of Lyra of Pullman's His Dark Materials. Weiwei is 16, but everything about her feels years younger. Had the author made her 12-14, it would have been more believable.
My bigger complaint is the constant deux ex machina to resolve very conflict including removing all of the antagonists. It was one thing for the captain to help Weiwei with Grey. But every subsequent confrontation was fixed by Elena and the wasteland or, for Marya, the cartographer and professor - and wasteland's magic skywriting which made this feel even more like a middle grade book where the revelation a company is crooked would make a believable happy ending.
The ending has strong The Girl with All the Gifts vibes: fungus spreading around the world because a young girl decided to let it.
Engrossing and well-written. Would have a higher rating except ending was a huge letdown and I expected this to be written for adults.
Weiwei is very reminiscent of Lyra of Pullman's His Dark Materials. Weiwei is 16, but everything about her feels years younger. Had the author made her 12-14, it would have been more believable.
My bigger complaint is
The ending has strong The Girl with All the Gifts vibes: fungus spreading around the world because a young girl decided to let it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Death of parent
Moderate: Body horror, Medical content, Grief
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Classism
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Trans-Siberian Express, which runs between Beijing and Moscow, is the only safe way to travel across the mysterious Wastelands that cover what used to be a large portion of Eurasia and Central Asia. People who are less confident about the train’s protections would argue that there is no safe way across the Wastelands, and that the only sensible thing to do would be to stick firmly to the side of the walls where animals don’t spontaneously transform into monsters, the plants don’t try to eat everything, and the rocks don’t stare. In Sarah Brooks’s magical novel, The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands, we ride the express alongside a trio of characters with more in mind than just getting from China to Russia...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
slow-paced
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes