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leafblade's review against another edition
5.0
///ESPAÑOL///
No sé qué decir.
El mundo creado es buenísimo. Los personajes también. Profundos, bien escritos, con cambios de humor humanos y para nada perfectos. Nunca había leído nada del Pentágono. Medusa es un personaje excelente, y es la única cosa que me recuerda (bastante) a Ready Player One. Aunque la verdad es que creí que todo Insignia iba a ser una copia de este, pero para nada. Me lo leí en muy poco tiempo, y lo disfruté muchísimo. No puedo esperar para empezar Vortex.
///ENGLISH///
I don't know what to say.
The world where the story takes place is perfect. The characters, too. Deep, well written, with realistic mood changes, and who are not even close to perfection. I've never read anything about the Pentagon. Medusa is an excellent character, and it's the only thing that reminds me (a little bit too much) to Ready Player One. Although the truth is that I though that Insignia as a whole was going to be a copy of RPO, but it wasn't. I read it so fast, and I enjoyed it a lot. I can't wait to start reading Vortex.
No sé qué decir.
El mundo creado es buenísimo. Los personajes también. Profundos, bien escritos, con cambios de humor humanos y para nada perfectos. Nunca había leído nada del Pentágono. Medusa es un personaje excelente, y es la única cosa que me recuerda (bastante) a Ready Player One. Aunque la verdad es que creí que todo Insignia iba a ser una copia de este, pero para nada. Me lo leí en muy poco tiempo, y lo disfruté muchísimo. No puedo esperar para empezar Vortex.
///ENGLISH///
I don't know what to say.
The world where the story takes place is perfect. The characters, too. Deep, well written, with realistic mood changes, and who are not even close to perfection. I've never read anything about the Pentagon. Medusa is an excellent character, and it's the only thing that reminds me (a little bit too much) to Ready Player One. Although the truth is that I though that Insignia as a whole was going to be a copy of RPO, but it wasn't. I read it so fast, and I enjoyed it a lot. I can't wait to start reading Vortex.
katykelly's review against another edition
4.0
Very good. Fantastic idea, lots of laugh-out-loud moments, good character development. Hope this gets a wide teenage audience.
tequila_'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
thebrainlair's review against another edition
3.0
Some books you shouldn't analyze. Just read and move on. Im giving this a 3 because the premise is a good one. I just couldn't get behind the execution. Too many hoops to jump through to get from point A to point B. Too many implausible scenarios. Too much telling instead of showing meaning I never had to engage. I may have liked it more if it wasn't a Batty About Books pick. I may re-visit at a later date and read nonstop and see if that changes things.
earth2alaysia's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
5.0
carolinadlc's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
Leí Insignia hace... 6 años, (wow) y la verdad siento que no ha cambiado como lo veo. Sigue siendo un libro gracioso, con Tom siendo un insolente al punto que dices "chamaco pendejo, me das risa" ahora que ya soy mayor que él. Sigo sin entender bien el asunto que vuelve especial a Tom con los neuroprocesadores, pero creo que se sabe más de ellos en el siguiente libro.
Por otro lado, el cómo afectan las compañías al mundo, y la guerra que se está librando es un asunto más fuerte de lo que había podido entender en su momento. Grandes corporaciones haciéndose ricos cobrando por TODO y dañando al planeta, explotando gente y no les importa... some real shit there.
También me gusta ver como poco a poco Tom va haciendo amigos reales, y la dinámica que tienen entre ellos. Se nota que tienen 14 años, y eso me gusta.
psdt. Odio que siempre desconfío de personajes que en realidad sólo quieren lo mejor para otros, y sí, estoy hablando de Elliot, ese chico de verdad sólo quiere ser un buen mentor :c y yo juzgándolo mal
Leí Insignia hace... 6 años, (wow) y la verdad siento que no ha cambiado como lo veo. Sigue siendo un libro gracioso, con Tom siendo un insolente al punto que dices "chamaco pendejo, me das risa" ahora que ya soy mayor que él. Sigo sin entender bien el asunto que vuelve especial a Tom con los neuroprocesadores, pero creo que se sabe más de ellos en el siguiente libro.
Por otro lado, el cómo afectan las compañías al mundo, y la guerra que se está librando es un asunto más fuerte de lo que había podido entender en su momento. Grandes corporaciones haciéndose ricos cobrando por TODO y dañando al planeta, explotando gente y no les importa... some real shit there.
También me gusta ver como poco a poco Tom va haciendo amigos reales, y la dinámica que tienen entre ellos. Se nota que tienen 14 años, y eso me gusta.
psdt. Odio que siempre desconfío de personajes que en realidad sólo quieren lo mejor para otros, y sí, estoy hablando de Elliot, ese chico de verdad sólo quiere ser un buen mentor :c y yo juzgándolo mal
michalice's review against another edition
5.0
When the publisher contacted me regarding reviewing Insignia I jumped at the chance. Although I had not heard anything about this book beforehand, the synopsis alone drew me in.
Tom Raines, the protagonist, is a loner. He has no friends in school and drifts from place to place with his gambler father. After being spotted winning a game he is invited to the Pentagonal Spire to train and hopefully become a combatant for the Intrasolar Forces and fight for his country. His life in the Pentagonal Spire is not as easy as it seems and he faces constant barriers in his journey to the top.
From the moment I began reading Insignia I was hooked. Although the main genre is Science Fiction, there are futuristic elements to it as well; virtual reality schools and training, futuristic weapons, even the way the combatants are trained and the process they go through.
There are so many things that I love about Insignia that it's hard to pick my favourite bits, but there are parts that really stood out, either the characters or just the story itself. The character that really stood out to me was Wyatt. She is teased and ridiculed for various reasons but she is quick to help out her friends whenever they ask for it, and has their backs. She helps Tom change his stats before she even knew him and after he denies knowing who changed them their friendship slowly develops. In my eyes she is underrated but super smart and I hope she gets a big part in the next instalment.
I loved the task they were set for a lesson regarding giving each other viruses, I actually laughed out loud at some of the results of these. I loved how Wyatt showed her true colours and her capabilities and cheered her on all the way.
The VR training sounded amazing. Having to just walk into a normal room and have it turn to whatever scene they want it to be for training sounds like the best way to train. The descriptions used to describe everything made it so easy to believe it all and feel like you are right there with them. I really like how they get out of it by purposefully getting themselves killed, only virtually, and they get to lay there waiting for the session to end.
The friendships Tom forms with his fellow combatants are strong, and they are always willing to help each other out no matter what. The last few chapters had me on tenter hooks wanting to know what was going to happen, not only with thier own headquarters, but with fighting the enemy and how their friendship wold survive a test this big.
I thoroughly enjoyed taking this journey with Tom and recommend everyone reads Insignia, I can't wait to see what happens next. All I need to do is waita while forever for book two ☺.... hopefully
I was also lucky enough to be quoted in the finished version of Insignia. I don't have a copy at the time of writing this review so I am sending you to Hot Key Books to take a look at the picture and see what other amazing bloggers are quoted too. [picture from Hot Key Books twitter]
Tom Raines, the protagonist, is a loner. He has no friends in school and drifts from place to place with his gambler father. After being spotted winning a game he is invited to the Pentagonal Spire to train and hopefully become a combatant for the Intrasolar Forces and fight for his country. His life in the Pentagonal Spire is not as easy as it seems and he faces constant barriers in his journey to the top.
From the moment I began reading Insignia I was hooked. Although the main genre is Science Fiction, there are futuristic elements to it as well; virtual reality schools and training, futuristic weapons, even the way the combatants are trained and the process they go through.
There are so many things that I love about Insignia that it's hard to pick my favourite bits, but there are parts that really stood out, either the characters or just the story itself. The character that really stood out to me was Wyatt. She is teased and ridiculed for various reasons but she is quick to help out her friends whenever they ask for it, and has their backs. She helps Tom change his stats before she even knew him and after he denies knowing who changed them their friendship slowly develops. In my eyes she is underrated but super smart and I hope she gets a big part in the next instalment.
I loved the task they were set for a lesson regarding giving each other viruses, I actually laughed out loud at some of the results of these. I loved how Wyatt showed her true colours and her capabilities and cheered her on all the way.
The VR training sounded amazing. Having to just walk into a normal room and have it turn to whatever scene they want it to be for training sounds like the best way to train. The descriptions used to describe everything made it so easy to believe it all and feel like you are right there with them. I really like how they get out of it by purposefully getting themselves killed, only virtually, and they get to lay there waiting for the session to end.
The friendships Tom forms with his fellow combatants are strong, and they are always willing to help each other out no matter what. The last few chapters had me on tenter hooks wanting to know what was going to happen, not only with thier own headquarters, but with fighting the enemy and how their friendship wold survive a test this big.
I thoroughly enjoyed taking this journey with Tom and recommend everyone reads Insignia, I can't wait to see what happens next. All I need to do is wait
I was also lucky enough to be quoted in the finished version of Insignia. I don't have a copy at the time of writing this review so I am sending you to Hot Key Books to take a look at the picture and see what other amazing bloggers are quoted too. [picture from Hot Key Books twitter]
iggybug's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
4.25
jennymock's review against another edition
5.0
Great teen sci-fi! I'm curious to see how the next two books hold up.