Scan barcode
thistlechaser's review against another edition
4.0
I almost always go into books completely blind. I read the summary when deciding if I should get a copy or not, but they sit on my Kindle for years before I read it, so I usually forget all about it. I can't even get clues from the cover, because they're so tiny and black and white. In this case, I'm really glad I went into it without knowing anything.
The story is set after the world ends, with no details in the plot as to how it ended. It was called the Flash, which made me think nuclear war, but there were no effects of radiation, so I thought it had to be something else.
The main characters are a group of young teenagers. They live on and control a riverboat moving up and down the Mississippi river. They deliver mail and sing/play music to trade for the supplies they need.
One day they saw an "old man" (40s or so) being chased. He leaped into the river (which is now poisonous, even one swallow could kill someone). They pulled him out and rescued him. This lead into the book's whole plot, that the adult (named King) was being chased by an evil family for knowledge he had.
There were many things about the book I enjoyed. Though it was a YA book, there was a whole layer of detail that kids wouldn't pick up on (the family chasing King would have kidnapped and raped the teenage girl crew member if they could have, but the details about that were really subtle so young readers would miss it).
Unfortunately he book had a bunch of issues. From small ones (like editing issues, random italics here and there, a bunch of random single quote marks and commas just sprinkled through the text) to much bigger ones.
The biggest issue was that the teenage crew (only 5? 6? kids) had zero characterization. At most, they had one single trait (the smart one, the girl with a boy's name, the one with choppy hair). Even at the end of the book, I'd see one of the kids' names and have to stop and wonder which one it was.
The biggest personal issue I had with the book is that it would have been so much better if it had been told from King's POV instead of from the kids'. I was just dying for more information about him, more background on him, to know what he had been doing since the world ended, to have seen it all happen through his eyes. I know this is a YA book, and usually I like those, but it would have been such an amazing story if the author had just written it from King's POV instead.
And as for why it was better going into it blind:
I had guessed right, the Flash was
If it sounds like I didn't enjoy the book, I actually did really like it. It just felt like a missed opportunity -- if it had been from King's POV, it would have been even better.
The story is set after the world ends, with no details in the plot as to how it ended. It was called the Flash, which made me think nuclear war, but there were no effects of radiation, so I thought it had to be something else.
The main characters are a group of young teenagers. They live on and control a riverboat moving up and down the Mississippi river. They deliver mail and sing/play music to trade for the supplies they need.
One day they saw an "old man" (40s or so) being chased. He leaped into the river (which is now poisonous, even one swallow could kill someone). They pulled him out and rescued him. This lead into the book's whole plot, that the adult (named King) was being chased by an evil family for knowledge he had.
There were many things about the book I enjoyed. Though it was a YA book, there was a whole layer of detail that kids wouldn't pick up on (the family chasing King would have kidnapped and raped the teenage girl crew member if they could have, but the details about that were really subtle so young readers would miss it).
Unfortunately he book had a bunch of issues. From small ones (like editing issues, random italics here and there, a bunch of random single quote marks and commas just sprinkled through the text) to much bigger ones.
The biggest issue was that the teenage crew (only 5? 6? kids) had zero characterization. At most, they had one single trait (the smart one, the girl with a boy's name, the one with choppy hair). Even at the end of the book, I'd see one of the kids' names and have to stop and wonder which one it was.
The biggest personal issue I had with the book is that it would have been so much better if it had been told from King's POV instead of from the kids'. I was just dying for more information about him, more background on him, to know what he had been doing since the world ended, to have seen it all happen through his eyes. I know this is a YA book, and usually I like those, but it would have been such an amazing story if the author had just written it from King's POV instead.
And as for why it was better going into it blind:
I had guessed right, the Flash was
Spoiler
a nuclear war. Which, once I was done with the book, really annoyed me. If a nuclear war happened maybe 20 years ago, people wouldn't be walking around just perfectly fine.If it sounds like I didn't enjoy the book, I actually did really like it. It just felt like a missed opportunity -- if it had been from King's POV, it would have been even better.
cindywho's review against another edition
4.0
Straight-forward post-apocalyptic, kids on a riverboat adventure. Not very deep, but fun.
randiroo's review against another edition
2.0
I read this as a consideration for a classroom read - it would have fit with the project-based learning theme of the Mississippi River. However, I've decided that I will definitely not be teaching this book. The story is predictable, the characters lack depth and development, and the world-building leaves much to be desired.
Recommended for people who don't mind predictability and are looking for a quick post-apocalyptic read.
Recommended for people who don't mind predictability and are looking for a quick post-apocalyptic read.
otterno11's review
2.0
In spite of a promising premise, a band of orphans delivering news and entertainment up and down a toxic, post apocalyptic Mississippi River in a restored riverboat, the plot and characters of "River Rats" seem sadly bland and plodding. The orphans feel interchangeable and I never really got into the motivations of any of them, most of all Tomcat, the first person narrator who seems only to exist to be present at the events. The rats find themselves breaking an arbitrary rule when they rescue the flighty "old guy," King, from the river and find themselves in a race to a storehouse of guns hidden by a mysterious rock star, but it turns out to be predictable and progresses as slowly as the river itself. There was never any sense of danger, no matter how many thugs or "wild boys" the rats encounter or how sinister the plague ridden ruins of the Twin Cities are described, and no sense of urgency in the plot.
It feels as though the author, trying to keep the story to "young adult," holds herself back on developing a lot of the darker threads she hints at, or exploring the implications of some of the more interesting themes. While it is refreshing to see a more positive take on the "end of the world," it all feels a little toothless for a post-apocalyptic setting, and even juvenile lit can have a little more bite. Still, there were some fun scenes, and as a Minnesotan, I had to picture King(a.k.a., the Pharaoh) , as being none other than Prince.
It feels as though the author, trying to keep the story to "young adult," holds herself back on developing a lot of the darker threads she hints at, or exploring the implications of some of the more interesting themes. While it is refreshing to see a more positive take on the "end of the world," it all feels a little toothless for a post-apocalyptic setting, and even juvenile lit can have a little more bite. Still, there were some fun scenes, and as a Minnesotan, I had to picture King
More...