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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
Oh my God this was amazingly crafted.
I am usually not a fan of stories that are young adult -comming of age - rich kids vs poor-er kids etc.
But man this story was well done. The penmanship and structure was superb and the escalation well placed.
Read it in 24 hrs.
I am usually not a fan of stories that are young adult -comming of age - rich kids vs poor-er kids etc.
But man this story was well done. The penmanship and structure was superb and the escalation well placed.
Read it in 24 hrs.
Honestly this is probably a 4.5 star.
I kept hearing about this book on BookTube so I decided to give it a try, despite it not being my normal type of read. It is set in the year 2118 and though the technology is a great deal more advanced, the relationships between people remain basically the same. This story follows a number of teenagers through their friendships, romances, and all the drama you'd expect from high schoolers. But mixed in is also a mystery because someone dies in the prologue and it takes the entirety of the book to learn who it was. I'm quite intrigued to find out what is going to happen in the next book.
I kept hearing about this book on BookTube so I decided to give it a try, despite it not being my normal type of read. It is set in the year 2118 and though the technology is a great deal more advanced, the relationships between people remain basically the same. This story follows a number of teenagers through their friendships, romances, and all the drama you'd expect from high schoolers. But mixed in is also a mystery because someone dies in the prologue and it takes the entirety of the book to learn who it was. I'm quite intrigued to find out what is going to happen in the next book.
What a royal waste of my time this book was.
I feel like the only saving grace was the half-decent world building but overall this just left a bad taste in my mouth. The characters were bland and cliché, none of them really grew or evolved during the entire book. The romances were uninteresting and anticlimatic. Not to mention the badly hidden racism and stereotypes about poc and members of the LGBTQA+ community.
Just a huge yikes and a no thank you.
I feel like the only saving grace was the half-decent world building but overall this just left a bad taste in my mouth. The characters were bland and cliché, none of them really grew or evolved during the entire book. The romances were uninteresting and anticlimatic. Not to mention the badly hidden racism and stereotypes about poc and members of the LGBTQA+ community.
Just a huge yikes and a no thank you.
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
You should definitely read this book if:
- Gossip girl is your favourite TV show or book series.
You should definitely skip this book if:
- Even in fiction, adopted siblings falling in love ruins the whole book for you.
Good reasons to read this book:
- You like multiple point of views, 5 to be exact.
- You like complicated teenagers, and their relationships. (13 reasons why, pretty little liars, etc.)
- You like stories about wealth: Rich people, rich people getting poor, poor people coming in contact with the rich.
Bad reasons to read this book:
- You like very realistic, detailed sci-fi style world-building.
- You're not in the mood for drama: Addiction, fake heritage, boyfriends in jail, misunderstandings, secrets, this book has it all.
- You're looking for great representation, of any kind.
Book's biggest strengths:
Characters! It's not easy to pull off so many different POVs while keeping them distinct and making the reader care about them all, but this book manages it, and somehow, because the character's struggles feel so real and immidiate, the overly dramatic plot points don't feel trashy or boring, they just feel like genuine problems.
Book's biggest weakness: (?)
I believe this book is genuinely great at accomplishing what it sets out to do. It's an absorbing book about very rich and very poor teenagers and their over-the-top problems. It's well-written, well-plotted and fast-paced.
The issue (for me) is that what it sets out to do, just isn't what I love to read.
- Gossip girl is your favourite TV show or book series.
You should definitely skip this book if:
- Even in fiction, adopted siblings falling in love ruins the whole book for you.
Good reasons to read this book:
- You like multiple point of views, 5 to be exact.
- You like complicated teenagers, and their relationships. (13 reasons why, pretty little liars, etc.)
- You like stories about wealth: Rich people, rich people getting poor, poor people coming in contact with the rich.
Bad reasons to read this book:
- You like very realistic, detailed sci-fi style world-building.
- You're not in the mood for drama: Addiction, fake heritage, boyfriends in jail, misunderstandings, secrets, this book has it all.
- You're looking for great representation, of any kind.
Book's biggest strengths:
Characters! It's not easy to pull off so many different POVs while keeping them distinct and making the reader care about them all, but this book manages it, and somehow, because the character's struggles feel so real and immidiate, the overly dramatic plot points don't feel trashy or boring, they just feel like genuine problems.
Book's biggest weakness: (?)
I believe this book is genuinely great at accomplishing what it sets out to do. It's an absorbing book about very rich and very poor teenagers and their over-the-top problems. It's well-written, well-plotted and fast-paced.
The issue (for me) is that what it sets out to do, just isn't what I love to read.
Spoiler
Also, Eris's death was weird.
Overall I really enjoyed this novel. The futuristic technology was fascinating, albeit confusing at moments, and the main characters, while not as developed as I would have liked, were interesting and compulsive. As the story went on, my favorites were constantly changing. This took me a while to read, but it was not due to the book being bad. The beginning and middle of the novel are interesting with some exciting plot points, but it is the last 50 or so pages that get insane. I love that the author chose the very first scene to also be the finale. The novel I was guessing who it would be and unfortunately, I was right. The end had so many plot twists and it was just amazing. I recommend this book if you like teen thrillers with some romance and petty drama as well.
I’ve read this author’s most recent series- The American Royals series. This is so far, much better. The writing style is similar, but all the characters actually do something and all contribute to the plot. However, bouncing between all the characters becomes confusing. Maybe using 1 less character’s perspective would have sufficed. But overall, very engaging and great jaw-dropping moments.
Didn't finish it. EXACTLY like a futuristic Gossip girl and I didn't finish Gossip girl
fast-paced
I am so unsure how to rate this. After finishing, I was so eager to read everyone's reviews on it. I agree with most of you on the fact that this book isn't far from an episode of Gossip Girl. And that alone was enough to make some readers not even bother with the rest of the book. I guess I can't blame them for that. But I was able to get through all 400+ pages of it. And I have so much to say...
Setting: Probably my favorite part about this book. Yes, it is futuristic, but I wouldn’t say strongly dystopian, which is a [somewhat rare] plus. Even in the beginning when I was unsure how to feel about what was going on, I found all the technology and concepts utterly amazing, well-thought out and not entirely impossible. It's just... really cool.
Plot: Some readers I've noticed did not like the "drag" to the cliff hanger at the end, which was found to be disappointing. I certainly don't think so. I love how it all fits together.
Characters: Oh boy. Okay. Let's start with Leda, because I have the clearest feelings of utter hatred for her and have since forever, basically. I mean, there were times where I genuinely felt bad for her, but it wasn't enough to cover up for all that crap she was pulling. Eris bothered me for a while with her money-hungry-ness, even though I understand her reason for being. She wasn't my favorite, she was okay,. Rylin is probably most like me. And I don't mean the involvement in all the . She's very obedient, which is a blessing and curse (more so a curse...). I am still rooting for her and her relationship with , and I personally hope she gets the happy ending she deserves. Watt is pretty cool. His secret is bittersweet, but I like where he ends up; I see the good in him, he's cool. And Avery. Sheesh, okay. I know some readers were kind of disgusted by her choice in, um... lover, I guess, and again, I don't blame them. But honestly, Avery is the most tolerable to me. I'm rooting for her and . It just feels right. Mariel was always likeable. When she started getting more involved with though, I got a little tired of her because I thought she was being kind of smart-alecky, but that's probably just me. I'm so on her team now though. Thanks, cliff hanger.
Conclusion: So yeah. In retrospect, this was great. The use of tragic flaws and manipulation and secrets is phenomenal, in my opinion. This book really satisfied me, and other times it really made me mad, thanks to the characters and irony. I mean, I really think that was what McGee was going for here, so that's the part of me that makes me think I need to give this, like, a gazillion stars.
I'd say Katharine McGee did an outstanding job for her first novel. She really knows what she's doing.
Setting: Probably my favorite part about this book. Yes, it is futuristic, but I wouldn’t say strongly dystopian, which is a [somewhat rare] plus. Even in the beginning when I was unsure how to feel about what was going on, I found all the technology and concepts utterly amazing, well-thought out and not entirely impossible. It's just... really cool.
Plot: Some readers I've noticed did not like the "drag" to the cliff hanger at the end, which was found to be disappointing. I certainly don't think so. I love how it all fits together.
Characters: Oh boy. Okay. Let's start with Leda, because I have the clearest feelings of utter hatred for her and have since forever, basically. I mean, there were times where I genuinely felt bad for her, but it wasn't enough to cover up for all that crap she was pulling. Eris bothered me for a while with her money-hungry-ness, even though I understand her reason for being. She wasn't my favorite, she was okay,
Spoiler
but I didn't exactly feel bad when she fell off the thousandth floor...Spoiler
drugs and sketchSpoiler
CordSpoiler
AtlasSpoiler
ErisConclusion: So yeah. In retrospect, this was great. The use of tragic flaws and manipulation and secrets is phenomenal, in my opinion. This book really satisfied me, and other times it really made me mad, thanks to the characters and irony. I mean, I really think that was what McGee was going for here, so that's the part of me that makes me think I need to give this, like, a gazillion stars.
I'd say Katharine McGee did an outstanding job for her first novel. She really knows what she's doing.