Reviews

The Electric Kingdom by David Arnold

bibliobrandie's review

1.0

No. Just no. I hated this.The premise was interesting, if not too close to home: a fly flu wipes out most of humanity. Then you just follow these teens around, they are trying to get somewhere because of a story they heard. And then there are a lot of gruesome moments. Nothing really happens. And then you have, I dunno, The Deliverer and christianity or afterlife or reincarnation. “Nesting doll of a tale,” I don’t think so. If you stuck with the television series Lost and were really let down by that ending, then you will be familiar with how I felt when I finished this book. I really wanted to abandon the book but I kept thinking that with all these 5 star reviews, something great was about to happen. And it just never ever did.

Spoiler

Here is a section from the book that gives you a hint at the madness: “For lack of a better word, our 8th Life has been my daughter, and I, her mother. And yet she is not my child. She is me. My Youngself. This life-this life-has been a waking nightmare…My life fucking sucked. I was raised in this stupid fucking house by own fucking self. And now I am here alone, which, i guess, is minimally better. Listen to Momself. Leave it the fuck alone”

Honestly, what the heck?
Also, I am no prude when it comes to language but I think "fuck" is used like 138747387 times in this novel. It reminds me of when a kid first gets a taste for the word and then just uses it all the time with little effect.

seymone's review against another edition

4.0

I will definitely re-read this novel.

erintowner's review

3.0

This book was overwritten and all of the characters seemed the same. I liked the premise but it just didn't feel realistic to me. That said, I liked the literary references and I read this one quickly.

izzys_internet_bookshelf's review

DNF

Felt like I was reading a lot of filler then dull dialogue.. and it was slow at the same time. I was so excited in the beginning too.

owldistracted's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

atticus512's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

suzid's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I wasn't as invested in this as I'd hoped, that's not to say it wasn't well written and the story well thought out because it was but it didn't really interest me. 

aerussom_25's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This book is a mindfuck and I loved every minute of it. The characters are so well fleshes out as well as the world and I couldn’t love this book any more than I do!!

nikotabrault's review

4.0

This book still has my mind spinning. I'm a sucker for a dystopian novel and when I first picked this one up I was drawn to the storyline. The concept of the book is really intriguing as well, I think the author was able to really give this book the unique edge that helps set it apart from other books.

However, it is hard to follow at times because of all of the viewpoints and intertwining storylines. Also, 75% (I listened on audio) into the book, it took this drastic turn and the characters all suddenly began dropping f bombs, not that I care, but it seemed out of left field. It also got pretty violent for a moment, again out of nowhere.

The book ends leaving you wondering if there will be another. It could end where it did, but I feel like there is also more story to tell.

breakfastgrey's review

4.0

Great book! Some of the plot twists were a bit obvious if you’ve read this sort of book before, but that didn’t make them less cool. The world was well developed and I was impressed that the author was able to be as ruthless and dark as he needed to without things feeling overwhelmingly bleak as in something like The Road. Some tightening in the middle would’ve been appreciated but I still finished and wanted more.