Reviews

Sanctuary by Caryn Lix

readerlatte's review against another edition

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5.0

This was like a blend of the movie Aliens and The Darkest Minds all set in space! I loved every second of this!! I am really not sure how to tell you the epicness of this story. This is a science fiction story with horror and light romance all tied into one. We have Kenzie who really finds her way in this story. She finds out secrets she didn't know about and comes to terms with who she really is. The one issue I had with this was that a lot of the side characters get blended into the story so other than the main characters I kind of just forgot some of the other characters that were pretty glazed over. But that doesn't really take away from the story at all.

Parts that I really loved were that the author didn't spend a lot of time on things that she didn't need to spend time on. Like when they were going from ship to ship. It was done very quickly and well. This made the story flow a lot better than others that I have read.

The ending bits of this story stressed me out so much!! And let me tell you I have already read book two and it does the same. Lix with these cliffhangers is gonna kill me!!!!


Go Into This One Knowing: Aliens, Kids with Powers, Death of a Parent

nyeran's review against another edition

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2.0

"We might be foolish.

♠ Posso dire quanto sia poco intelligente permettere a dei prigionieri dotati di poteri soprannaturali di avere una dieta equilibrata e di fare attività fisica? Capisco che non puoi lasciarli morire ma almeno farli deperire un po' così che anche se fuggono dalle celle non hanno le forze per combattere? 

♠ Illogicità a parte. Ho trovato la protagonista, Kenzie, di una palla mortale, oltre alla sua ossessione per un personaggio manga che nomina ogni tre per due e che non ha alcun collegamento utile con la storia, è di un logorroico che fa paura, pagine e pagine di lei che parte per menate assurde dove non dice nulla e stavo li a girare le pagine cercando qualche dialogo, sperando in qualcosa che mettesse fine alle sue paturnie. Sopratutto non ho capito la velocità con cui questa ragazzina cambia opinioni. È possibile che una persona nata e cresciuta sotto la 'tutela' di una società potente come la Omnistar, a cui tutti, genitori compresi, ripetono fin da piccola che tutto quello che ha e può fare è solo grazie alla società e che l'anno condizionata al punto da farle considerare i prigionieri degli animali, appena questi si liberano e le dicono che la Omnistar è cattiva e gli ha fatto cose brutte lei nel giro di due ore la accetta come verità assoluta? Consideriamo poi che la storia si sviluppa in un arco di tempo di circa 24 ore. Ma lei crede subito a questi ragazzini di cui voglio ricordare lei ha paura e non è che questi stiano facendo la fila per esserle amici – se escludiamo Cage e Rune perché beh, è ovvio, no?- , sopratutto considerando che la maggior parte dei suoi pipponi mentali prima ruota proprio su quanto la Omnistar fosse perfetta, bella e tutto ciò che di giusto ci sia nell'universo. Poi vogliamo parlare del fatto che questi ragazzini non sono soggetti super partes ma sono persone la cui opinione ed esperienza è chiaramente faziosa ma lei comunque gli crede perchè si?

Non voglio parlare del rapporta tra lei e Hu, ve l'ho detto no che la storia inizia e finisce in un giorno? Un giorno è troppo presto per tutto. Per tutto. 

 

steph01924's review against another edition

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3.0

This book turned out to be a lot more pedestrian than I was hoping. You've read this book before; it doesn't matter that it didn't take place on a space-prison, just trust - you've read it. There was instalove and generic characters and a surprise twist that most of us saw coming (I mean, I didn't guess it before it happened, probably because I wasn't that invested enough to have independent thoughts about the book while I was reading it, but once it happened it was all, oh, of COURSE that happened). It was fine enough to take my mind of a very busy work week, but I won't remember much by next Monday. The ending made me vaguely interested in what happens next but not enough to actually read it.

crochetchrisie's review against another edition

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4.0

A solid 4 stars. The only real drawback here is the instalove. I get being attracted but...
Otherwise I really liked the story. Plot moved quickly and the characters were well fleshed out.
Looking forward to reading the next one.
Also shoutout to Edmonton. 😀

jane_kelsey's review against another edition

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3.0

it was okay, nothing special.

jaimie118's review against another edition

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4.0

Actual rating: 3.5

I liked this book. It was a quick read that was fun but had a few problems for me. I didn’t have as much as an investment in Kenzie as I usually do with my protagonists. There were some discrepancies or just gray areas with her characterization. For someone who tells the reader how dedicated she has been to her career trajectory and to her company, she seems vaguely ambivalent. For an allegedly driven character, she was all over the place:

‘I’ve worked my whole life to get where I am.’ ‘I have issues with my parents’ relationship.’ ‘I’m working hard to prove myself as a space prison guard.’ ‘I’m just going to sneak in the prison to check out the superpowered teenage criminals.’ ‘Oops, I’ve been taken hostage.’ ‘Well, at least this guy’s hot.’ ‘Wait. Did my mom just try to kill me?!’

Nothing like murderous aliens to bring people together... Kenzie’s ability to go from guard to helping / leading the prisoners happens a bit too easily, but, once you suspend disbelief on that front, it’s a fun story. The prisoners had more interesting characters that I’d like to learn more about, as well as the backstory on the appearance of these probes and the Earth socioeconomic structure.

I’ll definitely be reading the sequel to see what happens next.

ektambo's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I probably would have really loved this as a teenager. As it stands, all it really did was made me want to watch Prometheus again so I can see these themes executed all-out. Not bad, but I probably won’t continue with the series.

(Also the insta-love in here? The lack of urgency whenever a cute boy is around? Oh mah gah I did NOT miss that part of YA books.)

storm_knight's review against another edition

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5.0

Beautifully written a complete masterpiece i loved every moment of this novel i have nothing but praise for this work of art

vidhi26p's review

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4.0

Maybe it was because I looked myself in my room until ungodly hours of the morning to finish this novel, but it was absolutely terrifying and horrific. I loved it. It was so deliciously easy to devour, the “just one more” temptation was REAL. Although quite atypically YA, the world created was easy to fall into. It was pretty predictable at certain intervals, but that could be overlooked by the sheer entertainment the novel provided.

mcf's review against another edition

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5.0

I don't even really know what five-star quality is, but I know five-star enjoyment when I get it, and I definitely got it out of Sanctuary. I love that it's a story about kids who, for a variety of reasons, have had to grow up beyond their years but are still human and weak and scared. Terrible things happen and aren't glossed over, the level of sci-fi bonkers-ness just keeps rising, and it's just freaking great. Preordered the second one literally the moment I got done.