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emmagency's review
4.0
3.5 rounded up.
A good story with an even better premise.
Good character building at first but then it felt like it all just wrapped up and ended.
I don't usually say a book could've been longer and I certainly took my time reading this one but I still didn't feel like much time had passed in the story by the time I got to the end.
I liked the friendship dynamic and it started to remind me a bit of Six of Crows but again, a bit rushed.
A good story with an even better premise.
Good character building at first but then it felt like it all just wrapped up and ended.
I don't usually say a book could've been longer and I certainly took my time reading this one but I still didn't feel like much time had passed in the story by the time I got to the end.
I liked the friendship dynamic and it started to remind me a bit of Six of Crows but again, a bit rushed.
rigel's review against another edition
3.0
Friendly reminder that this rating system isn't fiction... check out China's social credit system for your daily dose of horror.
rosettepetals's review against another edition
3.0
It was a good book but I think the mystery aspect of it was a bit underwhelming. By the end I was really involved in the characters lives and side plot that I was sorta thrown off guard when the focus came back to the whole mystery thing. Asides from that it was a good book and I would recommend it :)
jooke's review
4.0
Intriguing YA story that draws us an almost caricature of our modern society.
Everything is determined by "The Rating" and your rating is determined by your ancestry, grades, job, achievements, popularity... but in turn also determins your status and privileges in society. It's a vicious circle that is difficult to change. Once your rating drops below a certain point, it is very hard to ever recover from it and work yourself up to "the top".
When strange messages pop-up after a streak of vandalisme at Maplethorn High, it brings together 6 very different students with at first sight very different ratings, backgrounds, problems and goals in life. But can they put aside there differences and work out who/what is behind the messages, can they change the injustice done to one of them, how far are they willing to go to "solve the problem"....
This story started rather slow, but does show the kind of pressure our society puts on us, how most of us are guilty of judging a book by its cover, how we let shallow observations, like appearance, jobs, grades... influence our opinions of people before we even take the time to speak to them or get to know them or know what burdens or drives them... The rating system magnifies this fact and the consequences. So it was really interesting also the revealing of "who" was behind the whole ordeal. A clever plot that really impressed me.
Everything is determined by "The Rating" and your rating is determined by your ancestry, grades, job, achievements, popularity... but in turn also determins your status and privileges in society. It's a vicious circle that is difficult to change. Once your rating drops below a certain point, it is very hard to ever recover from it and work yourself up to "the top".
When strange messages pop-up after a streak of vandalisme at Maplethorn High, it brings together 6 very different students with at first sight very different ratings, backgrounds, problems and goals in life. But can they put aside there differences and work out who/what is behind the messages, can they change the injustice done to one of them, how far are they willing to go to "solve the problem"....
This story started rather slow, but does show the kind of pressure our society puts on us, how most of us are guilty of judging a book by its cover, how we let shallow observations, like appearance, jobs, grades... influence our opinions of people before we even take the time to speak to them or get to know them or know what burdens or drives them... The rating system magnifies this fact and the consequences. So it was really interesting also the revealing of "who" was behind the whole ordeal. A clever plot that really impressed me.
carry_on_ames's review
4.0
4.5 stars
ARC was provided at BookCon by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I really didn’t expect to like this book, if we’re being honest. It was being pushed out at BookCon for free and I took it because there were a lot of them. However, I really ended up liking this book. The character dynamics were so well done and the plot was really engaging. To be quite honest, the ending was cliffhangery and I hope there’s more to come.
ARC was provided at BookCon by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I really didn’t expect to like this book, if we’re being honest. It was being pushed out at BookCon for free and I took it because there were a lot of them. However, I really ended up liking this book. The character dynamics were so well done and the plot was really engaging. To be quite honest, the ending was cliffhangery and I hope there’s more to come.
monakabbani's review
2.0
The characters may be the only redeeming part about this book.
First of all, the world building needed to be more present. I wanted to learn more about the rules to the scoring system and how and why it was created so I could feel more grounded in this novel. But I wasn’t. Instead, I was just carried through the story and then convenient rules that were never explained before became solutions to problems.
I also am not convinced that the scoring system needed to be there in the first place. The whole point was these students were feeling pressured but it seemed more so that their parents and teachers were the ones pressuring them rather than the system. So, you could’ve just built this world around helicopter parents instead of some half ass futuristic program.
The ending was way too cheesy romantic and I completely fell out of my belief. I was loving some of these romance plots but don’t push it so far to the point where it’s magically a 100% happy ending in every way because I will not believe you.
I discouraged my friend from reading this book because I know she’d be disappointed even though the writing was well done and the characters were great.
First of all, the world building needed to be more present. I wanted to learn more about the rules to the scoring system and how and why it was created so I could feel more grounded in this novel. But I wasn’t. Instead, I was just carried through the story and then convenient rules that were never explained before became solutions to problems.
I also am not convinced that the scoring system needed to be there in the first place. The whole point was these students were feeling pressured but it seemed more so that their parents and teachers were the ones pressuring them rather than the system. So, you could’ve just built this world around helicopter parents instead of some half ass futuristic program.
The ending was way too cheesy romantic and I completely fell out of my belief. I was loving some of these romance plots but don’t push it so far to the point where it’s magically a 100% happy ending in every way because I will not believe you.
I discouraged my friend from reading this book because I know she’d be disappointed even though the writing was well done and the characters were great.
tjlcody's review
1.0
Another attempt at a dystopian/Orwellian setting that ultimately just doesn't pan out.
This is a problem with a lot of YA books: They hint at the oppressive nature of the societies they live in, they give you a few obvious examples, but at the end of the day they ultimately fail to convey a sense of urgency for why we should care.
This book's not the worse culprit I've ever seen (that would be [b:The Unidentified|7011735|The Unidentified|Rae Mariz|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1272766459l/7011735._SY75_.jpg|7257022]) but Rated is definitely up there- especially considering that another book ([b:Scored|10476572|Scored|Lauren McLaughlin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328208952l/10476572._SY75_.jpg|15381919]) with this same topic (i.e. having a "score" that tells others how we'll you're doing in life) did a much better job at conveying stakes for people who are scored negatively.
This is a problem with a lot of YA books: They hint at the oppressive nature of the societies they live in, they give you a few obvious examples, but at the end of the day they ultimately fail to convey a sense of urgency for why we should care.
This book's not the worse culprit I've ever seen (that would be [b:The Unidentified|7011735|The Unidentified|Rae Mariz|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1272766459l/7011735._SY75_.jpg|7257022]) but Rated is definitely up there- especially considering that another book ([b:Scored|10476572|Scored|Lauren McLaughlin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328208952l/10476572._SY75_.jpg|15381919]) with this same topic (i.e. having a "score" that tells others how we'll you're doing in life) did a much better job at conveying stakes for people who are scored negatively.
jenennap29's review
3.0
I'm torn about this one. On the one hand, the characters were the best part of this book. They were uniquely different and filled with interesting backstories. On the other hand, it was just a weak, overdone plot point. I really couldn't get a feel for the book's point until five or so pages until the end.
speelingmistake's review
2.0
This book can't really decide what genre it is or who the main character or what the plot is...
It is by turns a dystopian novel, romance, school story, mystery, a heist story and never really lands any of those aspects.
There are 6 main characters which is a LOT for only just over 300 pages - so they all wind up being a bit one dimensional without having the time to get to know them. The rating system of the title is very simple and familiar to those who have seen that Black Mirror episode but placing it in a high school feels a bit bland. Yeah real life teenagers are graded constantly and the sometimes arbitrary way they are graded does affect their whole life - which is a flawed system - however simply making the rating system more obvious a part of society and placing it on smart watches doesn't really have much impact on the story. It doesn't feel fictional enough. The plot 'twist' that the rating system is essentially nonsense and everyone's chasing after a meaningless goal......yeah...duh.
So the dystopian aspect of the book is really a bit of a dud.
The mystery aspect is actually really weak too as most of the characters of the story don't seem to care that much about it. And if they don't care about it then why should we? After all the mystery doesn't seem that mysterious - someone is publicly saying something that many already know and believe and somehow that's supposed to propel the plot? Some people get mysterious anonymous notes and none of them just throw them out assuming it's nothing? How bored are all of these students that they actually follow up on this?
There's a sloppily executed heist that shouldn't have worked, a bully problem is solved with some clever computer hacking cos I guess these teens are THAT smart and a new couple get to move in together right under the nose of some supposedly controlling parents who seem to have a massive blind spot on this one subject.
And of course the mysterious figure behind the Jester is the person who interceded to bring them together in the first place. Because otherwise what would be the point of that character?
Anyway the group are now united and though they have been deliberately manipulated into their relationship they are committed to a life of vigilantism and bringing down the rating system.
Besides Black Mirror I know other reviewers have pointed out similarities to Community, I Know What You Did Last Summer, American Vandal, Fahrenheit 451, Breakfast Club etc - that's how unoriginal this book is.
It's all just very unimaginative and low stakes.
It is by turns a dystopian novel, romance, school story, mystery, a heist story and never really lands any of those aspects.
There are 6 main characters which is a LOT for only just over 300 pages - so they all wind up being a bit one dimensional without having the time to get to know them. The rating system of the title is very simple and familiar to those who have seen that Black Mirror episode but placing it in a high school feels a bit bland. Yeah real life teenagers are graded constantly and the sometimes arbitrary way they are graded does affect their whole life - which is a flawed system - however simply making the rating system more obvious a part of society and placing it on smart watches doesn't really have much impact on the story. It doesn't feel fictional enough. The plot 'twist' that the rating system is essentially nonsense and everyone's chasing after a meaningless goal......yeah...duh.
So the dystopian aspect of the book is really a bit of a dud.
The mystery aspect is actually really weak too as most of the characters of the story don't seem to care that much about it. And if they don't care about it then why should we? After all the mystery doesn't seem that mysterious - someone is publicly saying something that many already know and believe and somehow that's supposed to propel the plot? Some people get mysterious anonymous notes and none of them just throw them out assuming it's nothing? How bored are all of these students that they actually follow up on this?
There's a sloppily executed heist that shouldn't have worked, a bully problem is solved with some clever computer hacking cos I guess these teens are THAT smart and a new couple get to move in together right under the nose of some supposedly controlling parents who seem to have a massive blind spot on this one subject.
And of course the mysterious figure behind the Jester is the person who interceded to bring them together in the first place. Because otherwise what would be the point of that character?
Anyway the group are now united and though they have been deliberately manipulated into their relationship they are committed to a life of vigilantism and bringing down the rating system.
Besides Black Mirror I know other reviewers have pointed out similarities to Community, I Know What You Did Last Summer, American Vandal, Fahrenheit 451, Breakfast Club etc - that's how unoriginal this book is.
It's all just very unimaginative and low stakes.