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alicebme's review against another edition
4.0
Whoa. I didn't expect any sort of sequel to House of the Scorpion, but when my husband brought home the ARC, I flipped out. Living in Tucson, I find this storyline super fascinating and not a little bit eerie. So much of this seems possible. Of course, I think that about all of the futuristic stories... I appreciate the relationships that Farmer gave to Matt--his friendships with the boys, protective big brother attitude toward Listen, and the complicated feelings he has toward Waitress and Maria. Most of all, though, I enjoyed the characters of Cienfuegos and some of the other men in Opium who were chipped. They became father-figures to Matt, and helped to shape his views of how he should run Opium. This was a satisfying read. Every page. I feel like it was a little gift I wasn't expecting :-)
malea_ann's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Medical trauma, Addiction, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Violence, Slavery, Murder, Grief, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Child abuse, and Animal death
ireliajellycomb's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
curlyfrze's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
charliebites's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Medical content, Medical trauma, Trafficking, Mental illness, and Slavery
Moderate: Classism, Genocide, Grief, Deportation, Kidnapping, and Death
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Child death
lee_hillshire's review against another edition
I picked this book up at the library shop because the cover was striking, and then afterwards realized that it was the sequel to the "House of the Scorpion" book that I had accidentally ended up with a few months before. I would have avoided reading the first book for longer if I wasn't intrigued by this cover, and I'm so grateful for that because these books are actually so good.
The setting awkwardness of the first book is a lot lessened, which makes sense given Matt's change in life state between books.
The themes. The characters. The everything. I think my brain is too overwhelmed to actually say much about the book because it's very good and I just love it. I would read Expanse sized novels in this world, the current length of them does do them justice, but leaves it very understated. Which does work very well, but I wouldn't turn down more either.
I will admit the ending feels a little rushed, and a bit too clean. Especially the resolution of the eejit plotline, which I understand, but realistically there should have been more issues going on there. And the Matt/Maria bit feels like more of a pretty bow than I gravitate towards at this point in my life, but if I'm being honest I would have adored it at the target age for these books, so I won't dock points from it there.
But even without that, it's a really great story, and has taken up a very special place in my heart.
The setting awkwardness of the first book is a lot lessened, which makes sense given Matt's change in life state between books.
The themes. The characters. The everything. I think my brain is too overwhelmed to actually say much about the book because it's very good and I just love it. I would read Expanse sized novels in this world, the current length of them does do them justice, but leaves it very understated. Which does work very well, but I wouldn't turn down more either.
I will admit the ending feels a little rushed, and a bit too clean. Especially the resolution of the eejit plotline, which I understand, but realistically there should have been more issues going on there. And the Matt/Maria bit feels like more of a pretty bow than I gravitate towards at this point in my life, but if I'm being honest I would have adored it at the target age for these books, so I won't dock points from it there.
But even without that, it's a really great story, and has taken up a very special place in my heart.
greaydean's review against another edition
4.0
Not quite as good as the first in the series. But still quite enjoyable and opens some more questions and provides some answers. Fun.
naomiatwater49's review against another edition
4.0
It is SO HARD to write a sequel to such an amazing book as “House of the Scorpion,” but Nancy Farmer accomplished this feat well. Here’s the breakdown with my rating system:
1. Is the writing style professional, understandable, and entertaining? Yes. It’s such an interesting/entertaining read that keeps you captivated for the entire ride. It’s HARD to write about complicated social, moral, and political matters in a way that doesn’t bore readers to death, but somehow, she made this book so hard to put down!
2. Are the characters relatable, round, deep, and interesting? Although there was more Nancy Farmer could have done to develop her characters stronger, I’ll still say yes. She is wonderful at showing us their personalities and uniqueness, even just within their dialogue with one another. For example, Listen’s responses in conversation are usually childish, arrogant, and fiery and so I get that about her character without the author having to explain this about her. That is GOOD WRITING. Other reviews say that Matt’s character is inconsistent and not well developed, however, I strongly disagree. Yes, he is the evil drug lord El Patron’s clone, but the difference between Matt, El Patron, and even The Bug is this: El Patron’s family died when he was young and he fended for himself with no one to love him or love. The Bug was basically raised in a lab also with no family or loved ones. Matt is different because he was raised by wonderful loving people like Celia, Tam Lin, and even in a crooked way, El Patron. I believe this has a critical role in Matt becoming a noble character unlike the one he’s cloned after. He still hears the voice of El Patron inside of him telling him evil things, yet he’s become his own person. Life experiences shape you more than your DNA.
3. Are there important and interesting themes, motifs, subtext, and lessons learned, whether obvious or subtle?
YES! There’s so much here about social problems, politics, ect. This book covers a lot and is a wonderful sequel to House of the Scorpion because it provides even more explanation of the problems that the first book introduced. My only complaint was that the author CONSTANTLY had Matt in these internal battles between trying to do the moral thing and not the evil thing. It just wasn’t written well honestly. I felt like he just kept repeating the same conversation in his brain: do I sacrifice this small group of people to free this big group of people from slavery? Do I continue the drug trade to provide work? Will I become like El Patron? On and on and on throughout the whole book is the same moral quandaries. There’s such a thing as trying being SUBTLE about your moral lessons, which would have helped A TON!
4. Is the plot creative, interesting, well-developed, and unpredictable? I guess I’d have to say no. Although the premises were awesome and the world was creative and wonderful, the plot didn’t have a lot of excitement that it could have until the very end. It’s a lot of exploring El Patron’s empire and Matt figuring out how to manage it all and solve all of this mess that El Patron created. There’s too much in there just for the horror/interesting factor and not enough for a well-developed plot. It was still a fascinating read but..... It could have been better.
5. Is this a book I would want to own or read again? Yes, I did love it!
1. Is the writing style professional, understandable, and entertaining? Yes. It’s such an interesting/entertaining read that keeps you captivated for the entire ride. It’s HARD to write about complicated social, moral, and political matters in a way that doesn’t bore readers to death, but somehow, she made this book so hard to put down!
2. Are the characters relatable, round, deep, and interesting? Although there was more Nancy Farmer could have done to develop her characters stronger, I’ll still say yes. She is wonderful at showing us their personalities and uniqueness, even just within their dialogue with one another. For example, Listen’s responses in conversation are usually childish, arrogant, and fiery and so I get that about her character without the author having to explain this about her. That is GOOD WRITING. Other reviews say that Matt’s character is inconsistent and not well developed, however, I strongly disagree. Yes, he is the evil drug lord El Patron’s clone, but the difference between Matt, El Patron, and even The Bug is this: El Patron’s family died when he was young and he fended for himself with no one to love him or love. The Bug was basically raised in a lab also with no family or loved ones. Matt is different because he was raised by wonderful loving people like Celia, Tam Lin, and even in a crooked way, El Patron. I believe this has a critical role in Matt becoming a noble character unlike the one he’s cloned after. He still hears the voice of El Patron inside of him telling him evil things, yet he’s become his own person. Life experiences shape you more than your DNA.
3. Are there important and interesting themes, motifs, subtext, and lessons learned, whether obvious or subtle?
YES! There’s so much here about social problems, politics, ect. This book covers a lot and is a wonderful sequel to House of the Scorpion because it provides even more explanation of the problems that the first book introduced. My only complaint was that the author CONSTANTLY had Matt in these internal battles between trying to do the moral thing and not the evil thing. It just wasn’t written well honestly. I felt like he just kept repeating the same conversation in his brain: do I sacrifice this small group of people to free this big group of people from slavery? Do I continue the drug trade to provide work? Will I become like El Patron? On and on and on throughout the whole book is the same moral quandaries. There’s such a thing as trying being SUBTLE about your moral lessons, which would have helped A TON!
4. Is the plot creative, interesting, well-developed, and unpredictable? I guess I’d have to say no. Although the premises were awesome and the world was creative and wonderful, the plot didn’t have a lot of excitement that it could have until the very end. It’s a lot of exploring El Patron’s empire and Matt figuring out how to manage it all and solve all of this mess that El Patron created. There’s too much in there just for the horror/interesting factor and not enough for a well-developed plot. It was still a fascinating read but..... It could have been better.
5. Is this a book I would want to own or read again? Yes, I did love it!
5c_sami's review against another edition
5.0
"The Lord of Opium" is the continuation of Matteo Alacran, whose story began in Farmer's award winning "The House of the Scorpion." In this book, we get to see how Matteo maneuvers the corrupted and cut-throat world of being a drug lord, while only a teenager. He sets out to cure the eejits (workers with brain-stunting implants) of their forced slavery. With the help of his friends (Chacho, Fidelito, Ton-Ton, Maria, and Listen) as well as his protectors (Daft Donald and Cienfuegos) and other mentors and leaders (Celia, The Mushroom Master, and the voice of the late El Patron), Matteo faces off against Glass Eye Dabengwa in order to save his country.
I listened to the audiobook for "Lord of Opium" and I was not disappointed. I've read "The House of the Scorpion" multiple times and when I discovered that there was finally a sequel, I was ecstatic. Farmer created an incredible situation for Matteo and kept me on the edge of my proverbial seat. This was the perfect sequel and, even though it's been a few years since I last read "The House of the Scorpion," I felt like I still knew the characters so well and got to know them a lot better through the adventures. The audiobook, narrated by Raul Esparza, was half of the reason I could be so entranced while not having read the book before. He stayed true to the characters and paired very well with the overall feel of Farmer's writing.
I listened to the audiobook for "Lord of Opium" and I was not disappointed. I've read "The House of the Scorpion" multiple times and when I discovered that there was finally a sequel, I was ecstatic. Farmer created an incredible situation for Matteo and kept me on the edge of my proverbial seat. This was the perfect sequel and, even though it's been a few years since I last read "The House of the Scorpion," I felt like I still knew the characters so well and got to know them a lot better through the adventures. The audiobook, narrated by Raul Esparza, was half of the reason I could be so entranced while not having read the book before. He stayed true to the characters and paired very well with the overall feel of Farmer's writing.
kamkanga's review against another edition
4.0
Still written for younger kids, but this time the use of drugs and clones doesn’t seem so random. It’s super cheesy and predictable, but still fun to read.