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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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
I read this because I needed something hopeful, given everything happening right now, but instead, it was a truly dystopian story that made me even more angry with the human race and all the things we've done to the planet. This is not a criticism, more a testament to Kern's writing in that it is certainly motivating, and a strong call to action to stop what we're doing before we reach our own 'X-day' and there's no turning back for us.
I really enjoyed the story, although it did meander around a lot on the middle (and Camelot seemed a bit silly for my liking), and even though there was a fairly large cast of characters, they were all done in such a way that they felt unique and interesting in their own right, and I was never confused about who was who. I liked the bleak world that the author created. The huge class divide between 'The Dust' and 'The Lush States' felt very realistic, and I liked the glimpse into other parts of America that we were shown throughout. Wingates as a setting for most of the book was very compelling. I enjoyed seeing what a futuristic eco-friendly university might look like, and I enjoyed that the focus wasn't entirely on tech, with the author dipping into philosophical questioning of how crises like these get managed through the Humanity seminars.
The pacing is a little rushed towards the end for my liking, with the stakes suddenly jumping sky-high and a great deal of interesting conflict coming all at once in the final few chapters. Say that, the cliffhanger was as brilliant as it was annoying, and I will definitely be picking up the sequel once it's out to find out how Rylla handles this next challenge.
The book is YA and very much reads that way, so if you're an adult going into this, just make sure you're aware of that and that it is written to a younger audience (and comes with teenagers making stupid decisions, of course!).
I really enjoyed the story, although it did meander around a lot on the middle (and Camelot seemed a bit silly for my liking), and even though there was a fairly large cast of characters, they were all done in such a way that they felt unique and interesting in their own right, and I was never confused about who was who. I liked the bleak world that the author created. The huge class divide between 'The Dust' and 'The Lush States' felt very realistic, and I liked the glimpse into other parts of America that we were shown throughout. Wingates as a setting for most of the book was very compelling. I enjoyed seeing what a futuristic eco-friendly university might look like, and I enjoyed that the focus wasn't entirely on tech, with the author dipping into philosophical questioning of how crises like these get managed through the Humanity seminars.
The pacing is a little rushed towards the end for my liking, with the stakes suddenly jumping sky-high and a great deal of interesting conflict coming all at once in the final few chapters. Say that, the cliffhanger was as brilliant as it was annoying, and I will definitely be picking up the sequel once it's out to find out how Rylla handles this next challenge.
The book is YA and very much reads that way, so if you're an adult going into this, just make sure you're aware of that and that it is written to a younger audience (and comes with teenagers making stupid decisions, of course!).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Classism
Moderate: Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder
Minor: Mental illness, Sexual content, Transphobia, War
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use
Kern has this uncanny ability to make you go "I am either going to vomit or start sobbing at my desk if read another page of this", and then you go on reading anyway.
I feel, like I did with the Free Peoples Village, that maybe the plot, or the political and technical details, or something, could use a little more polish. It feels like it's missing something, I can't quite put my finger on it though
Unlike a lot of climate fiction and YA fiction, Kern's work also manages to give you HOPE for the future, but without a happy ending. Things are still shit for our main characters, the world is falling apart, the rich and powerful are planning a genocide maybe, but also everyone is actually trying to make things better, and especially in recent times, I think that's a message that we need more of. We probably won't get a happy ending in real life either, but we can at least make sure someone will someday. Climate fiction, and nonfiction really could use more of that
I feel, like I did with the Free Peoples Village, that maybe the plot, or the political and technical details, or something, could use a little more polish. It feels like it's missing something, I can't quite put my finger on it though
Unlike a lot of climate fiction and YA fiction, Kern's work also manages to give you HOPE for the future, but without a happy ending. Things are still shit for our main characters, the world is falling apart, the rich and powerful are planning a genocide maybe, but also everyone is actually trying to make things better, and especially in recent times, I think that's a message that we need more of. We probably won't get a happy ending in real life either, but we can at least make sure someone will someday. Climate fiction, and nonfiction really could use more of that
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This came out at the start of this month, and have to admit, this is an incredibly strong first novel. This manages to blend the first time college experience with climate dystopia really well, and set up the future stakes for the rest of the trilogy. I think that Mx. Kern ended up leaning in a bit too hard to the drug addiction aspect of this in terms of a crutch for the plot, but that's honestly my only real criticism of this. I actually like that we end this unsure as to who Rylla should trust. Definitely worth paging through, and I'll be interested in the rest of the series, as well as the rest of Mx. Kern's books to this point.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book!
I tried so hard with this one. I had been anticipating it for months so I'm not lying when I say I was literally jumping up and down for joy when I saw I'd received an arc. I love the genre of survival at the end of the world which I discovered earlier this year with Dustborn by Erin Bowman and so after reading the synopsis, and maybe being influenced just a little by the stunning cover, I was so excited to read this book.
The start was promising, and it wasn't until she arrived at Wingates that it started to lose me. First off, there was such a big push for usage of correct pronouns that I tired of on every page there being some comment pushing this idea. I was willing to keep going though. Then we had the trip to Camelot. Oh boy, what a disaster. The trip culminates with a sex scene with the man who Rylla is convinced is her true love. Then, a couple chapters later, she's turned to heavy drug use to forget about her problems. At that point I had to stop as, though I was interested in continuing with the story, I just couldn't get past the mature content.
Another disappointing read that I personally wouldn't recommend but I think that there are a lot of people out there who would still enjoy this book as I know other people wouldn't have a problem reading about the content mentioned above. Happy Reading :)
I tried so hard with this one. I had been anticipating it for months so I'm not lying when I say I was literally jumping up and down for joy when I saw I'd received an arc. I love the genre of survival at the end of the world which I discovered earlier this year with Dustborn by Erin Bowman and so after reading the synopsis, and maybe being influenced just a little by the stunning cover, I was so excited to read this book.
The start was promising, and it wasn't until she arrived at Wingates that it started to lose me. First off, there was such a big push for usage of correct pronouns that I tired of on every page there being some comment pushing this idea. I was willing to keep going though. Then we had the trip to Camelot. Oh boy, what a disaster. The trip culminates with a sex scene with the man who Rylla is convinced is her true love. Then, a couple chapters later, she's turned to heavy drug use to forget about her problems. At that point I had to stop as, though I was interested in continuing with the story, I just couldn't get past the mature content.
Another disappointing read that I personally wouldn't recommend but I think that there are a lot of people out there who would still enjoy this book as I know other people wouldn't have a problem reading about the content mentioned above. Happy Reading :)
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix