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gilmargirl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
emleemay's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very good book about adventure, mutants, superheroes and just the plain old story of surviving high school... only this time there are no adults to keep a check on things.
This novel tells the story of how one day in a small Californian town everyone 15 and over mysteriously disappears. But that's not all. The town becomes surrounded by a strange spherical barrier, no one gets in or out. And stranger still, the children and teenagers left behind are discovering that some of them have weird mutant powers. And that snakes can fly. And coyotes can talk. In a world gone mad, power and leadership are up for the picking. In a world run by children, power belongs to the bullies, the sadists, or the mutants.
So, I'm going to explain the reason it got four instead of five stars. Well, I've spent the last few weeks reading books that are instantly gripping, they throw you right into the middle of the story and build up their characters around it... this book, however, takes time at the beginning to introduce and explore each character in a way that I feel would have been much more effective if it had been integrated throughout the novel. But it's not just that. I have some issues with the female characters.
As a woman and a feminist, I love strong females in books. But the strongest female in this book was probably Diana, the psychopath, and even she was most notably only the girlfriend of the opposition. The girls in this book are all "beautiful" or "cute" and are important only as ornaments on the arm of the leaders - all of which are male, there never seemed to be any discussion in this book as to whether the chosen leader would be female. Also, I grew increasingly annoyed by the way Sam was built up as Astrid's saviour and hero. I had higher hopes for Astrid at first, she was described as a genius and I thought she could be a great contribution to solving their predicament, but she was actually fairly useless, often needing to be rescued herself. My favourite female of the book is Lana. She survived alone in the desert without ever needing a guy's help (unless you count her lovable dog, Patrick) and she braved a truck crash, coyote attacks and more. I hope there's more strength and admirable qualities coming from her character in the second installment. Which, by the way, I am extremely looking forward to because the story is VERY good even if my rant seemed to suggest otherwise.
This novel tells the story of how one day in a small Californian town everyone 15 and over mysteriously disappears. But that's not all. The town becomes surrounded by a strange spherical barrier, no one gets in or out. And stranger still, the children and teenagers left behind are discovering that some of them have weird mutant powers. And that snakes can fly. And coyotes can talk. In a world gone mad, power and leadership are up for the picking. In a world run by children, power belongs to the bullies, the sadists, or the mutants.
So, I'm going to explain the reason it got four instead of five stars. Well, I've spent the last few weeks reading books that are instantly gripping, they throw you right into the middle of the story and build up their characters around it... this book, however, takes time at the beginning to introduce and explore each character in a way that I feel would have been much more effective if it had been integrated throughout the novel. But it's not just that. I have some issues with the female characters.
As a woman and a feminist, I love strong females in books. But the strongest female in this book was probably Diana, the psychopath, and even she was most notably only the girlfriend of the opposition. The girls in this book are all "beautiful" or "cute" and are important only as ornaments on the arm of the leaders - all of which are male, there never seemed to be any discussion in this book as to whether the chosen leader would be female. Also, I grew increasingly annoyed by the way Sam was built up as Astrid's saviour and hero. I had higher hopes for Astrid at first, she was described as a genius and I thought she could be a great contribution to solving their predicament, but she was actually fairly useless, often needing to be rescued herself. My favourite female of the book is Lana. She survived alone in the desert without ever needing a guy's help (unless you count her lovable dog, Patrick) and she braved a truck crash, coyote attacks and more. I hope there's more strength and admirable qualities coming from her character in the second installment. Which, by the way, I am extremely looking forward to because the story is VERY good even if my rant seemed to suggest otherwise.
jess_may's review against another edition
3.75
Lord of the Flies but modern, dystopian and Californian
taffymyametalumi's review against another edition
4.0
I accepted a recommendation for this book with a grain of salt, to be honest, but once I started reading, I was hooked. The book has its problems, to be sure, but I loved the intensity, the mystery, and how imperfect the characters were. I'm hoping that as I continue reading this series, that the explanation will be a good one, since it has such an interesting beginning.
nelly005's review against another edition
5.0
I got gifted a book which was the third book and i was so confused when i was reading it because nothing made sense u til i realized it was a series and i NEEDED to buy the other books in the series.
I love that this book got straight to the point; it started when Sam saw his teacher disappear along with another student and it takes of from there - already a good hook if you want the reader to continue reading.
the dystopian like world that they end up living in quickly loses control and i love that it had everybody’s perspective.
I do find Astrid is irritating with her “im a genius”, “i know everything” attitude. Anyways, it was an overall pretty good book and the cliffhanger was *chefs kiss*
I love that this book got straight to the point; it started when Sam saw his teacher disappear along with another student and it takes of from there - already a good hook if you want the reader to continue reading.
the dystopian like world that they end up living in quickly loses control and i love that it had everybody’s perspective.
I do find Astrid is irritating with her “im a genius”, “i know everything” attitude. Anyways, it was an overall pretty good book and the cliffhanger was *chefs kiss*
scottish0reader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
bruhmoment87's review against another edition
5.0
Thrilling plot, lifelike characters, and emotional storytelling make this a 5 star read.
sydneyconger's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I love this and I don’t fucking care that it was written for children. Easier to read the better for me honestly sometimes. I can’t wait to see where this series goes and I wish they would make this into a movie or tv series.
catherine_mack's review against another edition
3.0
I finally got around to reading this book which was quite popular with our students a couple of years back. I was expecting gritty high action/dystopia similar to The Hunger Games series but was not expecting the high level of graphic violence especially involving young children. I suppose this will appeal to some readers, and while I’d like to know what happens to the main characters, there is more than enough graphic violence in the real world right now; I don’t want to deal with more in my reading.