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andizor's review
5.0
Holy cow, this book was off the hook! I am not even quite sure what to say about it. It was action-packed and mysterious and one I will definitely be thinking about for a LOOOOONNNNGGG time.
tashrow's review
5.0
Valley’s mother was killed by the black helicopters while she was out in the garden when Valley was four years old. Raised by her father, she has been taught to hide at all times. There is a den in their house where she and her brother Bo can never be found. Valley knows above everything else that Those People will kill her without even thinking about it, just like a coyote. But now Valley is out of the house and on the road with explosives strapped to her and the trigger waiting for her to decide exactly when to use it. When the first explosive goes off prematurely, Valley is left on her own in a world she has had little contact with. But Valley knows how to read people and how to manipulate them, right up to the end she is in complete control. Or is she?
This taut thriller turns the world on its head. Valley’s story is told in flashbacks so readers know that they are learning the backstory of a domestic terrorist. And what is amazing about the writing and the storytelling here is that despite that knowledge, readers will begin to understand Valley and the way she was raised and how she came to be the person she is now. That alone is a tremendous achievement.
Then there is Valley herself. A girl who is bitter, strong and lonely. She has lived much of her life in the company of only her father and brother and much of that she spent hiding completely alone. She is bright and fierce, burning with a hatred for Those People that her father carefully instilled in her. And she is wrong, oh so very wrong, about the world and about others and about her own family. She is flawed and ever so human under that bomb.
Well written and carefully paced, this book is tantalizingly taut and thrilling. In the end though, it is about a girl caught in a web of lies that she cannot see past. Appropriate for ages 15-18.
This taut thriller turns the world on its head. Valley’s story is told in flashbacks so readers know that they are learning the backstory of a domestic terrorist. And what is amazing about the writing and the storytelling here is that despite that knowledge, readers will begin to understand Valley and the way she was raised and how she came to be the person she is now. That alone is a tremendous achievement.
Then there is Valley herself. A girl who is bitter, strong and lonely. She has lived much of her life in the company of only her father and brother and much of that she spent hiding completely alone. She is bright and fierce, burning with a hatred for Those People that her father carefully instilled in her. And she is wrong, oh so very wrong, about the world and about others and about her own family. She is flawed and ever so human under that bomb.
Well written and carefully paced, this book is tantalizingly taut and thrilling. In the end though, it is about a girl caught in a web of lies that she cannot see past. Appropriate for ages 15-18.
themaddiest's review
5.0
Valkyrie White is fifteen, and the government’s black helicopters killed her parents. This is what Valkyrie believes and has been told since she was a little girl. Now, she and her brother Beau continue the fight her father had waged against the government since they were small. She and Beau know that Those People won’t hesitate to kill them, so they must always be on alert in order to survive. But now, Valkyrie’s mission is to make people wake up and pay attention. It’s her most important mission. It’s also her last.
Blythe Woolston’s latest book for teens is memorable, terrifying, and absolutely unforgettable...
read my full review here: http://earlynerdspecial.wordpress.com/2013/12/17/book-review-black-helicopters-by-blythe-woolston/
Blythe Woolston’s latest book for teens is memorable, terrifying, and absolutely unforgettable...
read my full review here: http://earlynerdspecial.wordpress.com/2013/12/17/book-review-black-helicopters-by-blythe-woolston/
djblock99's review
3.0
Valkyrie is a 15-year-old on a mission: Those People need to know the role that they've played in the destruction of her family. Those People need to know about the black helicopters that stalk the sky. Valley sends blood-signed letters to the government, but her real message will come in the form of a bomb.
You might think it would be hard to identify with a character who is searching for an appropriate place to detonate the explosives she's strapped to her chest, but that wasn't a problem for me.
I wanted to understand what led her to this point and why she makes the decisions she does. While Woolston sketches out Valley's survivalist upbringing and the deadly chess game she enters after being orphaned, many details are left to the imagination. In the end, I was left with too many unanswered questions to be satisfied.
You might think it would be hard to identify with a character who is searching for an appropriate place to detonate the explosives she's strapped to her chest, but that wasn't a problem for me.
I wanted to understand what led her to this point and why she makes the decisions she does. While Woolston sketches out Valley's survivalist upbringing and the deadly chess game she enters after being orphaned, many details are left to the imagination. In the end, I was left with too many unanswered questions to be satisfied.
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