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groovyjenni's review
3.0
This book had a really cool premise based on the blurb I read. As I got into it, the writing felt a little heavy handed. While it's told from third person POV, the author could have overloaded us with tons of world building. Yet I felt that we only got a speck of what the world is all about. We get a quick history thanks to Faith and Dylan's conversation mid book, but other than that, we don't get much else. It would have been nice to learn more about the telekinesis, as it appears to be a main point in this book and future novels from this world. faith just seems clueless and I need her to be focused. I will probably pick up the second book, but it will be a while before I do such.
bookph1le's review
3.0
This book felt so uneven to me. I didn't care for the first part, got caught up in the middle, and am now just kind of ambivalent about it. More complete review to come.
Full review:
For a good chunk of Pulse, I actively disliked the book. But then, in the middle, things picked up and I found myself being drawn into the story almost against my will. However, I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending, and the strength of the middle couldn't make up for the slow start, so this is a book that remains firmly uneven. Some spoilers to follow.
The opening of the book felt like a contemporary tale about high school set in a post-apocalyptic world. The problem with this is I couldn't get a firm sense of what this new world was like. There appears to have been some climate change, but I don't remember any real explanation of why people had abandoned most of the country to live in cities, other than because the book told me that's what happened. The book tells me that the cities were the only viable option, but doesn't do a good job of explaining why this is. What's more, I simply couldn't understand why the people on the outside wanted to live on the outside. There are hints that the cities are dystopias, but they're on the vaguest of hints. This is a shame, because I think it would have been very interesting to read about a dystopia from the perspective of someone living outside of it.
Next up is the use of a third person omniscient narrator. I just don't like it. This is a style issue that have obvious impact on how I view the book, so I get that the style may work for other people. That said, I found the story hard to follow at times because there was so much jumping around from one character's head to another. It seemed like every time I felt like I was finally getting into the head of one of the characters, there was an abrupt transition to another character.
The characters themselves aren't all that compelling either. I liked some of them, like Hawk, but none of them felt particularly developed to me. They all seemed a little stereotypical, especially the twins. I couldn't figure out if Wade was evil or just kind of stupid, and I needed a better feel for what made Clara the psycho she is.
The romantic relationships in this book left me uneasy. The worst offender of all was the scene in which Faith has a "date" with Wade. For an alarming number of pages, I was afraid that the book was justifying his decision to drug her against her knowledge and against her will. I came very close to putting the book down and walking away from it forever because of this. It was a relief to find this problem addressed a little later, but I wasn't satisfied with the way it was addressed.
I also did not care for the relationship between Faith and Dylan. It irritates me when a character keeps vital information from another characters because he or she has decided that the other character is too stupid to handle it, or something. I could see why Dylan's discretion was necessary, but I would have liked him to be more up front with Faith. I found the lack of honesty frustrating at times.
So why am I giving this book three stars? Well, I think it did have some good points. The action in the middle section kept me turning pages, and I liked the idea of the Pulse. It was an interesting concept that I'd like to see developed, though I'm a little worried it's going to turn into one of those annoying uber superpowers that makes the characters a little too god-like. We'll see what happens there.
I'm also extremely interested in the city-states and in Hotspur Chance (though that character name--really?). Part of what kept me reading was wanting to see what the city-states were like and to find out what Chance's motivation was. I hope he'll be present in future installments and not just some nebulous baddie who's there for the sole purpose of giving the book a point of conflict.
I think what leaves me thinking that this was an okay book is the belief that the story has a lot of potential to become complex and rich as it progresses. The seeds are there, I just hope they'll take root.
Full review:
For a good chunk of Pulse, I actively disliked the book. But then, in the middle, things picked up and I found myself being drawn into the story almost against my will. However, I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending, and the strength of the middle couldn't make up for the slow start, so this is a book that remains firmly uneven. Some spoilers to follow.
The opening of the book felt like a contemporary tale about high school set in a post-apocalyptic world. The problem with this is I couldn't get a firm sense of what this new world was like. There appears to have been some climate change, but I don't remember any real explanation of why people had abandoned most of the country to live in cities, other than because the book told me that's what happened. The book tells me that the cities were the only viable option, but doesn't do a good job of explaining why this is. What's more, I simply couldn't understand why the people on the outside wanted to live on the outside. There are hints that the cities are dystopias, but they're on the vaguest of hints. This is a shame, because I think it would have been very interesting to read about a dystopia from the perspective of someone living outside of it.
Next up is the use of a third person omniscient narrator. I just don't like it. This is a style issue that have obvious impact on how I view the book, so I get that the style may work for other people. That said, I found the story hard to follow at times because there was so much jumping around from one character's head to another. It seemed like every time I felt like I was finally getting into the head of one of the characters, there was an abrupt transition to another character.
The characters themselves aren't all that compelling either. I liked some of them, like Hawk, but none of them felt particularly developed to me. They all seemed a little stereotypical, especially the twins. I couldn't figure out if Wade was evil or just kind of stupid, and I needed a better feel for what made Clara the psycho she is.
The romantic relationships in this book left me uneasy. The worst offender of all was the scene in which Faith has a "date" with Wade. For an alarming number of pages, I was afraid that the book was justifying his decision to drug her against her knowledge and against her will. I came very close to putting the book down and walking away from it forever because of this. It was a relief to find this problem addressed a little later, but I wasn't satisfied with the way it was addressed.
I also did not care for the relationship between Faith and Dylan. It irritates me when a character keeps vital information from another characters because he or she has decided that the other character is too stupid to handle it, or something. I could see why Dylan's discretion was necessary, but I would have liked him to be more up front with Faith. I found the lack of honesty frustrating at times.
So why am I giving this book three stars? Well, I think it did have some good points. The action in the middle section kept me turning pages, and I liked the idea of the Pulse. It was an interesting concept that I'd like to see developed, though I'm a little worried it's going to turn into one of those annoying uber superpowers that makes the characters a little too god-like. We'll see what happens there.
I'm also extremely interested in the city-states and in Hotspur Chance (though that character name--really?). Part of what kept me reading was wanting to see what the city-states were like and to find out what Chance's motivation was. I hope he'll be present in future installments and not just some nebulous baddie who's there for the sole purpose of giving the book a point of conflict.
I think what leaves me thinking that this was an okay book is the belief that the story has a lot of potential to become complex and rich as it progresses. The seeds are there, I just hope they'll take root.
kimal2028's review
2.0
This book wasn't that good.
No offense, but I don't think that men write very good romance books. Exception is John Green. But by the end of the book Dylan was somehow in love with her when he didn't even spend that much time with her.
No offense, but I don't think that men write very good romance books. Exception is John Green. But by the end of the book Dylan was somehow in love with her when he didn't even spend that much time with her.
alyssaindira's review
3.0
I have a day where no school work is required of me, how do I choose to spend the day? I think you all know the answer. Okay, so I finished Pulse by Patrick Carman and well.....it's a novel that has its ups and downs to put it simply. First of all,I thought the beginning was kinda creepy and not a very good opening to this world. Also, I found that the authors' style of writing is kinda different, it's like every other paragraph gives insight to the main characters thoughts and feelings. It felt like many different point of views crammed together. Not very appealing and made it hard for me to keep up with the story. Which, by the way, was kinda scattered and vague itself. Granted, I liked the futuristic entails of this novel. For example, the very real concept of the "internet of things". Tablet runs your life, books are ashes, etc. But was really interesting was how the school system worked in this book. Won't go into detail, dont want to be a spoiler. Anyway, I got the gist of the plotline and stuff, but it felt a bit impersonal, I didn't find myself connecting to the characters. Not sure what or who's at fault for that, but I did like how her powers came about and some of the climactic scenes. Though they were scarce amongst the book, large gaps in action within the pages. Not a fan, especially when the non action scenes are rather boring. Probably wont read the second book Tremor, neither the third, Quake. Questions?
apalu's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
mira8's review
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
thebookhaze's review
1.0
Read 30% of the book, didn't really like it much at all, decided that life is too short to read lousy books.
heatherg213's review
4.0
This is the start of a trilogy, one that I have yet to finish. The first book, however, gets a thumbs up from me! The premise is interesting, and as someone who's read a ton of dystopian YA fiction, it felt new and fresh. Faith as a character is relatable, and there's the whole "dark, mysterious" love interest thing going on. I fully expected to find that the State was the enemy, and maybe they will be in the end, but I thought that premise that the State was good and the people opposing the State were bad turned that old "Hunger Games" style trope on its head.
As far as deep, meaningful discussion opportunities go, it's not exactly chock full of them, at least not this first book in the trilogy, but it is action-packed, and has enough intrigue to keep a person interested. I'd say the trilogy is a solid addition to any well-stocked classroom library, though I reserve the right to change my mind if the rest of the books in the series suck.
As far as deep, meaningful discussion opportunities go, it's not exactly chock full of them, at least not this first book in the trilogy, but it is action-packed, and has enough intrigue to keep a person interested. I'd say the trilogy is a solid addition to any well-stocked classroom library, though I reserve the right to change my mind if the rest of the books in the series suck.
malreynolds111's review
2.0
i was 200 pages into the book before it even started to get to the plot. really not a fan.
melissasbookshelf's review against another edition
2.0
I have mixed feelings about this book. It was OK. I'd give it 1 1/2 stars. I thought it was sort of a bad copy of Michael Vey and Hunger Games. There were some things in the book that were somewhat disturbing such as "drug use" and a hint of sexual issues and violence. I wouldn't have my 12 year old read it. Michael Vey and Hunger Games are much better books and have a much better story.
There are also A LOT of plot holes in this that drove me nuts. In one chapter, one of the characters we'll call him A makes a disturbing discovery about another character B. In this situation, B threatens to kill A. In the next scene, the characters interact as though nothing happened. There are numerous scenes like this where the characters don't react in a way that would make sense or is explainable. The author also leaves out key information which only confuses the reader and truly made me not want to invest my time in this book.
There will be an inevitable sequel, but I don’t think I’ll be reading it. All in all it was OK, but it seemed like the author was trying too hard to make a more gritty version of Michael Vey and it didn’t work for me.
There are also A LOT of plot holes in this that drove me nuts. In one chapter, one of the characters we'll call him A makes a disturbing discovery about another character B. In this situation, B threatens to kill A. In the next scene, the characters interact as though nothing happened. There are numerous scenes like this where the characters don't react in a way that would make sense or is explainable. The author also leaves out key information which only confuses the reader and truly made me not want to invest my time in this book.
There will be an inevitable sequel, but I don’t think I’ll be reading it. All in all it was OK, but it seemed like the author was trying too hard to make a more gritty version of Michael Vey and it didn’t work for me.