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mbfeeney's review
4.0
I saw a friend on Twitter mention this and I looked it up. I'm a bit of a music junkie and will listen to pretty much anything and I couldn't resist a dystopian book in which music is used to control the masses.
Upon introduction, Anthem is your average kid who goes to work, helps out his sick dad, and looks after his twin brother and sister, but there's so much more to it than that. His work means plugging himself into a computer to have his life energy sucked out of him, leaving him drained and weak. His dad is slowly dying from his addiction to the tracks which are required by all citizens thanks to the government. Could you then blame him for taking action against the Corps? I couldn't. What follows is a mixture of The Firm meets The Hunger Games.
I really enjoyed the journey Anthem is taken on after events force his hand, but I have to admit that I didn't love it. Bits of the story line were slightly predictable (But not President Z I have to admit), but this didn't detract from the reading of the story.
It was a little scary in that the entire thing could quite easily become a reality in the future. <-- this was the biggest draw to me, that and the characterisation. I really liked the group of main players, particularly Mage and Haven. Alpha and Omega were really well written also and I found myself smiling when reading about them.
According to Goodread, this is the first book in a series, but the events were rounded off very well at the end of the book so it will be really interesting to see how Trevayne continues on in this verse. I'll certainly read more by the author as she has a very easy style of writing that draws you in to her world. I could definitely see this on the big screen
For this and more reviews, check out my blog: http://michbookreviews.wordpress.com/
Upon introduction, Anthem is your average kid who goes to work, helps out his sick dad, and looks after his twin brother and sister, but there's so much more to it than that. His work means plugging himself into a computer to have his life energy sucked out of him, leaving him drained and weak. His dad is slowly dying from his addiction to the tracks which are required by all citizens thanks to the government. Could you then blame him for taking action against the Corps? I couldn't. What follows is a mixture of The Firm meets The Hunger Games.
I really enjoyed the journey Anthem is taken on after events force his hand, but I have to admit that I didn't love it. Bits of the story line were slightly predictable (But not President Z I have to admit), but this didn't detract from the reading of the story.
It was a little scary in that the entire thing could quite easily become a reality in the future. <-- this was the biggest draw to me, that and the characterisation. I really liked the group of main players, particularly Mage and Haven. Alpha and Omega were really well written also and I found myself smiling when reading about them.
According to Goodread, this is the first book in a series, but the events were rounded off very well at the end of the book so it will be really interesting to see how Trevayne continues on in this verse. I'll certainly read more by the author as she has a very easy style of writing that draws you in to her world. I could definitely see this on the big screen
For this and more reviews, check out my blog: http://michbookreviews.wordpress.com/
ajreader's review
2.0
Read my full thoughts on this and other dystopian novels over at Read.Write.Repeat.
So, the book had incredible potential. And, on some level, it does live up to that potential. I think there are or could be a lot of YA dystopian fans out there who really enjoy this book. It's fast-paced, action-filled, and features teenagers fighting back against the regime. It hits all the sweet spots for popular success, right?
It's just that I need more than that.
So, the book had incredible potential. And, on some level, it does live up to that potential. I think there are or could be a lot of YA dystopian fans out there who really enjoy this book. It's fast-paced, action-filled, and features teenagers fighting back against the regime. It hits all the sweet spots for popular success, right?
It's just that I need more than that.
golden_lily's review
2.0
DNF at 44%. I never liked Anthem and the way he put Haven on a pedestal and then lashed out at her for being there. The world building is extremely poor, (why would the government want drug addicts who die at 30, especially after a long, protracted illness? It makes no sense to train people for jobs they'll have for less than a decade. And harvesting energy from people like potato batteries? Scary visual, not actually effective.) But the tipping point is maybe I'm not a music person, but the rebellion is so poorly thought out, so lacking in actual impact, it's actually breathtaking. It's like reading an teenage boy's journal after his first punk album. But taken. Dead. Seriously.
Literally the only positive I have is Ant's bisexuality was a complete nonissue. Though his continued treatment of Scope's boyfriend was super uncalled for. He literally never gets a name in the text.
Literally the only positive I have is Ant's bisexuality was a complete nonissue. Though his continued treatment of Scope's boyfriend was super uncalled for. He literally never gets a name in the text.
bookswithlukas's review
2.0
Not terrible, but very meh. For the last 100 pages I was probably just skimming to force myself into actually finishing it. The concept was interesting but it really didn't have the characters to back it up, they felt a bit drab...and I've read too many dystopias where the MC's main reason for going against the government is to protect their little brother/sister. I highly doubt I will continue on with this series.
wrenl's review
4.0
The ending left a lot to wonder. I really liked the book, though. A creative idea. If you are a music lover, I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!
lillianhong's review
2.0
When the book starts, you are guaranteed to going to be confused; it dumps you straight into its world with very little explanations as to what its strange little terms and so on mean. Many books do this, and they do it well; either they explain right then and there, or they subtly explain throughout the characters' interactions. This book, however, is not one of them. It's gonna take you a few chapters into it before you start to understand what the fuck is going on, and that is an automatic "Wow I really dislike this book" for me.
The writing style is also very strange. It doesn't flow nicely; it's rather jagged to me. Sometimes there'd be some very nice, descriptive lines that aren't bad. But usually, it's full of weak, flat, and boring sentences. And there some very stupid ones. Take this for example: "...I say into an ear that won't stay still because Haven is shaking violently." Wow. Look at that. The beginning half was eh, not bad, could be better, and then bam, second half just kills it. It's terrible. Also, while I like descriptive imagery as much as the next person, for some reason, the way this author describes music and its effect on the characters just makes me throw my head back and groan at the ceiling. I can't put my finger on what about it disgust me so much, but I rather not dwell on it anymore than I need to.
The characters are boring, and flat (just like the writing style wow), and I didn't like any of them. I don't know about you, but character attraction is vital for a good book, be it protagonist or antagonist. The only good thing about the characters was the diversity in sexual preference. It's not everyday you get a bisexual main character.
The book also had a very nice concept; the sole reason I picked it up in the first place. I mean, c'mon, music as a mind-control method may be old, but music as a literal drug? That's new to me. Not to mention that Conduit job. Interesting indeed. But the whole the thing was executed so poorly I just stopped. The plot was boring; I was halfway through the book, and there absolutely no action. The rebellion begins and I'm still bored as fuck. The ending comes along, and I'm sighing for release. Perhaps it was because of the lackluster writing style?
All in all: good concept, terrible execution.
The writing style is also very strange. It doesn't flow nicely; it's rather jagged to me. Sometimes there'd be some very nice, descriptive lines that aren't bad. But usually, it's full of weak, flat, and boring sentences. And there some very stupid ones. Take this for example: "...I say into an ear that won't stay still because Haven is shaking violently." Wow. Look at that. The beginning half was eh, not bad, could be better, and then bam, second half just kills it. It's terrible. Also, while I like descriptive imagery as much as the next person, for some reason, the way this author describes music and its effect on the characters just makes me throw my head back and groan at the ceiling. I can't put my finger on what about it disgust me so much, but I rather not dwell on it anymore than I need to.
The characters are boring, and flat (just like the writing style wow), and I didn't like any of them. I don't know about you, but character attraction is vital for a good book, be it protagonist or antagonist. The only good thing about the characters was the diversity in sexual preference. It's not everyday you get a bisexual main character.
The book also had a very nice concept; the sole reason I picked it up in the first place. I mean, c'mon, music as a mind-control method may be old, but music as a literal drug? That's new to me. Not to mention that Conduit job. Interesting indeed. But the whole the thing was executed so poorly I just stopped. The plot was boring; I was halfway through the book, and there absolutely no action. The rebellion begins and I'm still bored as fuck. The ending comes along, and I'm sighing for release. Perhaps it was because of the lackluster writing style?
All in all: good concept, terrible execution.
rhysciar's review
3.0
Szerettem volna szeretni, mert az alapötlet tetszett, de a történet túl kiszámítható lett, és ezért sokszor halálra untam magam. A világ stílusa egyébként kicsit hasonlított Suzanne Collins Panemjére, legalábbis ezekről a harsány színekről, és furcsa nevekről (Scope, Pixel, Anthem, Alpha, Omega) folyamatosan az Éhezők viadala jutott eszembe. Kár, hogy nem érdekelt, mi történik majd a szereplőkkel.
novelheartbeat's review
2.0
I didn’t care much for the delivery, but the concept was pretty cool. My favorite part was the idea of the memory chips that everyone has, which allow family members to access memories after the person’s death. This would be wonderful! If you lose a relative, you’ll always have something to remember them by. The whole music as a drug thing was awesome and original! The people do something called “tracking” – which is basically getting high off of music. And you could OD on music. Very interesting! I did really like that bit.
But – did you see that but coming? – the unique concept wasn’t enough to make up for the glaring lack of world building. Things weren’t explained well enough for me, things like ‘hygiene cube’ and ‘trans-pod’ – yes, I can figure them out from subtext, but I’d like to at least get a picture in my head of what they looked like! They weren’t described at all. I had a lot of trouble picturing anything in the world, because you were simply told about something and it wasn’t described to you. And what is Quadrant Two? How many Quadrants are there? What is the layout of the Quadrants? What year is it?!
Red meat is almost non-existent down here – the only land on which large animals can be kept is the giant park in the middle of the island, and even those are weak, over-cloned from the ones brought in before the siege began.
What siege? When? How long ago?
Tunnels were caved in, bridges were dismantled. To keep us safe, of course. To keep us protected in a fortress of glass and steel and concrete. The airports didn’t survive the war, and the last planes fell out of the sky when the pulse bombs went off.
Safe from what? What war? What pulse bombs? WHEN?! Argh. It was so frustrating! I also didn’t figure out what the hell an Exaur was until 1/3 of the way through the book – and then only from context – because it was never explained either. Seriously, all it would take was one second to say “blah blah Exaur – someone who’s been rendered deaf as punishment – blah blah.”
Other than that, I was just bored. The pacing was painfully slow and I struggled to finish the book. The story had fabulous potential, but the delivery was kind of stiff and dry and I couldn’t really connect like I hoped. I also didn’t care about what was happening to any of the characters.
Spoiler
In fact, one of the main characters died and I felt nothing. Not good!There is a mild LGBT undercurrent, but it’s not in your face. I wouldn’t even think it’s worth mentioning, but that may not be some people’s thing. It’s not exactly mine, either, but I didn’t mind it because it was so mild.
ASSESSMENT
Premise: 5/5
Writing style: 3/5
Originality: 5/5
Characters: 1/5
World-building: 1/5
Pace: 1/5
Feels: 0.5/5
Cover: 4.5/5