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samanthamoon's review
2.0
It has an amazing plot line, but the story isn't really "gripping" and I found myself wanting to stop multiple times while reading. It also got kind of gruesome.
silodear's review
3.0
3.5 stars. This book was good -- interesting premise, realistic future-world with elements of magic, engaging and unpredictable story, dark and resilient. The romance in this book was less pukey to me than typical ya romance, which I appreciated! I was definitely drawn in to the story very quickly and found it to be interesting. Recommended.
ruwa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence
rnmott's review
1.0
I really, really liked this story in the beginning. It took place in a boarding school with harsh ways and torture-like punishments. Though, in my opinion, the author quickly led the main characters away from this interesting setting to a new one that wasn’t as riveting. The characters were intriguing, and government opposition took a new spin on a book that I previously believed would be shallow. But while I liked this book for these reasons, the writing often became dull and flat. I’m not sure if this was just the way the author wrote it or some descriptions were lost in the translation. After reading sections I would become confused and I later realized that I kind of skimmed sections because they became boring, which is never a good sign for a book. Other than slow sections and ones that weren’t strictly necessary, I liked the underlying tones this book had, especially the ones that I hadn’t expected. Maybe if the author had spent more time delving into the saddened life of the boarding schools students (instead of their lives outside of it) I would have liked it more. Either way, 3 stars for entertaining me enough to get through to the end.
ceridwyn's review against another edition
2.0
It's interesting reading books in translation. This was translated by the same woman who translated Cornelia Funke's work and the fit didn't feel as good. Anthea Bell has a particular voice and it didn't flow for me in this story, mostly I think because there were three protagonists and they had exactly the same voice.
Also the world didn't quite ring true, it wasn't specific enough in some areas and too specific in others. I couldn't latch onto the feel of the politics enough to understand WHY things were happening, rather than being told about the themes and issues.
It just wasn't visceral enough; for something that felt like a visceral story I was always at a remove.
Also, what is it about sixteen year olds in love that puts my back up so much? Particularly in this book the love stories felt imposed rather than natural.
Also the world didn't quite ring true, it wasn't specific enough in some areas and too specific in others. I couldn't latch onto the feel of the politics enough to understand WHY things were happening, rather than being told about the themes and issues.
It just wasn't visceral enough; for something that felt like a visceral story I was always at a remove.
Also, what is it about sixteen year olds in love that puts my back up so much? Particularly in this book the love stories felt imposed rather than natural.
viny's review against another edition
3.0
Le lore m'a intéressé, il y a de bonnes idées, mais je n'ai pas réussi à construire une empathie avec les personnages, ce qui m'a empêché de me soucier de leur sort
anniemariek's review
2.0
First Look: 4/5 I honestly thought this would be a remake of The Hunger Games. The premise was so similar.
Setting: 2/5 It was actually kind of...bla. The whole creepy wow-this-could-be-us-in-a-century dystopia thing just wasn't there. I could barely figure out what even made it a dystopia at all. Every single place was drab and none of it stood out.
Characters: 1/5 They weren't likable at all. I was never cheering them on. There wasn't anything special about them to even try to make me like them. They made decisions that no *sane, common-sense-using* human would make. They felt sad at the smallest things, but were strangely emotionless when it really mattered. Helen and Milos, and Bart and Milena fell in love way too fast. It was kind of like, "Wow, I haven't seen a teenage boy in years! You're my only only option, so I guess that means I'm madly in love with you!"
Plot: 2/5 It was very slow. The jacket promised me a tyrannical government I would hate, an exciting resistance movement, and more, but I didn't feel like any of it was there. The characters kept going on about how the government was bad, but yet...there was nothing to back that up. The so-called tyrants never actually did anything wrong, from what I can tell. So why does everyone hate them? The resistance was really more of a large group that liked to complain. And by the way, you can't overthrow an entire government system by gathering a bunch of people, swarm a city, and yell. It just doesn't work in real life.
Cliché-ness: 3/5 The tyrannical government, the Severus Snape-like teachers, the oppressive boarding school...and unless you can be unique, they've been overused.
Writing: 2/5 At first I was thinking that some of the writing quality got lost in translation, but then I remembered that the same translator worked on Cornelia Funke's books, and those were amazing. So there's no excuse here. I can't count the number of times my mind was screaming Show, don't tell!
Likes: I do really like the name Milena. It's pretty. Other than that, not much.
Not-so-great: I hate it when a book's jacket promises excitement and intensity and just doesn't live up to it. This book had so much potential, but I had to force myself to get through it. And, speaking of Snape, was that what the author was going for with Van Vlyck? A sort of I'm-evil-but-I-love-her thing? It didn't work for me.
Total Score: 2/5 This book could have been so good. It had all the right ingredients for an awesome, The Giver/The Hunger Games epic dystopian novel. In the end, it was a flat, dull read. I wouldn't recommend it at all unless you really, really want to read it. But I can't see why anyone would.
Note: When I said Severus Snape-like, I mean that the teachers were mean and nasty (use both meanings of that word). Those teachers didn't have the awesome three-dimensionalness as Snape. I honestly think Snape might possibly be the most well-developed character of all time.
Read even more reviews at http://www.anniesepicblog.blogspot.com!
Setting: 2/5 It was actually kind of...bla. The whole creepy wow-this-could-be-us-in-a-century dystopia thing just wasn't there. I could barely figure out what even made it a dystopia at all. Every single place was drab and none of it stood out.
Characters: 1/5 They weren't likable at all. I was never cheering them on. There wasn't anything special about them to even try to make me like them. They made decisions that no *sane, common-sense-using* human would make. They felt sad at the smallest things, but were strangely emotionless when it really mattered. Helen and Milos, and Bart and Milena fell in love way too fast. It was kind of like, "Wow, I haven't seen a teenage boy in years! You're my only only option, so I guess that means I'm madly in love with you!"
Plot: 2/5 It was very slow. The jacket promised me a tyrannical government I would hate, an exciting resistance movement, and more, but I didn't feel like any of it was there. The characters kept going on about how the government was bad, but yet...there was nothing to back that up. The so-called tyrants never actually did anything wrong, from what I can tell. So why does everyone hate them? The resistance was really more of a large group that liked to complain. And by the way, you can't overthrow an entire government system by gathering a bunch of people, swarm a city, and yell. It just doesn't work in real life.
Cliché-ness: 3/5 The tyrannical government, the Severus Snape-like teachers, the oppressive boarding school...and unless you can be unique, they've been overused.
Writing: 2/5 At first I was thinking that some of the writing quality got lost in translation, but then I remembered that the same translator worked on Cornelia Funke's books, and those were amazing. So there's no excuse here. I can't count the number of times my mind was screaming Show, don't tell!
Likes: I do really like the name Milena. It's pretty. Other than that, not much.
Not-so-great: I hate it when a book's jacket promises excitement and intensity and just doesn't live up to it. This book had so much potential, but I had to force myself to get through it. And, speaking of Snape, was that what the author was going for with Van Vlyck? A sort of I'm-evil-but-I-love-her thing? It didn't work for me.
Total Score: 2/5 This book could have been so good. It had all the right ingredients for an awesome, The Giver/The Hunger Games epic dystopian novel. In the end, it was a flat, dull read. I wouldn't recommend it at all unless you really, really want to read it. But I can't see why anyone would.
Note: When I said Severus Snape-like, I mean that the teachers were mean and nasty (use both meanings of that word). Those teachers didn't have the awesome three-dimensionalness as Snape. I honestly think Snape might possibly be the most well-developed character of all time.
Read even more reviews at http://www.anniesepicblog.blogspot.com!
noapo88's review against another edition
2.0
אין כל כך הרבה מה להגיד. ספר מאוד בסדר כזה. לא מעניין מספיק כדי שאני אגמור אותו מהר, אפילו שהוא קצר.
נערים נלחמים במשטר מרושע. יש אהבה. נכון נשמע גנרי? אבל זה בערך הספר.
נערים נלחמים במשטר מרושע. יש אהבה. נכון נשמע גנרי? אבל זה בערך הספר.
chwaters's review
4.0
It's kind of like...a post-apocalyptic Les Mis! And I loved it. There's really something unique about this one. It seems so much richer and more sophisticated than many that would claim to share the genre. Alternating between four narrators, all escapees from state-run, prison-like boarding schools, the plot thickens when they learn more about their past and what it might mean for the future. There's so much more going on than can be addressed in a lil' ol' book review. I can only recommend reading this book to see where the plot leads. I found it unpredictable, but never jarring. Tense, but bittersweet. Themes of unity, conviction, strength and love abound in unexpected ways. I loved it. The only part of this book that I didn't completely love was the epilogue. But it did let me know that this novel stands alone. No sequels in the future. And at this point in the game, it's refreshing to know that authors can actually tell a satisfying story in one book.