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breezy610's review against another edition
3.0
different than what i supected to be. It's like the movie Numbers with Nicholas Cage if that read the reader anything hint to what this book would be like. I really didn't like it, probably because it's wasn't like the usual genre that i read, but it was interesting.
provicarious's review against another edition
3.0
this is a book that i've been wanting to read for so long. i heard a lot of good things about the main character and the concept of it, but i didn't hear too much about the story. if i could rate it out of 10, i would give it a solid 7.5/10.
i understand why people had a lot of expectations for this book. people were expecting the book to be exploding with plot, that jem would end up saving the world with her powers, being connected to the government, discover something unexpected or i don't know, just something wild. but honestly, not every book needs to be that way. if there is a main character that does have some type of special gift or whatever that case may be, they don't always need to be used as a human toy for the government. their lives don't always need to be reduced to the protagonist/hero. sometimes it's okay if the stories are just... simplistic. i understand why people would view it as boring, i can't lie – i would skip over a few lines sometimes because i felt like there were some parts of descriptions that weren't necessarily needed. kind of similar to filler. but i wouldn't say it was a complete waste of time. in fact, i think it's pretty on par with the energy that the book has carried since the beginning. the narrator is a fifteen year old that's severely depressed, and has a bleak outlook on life. i know that a lot of people would've expected the plot to be so much more, some ground-breaking experience, but maybe.. that was the point? jem's life has been anything but exciting, and it wasn't going to suddenly change with a miracle due to her revealing her powers. and once she told everyone she was lying, it's not like there was much that could happen afterwards anyway.
nonetheless, she is a fifteen year old girl who's had a life full of complicated trauma and struggles, which could've definitely been preventable. i didn't expect her to make the best decisions – firstly, she's 15, and also, i can't expect anyone to possibly make the best decisions in life when their brain is riddled with trauma. and facing something that they have to go through completely alone. as humans, we often times go through things that millions of people have already been through before. imagine being fifteen, constantly in and out of foster homes, and having to deal with knowing people's death dates constantly. i personally feel like she did the best that she could. i will say, there was too many plot holes. they didn't really explain what happened in terms of the bombing, cause realistically, they couldn't have let her get off that loosely. then again, shes white so i guess it is pretty realistic. i also feel like the plot with the church was kind of unrealistic too – i'm not too sure how those things work but surely they would've just barged and taken her in if she was a potential terrorist? i can't believe that just because she was in a church, they just stopped and allowed her to be in there for a little while. then again.... she is white so.
either way, i think this was a decent book. i don't think every media that i consume has to be extremely exciting or wild or unpredictable. i think the only death i was able to predict was spider's, once he came on that wall i knew that something unexpected would happen and that would be his death. it's such a shame though, i was kind of hoping that something different would change, but this book isn't based completely upon fantasy. i do wish there was more dialogue, more explanations about what happened within those five years, and there was a lot less lines of filler. i feel like if you skimmed through a lot of the pages, you wouldn't miss out on much.
i understand why people had a lot of expectations for this book. people were expecting the book to be exploding with plot, that jem would end up saving the world with her powers, being connected to the government, discover something unexpected or i don't know, just something wild. but honestly, not every book needs to be that way. if there is a main character that does have some type of special gift or whatever that case may be, they don't always need to be used as a human toy for the government. their lives don't always need to be reduced to the protagonist/hero. sometimes it's okay if the stories are just... simplistic. i understand why people would view it as boring, i can't lie – i would skip over a few lines sometimes because i felt like there were some parts of descriptions that weren't necessarily needed. kind of similar to filler. but i wouldn't say it was a complete waste of time. in fact, i think it's pretty on par with the energy that the book has carried since the beginning. the narrator is a fifteen year old that's severely depressed, and has a bleak outlook on life. i know that a lot of people would've expected the plot to be so much more, some ground-breaking experience, but maybe.. that was the point? jem's life has been anything but exciting, and it wasn't going to suddenly change with a miracle due to her revealing her powers. and once she told everyone she was lying, it's not like there was much that could happen afterwards anyway.
nonetheless, she is a fifteen year old girl who's had a life full of complicated trauma and struggles, which could've definitely been preventable. i didn't expect her to make the best decisions – firstly, she's 15, and also, i can't expect anyone to possibly make the best decisions in life when their brain is riddled with trauma. and facing something that they have to go through completely alone. as humans, we often times go through things that millions of people have already been through before. imagine being fifteen, constantly in and out of foster homes, and having to deal with knowing people's death dates constantly. i personally feel like she did the best that she could. i will say, there was too many plot holes. they didn't really explain what happened in terms of the bombing, cause realistically, they couldn't have let her get off that loosely. then again, shes white so i guess it is pretty realistic. i also feel like the plot with the church was kind of unrealistic too – i'm not too sure how those things work but surely they would've just barged and taken her in if she was a potential terrorist? i can't believe that just because she was in a church, they just stopped and allowed her to be in there for a little while. then again.... she is white so.
either way, i think this was a decent book. i don't think every media that i consume has to be extremely exciting or wild or unpredictable. i think the only death i was able to predict was spider's, once he came on that wall i knew that something unexpected would happen and that would be his death. it's such a shame though, i was kind of hoping that something different would change, but this book isn't based completely upon fantasy. i do wish there was more dialogue, more explanations about what happened within those five years, and there was a lot less lines of filler. i feel like if you skimmed through a lot of the pages, you wouldn't miss out on much.
trin's review against another edition
2.0
Unusual—this a good thing—YA novel about a 15-year-old girl who, whenever she looks into a person's eyes, sees the date of their death. Unsurprisingly, this fucks her up a bit, as does the death of her mother from an overdose. I really liked that Jem is an unconventional heroine—she's poor and genuinely troubled, not I'm-clumsy-and-my-parents-don't-pay-attention-to-me troubled—and her narrative voice is great. The hero, Spider, is also unconventional, and, warts (or in this case, B.O.) and all, about 1,000 times more appealing than the Edward Cullens of the world—precisely because of said warts. Both Jem and Spider seem like real, compelling people.
Unfortunately, the plot in which they are entangled gets more and more ridiculous as the novel progresses, and as such my belief in the story started to wane and never really recovered. There are terrorists and a manhunt and a significantly absent condom, and I just raised my eyebrow and thought “Really?” a few too many times. Plus I hated the ending. It’s both defeatist and shamelessly setting up a sequel. Oh well. I appreciate all the ways in which this book is different than the usual YA crowd, but that’s not enough to make it really good.
Unfortunately, the plot in which they are entangled gets more and more ridiculous as the novel progresses, and as such my belief in the story started to wane and never really recovered. There are terrorists and a manhunt and a significantly absent condom, and I just raised my eyebrow and thought “Really?” a few too many times. Plus I hated the ending. It’s both defeatist and shamelessly setting up a sequel. Oh well. I appreciate all the ways in which this book is different than the usual YA crowd, but that’s not enough to make it really good.
vanikr's review against another edition
5.0
Ein echt tolles Buch! Die umgangssprachliche Sprache gefällt mir sehr, ist irgendwie mal etwas neues. Außerdem wird man in dem Buch direkt angesprochen und muss einfach mit Jem mitfühlen.
Jem und Spinne einfach toll. Das Ende ist wirklich traurig, aber anders währe es wahrscheinlich einfach unrealistisch. SUPER !!!!
Jem und Spinne einfach toll. Das Ende ist wirklich traurig, aber anders währe es wahrscheinlich einfach unrealistisch. SUPER !!!!
ingo_lembcke's review against another edition
3.0
The cat-and-mouse-play with the police is boring so far. And it is December, I live in Germany and we very nearly have the same weather and temperatures like the UK and December is way too cold for inexperienced people to walk across the land and sleep outside without proper equipment. While the book was probably written before the time it is supposed to play, I just looked up the weather in UK for December 2010 and it was below average, one of the coldest December in the last years up until then. The highest temperature during that time was +6 °C (42,8 °F), most times below freezing, dropping to -17 °C (1,4 °F). Both would surely have died in their sleep frozen to death and putting an early end to this tale.
At least one consolation is that in a week something will happen and then it might get interesting again.
So, now I have finished the book. The end saves it a bit, making me want to read the next book, which I started directly, having all 3 books on my eReader. As far as I am in the second book, my guess is, that the first one is the weakest.
At least one consolation is that in a week something will happen and then it might get interesting again.
So, now I have finished the book. The end saves it a bit, making me want to read the next book, which I started directly, having all 3 books on my eReader. As far as I am in the second book, my guess is, that the first one is the weakest.
dj68's review against another edition
3.0
Though I'm an "old man" and this is a book for teens, I liked the premise of the story.
It startes out really good and had a nice ending, but there was just too much filler in the middle which really didn't have anything to do with the story.
It startes out really good and had a nice ending, but there was just too much filler in the middle which really didn't have anything to do with the story.
peanut_parker's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
applegnreads's review against another edition
3.0
rather predictable but interesting anyway.
also one of the blind date with a book selections.
also one of the blind date with a book selections.
annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition
2.0
Ik weet niet of er een boek is dat zo lang op mijn nog te lezen lijst heeft gestaan als dit boek. 4 jaar geleden stond het al naast me op de vensterbank, als een boek dat ik zou openslaan in de weken erna. Het is er nooit van gekomen. Eergisteravond was ik er klaar mee. Het had lang genoeg op de nog te lezen lijst gestaan. Het was tijd het eraf te halen.
Het verhaal is overduidelijk een what if boek. De hoofdpersoon, Jem, ziet nummers, data, sterfdata van alle mensen die ze ontmoet. Het boek vertelt wat voor invloed die kennis op haar heeft en het boek stelt alle vragen die er bij dit dilemma komen kijken. Waarom ziet Jem ze? Staan ze vast? Hoe zou het gaat als Jem ze niet zou zien? Heeft Jem invloed op de nummers?
Het boek leest heerlijk weg. Het is geschreven in een vlotte bijna spreektaal en het was makkelijk om er heel snel en met relatief weinig leestijd doorheen te vliegen. Maar het verhaal greep me nergens echt aan. Ik kon het tussendoor makkelijk wegleggen en ik had nergens het gevoel dat ik echt een band had met Jem, met Spider of hun onderlinge relatie. Ik heb nergens een traan gelaten, hoewel er toch meer dan genoeg scenes waren waar dat eigenlijk had gemoeten.
Het boek schept een soort van afstand, een afstand die heel erg goed bij Jem als karakter past en die daardoor op zich ook wel klopt met het verhaal, maar die het daarom voor mij als lezer wel moeilijker maakt om me echt verbonden te voelen met de karakters en het verhaal. Daarnaast is het grootste deel van het verhaal een roadtrip en volgens mij ben ik gewoon geen fan van roadtrips in het algemeen.
Ik heb deel 2 en 3 van de serie ook nog ergens staan. Ik heb geen idee wanneer het ervan gaat komen om ze te lezen. Hopelijk duurt het niet weer vier jaar, maar ik heb er ook niet bijzonder veel haast mee.
Het verhaal is overduidelijk een what if boek. De hoofdpersoon, Jem, ziet nummers, data, sterfdata van alle mensen die ze ontmoet. Het boek vertelt wat voor invloed die kennis op haar heeft en het boek stelt alle vragen die er bij dit dilemma komen kijken. Waarom ziet Jem ze? Staan ze vast? Hoe zou het gaat als Jem ze niet zou zien? Heeft Jem invloed op de nummers?
Het boek leest heerlijk weg. Het is geschreven in een vlotte bijna spreektaal en het was makkelijk om er heel snel en met relatief weinig leestijd doorheen te vliegen. Maar het verhaal greep me nergens echt aan. Ik kon het tussendoor makkelijk wegleggen en ik had nergens het gevoel dat ik echt een band had met Jem, met Spider of hun onderlinge relatie. Ik heb nergens een traan gelaten, hoewel er toch meer dan genoeg scenes waren waar dat eigenlijk had gemoeten.
Het boek schept een soort van afstand, een afstand die heel erg goed bij Jem als karakter past en die daardoor op zich ook wel klopt met het verhaal, maar die het daarom voor mij als lezer wel moeilijker maakt om me echt verbonden te voelen met de karakters en het verhaal. Daarnaast is het grootste deel van het verhaal een roadtrip en volgens mij ben ik gewoon geen fan van roadtrips in het algemeen.
Ik heb deel 2 en 3 van de serie ook nog ergens staan. Ik heb geen idee wanneer het ervan gaat komen om ze te lezen. Hopelijk duurt het niet weer vier jaar, maar ik heb er ook niet bijzonder veel haast mee.
kellyoneill's review against another edition
emotional
sad
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
3.25