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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
SO disappointed... the authors son is in many of my class, and she came into talk to us about the book.... Well I thought it was going to be really good, but it wasn't.
What really bugs me, for any book, is she had such a good idea! And ruined it. I didn't have a strong story line, and it was really disconnected. Few things that bugged me... THe parents have a spending problem, and they are million dollars into debt. But at the very end they seem to be okay like nothing happened. It was hard to believe they just "fixed" there problem....
Second thing that bugged me, he called this lady " honey lady", even though he knew her name. It was sooo annoying. Half the characters had nicknames. For heaven sakes this kid is a guinness and he can't remember a few names?
The ending makes so sense
Don't read this book unless you are want to really bad....
What really bugs me, for any book, is she had such a good idea! And ruined it. I didn't have a strong story line, and it was really disconnected. Few things that bugged me... THe parents have a spending problem, and they are million dollars into debt. But at the very end they seem to be okay like nothing happened. It was hard to believe they just "fixed" there problem....
Second thing that bugged me, he called this lady " honey lady", even though he knew her name. It was sooo annoying. Half the characters had nicknames. For heaven sakes this kid is a guinness and he can't remember a few names?
The ending makes so sense
Don't read this book unless you are want to really bad....
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Every family has a limit. The government has decided what that limit is and the families must manage their spending to ensure they do not go over their limit. Recently, the government enacted a clause allowing them to take children of the families that exceed their limit and employ them in government workhouses to help the families work off their debt. 13 year old Matt is the price of his parents’ mismanaging of their finances. His intelligence lands him on the top floor— living in luxury and having fun with the other working kids, but he can’t seem to shake the feeling that something is wrong.
The Limit was a borrowed book from a friend! Fast paced and engaging, reading this book was very quick and fun. A little bit of thriller, a dash of dystopian, and a whole lot of teenage mischief— I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. There weren’t any characters I felt like I could connect to. That being said, the protagonists are mainly young boys, so perhaps I’m simply not the audience. What really disappointed me was the lack of a single adult character that felt relatable, likable, or redeemable. I don’t always dislike a kids vs adult story, but this one didn’t land with me. I also think the climax of the book was resolved in a bit of an outlandish manner. That being said, I think this is a great book for middle school or high school kids hesitant about reading! The pacing, characters, and story is bound to draw in a younger audience looking for something exciting to read!
Come on parents. Grow a garden or something. Don't spend money on food if you know you're kids will be taken to a torture camp.
This was an excellent young adult book. It takes the idea of a futuristic society to a new level. The "Limit" refers to families who go over their spending limit and end up losing a teenage child to a workhouse. All of the main characters find their lives forever changed when they go over "The Limit." Excellent story. I hope that Ms. Landon writes another book.
I'm on the fence for this one.
The premise is incredibly intriguing, particularly at this moment in economic history. I haven't come across many middle-grade titles, other than Gary Paulsen's Lawn Boy, that talk about money in a real and honest way. Landon's description of clueless parents, who care for their children, but not their finances, who fall for get-rich-quick-schemes and have difficulty pulling themselves out of debt is woefully honest. The scene in which Matt's mom learns her limit has been reached -- in public, at a cashier's line -- is so well described. Who hasn't overheard someone's credit card been declined, or worse, had it happen to themselves? It's that much worse when it happens to a mother in front of their children, and the book is a little unflinching in that regard.
Buuuutttt.... the kids are then sent off to a paradise-esque playground...um, oh, workhouse? I think this section of the book could have benefited from a little more grit. The underlying mystery unlocked by Matt and his fellow Top Floorers is compelling, but between the day he first set foot into the building and the unlocking of the secret, Landon almost lost me. I didn't buy the swimming pools, the unlimited access to online stores, the sneaky peeky of a first kiss thrown in there. The plotline between those two points is clunky and cost me the rah-rah-rah I needed to feel for Matt.
That being said, I will be excited to add this title to our school library's collection. Not only does it touch a nerve with regards to money, commerce and self-control, I like that there is a neatly tied ending that does not promise a series.
The premise is incredibly intriguing, particularly at this moment in economic history. I haven't come across many middle-grade titles, other than Gary Paulsen's Lawn Boy, that talk about money in a real and honest way. Landon's description of clueless parents, who care for their children, but not their finances, who fall for get-rich-quick-schemes and have difficulty pulling themselves out of debt is woefully honest. The scene in which Matt's mom learns her limit has been reached -- in public, at a cashier's line -- is so well described. Who hasn't overheard someone's credit card been declined, or worse, had it happen to themselves? It's that much worse when it happens to a mother in front of their children, and the book is a little unflinching in that regard.
Buuuutttt.... the kids are then sent off to a paradise-esque playground...um, oh, workhouse? I think this section of the book could have benefited from a little more grit. The underlying mystery unlocked by Matt and his fellow Top Floorers is compelling, but between the day he first set foot into the building and the unlocking of the secret, Landon almost lost me. I didn't buy the swimming pools, the unlimited access to online stores, the sneaky peeky of a first kiss thrown in there. The plotline between those two points is clunky and cost me the rah-rah-rah I needed to feel for Matt.
That being said, I will be excited to add this title to our school library's collection. Not only does it touch a nerve with regards to money, commerce and self-control, I like that there is a neatly tied ending that does not promise a series.
I read this for a middle school book club. It's worth noting that they loved it.
For a grown-up...I don't know.
There's a scene towards the end where the main character foils the main bad guy's escape attempt by precision shooting basketballs through the roof of some sort of helicopter. Somehow this keeps the bad guy so off balance that she can't fly a helicopter. Imagine, if you will, that Pop-a-Shot game from Chuck E. Cheese, but set to Michael Bay music and Michael Bay visuals of helicopters taking off from a roof.
This is always an awkward part of media for younger audiences. A boy of 15 has to physically stop a woman criminal from escaping, but nobody's about to write a scene where he stabs her in the jugular with a box cutter. They always have to figure out a way for the kid to stop her using a Nerf gun or fart powder or some such nonsense.
Sort of like Home Alone. Which was always baffling because given the option between being shot or crushed by a massive rolling tool chest, I might have to opt for the shooting. Or climbing a rope and being suspended three stories in the air as the bottom end of the rope is lit on fire? Screw that. Home Alone is an early predecessor to Saw, no doubt.
Also, sometimes these kids are a little overly nice to their parents. In this book, if your parents overspend the government stops by and takes you to a work house, basically an office version of a labor camp. So not all that different from what most adults do now, but I digress.
So this kid gets taken to the labor camp, and meanwhile his idiot parents continue to spend money and go deeper into debt? What the hell!? And, AND, near the end of the book the mom is really hounding for an Attaboy when she says how she managed to not buy a new dress. WOW! THANKS, MOM! A few more weeks of this and I might be able to leave the forced labor camp where they may or may not be doing weird experiments on my brain. Swell!
For a grown-up...I don't know.
There's a scene towards the end where the main character foils the main bad guy's escape attempt by precision shooting basketballs through the roof of some sort of helicopter. Somehow this keeps the bad guy so off balance that she can't fly a helicopter. Imagine, if you will, that Pop-a-Shot game from Chuck E. Cheese, but set to Michael Bay music and Michael Bay visuals of helicopters taking off from a roof.
This is always an awkward part of media for younger audiences. A boy of 15 has to physically stop a woman criminal from escaping, but nobody's about to write a scene where he stabs her in the jugular with a box cutter. They always have to figure out a way for the kid to stop her using a Nerf gun or fart powder or some such nonsense.
Sort of like Home Alone. Which was always baffling because given the option between being shot or crushed by a massive rolling tool chest, I might have to opt for the shooting. Or climbing a rope and being suspended three stories in the air as the bottom end of the rope is lit on fire? Screw that. Home Alone is an early predecessor to Saw, no doubt.
Also, sometimes these kids are a little overly nice to their parents. In this book, if your parents overspend the government stops by and takes you to a work house, basically an office version of a labor camp. So not all that different from what most adults do now, but I digress.
So this kid gets taken to the labor camp, and meanwhile his idiot parents continue to spend money and go deeper into debt? What the hell!? And, AND, near the end of the book the mom is really hounding for an Attaboy when she says how she managed to not buy a new dress. WOW! THANKS, MOM! A few more weeks of this and I might be able to leave the forced labor camp where they may or may not be doing weird experiments on my brain. Swell!
This book was one of those ok types of books.
I enjoyed reading about the theme of the book and the concept of it but if it was written with different characters it would have been better. The characters were too young and clueless.
I also found the book really predictable. Like most books these days, you can predict what's happening until a sudden plot twist but in this book no "sudden plot twist" happens and I know exactly what's going to happen. So, just change it up a bit.
I also feel like some questions were left unanswered or unexplained. If the author made the book longer and added more interesting parts the book would have been WAY more enjoyable.
I enjoyed reading about the theme of the book and the concept of it but if it was written with different characters it would have been better. The characters were too young and clueless.
I also found the book really predictable. Like most books these days, you can predict what's happening until a sudden plot twist but in this book no "sudden plot twist" happens and I know exactly what's going to happen. So, just change it up a bit.
I also feel like some questions were left unanswered or unexplained. If the author made the book longer and added more interesting parts the book would have been WAY more enjoyable.
It wasn't bad, especially as it was the author's first young adult novel. The plot was fairly interesting, but not gut-wrenching exciting. Worth reading, definitely.