627 reviews for:

Zoe's Tale

John Scalzi

3.73 AVERAGE

james_desantis's review against another edition

3.0

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This was a solid "fill in the blanks" story but not sure the genre/age group it was going for.

It's a story that you can only read when you read book 3 of Old Man's War. With that being said, it feels like a different genre. The teenagers all act like YA novels but younger YA. Not cursing, no sexual talk, basically nothing like real teenagers. Now, I'm not saying I need that in a story, but when you have an adult series for 3 books and then it goes to young teen book, it's weird.

So this is the story of Zoe and her adventure through the last conoloy. It follows book 3 pretty well but get a little bit more detail on the werewolves as well as more closure on Enzo and other characters. The way Zoe looks at things is like John but not with much life experience and that's a new take.

Good: I liked Zoe. I liked her friends. I really enjoyed Dickory and Hickory. All the small emotional moments hit well. And the endings really worked for me.

Bad: The feel and tone felt off the whole time. Zoe doesn't feel like a 16 year old, more like a 12 year old. I also thought the book was a little stretched and then zoomed too much at the end.

Overall it's a solid book but lacking in a few spots. I can't give it higher than a 3.5.

0770's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

styxagent5's review against another edition

4.0

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A great companion to Lost Colony covered my only complaint about Lost Colony and then some.

celinethormann's review against another edition

3.75

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This was not my favorite of the series or by the author, and the 4 stars here is rounded up. Retelling the events of a previous book from a different POV is always a risky move, and this feels like it would have been better suited as a novella than a full book. It was still well written and charming, and I found the romance between Zoe and Enzo surprisingly compelling, but the book overall lacked some excitement. 

ahab_jr's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

h3dakota's review against another edition

3.0

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I really liked getting Zoe's viewpoint of the story!

maneatingbadger's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

robin_vanc's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

sokerchick's review against another edition

4.0

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I always like this authors books and this one wasn’t an exception. I enjoyed the retelling of the last colony from Zoe’s point of view and found it to be interesting and funny and sad all at different points. I liked the teenage voice and the more in depth look at the Obin.

pauljn's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes