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3.11 AVERAGE
3.11 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content, Sexual harassment
I've read a lot of YA, so I'm used to seeing some off-the-wall concepts and Ideas. I don't think I was prepared for this book.
Taking place on the back of a giant jellyfish in the midst of some sort of apocalyptic future, Jelly manages to both be an incredibly goofy, fun book, while at the same time leaving behind frankly dark implications and exploring some mature themes. From what I remember, things felt a little off in the book, more in a sense of tone and pacing, but throughout the journey I was fascinated where my reading would take me.
Honestly, I recommend this novel. I still can't stop thinking about this book. It was a bizarre experience, and a pretty enjoyable one at that. If you're interested in having something rather offbeat and are willing to overlook the bumps in pacing, this is definitely something to check out.
Taking place on the back of a giant jellyfish in the midst of some sort of apocalyptic future, Jelly manages to both be an incredibly goofy, fun book, while at the same time leaving behind frankly dark implications and exploring some mature themes. From what I remember, things felt a little off in the book, more in a sense of tone and pacing, but throughout the journey I was fascinated where my reading would take me.
Honestly, I recommend this novel. I still can't stop thinking about this book. It was a bizarre experience, and a pretty enjoyable one at that. If you're interested in having something rather offbeat and are willing to overlook the bumps in pacing, this is definitely something to check out.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
A very unusual concept that is pulled off in a thoroughly believable way. The teenagers are realistic without following many stereotypical tropes (no angst, no love story) which is a welcome breath of fresh air.
Around the middle it lost my attention a bit as nothing much was happening but after a few weeks of only reading a page here and there I got to the good bit around the last quarter of the book and I'm very glad I did. It got me as hooked as I was at the start again! Finishes quite suddenly, scene certainly seems set for a sequel...
Around the middle it lost my attention a bit as nothing much was happening but after a few weeks of only reading a page here and there I got to the good bit around the last quarter of the book and I'm very glad I did. It got me as hooked as I was at the start again! Finishes quite suddenly, scene certainly seems set for a sequel...
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Book Blurb:
Martha and her friends have been drifting on a giant killer jellyfish since sea levels rose and the world ended.
Life is gloopy, toxic and full of tentacles. It's also really boring.
More than anything, Martha wants to escape – but what ’s waiting for her on the shore? She doesn’t know it, but life is about to get much stickier …
My Review:
I’ll start off saying I’m not the target audience of this book as a 30 year old. I believe it is better for teenagers. There is more childish humor than I like. But after all the main characters have to be at least in their teens. Regardless of that!!!
The writing is original. I mean I don’t know how else to describe a book about being trapped on a jellyfish! Even as an adult, this book posed some important questions.
It also left me asking more. I really didn’t get a sense of time like how long have they been on the jellyfish? Im picturing the majority of the book to take place maybe over a month at most?
What drew me to the buy the book was the cover and the description.
While unpacking the book I noticed on the back cover of my book it says “Try it! Read page 8” so i turned to it and almost didn’t put it back down. It was a challenge to put it down. I believe I will be thinking about this book for awhile. It was thought-provoking.
I want to keep this to reread so I’m off to buy 2 more copies for both of my favorite free libraries.
This is one heck of a weird book. It took until about 30 percent before I was oriented to the story. Although I liked the way the author keeps you guessing about literally everything for the first quarter, it also made it difficult to get into the book. Around the 50 percent mark thing started to be cleared up and there was more of a linear narrative structure. These people are trapped on a giant Jellyfish, they have no idea how they got there. It seems like the rest of humanity may or may not have been obliterated. The cause of this seems likely to have been the rising seas and destruction of habitats which resulted in some creatures called kriks exiting the sea and eating all the people. The people on the Jellyfish- which may or may not actually be a real jellyfish, have been their a heck of a long time. Various escape plans are hatched and fail.
My biggest issue was that I didn't really care about any of the characters. The characterization was pretty thin. The main group of characters are some teens. They have some pretty broad, basic personality traits. James is the boy who makes nasty jokes, one of the other girls is angry all the time. I can't remember their names because I wasn't really invested in them The narrator and the other girl are pretty nondescript.
In short, at first I wanted to keep reading to to find out what the deal with the Jellyfish was. Then, I wanted to see how their first escape attempt would go, but then the pacing and the lack of interest in the characters put me off and I didn't really want to read it anymore.
My biggest issue was that I didn't really care about any of the characters. The characterization was pretty thin. The main group of characters are some teens. They have some pretty broad, basic personality traits. James is the boy who makes nasty jokes, one of the other girls is angry all the time. I can't remember their names because I wasn't really invested in them The narrator and the other girl are pretty nondescript.
In short, at first I wanted to keep reading to to find out what the deal with the Jellyfish was. Then, I wanted to see how their first escape attempt would go, but then the pacing and the lack of interest in the characters put me off and I didn't really want to read it anymore.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Just like a jellyfish, the flesh is there but it’s missing the skeleton
Who would think you could write an entire book about people living on top a giant floating jellyfish? Clare Rees did. This story has a unique and whimsical premise that immediately got me hooked. And I was not let down when I started the first pages, by immediately getting caught into a very intriguing post-apocalyptic waterworld-like setting following a group of survivors.
I struggled getting any attachments to the characters in the book, but perhaps a younger reader could empathize more with the teenage protagonists. Despite that, I enjoyed learning about this strange futuristic world where the oceans (full of plastic pollution) have risen. Every chapter seems to explain a little more about how humanity got to where it is, but in the end I did feel wanting a little more history and explanations. Even though I was interested and somewhat captivated by this book, there was a point towards 80% in where I was ready to put it down. I won’t lie, I struggled to get through the last 20%. If it weren’t for that, I might consider a 5-star instead of 4-star rating.
All in all, it has a interesting plot with a unique setting (I mean, hard to beat the top of a giant jellyfish) that skims the surface of today’s environmental issues. I am sure a lot of young readers will enjoy!
Who would think you could write an entire book about people living on top a giant floating jellyfish? Clare Rees did. This story has a unique and whimsical premise that immediately got me hooked. And I was not let down when I started the first pages, by immediately getting caught into a very intriguing post-apocalyptic waterworld-like setting following a group of survivors.
I struggled getting any attachments to the characters in the book, but perhaps a younger reader could empathize more with the teenage protagonists. Despite that, I enjoyed learning about this strange futuristic world where the oceans (full of plastic pollution) have risen. Every chapter seems to explain a little more about how humanity got to where it is, but in the end I did feel wanting a little more history and explanations. Even though I was interested and somewhat captivated by this book, there was a point towards 80% in where I was ready to put it down. I won’t lie, I struggled to get through the last 20%. If it weren’t for that, I might consider a 5-star instead of 4-star rating.
All in all, it has a interesting plot with a unique setting (I mean, hard to beat the top of a giant jellyfish) that skims the surface of today’s environmental issues. I am sure a lot of young readers will enjoy!