Reviews

Rebel Seoul by Axie Oh

viviennemorgain's review against another edition

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2.0

I was very disappointed.

I picked up this book, because I love the genre, I was happy to find a story set in South Korea, and it was written by a Korean author. I was looking for something authentic.

Shortly after starting to read the book, I realised that this was an American book for an American audience. That's when I actually looked up the author and saw that she's a 1st generation Korean-American. #mybad

I watch a ton of Korean tv, I'm familiar with the culture and I speak the language, and I can tell you, there's nothing Korean about this book.

It's not like a K-drama. - A reviewer wrote it was like a movie. - Where the hell was it like a movie?!

It's like a weak fan fiction with 2 good sentences, and a few better scenes.

The characters had Korean names, but they were not Koreans, they were Americans. It was a constant case of - a Korean person would never do this.

The information overload was not necessary for the story, it was necessary for an American audience who's never watched a K-drama, and knows nothing about Korean culture. But still, it was boring. Even if you know nothing about Korean culture you will find these descriptions plain boring.

The Romanised use of Korean words was awkward. When you use foreign words - usually when one of the characters is not a native speaker of English - there's a flow to how to infuse those words into the speech of that given character.

The world, this future Seoul was neither future, nor imaginative.

It was a huge disappointment.

doritobabe's review against another edition

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3.0

Gundam/evangelion/hunger games mash up without much heart

minihaido's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

solange's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

atelierofbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5

This is so good. I rarely read science fiction but now I feel like I need to read more, because I honestly loved this.

It's very much a character driven story, which can be so hard to pull off. But these characters are all so complex and wonderful and I just want to give everyone a big hug. Jaewon, Alex, Ama, Tera, General Tsuko, Young, the No twins, Oh Kangto, everyone. The Director and Park Taesung can go step on a Lego barefoot though, because those guys suck.

When I started this I was low key expecting the typical tropes of dystopian YA. But I was wrong. It's not about a group of young rebels on a righteous mission to overthrow a despot. It's about kids who are just doing their best to live in extraordinary circumstances. Its circumstance that leads them into the crossfire between the ruling regime, rebels, and organized crime. And while they may not be normal teens, they share the same feelings and wants as most people. They just want to be free. Free to choose who they love, free to choose their purpose, free to not have any purpose at all.

Sometimes I have trouble getting into the heads of male characters but Lee Jaewon is such a sympathetic character. He's almost too innocent for this world...despite being a former gang member and combat prodigy. Just so frank and good without even realizing that he's good. Someone who does the right thing not because he's a hero or an especially upright character, but because it just doesn't occur to him not to. He's basically the epitome of neutral good.

I had so many moments where I was like, "Hey Lee Jaewon, you know you're going to get your ass kicked if you do that, right?" But then he did the thing anyway. And he's so deadpan sometimes it makes me laugh, especially compared to the dramatics and intensity of other characters.

My favorite parts were the interactions between Jaewon and his old friends from the gang. It was all so heartwarming and bittersweet. The bromance was SO GOOD.

...Daeho hands me a riceball.
"Thanks."
"I warmed it up in the microwave. I had two but I gave you the one with extra seasoning."

These kids are actual cinnamon rolls, guys.

Rebel Seoul feels like a love letter to Seoul in a way. And I know that sounds bizarre because it takes place in a dystopian, futuristic version of it, replete with war and despotism. But it's the way the streets are described, the familiar neighborhoods, and most of all, the people. The food stall ahjumma, the teenage kkangpae, the nationalists, the freedom fighters, the musicians.

And that's so impressive. To give the impression that this is a familiar, living city irrespective of the giant mechas flying around. I also love that its unapologetically bilingual. It reminds me of Renee Ahdieh's [b: The Wrath and The Dawn|18798983|The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn, #1)|Renee Ahdieh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1417956963s/18798983.jpg|26724902] in that respect. The language is not there for you, it's there for the characters and the world building.

Another thing that was handled so wonderfully was the post-apocalyptic setting. Post-apocalyptic settings can often be oppressive reading experiences. But Rebel Seoul manages to convey the darkness without feeling exhausting to read. There's an undercurrent of hope in it.

The writing is crisp and sparse, in the best way. It fits the tone of the novel so well and makes reading so easy that I could fly through 100 pages and not feel the least bit tired.

This is marketed as a cross between k-drama and Pacific Rim. And I can see that. But don't come into this expecting all the mechas, all the time. They certainly feature but they're far from the focal point. Like I said this is character driven, so expect more in the way of personal growth and complex relationships than epic battles.

If you're looking for a fun YA science fiction set in a really cool world with awesome characters, then do give this a read!

illidia316's review

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adventurous tense medium-paced

4.0

pantsreads's review against another edition

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2.0

2.5 /5

Really disppointed that I didn't like this one.

Check out my full review at Forever Young Adult.

mlwalker297's review against another edition

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4.0

Set in East Asia, year 2199, this story follows a country split in two; Old Seoul and New Seoul. Lee Jaewon is a student that earns the internship coveted by many based on his simulation test scores. He meets Tera, a superhuman programmed to be a weapon, but then finds she is more human than he originally thought.

This YA sci-fi novel was really good! It had just the right amount of revolution and romance to make it a great war-time story.

billblume's review against another edition

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4.0

While I didn't get to this book within 2017, Rebel Seoul was one of my most anticipated books to read from last year. The book was compared a lot to Pacific Rim and K-Dramas, and it sounds like a damn good combo. So does it live up to that promise?

The book takes its time getting to the giant robots, which are called GMs (short for God Machines). The giant war machines first appear quite a few chapters into the book in a lengthy scene with the main character and several others participating in a virtual reality, training simulation. The simulation delivers some real-world stakes, because if any of them die in the simulation, they'll be shot and killed in the real world. I loved this part of the book. The training sequence offers some good action while providing useful insight into a lot of the world-building.

The world-building in this book is excellent. We're given a world that has suffered through a very long series of wars. Not only does Neo Seoul face threats from without, but the regime is struggling to pacify a growing uprising while keeping the magnitude of this threat hidden from the public.

For all the talk of war, though, the book doesn't include as many battles as I expected. That did disappointment me a bit. There's a good reason a lot of the combat is glossed over, though. I'll get to that in a moment.

That leads me to the characters. The book includes a great cast. Jaewon provides an interesting point-of-view for the book. He's just starting to earn a place in the military when he and his friend Alex are assigned to oversee a pair of young ladies who have been enhanced through a series of long and unethical experiments. But Jaewon has plenty of his own secrets that threaten his life as he gets more invested in and attracted to Tera, the enhanced "weapon" he's assigned to. Often, a main character with a lot of purposefully hidden secrets from the reader creates a problem, but Jaewon is the type of individual who is so focused on the moment, that it doesn't come across unnatural for him to leave out details about his past until they become immediately relevant. Jaewon and the revelations of his past provide the best drama within this book.

The only complaint I have about Jaewon is that he keeps missing key battle scenes. The big action sequence at the beginning of the book provides the best fight scenes involving the GMs, although, technically, they aren't real. They're part of a training simulation. Just as we're about to see most of the key conflicts, Jaewon is often conveniently knocked unconscious. He reminds me a bit of Bilbo Baggins at the end of [b:The Hobbit|5907|The Hobbit|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1372847500s/5907.jpg|1540236], when he misses the entire big battle. I really would have loved to see Jaewon in one last big fight scene while operating a GM, but that never happens.

The plot includes many layers of conspiracy, and perhaps the most impressive thing Axie Oh accomplishes is making it easy to keep track of all those twists. She manages not to leave the reader confused as she pulls the threads apart.

Overall, I think the book delivers more on the K-Drama aspect than the Pacific Rim comparison. There's always a chance that the next book might deliver more of the action, but it's pretty clear that the real story for Rebel Seoul focuses on the personal conflicts of these characters and less on the political/military struggles of the world they inhabit. Fortunately, the cast is filled with some well-developed characters who keep the book entertaining and fast-paced for the entire ride. Definitely recommend this book, and I'm looking forward to see what Axie Oh has planned next.

stressedspidergirl's review against another edition

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4.0

I plan to read the other books in the series before I form too much of an opinion, but the whole Pacific Rim vibe is accurate.

I think I say this on most reviews, but I enjoyed this. I definitely wanted to read it all in one sitting, but sometimes you have to sleep -or work. So while it's disappointing I couldn't finish it the same night I started it, I picked it up the second I was awake. It's a compelling read.

And I appreciate the idea of humanity and what it means as a theme in the story. And nationalism etc. There was a lot going on, and I enjoyed all of it.