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A review by kirstieellen
Earthbound by Aprilynne Pike
3.0
Earthbound is a smattering of ideas churned together into one book written by a brilliant author. And it is perhaps down to the sole fact that Pike is incredible, that this book is any good at all. There’s no joking about the chaos of this book, we swing from your normal Young Adult fiction, to hard-core Sci-Fi, and a dash of Historical Fiction all sewn together with a rather frustrating streak of Romance. If that combination doesn’t do your head in, I don’t know what will.
The Book
Simply put, this book treads a very fine line between being fantastically amazing, and absolutely rubbish. It’s an extraordinarily fine line and the reason I’ve only given it 3/5 despite honestly believing (at the beginning) that I would give it mostly likely a 4, maybe even a 5. The book is like a hormonal teenager, it changes so quickly - one moment you’re feeling sorry for the dreadful life Tavia has, next minute you’ve got no idea what’s going on, no idea who’s good and who’s bad, and no idea what exactly the plot line is. Kudos to Pike however, she does tie this all together remarkably well at the appropriate time. Whilst you might be very frustrated with how confused you are, it’s not random, everything is there for a reason. SO.
Tavia & Benson
Tavia is our main protagonist and she’s the sole survivor of a plane crash, which also killed her parents. She’s amazingly artistic, which was the reason she was on the plane in the first place (heading to an art school), so we often get references when she’d wonder which oil paints or water colours she’d draw X in. Which I think is cute. It’s a very pretty outlook on the world. But this happens around all the people who are trying to kill her for the power, or secret (that even she can’t remember), she possesses. Power? Yes, power. No-longer is she just a broken teenager with a heart-throb for the boy at the library, now she’s a godly-like creator with no-idea how much more complicated her life is than she realises. Quinn, a dashing young lad, keeps appearing to her and she feels instantly attracted to him, but why? Is he real? Is he a ghost? Mayhap a figment of her imagination? And why does he act as if he comes from a period, oh I don’t know, say, 200 years ago? And why is Benson (the library geek) kind of ruggishly handsome with knowledge of lock picking? Seriously, who carries a lock-picking kit? Getting the gist of the book? No? Don’t worry, it’s doesn’t make sense for 90% of the book anyway.
Headaches
Long story short, this book is confusing. I don’t like how long it takes to get going and nor do I think the collateral damage of the mixing of so many plots was necessary. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely a good read, and fast-paced, but my head was just struggling to make head or tail of what was actually going on. Tavia (let’s just start with, how do you pronounce this name?! Tay-vee-ah? Tah-vee-ah? Who knows?!), blessedly nicknamed to Tave (rhymes with cave, thank you Pike for that one), is an absolute mess. I felt so sorry for Benson for most of the book because she has a fated connection with Quinn that she can’t escape but she wants to be with Benson. Argh!! These love triangles. But once you hurdle over the confusions and just accept that you’ll (probably) get your answers at the end, the book is pretty darn amazing. I didn’t see most of the plot twists, and there’s a whole bunch – which I like. I love being surprised and if anything, this book is very surprising. The last few chapters are mind-blowingly amazing and intense, which is awesome. It also finishes appropriately – none of this finishing in the middle of the story like in some other books is going on. It finishes when the main problems of the book are solved, and opens up to us a lovely entry for the next book, Earthquake (which I will certainly be reading). But just to quickly recap here, the plot twists literally have you doing 180 turns, you hate these characters but absolutely love some others, only several chapters later to hate those you loved intensely and cry over the misfortunes of who you thought were your enemies . . .
Summary
I’m finding it very difficult to review this book without giving anything away thanks to the many twists and turns. Basically, if you delve into this book you’re going to experience a troubled teenage girl, a seriously complicated love triangle, magical powers, weird time travelling, action and death (lots of death), evil plotting, intense kissing, betrayals galore, and a very addictive read. If you liked Pike’s series Wings, then be sure to have a nosey into this one. Earthbound is certainly a fresh palate of ideas - and who wouldn't want to get their hands on a book with a cover like this?! Go on then, add it to your list of books to-read. Don't deny it, you're intrigued.
Happy reading!
The Book
Simply put, this book treads a very fine line between being fantastically amazing, and absolutely rubbish. It’s an extraordinarily fine line and the reason I’ve only given it 3/5 despite honestly believing (at the beginning) that I would give it mostly likely a 4, maybe even a 5. The book is like a hormonal teenager, it changes so quickly - one moment you’re feeling sorry for the dreadful life Tavia has, next minute you’ve got no idea what’s going on, no idea who’s good and who’s bad, and no idea what exactly the plot line is. Kudos to Pike however, she does tie this all together remarkably well at the appropriate time. Whilst you might be very frustrated with how confused you are, it’s not random, everything is there for a reason. SO.
Tavia & Benson
Tavia is our main protagonist and she’s the sole survivor of a plane crash, which also killed her parents. She’s amazingly artistic, which was the reason she was on the plane in the first place (heading to an art school), so we often get references when she’d wonder which oil paints or water colours she’d draw X in. Which I think is cute. It’s a very pretty outlook on the world. But this happens around all the people who are trying to kill her for the power, or secret (that even she can’t remember), she possesses. Power? Yes, power. No-longer is she just a broken teenager with a heart-throb for the boy at the library, now she’s a godly-like creator with no-idea how much more complicated her life is than she realises. Quinn, a dashing young lad, keeps appearing to her and she feels instantly attracted to him, but why? Is he real? Is he a ghost? Mayhap a figment of her imagination? And why does he act as if he comes from a period, oh I don’t know, say, 200 years ago? And why is Benson (the library geek) kind of ruggishly handsome with knowledge of lock picking? Seriously, who carries a lock-picking kit? Getting the gist of the book? No? Don’t worry, it’s doesn’t make sense for 90% of the book anyway.
Headaches
Long story short, this book is confusing. I don’t like how long it takes to get going and nor do I think the collateral damage of the mixing of so many plots was necessary. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely a good read, and fast-paced, but my head was just struggling to make head or tail of what was actually going on. Tavia (let’s just start with, how do you pronounce this name?! Tay-vee-ah? Tah-vee-ah? Who knows?!), blessedly nicknamed to Tave (rhymes with cave, thank you Pike for that one), is an absolute mess. I felt so sorry for Benson for most of the book because she has a fated connection with Quinn that she can’t escape but she wants to be with Benson. Argh!! These love triangles. But once you hurdle over the confusions and just accept that you’ll (probably) get your answers at the end, the book is pretty darn amazing. I didn’t see most of the plot twists, and there’s a whole bunch – which I like. I love being surprised and if anything, this book is very surprising. The last few chapters are mind-blowingly amazing and intense, which is awesome. It also finishes appropriately – none of this finishing in the middle of the story like in some other books is going on. It finishes when the main problems of the book are solved, and opens up to us a lovely entry for the next book, Earthquake (which I will certainly be reading). But just to quickly recap here, the plot twists literally have you doing 180 turns, you hate these characters but absolutely love some others, only several chapters later to hate those you loved intensely and cry over the misfortunes of who you thought were your enemies . . .
Summary
I’m finding it very difficult to review this book without giving anything away thanks to the many twists and turns. Basically, if you delve into this book you’re going to experience a troubled teenage girl, a seriously complicated love triangle, magical powers, weird time travelling, action and death (lots of death), evil plotting, intense kissing, betrayals galore, and a very addictive read. If you liked Pike’s series Wings, then be sure to have a nosey into this one. Earthbound is certainly a fresh palate of ideas - and who wouldn't want to get their hands on a book with a cover like this?! Go on then, add it to your list of books to-read. Don't deny it, you're intrigued.
Happy reading!