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A review by paradoxically
Qualify by Vera Nazarian
2.0
Where to start, where to start. Okay, positives! The premise is interesting, in that yeah, there is impending doom, and yeah, there's some sadistic contest that only teenagers participate in, but at least the people doing the contest are actually trying to help...? Sort of. They aren't actually the bad guys, even if everything seems unfair. I also really liked how tight knit the Gwen's family was--that always makes me feel kind of warm and fuzzy inside.
Negatives are plenty, unfortunately. First of all, suspension of disbelief is stretched to the point of breaking. You really can't think too much about what's going on because in the end it just doesn't make any sense. They take the best and brightest and basically... train the crap out of them? They're supposed to be smart, supposedly, but the emphasis on physical prowess more than outweighs the emphasis on intelligence, and that's a crying shame. Then there's the technology all being based on sound, complete with people training special 'voices' that can do things up to and including compelling other people. Which... if people on Earth are able to duplicate (well, some), then why is it that it hasn't been discovered prior to the Atlanteans showing up? Sound based technology is just super sketchy sounding and it just doesn't make sense. Don't think too hard because you're going to come up with a lot of things wrong with the book, including the televised super death semi-finals created by the Atlanteans even though they're trying to help... Some of the obstacles faced by Gwen and them were ridiculous and seemed more luck based--like definitely don't be the first person to try anything because you're probably going to die.
I also realllyyyy hated how caught up Gwen is on how beautiful everyone around her is. Not to mention her gigantic crush on Logan which made me want to throw things at a wall. Seriously, for someone who is in a life or death situation she sure devotes a lot of time thinking about how perfect someone's abs are. Tone it down. Focus on your task. Is that too much to ask for because apparently it is. It grated so bad every time she stared at someone or thought about how gorgeous they were.
The pacing was weird. So much time was spent on training and then you get to the semi-finals and finals. The least amount of time was spent on the finals (why) and the task for the final is basically At least Gwen spent some brain cells during the semi-finals, but other than one instance during the finals it was kind of very straightforward and kind of dull.
I did like how diverse people were in the book, from different races to having a wheelchair bound character. That said, a lot of the dialogue was just kind of awkward? Do people sound like that and I am living in a bubble... maybe. Sometimes I just cringed. I also didn't like some characters like Logan who seemed pretty fake, haha. Gwen is bearable because I have a main character thing and I love main characters, but some of her actions are super suspect. And then there's her little sister, Gracie. Who I wanted to throttle a lot of the time. Bratty little sister ahoy.
I thought there were a lot of problems with the book. It's not very good? BUT I did finish it! And didn't completely hate it as long as I didn't think too hard about what I read. It was entertaining, I suppose, even if the writing was pretty bad. 2 stars.
Negatives are plenty, unfortunately. First of all, suspension of disbelief is stretched to the point of breaking. You really can't think too much about what's going on because in the end it just doesn't make any sense. They take the best and brightest and basically... train the crap out of them? They're supposed to be smart, supposedly, but the emphasis on physical prowess more than outweighs the emphasis on intelligence, and that's a crying shame. Then there's the technology all being based on sound, complete with people training special 'voices' that can do things up to and including compelling other people. Which... if people on Earth are able to duplicate (well, some), then why is it that it hasn't been discovered prior to the Atlanteans showing up? Sound based technology is just super sketchy sounding and it just doesn't make sense. Don't think too hard because you're going to come up with a lot of things wrong with the book, including the televised super death semi-finals created by the Atlanteans even though they're trying to help... Some of the obstacles faced by Gwen and them were ridiculous and seemed more luck based--like definitely don't be the first person to try anything because you're probably going to die.
I also realllyyyy hated how caught up Gwen is on how beautiful everyone around her is. Not to mention her gigantic crush on Logan which made me want to throw things at a wall. Seriously, for someone who is in a life or death situation she sure devotes a lot of time thinking about how perfect someone's abs are. Tone it down. Focus on your task. Is that too much to ask for because apparently it is. It grated so bad every time she stared at someone or thought about how gorgeous they were.
The pacing was weird. So much time was spent on training and then you get to the semi-finals and finals. The least amount of time was spent on the finals (why) and the task for the final is basically
Spoiler
an endurance race. Really.I did like how diverse people were in the book, from different races to having a wheelchair bound character. That said, a lot of the dialogue was just kind of awkward? Do people sound like that and I am living in a bubble... maybe. Sometimes I just cringed. I also didn't like some characters like Logan who seemed pretty fake, haha. Gwen is bearable because I have a main character thing and I love main characters, but some of her actions are super suspect. And then there's her little sister, Gracie. Who I wanted to throttle a lot of the time. Bratty little sister ahoy.
I thought there were a lot of problems with the book. It's not very good? BUT I did finish it! And didn't completely hate it as long as I didn't think too hard about what I read. It was entertaining, I suppose, even if the writing was pretty bad. 2 stars.