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A review by evnlibrarian
The Roar by Emma Clayton
2.0
Honestly I was just glad to be done with this book. I'm slighlty disapponited, since so many of the teens at the library do seem to like it, and I'd like something to recommend after the Hunger Games but just...good night did this get preachy and even sappy at times. It's a world where everyone went behind a wall in London to escape an animal plague, with the rich living in high turrets and the poor living in shadows. The 1st children in 30 years are being born and the government has its sights set on them for their own purposes. The story mostly follows Mika, a boy whose twin sister was kidnapped by the government a year ago. Only Mika thinks she's still alive. And he'll do anything to find her.
Expect plenty of the 'have and have nots' political allegory with all the subtly of a sledghammer to the face. Oh, and the typical new agey nature worship of a 90s enviromental message cartoon (Captain Planet would blush). Yep, humans are evil, in particular human adults. Destroying the world and all (well, sort of, but to elaborate on that point would be spoiling the book). But fortunately the main characters aren't human, they're mutants, clearly described as the next step in evolution. The book almost seems eager for homo saipien to vanish like the Neanderthal.
Ok, perhaps I'm too harsh. There's a lot of fun action scenes with space age fighter planes and some sufficiently interesting ideas in building the world, plus the main villain is SO ridiculously evil and numb to human feeling it's entertaining. There's even a pysche out toward the end pretending to give him good motives before reaffirming that, yes he's even worse than we thought. Plus you do root for Mika to find his sister.
So can I personally recommend it? No, but based on the response from others it seems I'm in the minority. So take that for what you will. One final warning: Don't read this expecting closure in the end, this is clearly written with a sequel (and perhaps "franchise") in mind.
Expect plenty of the 'have and have nots' political allegory with all the subtly of a sledghammer to the face. Oh, and the typical new agey nature worship of a 90s enviromental message cartoon (Captain Planet would blush). Yep, humans are evil, in particular human adults. Destroying the world and all (well, sort of, but to elaborate on that point would be spoiling the book). But fortunately the main characters aren't human, they're mutants, clearly described as the next step in evolution. The book almost seems eager for homo saipien to vanish like the Neanderthal.
Ok, perhaps I'm too harsh. There's a lot of fun action scenes with space age fighter planes and some sufficiently interesting ideas in building the world, plus the main villain is SO ridiculously evil and numb to human feeling it's entertaining. There's even a pysche out toward the end pretending to give him good motives before reaffirming that, yes he's even worse than we thought. Plus you do root for Mika to find his sister.
So can I personally recommend it? No, but based on the response from others it seems I'm in the minority. So take that for what you will. One final warning: Don't read this expecting closure in the end, this is clearly written with a sequel (and perhaps "franchise") in mind.