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A review by lit_lady_jem
12.21 by Dustin Thomason
3.0
This book was thrilling enough, I had a good time with it, especially since when I got around to reading it it happened to the same date the book started, so really fun to pretend all these events were going down as the days ticked down to Dec 21, but I'd really only recommend it to hardcore apocalypse story fans.
What I did enjoy was Mayan myth actually coming into play with 2012, and Mr. Thomason has a great grasp on detail without dragging it out and world building. Perhaps this book played to his strengths, but it felt very well researched as well.
Now onto why this book didn't get that great of a rating from me.
For starters, there's a slight romance sub-plot between the two main characters that feels very tacked on and the odd jumps to side characters that just feel out of place and serve no purpose in the grand scheme of things.
and the elephant in this book, Chel. Yea, she's pretty much the worst part of this book.
2nd) This book is a thriller and every time we cut away from Stanton to see what she was doing, well the thrilling pace and action would grind to a stand still. Just something about her personality the slightly preachy undertones of her story, didn't help matters either. I literally had to take in her chapters sometimes a paragraph at a time I was so bored with it.
And lastly, the whole Mayan codex and deciphering it and finding the location could some how save the world thing from this 100% fatal disease was really really REALLY forced to be relevant. It was cool to have the whole Mayan history included for context to 2012, but no, this crusty ass codex isn't going to save anyone, an nor is the information contained within going to save anyone.
On another note about the Mayan Codex and how "important" it was to translate it was, they were under the delusion that the book was left in the exact location it was written. Idk but after thousands of years, I'm inclined to believe it might have been moved (as books tend to not be bolted to the location of authoring) or the writer might have hidden it else where since it was a death sentence to write it.
Finally the last 100 pages
This book was gifted through the first-reads program.
What I did enjoy was Mayan myth actually coming into play with 2012, and Mr. Thomason has a great grasp on detail without dragging it out and world building. Perhaps this book played to his strengths, but it felt very well researched as well.
Now onto why this book didn't get that great of a rating from me.
For starters, there's a slight romance sub-plot between the two main characters that feels very tacked on and the odd jumps to side characters that just feel out of place and serve no purpose in the grand scheme of things.
and the elephant in this book, Chel. Yea, she's pretty much the worst part of this book.
Spoiler
First, this girl TOUCHED the first guy who was sick, was in contact with the 2nd infected and rubbed her eyes. She should have been sick, and very sick if not dead near the end of the book. Well she does eventually get sick, but she got infected at the end of the book when a native latino attacks her. Yea that brief contact is what did her in, not the initial one when the proteins apparently don't break down ever.2nd) This book is a thriller and every time we cut away from Stanton to see what she was doing, well the thrilling pace and action would grind to a stand still. Just something about her personality the slightly preachy undertones of her story, didn't help matters either. I literally had to take in her chapters sometimes a paragraph at a time I was so bored with it.
And lastly, the whole Mayan codex and deciphering it and finding the location could some how save the world thing from this 100% fatal disease was really really REALLY forced to be relevant. It was cool to have the whole Mayan history included for context to 2012, but no, this crusty ass codex isn't going to save anyone, an nor is the information contained within going to save anyone.
On another note about the Mayan Codex and how "important" it was to translate it was, they were under the delusion that the book was left in the exact location it was written. Idk but after thousands of years, I'm inclined to believe it might have been moved (as books tend to not be bolted to the location of authoring) or the writer might have hidden it else where since it was a death sentence to write it.
Finally the last 100 pages
Spoiler
is this change of setting looking this "miracle" in the jungles. The whole thing felt very forced by the author (all about chel, and doesn't really make rational sense why the two characters would do this honestly), and because so much was happening at the end, there really was no detail anymore just a rushing from one little tid bit to the next, you begin to worry how this is all going to tie up, and not the good worry/surprise either. I was not a fan of the ending.This book was gifted through the first-reads program.