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You know how when you love 2 things you just automatically assume they must be even more awesome together - only to discover that the unholy creation is heartbreakingly disappointing?
EXAMPLE:
CHOCOLATE COVERED GUMMY BEARS.
WHAT HAVE WE DONE?? BLECH.
That was this book for me. A book about a group of kids traveling through space, training to survive on an alien planet in the not too distant future sounds AMAZING!!
But it ended up being a lame #hungergamesinspace and it totally killed my reading momentum. I have been reading a book ever 1-3 days for the past few months and this one took almost 2 weeks to finish. I just wasn't inspired to pick it back up after I had put it down. I was expecting intensity, stress, high emotion, and I just got Meh.
So yeah...annoying/boring:
– A legit lack of aliens! These kids are literally traveling to an inhabited planet! They are taking classes to learn about this world and its species, and I (wrongly) assumed that as the reader I would also be sitting in on these classes and learning as well. Yeah. Nope.
– The challenges and tasks that these kids were subjected too were so repetitive and simulated, and the consequences were less that suspenseful. There were only 3 times someone was injured. 3! In a book where young adults are literally being trained to survive on a hostile alien planet.
– The sudden appearance of supernatural abilities with no explanation and then nothing! It's never mentioned again, and no one else has any kind of preternatural abilities. What??
– Emmett's and odd instant attraction even though they are competing for their livelihood's, have just met, and have spoken to each other alone one time. They had no chemistry and I could not have cared less. Seriously. The only character I actually grew to love and adore was Bilal.
– Literally everything about Babel, i.e. the big, terrifying, evil show runner for this whole farce and their constant 'rule changes' and 'twists'.
This book could have been great. It had so much potential. It had the most diverse cast of characters - I mean seriously there were kids from every continent (well except for Antarctica...) who could all communicate together via universal translators! Even slang! That's as sci-fi as it gets and I was all in for that. It was fantastic watching some of them figure out and try to understand each others customs and norms. Unfortunately with so many characters it was inevitable that some would be under characterized and fall short. It could have had mysterious alien home world settings as tons of footage exists of the planet but is never shown to the reader. It could have had challenges with more than monetary consequences, and a specific villain instead of an corporation/entity that constantly has so many aces up their sleeve it's impossible for the main characters to get ahead.
Finally, Emmett, the MC, had this annoying habit of filing his thoughts away alphabetically...like someone would annoy him and he would respond with file that under A for Anger or file that under P for Power. It was supposed to be an anger management method taught to him by his grandmother, but it was just odd and totally pulled me out of the story.
So yeah, I don't see myself going any further with this series unfortunately.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
EXAMPLE:
CHOCOLATE COVERED GUMMY BEARS.
WHAT HAVE WE DONE?? BLECH.
That was this book for me. A book about a group of kids traveling through space, training to survive on an alien planet in the not too distant future sounds AMAZING!!
But it ended up being a lame #hungergamesinspace and it totally killed my reading momentum. I have been reading a book ever 1-3 days for the past few months and this one took almost 2 weeks to finish. I just wasn't inspired to pick it back up after I had put it down. I was expecting intensity, stress, high emotion, and I just got Meh.
So yeah...annoying/boring:
– A legit lack of aliens! These kids are literally traveling to an inhabited planet! They are taking classes to learn about this world and its species, and I (wrongly) assumed that as the reader I would also be sitting in on these classes and learning as well. Yeah. Nope.
– The challenges and tasks that these kids were subjected too were so repetitive and simulated, and the consequences were less that suspenseful. There were only 3 times someone was injured. 3! In a book where young adults are literally being trained to survive on a hostile alien planet.
– The sudden appearance of supernatural abilities with no explanation
Spoiler
(Kaya being able to see people's aura's, and from that determine the origin of their pain and desperation)– Emmett's and
Spoiler
Morning's– Literally everything about Babel, i.e. the big, terrifying, evil show runner for this whole farce and their constant 'rule changes' and 'twists'.
This book could have been great. It had so much potential. It had the most diverse cast of characters - I mean seriously there were kids from every continent (well except for Antarctica...) who could all communicate together via universal translators! Even slang! That's as sci-fi as it gets and I was all in for that. It was fantastic watching some of them figure out and try to understand each others customs and norms. Unfortunately with so many characters it was inevitable that some would be under characterized and fall short. It could have had mysterious alien home world settings as tons of footage exists of the planet but is never shown to the reader. It could have had challenges with more than monetary consequences, and a specific villain instead of an corporation/entity that constantly has so many aces up their sleeve it's impossible for the main characters to get ahead.
Finally, Emmett, the MC, had this annoying habit of filing his thoughts away alphabetically...like someone would annoy him and he would respond with file that under A for Anger or file that under P for Power. It was supposed to be an anger management method taught to him by his grandmother, but it was just odd and totally pulled me out of the story.
So yeah, I don't see myself going any further with this series unfortunately.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.