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A review by kasscanread
MARTians by Blythe Woolston
2.0
A pretty good book. I've always enjoyed light dystopia stories, namely the Giver, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and this one is remarkably similar in the way it's written to the classics: Very flowing, poetic prose; vague events; a small or anticlimactic ending.
Yet this book is not classic material. I could feel the very distinct line separating it from say, the Giver. This book has a message, and that's about it. It has no character. Throughout the book, I never know Zoe, Anna (why is she called AnnaMom? Is it a nickname or is that how this society refers to their parents?), Timmer, Juliette, or Rauol. Timmer just sort of exists, with no defining characteristics, we get a hint that Zoe likes Juliette but Juliette is taken away before she does much for the plot, Rauol had a very unusual and random death - that's all I know about him - and AnnaMom just leaves with little explanation with no reason not to call on her daughter. I think AnnaMom was the most blatantly undeveloped character. We never knew her job or anything, just that she speaks like a poet 24/7 .
Anyway, I did love the message of this book. This is a believable route consumerism could take, while the idea has some flaws. Yet other little issues are nonsensically addressed, such as the following: Misogyny in the workspace (this is isolated to one character throughout the book and no other working females), overabundant violence, child abandonment (Why? Are so many people poor? If people are so poor, how is retail doing so well?), the abuse of employees, and invasion of privacy.
Anyway, the best part of this book is definitely the writing. It reminds me a lot of Fahrenheit 451. Very beautiful things and a few good quotes that I feel I should have written down to remember them.
[Spoiler: And who is Ed Gorton? I thought he was dead! If he wasn't dead, why did Zoe and Anna worship ostriches, the animal that killed him? Was his death made up because Ed abandoned them? Why does he call at the end of the book, at the same time that AnnaMom and Dawna Day call? WHAT IS GOING ON?!]
Yet this book is not classic material. I could feel the very distinct line separating it from say, the Giver. This book has a message, and that's about it. It has no character. Throughout the book, I never know Zoe, Anna (why is she called AnnaMom? Is it a nickname or is that how this society refers to their parents?), Timmer, Juliette, or Rauol. Timmer just sort of exists, with no defining characteristics, we get a hint that Zoe likes Juliette but Juliette is taken away before she does much for the plot, Rauol had a very unusual and random death - that's all I know about him - and AnnaMom just leaves with little explanation with no reason not to call on her daughter. I think AnnaMom was the most blatantly undeveloped character. We never knew her job or anything, just that she speaks like a poet 24/7 .
Anyway, I did love the message of this book. This is a believable route consumerism could take, while the idea has some flaws. Yet other little issues are nonsensically addressed, such as the following: Misogyny in the workspace (this is isolated to one character throughout the book and no other working females), overabundant violence, child abandonment (Why? Are so many people poor? If people are so poor, how is retail doing so well?), the abuse of employees, and invasion of privacy.
Anyway, the best part of this book is definitely the writing. It reminds me a lot of Fahrenheit 451. Very beautiful things and a few good quotes that I feel I should have written down to remember them.
[Spoiler: And who is Ed Gorton? I thought he was dead! If he wasn't dead, why did Zoe and Anna worship ostriches, the animal that killed him? Was his death made up because Ed abandoned them? Why does he call at the end of the book, at the same time that AnnaMom and Dawna Day call? WHAT IS GOING ON?!]