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Trapped
The day the blizzard started, no one knew that it was going to keep snowing for a week. That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of staying alive. . . .
Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still, it doesn't seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision. . . .
Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still, it doesn't seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision. . . .
232 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2011
About the author
Michael Northrop
37 books226 followersMichael Northrop is the New York Times bestselling author of 13 books for kids and teens, including the middle-grade adventure series TombQuest and the hit graphic novel Dear Justice League. His first young adult novel, Gentlemen, earned him a Publishers Weekly Flying Start citation, and his second, Trapped, was an Indie Next List selection. His first middle-grade novel, Plunked, was named one of the best children's books of the year by the New York Public Library and was selected for NPR's Backseat Book Club. He is originally from Salisbury, Connecticut, a small town in the foothills of the Berkshire mountains, where he mastered the arts of BB gun shooting, tree climbing, and field goal kicking with only moderate injuries. After graduating from NYU, he worked at Sports Illustrated Kids magazine for 12 years, the last five of those as baseball editor.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,829 reviews
July 14, 2018
okay so most little girls dream about being secret princesses or having a pony or having a ghost for a best friend or something. my childhood fantasies were always about being snowed in. (i may have entertained one or two princess fantasies, as well) and this is still my dream. living on the third floor of an apartment building pretty much guarantees this dream will never come true, but i still hope for it every single winter. the quiet of it all, the hunkered-down hibernation appeal, the having an excuse to do nothing except read and drink cocoa in my slanket and my unattractive but warm giant knit socks. looking out the window to see nothing but a giant wall of snow. this appeals to me way more than having a pony.even more than being snowed in with a pony.
and of course i recognize the negative sides to being snowed in, that there are dangers to pipes and roofs and the hypothermia and starvation and no mail, but i don't think about those things. my perfect day is silence and books, and i never get enough of either of them.
so this should be the perfect book for me. let me say right here that the three stars i am giving to this book and the three stars i gave to don quixote are not the same three stars. with d.q., it just wasn't something i could really get into, for the reasons i gave. with this one, it is exactly the kind of book i could get into, it just wasn't very good. i mean, for other people. unless you are totally open and excited by the idea of getting snowed in, and you are reading this on a subway platform without gloves on a seriously freezing day in a new york february (it was sunny out - it looked warm - i was completely underdressed), unless you are in love with survivalist narratives to begin with, i don't know if other people will dig this. i could not confidently recommend this to other people, unless i sensed a sympatico vibe.
parts of it are great.
the part near the end with the and all was very good and the description of the cold seeping into his thighs and his injuries was excellent and gripping and everything one could have hoped for.
but then.
but to backtrack.
so you got seven kids and a teacher trapped in a school during this kickass nor'easter dumping something like 18 feet of snow and not stopping for anything. and it's a total john hughes cast: the jock and the jockette, the tough guy, the slightly-less-tough but clever military enthusiast, the loner, etc...the cellphones aren't working and no one knows they are there...trapped... i really wish they would have smoked some pot and done a musical number through the library.
but it was not to be. because this book had one of the same problems as the dead and the gone in terms of adhering to social norms in times of societal breakdown. now, it is true that i am a cute little fascist and i love rules and regimentation but even i know that in certain situations, the rules just don't apply and there is no time for fanciness or squeamishness or fear of reprisal.
why on earth would a teenager concern himself with the fear that he would get kicked off the basketball team for breaking into the cafeteria for food when they are snowed in?? this is not random uncontrolled vandalism, this is survival. i know teens are illogical, but surely they can differentiate between wantonly breaking display cases and breaking a lock in order to eat food to survive? extenuating circumstances?? don't kids watch movies?? i read a lot of teen survival books and it always burns me up when kids are impractical. where are the kids who shoot each other for sneakers with no provocation?? i want to hear their survival stories - i know they wouldn't feel scared about grabbing some pudding from the caf.
i thought video games were supposed to be teaching our children to think outside the box, but they were having difficulties working out a bathroom situation.
maybe i am not being fair, but i have high expectations for teenagers from new england. we are the resourceful ones; where is your pilgrim spirit?? it may just be a story of slow realization because eventually, they work things out and come up with clever ideas but then the storm rallies - it is a pretty good, tense story of man vs. nature and all that.
but then, and this is the reason for only three stars:
yeah, i'd read that.
come to my blog!
and of course i recognize the negative sides to being snowed in, that there are dangers to pipes and roofs and the hypothermia and starvation and no mail, but i don't think about those things. my perfect day is silence and books, and i never get enough of either of them.
so this should be the perfect book for me. let me say right here that the three stars i am giving to this book and the three stars i gave to don quixote are not the same three stars. with d.q., it just wasn't something i could really get into, for the reasons i gave. with this one, it is exactly the kind of book i could get into, it just wasn't very good. i mean, for other people. unless you are totally open and excited by the idea of getting snowed in, and you are reading this on a subway platform without gloves on a seriously freezing day in a new york february (it was sunny out - it looked warm - i was completely underdressed), unless you are in love with survivalist narratives to begin with, i don't know if other people will dig this. i could not confidently recommend this to other people, unless i sensed a sympatico vibe.
parts of it are great.
the part near the end with the and all was very good and the description of the cold seeping into his thighs and his injuries was excellent and gripping and everything one could have hoped for.
but then.
but to backtrack.
so you got seven kids and a teacher trapped in a school during this kickass nor'easter dumping something like 18 feet of snow and not stopping for anything. and it's a total john hughes cast: the jock and the jockette, the tough guy, the slightly-less-tough but clever military enthusiast, the loner, etc...the cellphones aren't working and no one knows they are there...trapped... i really wish they would have smoked some pot and done a musical number through the library.
but it was not to be. because this book had one of the same problems as the dead and the gone in terms of adhering to social norms in times of societal breakdown. now, it is true that i am a cute little fascist and i love rules and regimentation but even i know that in certain situations, the rules just don't apply and there is no time for fanciness or squeamishness or fear of reprisal.
why on earth would a teenager concern himself with the fear that he would get kicked off the basketball team for breaking into the cafeteria for food when they are snowed in?? this is not random uncontrolled vandalism, this is survival. i know teens are illogical, but surely they can differentiate between wantonly breaking display cases and breaking a lock in order to eat food to survive? extenuating circumstances?? don't kids watch movies?? i read a lot of teen survival books and it always burns me up when kids are impractical. where are the kids who shoot each other for sneakers with no provocation?? i want to hear their survival stories - i know they wouldn't feel scared about grabbing some pudding from the caf.
i thought video games were supposed to be teaching our children to think outside the box, but they were having difficulties working out a bathroom situation.
maybe i am not being fair, but i have high expectations for teenagers from new england. we are the resourceful ones; where is your pilgrim spirit?? it may just be a story of slow realization because eventually, they work things out and come up with clever ideas but then the storm rallies - it is a pretty good, tense story of man vs. nature and all that.
but then, and this is the reason for only three stars:
yeah, i'd read that.
come to my blog!
April 12, 2013
Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely love survival stories. It is probably my favorite genre ever. Before this, I have read five YA survival books - three of them made it onto my list of favorite books ever. Alas, this was the first that I really didn't like. In fact, I liked it so little that I couldn't finish it. It wasn't worth it. This was one of the worst books I've read in a while, and I'll certainly never be reading anything by Northrop again.
The worst part was the writing. I'll give you a couple examples of it in the form of character descriptions, because they exemplify the consistent problems in Northrop's writing, and they'll come up again when I talk about the characters. First, Scotty:
This is his friend, Pete:
And finally, here's Krista:
(Don't worry, I'll get to that body thing later, believe me.)
These passages show off some telltale signs of his Northrop's bad writing. It's awfully simplistic for YA, with no real descriptive details, even when it would be appropriate. And the teenspeak... dear lord. Hardly a sentence goes by where Northrop doesn't add some variation of 'seriously', 'I mean', 'like', 'you know', ect. I don't care if that's how real teenagers talk - it sounded plain out awkward and annoying in the writing. It also led to a few awkward misuses of the word where it felt obligatory such as:
The writing was equally amateurish when it came to the use of literary devices. The Chekhov's Gun of the high school being out in the middle of nowhere was spelled out for us at its first appearance. There wasn't foreshadowing so much as Scotty telling us outright what was going to happen, like in the first quote where he said that some of them didn't make it. It's almost an implied diss: teenagers are stupid. They won't notice and appreciate things like foreshadowing if it's not as blatant as possible. Well, guess what? We're not that stupid. And it makes you seem stupid to misuse foreshadowing like that. The purpose of it is not to tell the reader what the twist will be, but have them be prepared for the twist so that it doesn't come out of nowhere.
And now for the characters. They were flat. Lifeless. Boring. Hardly recognizably human. Remember the description of Scotty I gave above? He never grows beyond that, he never shows any signs of being anything beyond that. The only thing we know about him is that he likes basketball. Same goes with his friend. And the cast made up a stereotypical Disney show: you have the three normal guys (Scotty, Pete, and Jason), the bully (Les), the weird kid (Elijah), and the hot girls who are OMGBFFs! (Krista and Julie). All we're missing is the unrealistically smart nerd, and we have a fully Disney cast. These characters didn't feel like real people. Not once.
Oh, and remember when I said I'd get back to Krista's description later? Well, get ready for a rant. She had no personality apart from being hot. There was not a single interaction with her in which her hotness wasn't mentioned. I almost felt sorry for her, because that's all that Scotty could see her as, not as a real person. THIS IS NOT HOW TEENAGERS THINK! It is an insult to teenage boys such as myself to imply this way that we only notice the physical looks of a girl. BECAUSE I DON'T!
Not to mention the misogyny of it. (Which, I didn't mention originally, but I'm fixing it now.) It is not okay to sexually objectify women like that. We don't exactly see a whole lot of women - only two, in fact. But both of them are characterized like that. As I said earlier, not a single scene went by when Scotty didn't mention Krista's hotness. THAT IS NOT OKAY! Not only to assume a teenage boy would think that way, but also to characterize women that way, like their sex appeal is their only characteristic. I'm not saying Northrop thinks that way - he may not have meant for that attitude to come across in his writing - but it certainly comes across that way, and Scotty is definitely misogynistic, no matter how you spin it.
There's also something that I didn't read (it came after I gave up in the narrative). I don't really feel qualified to talk about it, so I'll just quote a friend's review:
Gah, what the fuck? WHY was that written? As if Scotty's attitudes towards Kristia weren't fucked up enough, now we have a female character being used as a tool to characterize someone through her sexual abuse. It is not okay to use your female characters like this. And it turned out not to be true, making it even more useless and rage-worthy. This is probably the most misogynistic shit I've ever read.
The plot wasn't nearly as bad as the characters or the prose, but it wasn't anything special either. The pacing was sorta slow - 70 pages in, and they still hadn't gotten serious about survival yet. It was boring. I don't normally mind a slow pace in survival stories, but you have to put it to good use, which character development or emotion. (See The Way We Fall). This was not good use of it. Without even survival elements, the plot was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Everything about this book felt like it was made specifically so that it could be enjoyed by reluctant readers. I mean it, all of it: the slang, the familiar characters, the lack of complexity in the plot, the blatant use of foreshadowing to increase the suspense in the most bland way possible, all of it would appeal to reluctant readers a lot more than regular ones. Two problems with this:
1.) You cannot write something specifically for reluctant readers. Because guess who's more likely to read it? That's right, readers who know how to form opinions, teenagers who aren't morons. (Yes, Northrop, those people exist. You clearly don't know that from the way you wrote this book, but they do.) These readers will immediately see through this shit that you've written; I did.
2.) It's been proven, time and time again, that the books reluctant readers enjoy are the books that are made so that everyone can enjoy them, not just the people who don't read very often. Just look at Harry Potter! Just look at Animorphs! Both of these books are written in simple language, with action and characters that teenagers will be able to identify with without much work. But they also have intelligent writing, character development, emotion, and interesting plots. I feel as if Northrop doesn't understand this: you cannot write for anyone without these elements. If you don't include them, everything you write will receive reception just as harsh as this one.
I'm sorry. But I feel as if Northrop has no grasp at all of what makes a book good. It's like something I wrote when I was in 5th grade: all action and badly thought out plot, no emotion or character development, and with painful slang to boot.
So, yes. This was truly, truly awful. It was an insult to my intelligence and to the fact that I am a teenage boy. If I were to speak frankly, it pissed me off in a way that books rarely can. It's the only book I've ever read where I can honestly say that I didn't like a single thing about it. Nothing. Whatsoever. I would recommend it for no one.
The worst part was the writing. I'll give you a couple examples of it in the form of character descriptions, because they exemplify the consistent problems in Northrop's writing, and they'll come up again when I talk about the characters. First, Scotty:
My name is Scotty Weems. I prefer Scotty, but most people, even my friends, call me Weems. I guess it's easy to say, and maybe some people think it's funny. It doesn't bother me that much. I'm just glad that Snotty Streams never really caught on as a nickname.
Anyway, I'm an athlete, so I made peace with my last name a long while ago. Since I was a little kid in T-ball, I heard it shouted every time I did something right and every time I screwed up, too. These days it's on the back of my basketball jersey. I like to think that someday people will be chanting from the bleachers: "Weems! Weems! Weems!" Chanting fans make any name sound good.
Anyway, that's me. I'll be sort of like your guide through all this. Some of the others might've seen things differently, and some of them might've told it better, but you don't get to pick. You don't because, for one thing, not all of us made it.
This is his friend, Pete:
Pete was just, like, a normal kid. It was sort of his role. It might sound strange, being known for what you aren't, but Pete wasn't a jock or a Future Farmer of America or a student council member, and he wasn't super hip or incredibly smart. He was just a normal sophomore. [...] You needed some kids like that, otherwise all you had were competing factions of freaks, all dressed in outfits that amounted to uniforms and trying to play their music louder than yours.
And finally, here's Krista:
Krista was wearing a blue wool hat, even though she was indoors: a blue hat and a sweater. [...] She had thick brown hair and her eyes were sort of blue-gray. Her skin had just a few reddish brown freckles here and there. But it wasn't the colors as much as the way it was all arranged. [...]
And did I mention her body? Because I will, repeatedly. She wasn't tall, but she had that awesome combination of just enough curves on a tight athletic body. [...] Really, they shouldn't let girls like her mingle with the general population, not in high school anyway. Half the time the guys here were so stuffed with hormones and frustration that we walked down the hallways stiff-legged and ready to burst.
(Don't worry, I'll get to that body thing later, believe me.)
These passages show off some telltale signs of his Northrop's bad writing. It's awfully simplistic for YA, with no real descriptive details, even when it would be appropriate. And the teenspeak... dear lord. Hardly a sentence goes by where Northrop doesn't add some variation of 'seriously', 'I mean', 'like', 'you know', ect. I don't care if that's how real teenagers talk - it sounded plain out awkward and annoying in the writing. It also led to a few awkward misuses of the word where it felt obligatory such as:
Cell phones weren't allowed at Tattawa, and they were kind of not kidding about that.This kind of thing really felt like it belonged in middle-grade, not YA.
The writing was equally amateurish when it came to the use of literary devices. The Chekhov's Gun of the high school being out in the middle of nowhere was spelled out for us at its first appearance. There wasn't foreshadowing so much as Scotty telling us outright what was going to happen, like in the first quote where he said that some of them didn't make it. It's almost an implied diss: teenagers are stupid. They won't notice and appreciate things like foreshadowing if it's not as blatant as possible. Well, guess what? We're not that stupid. And it makes you seem stupid to misuse foreshadowing like that. The purpose of it is not to tell the reader what the twist will be, but have them be prepared for the twist so that it doesn't come out of nowhere.
And now for the characters. They were flat. Lifeless. Boring. Hardly recognizably human. Remember the description of Scotty I gave above? He never grows beyond that, he never shows any signs of being anything beyond that. The only thing we know about him is that he likes basketball. Same goes with his friend. And the cast made up a stereotypical Disney show: you have the three normal guys (Scotty, Pete, and Jason), the bully (Les), the weird kid (Elijah), and the hot girls who are OMGBFFs! (Krista and Julie). All we're missing is the unrealistically smart nerd, and we have a fully Disney cast. These characters didn't feel like real people. Not once.
Oh, and remember when I said I'd get back to Krista's description later? Well, get ready for a rant. She had no personality apart from being hot. There was not a single interaction with her in which her hotness wasn't mentioned. I almost felt sorry for her, because that's all that Scotty could see her as, not as a real person. THIS IS NOT HOW TEENAGERS THINK! It is an insult to teenage boys such as myself to imply this way that we only notice the physical looks of a girl. BECAUSE I DON'T!
Not to mention the misogyny of it. (Which, I didn't mention originally, but I'm fixing it now.) It is not okay to sexually objectify women like that. We don't exactly see a whole lot of women - only two, in fact. But both of them are characterized like that. As I said earlier, not a single scene went by when Scotty didn't mention Krista's hotness. THAT IS NOT OKAY! Not only to assume a teenage boy would think that way, but also to characterize women that way, like their sex appeal is their only characteristic. I'm not saying Northrop thinks that way - he may not have meant for that attitude to come across in his writing - but it certainly comes across that way, and Scotty is definitely misogynistic, no matter how you spin it.
There's also something that I didn't read (it came after I gave up in the narrative). I don't really feel qualified to talk about it, so I'll just quote a friend's review:
Also, what truly pissed me off was that ONE scene that did not necessarily need to be written[. It] was when one of the other 6 students, Julie [...] was leading boys on with her "Oh, I'm helpless" vibes, [and] triggers the boy that has a crush on her, Pete, to assume that the bad boy of the group, Les, has molested her. And of course, there's a two paragraph length of just Pete and Les semi-brawling it out when it was just a MISUNDERSTANDING.
Gah, what the fuck? WHY was that written? As if Scotty's attitudes towards Kristia weren't fucked up enough, now we have a female character being used as a tool to characterize someone through her sexual abuse. It is not okay to use your female characters like this. And it turned out not to be true, making it even more useless and rage-worthy. This is probably the most misogynistic shit I've ever read.
The plot wasn't nearly as bad as the characters or the prose, but it wasn't anything special either. The pacing was sorta slow - 70 pages in, and they still hadn't gotten serious about survival yet. It was boring. I don't normally mind a slow pace in survival stories, but you have to put it to good use, which character development or emotion. (See The Way We Fall). This was not good use of it. Without even survival elements, the plot was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Everything about this book felt like it was made specifically so that it could be enjoyed by reluctant readers. I mean it, all of it: the slang, the familiar characters, the lack of complexity in the plot, the blatant use of foreshadowing to increase the suspense in the most bland way possible, all of it would appeal to reluctant readers a lot more than regular ones. Two problems with this:
1.) You cannot write something specifically for reluctant readers. Because guess who's more likely to read it? That's right, readers who know how to form opinions, teenagers who aren't morons. (Yes, Northrop, those people exist. You clearly don't know that from the way you wrote this book, but they do.) These readers will immediately see through this shit that you've written; I did.
2.) It's been proven, time and time again, that the books reluctant readers enjoy are the books that are made so that everyone can enjoy them, not just the people who don't read very often. Just look at Harry Potter! Just look at Animorphs! Both of these books are written in simple language, with action and characters that teenagers will be able to identify with without much work. But they also have intelligent writing, character development, emotion, and interesting plots. I feel as if Northrop doesn't understand this: you cannot write for anyone without these elements. If you don't include them, everything you write will receive reception just as harsh as this one.
I'm sorry. But I feel as if Northrop has no grasp at all of what makes a book good. It's like something I wrote when I was in 5th grade: all action and badly thought out plot, no emotion or character development, and with painful slang to boot.
So, yes. This was truly, truly awful. It was an insult to my intelligence and to the fact that I am a teenage boy. If I were to speak frankly, it pissed me off in a way that books rarely can. It's the only book I've ever read where I can honestly say that I didn't like a single thing about it. Nothing. Whatsoever. I would recommend it for no one.
February 11, 2016
WHERE'S THE ENDING???
That's the sum of my opinion, where's the ending? The story simply stops. This did not please me. There needed to be another few chapters or at the very least an epilogue. Maybe put it in as a newspaper column, just the who, what, when, where, why, how. I needed to know more and for that reason I took away one star.
Another star lost is that there is no character development. I didn't know these characters any better at the end of the book than I knew them at the beginning. The narrator, Scotty, says he knows the other kids and he's glad that he's gotten to know them, but as a reader, I didn't get to know them.
Although we got the play-by-play on every step it takes to pop a zit or urinate, we didn't actually get to know the people and for me, that didn't really work. The book is all about seven students trapped in the school by a huge snowstorm. That's it, there isn't any before or after, so you'd think we'd get to know these people in depth, but nope. They are as blank at the end as at the beginning.
The third star lost is that there were so many questions left that I was really disappointed. All this group does unrelated to their survival is sit around and talk. Why didn't we get those conversations? Who are these kids? I still have no idea who they are. How are they dealing with what's happening? Who actually survived and who didn't? We're given only glimpses into each of them.
Having said all that, it is a great concept that needed more to it.
That's the sum of my opinion, where's the ending? The story simply stops. This did not please me. There needed to be another few chapters or at the very least an epilogue. Maybe put it in as a newspaper column, just the who, what, when, where, why, how. I needed to know more and for that reason I took away one star.
Another star lost is that there is no character development. I didn't know these characters any better at the end of the book than I knew them at the beginning. The narrator, Scotty, says he knows the other kids and he's glad that he's gotten to know them, but as a reader, I didn't get to know them.
Although we got the play-by-play on every step it takes to pop a zit or urinate, we didn't actually get to know the people and for me, that didn't really work. The book is all about seven students trapped in the school by a huge snowstorm. That's it, there isn't any before or after, so you'd think we'd get to know these people in depth, but nope. They are as blank at the end as at the beginning.
The third star lost is that there were so many questions left that I was really disappointed. All this group does unrelated to their survival is sit around and talk. Why didn't we get those conversations? Who are these kids? I still have no idea who they are. How are they dealing with what's happening? Who actually survived and who didn't? We're given only glimpses into each of them.
Having said all that, it is a great concept that needed more to it.
December 24, 2012
This book, to put it bluntly, pissed me off. A lot of the writing and characters were VERY contradicting. The whole plot line seemed kind of dull, if I think about it. And the ending was anticlimactic.
Scotty Weems tells in his point of view what happened when he and 6 other students along with a teacher are trapped in a high school in a small town that no one knows about and that is about to be buried by tons of snow since they are trapped in the, shall we say, heart of a life-threatening blizzard that no one in that town has ever experienced. Throughout the book, it's filled with little thoughts of "What if?" and "I hope..." from Scotty that he or any of the others do not act on any of those thoughts because all they do is sit around hoping for some miracle.
While I liked the idea of the plot initially, it was something I've heard of before. Northrop does make some fine points that are sometimes subliminal but for the most part worth thinking over. I just didn't like the way the characters were portrayed in the story.
For example, Scotty has a crush on Krista, whom he is stuck with in the school but doesn't act on it in fear of being rejected. I just felt that the story could have been a little juicier if there was some action between Scotty and Krista or any of the other characters. But, no, Scotty basically sits there half the time, opens his mouth, not knowing what he's saying, and never makes a notion of what to do. However, he does make few minor smart moves and thoughts in the story.
Also, what truly pissed me off was that ONE scene that did not necessarily need to be written and it was when one of the other 6 students, Julie, whom I pinned as sort of an airhead who asked too many questions when it was was NOT the time for them, and was leading boys on with her "Oh, I'm helpless" vibes, triggers the boy that has a crush on her, Pete, to assume that the bad boy of the group, Les, has molested her. And of course, there's a two paragraph length of just Pete and Les semi-brawling it out when it was just a MISUNDERSTANDING. In short, that part was unnecessary to the plot, like adding too much pepper to an already good meal, though it did, in a way, lead to the rising action that FINALLY happened in the book (at the end).
And the ending, God, did I find it so unnerving the way Scotty was basically picked up by a helicopter and that was that. I just felt there should have been some sort of closure between the characters and not with Scotty basically talking about he was magically saved by angels and having small talk with said angels who were actually just volunteers looking for survivors.
Scotty Weems tells in his point of view what happened when he and 6 other students along with a teacher are trapped in a high school in a small town that no one knows about and that is about to be buried by tons of snow since they are trapped in the, shall we say, heart of a life-threatening blizzard that no one in that town has ever experienced. Throughout the book, it's filled with little thoughts of "What if?" and "I hope..." from Scotty that he or any of the others do not act on any of those thoughts because all they do is sit around hoping for some miracle.
While I liked the idea of the plot initially, it was something I've heard of before. Northrop does make some fine points that are sometimes subliminal but for the most part worth thinking over. I just didn't like the way the characters were portrayed in the story.
For example, Scotty has a crush on Krista, whom he is stuck with in the school but doesn't act on it in fear of being rejected. I just felt that the story could have been a little juicier if there was some action between Scotty and Krista or any of the other characters. But, no, Scotty basically sits there half the time, opens his mouth, not knowing what he's saying, and never makes a notion of what to do. However, he does make few minor smart moves and thoughts in the story.
Also, what truly pissed me off was that ONE scene that did not necessarily need to be written and it was when one of the other 6 students, Julie, whom I pinned as sort of an airhead who asked too many questions when it was was NOT the time for them, and was leading boys on with her "Oh, I'm helpless" vibes, triggers the boy that has a crush on her, Pete, to assume that the bad boy of the group, Les, has molested her. And of course, there's a two paragraph length of just Pete and Les semi-brawling it out when it was just a MISUNDERSTANDING. In short, that part was unnecessary to the plot, like adding too much pepper to an already good meal, though it did, in a way, lead to the rising action that FINALLY happened in the book (at the end).
And the ending, God, did I find it so unnerving the way Scotty was basically picked up by a helicopter and that was that. I just felt there should have been some sort of closure between the characters and not with Scotty basically talking about he was magically saved by angels and having small talk with said angels who were actually just volunteers looking for survivors.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2011
I won this book from a giveaway on Good Reads. It is a good thing it was free because if I had paid for it I would be really mad right now. The plot had so much potential but in my opinion it really failed to deliver.
The character development was very shallow which made it hard to get to know the people or even care about them at all. There was not very much dialog between characters, it was mostly a monologue by the main character about random things like the big zit on his cheek and worrying about his canceled basketball game.
The story moved very slowly and the only thing that kept me reading was the slim hope that something exciting might still happen. It finally picked up and got interesting about the last fifteen or twenty pages. Then came the BIG letdown. In the middle of reading about the rescue of the main character I turn the page and there is nothing more! I literally didn't realize that was the last page! He just stops the story. There is no resolution for the characters whatsoever! I'm sorry but really,have you never heard of an epilogue?
As I said, this book had lots of potential but most of it went unrealized. Too bad.
The character development was very shallow which made it hard to get to know the people or even care about them at all. There was not very much dialog between characters, it was mostly a monologue by the main character about random things like the big zit on his cheek and worrying about his canceled basketball game.
The story moved very slowly and the only thing that kept me reading was the slim hope that something exciting might still happen. It finally picked up and got interesting about the last fifteen or twenty pages. Then came the BIG letdown. In the middle of reading about the rescue of the main character I turn the page and there is nothing more! I literally didn't realize that was the last page! He just stops the story. There is no resolution for the characters whatsoever! I'm sorry but really,have you never heard of an epilogue?
As I said, this book had lots of potential but most of it went unrealized. Too bad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2017
Wo bitte ist das Ende?!
Ich wollte das Buch ja schon ewig lesen, ich liebe das Cover und der Klappentext klang auch interessant. Es hat nicht schlecht angefangen und wurde zum Schluss hin auch richtig spannend, aber wieso hat der Autor kein richtiges Ende geschrieben?
Da liest man 255 Seiten fast nur über die selben wenigen Charaktere und am Ende erfährt man nicht mal, ob sie gerettet werden konnten oder nicht, ob sie leben oder nicht.
War das nicht irgendwie der Punkt von der Geschichte?
Es wurde ja schon ziemlich am Anfang erwähnt, dass nicht alle überleben. Somit hat man also schon weitergelesen, weil man wissen wollte, wer es schafft.
Leicht enttäuscht.
Ich wollte das Buch ja schon ewig lesen, ich liebe das Cover und der Klappentext klang auch interessant. Es hat nicht schlecht angefangen und wurde zum Schluss hin auch richtig spannend, aber wieso hat der Autor kein richtiges Ende geschrieben?
Da liest man 255 Seiten fast nur über die selben wenigen Charaktere und am Ende erfährt man nicht mal, ob sie gerettet werden konnten oder nicht, ob sie leben oder nicht.
War das nicht irgendwie der Punkt von der Geschichte?
Es wurde ja schon ziemlich am Anfang erwähnt, dass nicht alle überleben. Somit hat man also schon weitergelesen, weil man wissen wollte, wer es schafft.
Leicht enttäuscht.
July 26, 2024
I know it says three stars, but it’s more like 3 1/2 stars… it starts off so good and is very interesting. These 7 kids gets stuck in a high school in a terrible record breaking snow storm. Think, like, 18 feet of snow. None of the current, oh no, there’s a dusting, let’s close the school!! Which is what happens where I am currently. It’s sad. But I digress. I loved most of this!!
There characters were really fun to follow and I felt like I was transported back to high school. I could really relate to the main character who happens to have a crush on another of the characters. They have to somehow survive in a high school for about four days or so while the snow keeps piling up. I was so very into these 7 that I was really rooting for them to make it. But then that ending… it was like a brick wall!!! It just ended. Slight spoiler!!! But you do NOT get to find out what happens to these students!! Or anyone else for that matter. Oh, I’m sorry, fine. You find out what happens to one.
Did that make me hate the book?! No, I still enjoyed it, but that ending gave me whiplash. Seriously. So if you’re not an open ending kind of person, this is not for you. If you like thrillers that have an open ending, totally go for this one. It’s great in that way. Lol
There characters were really fun to follow and I felt like I was transported back to high school. I could really relate to the main character who happens to have a crush on another of the characters. They have to somehow survive in a high school for about four days or so while the snow keeps piling up. I was so very into these 7 that I was really rooting for them to make it. But then that ending… it was like a brick wall!!! It just ended. Slight spoiler!!! But you do NOT get to find out what happens to these students!! Or anyone else for that matter. Oh, I’m sorry, fine. You find out what happens to one.
Did that make me hate the book?! No, I still enjoyed it, but that ending gave me whiplash. Seriously. So if you’re not an open ending kind of person, this is not for you. If you like thrillers that have an open ending, totally go for this one. It’s great in that way. Lol
November 4, 2018
Weather conditions develop that are just right to stall a heavy winter blizzard over the upper east coast of the United States. New Englanders are used to Nor'easters, but this storm is something much worse. Seven kids and a teacher wait at their high school. The kids were waiting for rides home, but the snow is coming down so fast that the roads become impassable. They soon realize that nobody is coming for them. When the teacher ventures out into the storm to get help and doesn't come back, the kids are left alone in the school to fend for themselves. Then the power goes out.....and the snow keeps falling.
I enjoyed this story for the most part. I had a hard time believing that seven kids would be left with one teacher in a locked down building during a weather emergency....but I guess since they were waiting for their usual rides it might be plausible. I really think a teacher or law enforcement would have evacuated them from the building with or without parental permission before the roads completely snowed shut. But....if a storm could truly intensify that quickly without warning....then I guess I can see how the last stragglers might be stuck in the building. But, as an adult, I would not have left them alone to wander out into the night trying to get help. Not only does that leave the kids alone....but it also leaves them without keys to the building, knowledge of where emergency supplies might be or other info a teacher could provide them. Plus....where was the principal (surely they can't leave the building before all the kids are gone?) or school security? Even the schools in the small town I live in have security officers....why didn't this school have more than one teacher who stayed until all of the kids were out of the building? In the end, the kids figured things out the best they could. I think their reactions were pretty close to realistic....jokes and fun in the beginning when it was novel to be stuck inside their school with no adults, changing to a bit of panic and fear when the power and heat went off.
The ending of the story was a bit abrupt. I wanted more of a finish with more information on what happened to the kids and the aftermath of the storm. But it got to a point and just.....stopped. I felt it ended before the story was really complete.
Despite a bit of adult incredulity at some aspects of the basic premise and my need for more of a finish, I enjoyed this story. My 14 year old read some of the story and we talked about it. He had the same concerns with the tale that I did -- administration would never leave the building following an early dismissal until all students were safely out of the building, and they would never have been left alone like that. But, he did say the premise was interesting and agreed that their reactions would be realistic. It would be fun for the kids for awhile.....until the situation became dangerous.
Michael Northrup has written several other YA books including the TombQuest series and Surrounded by Sharks. The shark story sounds like it's similar to this book in that teens are put in a life or death situation. Sounds like an exciting story! I will definitely read more by this author.
The story is complete age appropriate for teens. No gory deaths, sex, inappropriate language/topics, etc. Just a survival story. Quite enjoyable!
I enjoyed this story for the most part. I had a hard time believing that seven kids would be left with one teacher in a locked down building during a weather emergency....but I guess since they were waiting for their usual rides it might be plausible. I really think a teacher or law enforcement would have evacuated them from the building with or without parental permission before the roads completely snowed shut. But....if a storm could truly intensify that quickly without warning....then I guess I can see how the last stragglers might be stuck in the building. But, as an adult, I would not have left them alone to wander out into the night trying to get help. Not only does that leave the kids alone....but it also leaves them without keys to the building, knowledge of where emergency supplies might be or other info a teacher could provide them. Plus....where was the principal (surely they can't leave the building before all the kids are gone?) or school security? Even the schools in the small town I live in have security officers....why didn't this school have more than one teacher who stayed until all of the kids were out of the building? In the end, the kids figured things out the best they could. I think their reactions were pretty close to realistic....jokes and fun in the beginning when it was novel to be stuck inside their school with no adults, changing to a bit of panic and fear when the power and heat went off.
The ending of the story was a bit abrupt. I wanted more of a finish with more information on what happened to the kids and the aftermath of the storm. But it got to a point and just.....stopped. I felt it ended before the story was really complete.
Despite a bit of adult incredulity at some aspects of the basic premise and my need for more of a finish, I enjoyed this story. My 14 year old read some of the story and we talked about it. He had the same concerns with the tale that I did -- administration would never leave the building following an early dismissal until all students were safely out of the building, and they would never have been left alone like that. But, he did say the premise was interesting and agreed that their reactions would be realistic. It would be fun for the kids for awhile.....until the situation became dangerous.
Michael Northrup has written several other YA books including the TombQuest series and Surrounded by Sharks. The shark story sounds like it's similar to this book in that teens are put in a life or death situation. Sounds like an exciting story! I will definitely read more by this author.
The story is complete age appropriate for teens. No gory deaths, sex, inappropriate language/topics, etc. Just a survival story. Quite enjoyable!
February 24, 2015
I didn't really have any expectations going into this book, I read it very quickly in one day, and I enjoyed it overall, but it was nothing spectacular.
I didn't really like any of the characters, but I did find the plot to be entertaining, and it was interesting seeing their survival skills put to test in this situation.
Without giving anything away, I wasn't a fan of the ending. I would have liked more closure, and I think that simply by adding 20 more pages, or just a quick epilogue, we could have had that.
Overall, this book was just "okay" for me.
3 Out of 5 Stars
I didn't really like any of the characters, but I did find the plot to be entertaining, and it was interesting seeing their survival skills put to test in this situation.
Without giving anything away, I wasn't a fan of the ending. I would have liked more closure, and I think that simply by adding 20 more pages, or just a quick epilogue, we could have had that.
Overall, this book was just "okay" for me.
3 Out of 5 Stars
March 23, 2011
When I reached the last page of this book, I actually had to double check the page count to make sure I wasn't missing anything. But no, the ending really is that abrupt, and leaves tons of potential plotlines unexplored. Instead of the terrifying survival story I was expecting, there's a bunch of repetitive scenes about checking cell phones, rummaging in the cafeteria, thinking about cute girls, and popping zits. Lots of potential here, but ends up stopping way too soon to really take advantage of the great ideas.
May 7, 2015
I read this book after a tremendous blizzard hit Chicago in 2011. It was a little morbid but it's not often you get snowed-in while living in a major metropolitan area.
Overall the premise was interesting and tense while being well-executed for the amount of pages the story allowed. What I will say - and this is why I couldn't give it a full five stars - was Trapped could have delivered more by exploring the characters or generating more conflict. I'm not saying I needed The Breakfast Club or Lord of the Flies; however, a little more suspense would have been welcomed.
It's a quick read and effectively told. Any survival story fans should give it a shot.
Overall the premise was interesting and tense while being well-executed for the amount of pages the story allowed. What I will say - and this is why I couldn't give it a full five stars - was Trapped could have delivered more by exploring the characters or generating more conflict. I'm not saying I needed The Breakfast Club or Lord of the Flies; however, a little more suspense would have been welcomed.
It's a quick read and effectively told. Any survival story fans should give it a shot.
February 8, 2021
I’m glad entire paragraphs were spent discussing Scotty popping his zits...
February 8, 2020
DNF
Okay So I lasted 78-80% ish through on the audio on Libby and where the story is now, I'm so fetching bored to be honest here. Heck I was so bored halfway through but I was too invested in the end that I thought I'll keep going cause I'm curious how it's going to end. And where I just stopped cause I just couldn't take it anymore I legit read a few spoilers and when I read what had happened, i was like, 'that's it? Seriously? Ugh!'
So basically it would just feel like it was going to drag on. I couldn't connect with any of the characters, couldn't get into the story after a while even though I liked the first third of the book, and then towards the halfway point/middle it slowed and dragged and I was bored to tears. Hence why I was debating whether to DNF this book and yet I've never done this before and ended up reading spoilers just to know how it ended. And I saw I honestly wasn't missing much.
I had seen this book at my local library for so long and every time it seemed when I'd go down there and had it on my list to read for I don't oblige how long. If I had known how this was going to be I would never have picked up the audiobook on Libby at all. Not even worth finishing for me. Not the best nor strongest for me 🙃🙈😒🤷♀️
Okay So I lasted 78-80% ish through on the audio on Libby and where the story is now, I'm so fetching bored to be honest here. Heck I was so bored halfway through but I was too invested in the end that I thought I'll keep going cause I'm curious how it's going to end. And where I just stopped cause I just couldn't take it anymore I legit read a few spoilers and when I read what had happened, i was like, 'that's it? Seriously? Ugh!'
So basically it would just feel like it was going to drag on. I couldn't connect with any of the characters, couldn't get into the story after a while even though I liked the first third of the book, and then towards the halfway point/middle it slowed and dragged and I was bored to tears. Hence why I was debating whether to DNF this book and yet I've never done this before and ended up reading spoilers just to know how it ended. And I saw I honestly wasn't missing much.
I had seen this book at my local library for so long and every time it seemed when I'd go down there and had it on my list to read for I don't oblige how long. If I had known how this was going to be I would never have picked up the audiobook on Libby at all. Not even worth finishing for me. Not the best nor strongest for me 🙃🙈😒🤷♀️
April 12, 2016
A finished copy was provided by the publisher for review.
A very realistic portrayal of a teenager trapped in his high school after the biggest blizzard his little town has ever seen.
There are certain realistic situations the teens had to go through such as where will they get food? How did they did heat to keep themselves warm? What would they do for fun? You know the basic necessities to keep on surviving. There was lack of relationships being developed as well. They pretty much sat around and did nothing. In that situation, wouldn't you be plotting to get out or figure out a way to contact the outside world? Their plans were highly illogical and completely ridiculous. I couldn't even read the part with the go kart because you just knew what would happen. And that ending came out of nowhere. I thought it would have been built up slowly but it didn't.
What I felt was unrealistic was the amount of snow that fell in the span of a couple of days. (Mother Nature can't be that cruel!) I also didn't enjoy how the boys perception of the girls were, like they were treated as sex objects and not as people. And I'm sorry but some of the characters decisions aren't incredibly smart. Why sleep on the floor when you can get gym mats? Why go out in the blizzard when you're the only adult? *thonks head on the wall* Also the characters didn't develop as I thought they would. I also had a problem with the pacing because it was so incredibly hard to stay focused on the story. I only wanted to find out if they get rescued, which is the one reason I kept going.
Recommended to borrow this one for lack of development but a very interesting and realistic concept.
Characters
Hardly any development but each character has a distinct personality.
Pacing
Quite slow in the beginning, but finally develops in the middle.
Cover & Design
Completely embodies the entire story-line.
Plot
Wonderful story about survival and what happens when teenagers are left to fend for themselves.
A realistic survival story that will make you think twice about the decisions you make as a teen.
A very realistic portrayal of a teenager trapped in his high school after the biggest blizzard his little town has ever seen.
There are certain realistic situations the teens had to go through such as where will they get food? How did they did heat to keep themselves warm? What would they do for fun? You know the basic necessities to keep on surviving. There was lack of relationships being developed as well. They pretty much sat around and did nothing. In that situation, wouldn't you be plotting to get out or figure out a way to contact the outside world? Their plans were highly illogical and completely ridiculous. I couldn't even read the part with the go kart because you just knew what would happen. And that ending came out of nowhere. I thought it would have been built up slowly but it didn't.
What I felt was unrealistic was the amount of snow that fell in the span of a couple of days. (Mother Nature can't be that cruel!) I also didn't enjoy how the boys perception of the girls were, like they were treated as sex objects and not as people. And I'm sorry but some of the characters decisions aren't incredibly smart. Why sleep on the floor when you can get gym mats? Why go out in the blizzard when you're the only adult? *thonks head on the wall* Also the characters didn't develop as I thought they would. I also had a problem with the pacing because it was so incredibly hard to stay focused on the story. I only wanted to find out if they get rescued, which is the one reason I kept going.
Recommended to borrow this one for lack of development but a very interesting and realistic concept.
Characters
Hardly any development but each character has a distinct personality.
Pacing
Quite slow in the beginning, but finally develops in the middle.
Cover & Design
Completely embodies the entire story-line.
Plot
Wonderful story about survival and what happens when teenagers are left to fend for themselves.
A realistic survival story that will make you think twice about the decisions you make as a teen.
October 31, 2015
"Kälte" gehört zu den Büchern, die ich vor Ewigkeiten unbedingt kaufen musste, aber dann lange nicht gelesen habe. Wenn ich mich nicht täusche, musste das Buch tatsächlich fast drei Jahre ungelesen im Regal stehen und habe es nun endlich daraus befreit. Da die Geschichte laut Kurzbeschreibung sehr spannend klang, hatte ich einige Erwartungen an das Buch und muss sagen, dass es zwar nicht meine Erwartungen erfüllen konnte, ich es aber dennoch ganz interessant fand.
Problematisch ist bei diesem Buch allerdings der Schreibstil, denn diesen empfand ich sehr oft als anstrengend, da sich sehr vieles wiederholt hat und auch der ein oder andere Logikfehler dabei war. So erwähnt Scotty, aus dessen Sicht die Geschichte erzählt wird, in jedem zweiten Kapitel mindestens einmal, dass er sein Handy nicht mit dabei hat und somit für die anderen keine große Hilfe ist. Außerdem wurde auch sonst viel zu viel wiederholt, wie z.B. die Art und Weise, wie er seine Mitschüler beobachtet und besonders die überall beliebte Krista anschmachtet. Das ist beim ersten Mal noch interessant, danach allerdings nicht mehr, denn hier hätte man die Seiten mehr für die Ängste und Sorgen investieren können, die die Schüler in der verlassenen Schule immer mehr spüren.
Gleichzeitig habe ich mich bei der Geschichte immer wieder gefragt, wie ein Handy-Akku auch nach mehreren Tagen noch nicht leer sein kann, wo das Handy doch ständig in Gebrauch ist, da die Taschenlampen-App ständig an ist und auch viel damit gespielt wurde. Ich persönlich bin ja schon immer froh, wenn ich am Ende des Tages noch ein wenig Akku übrig habe...
Der zweite große Kritikpunkt neben dem Schreibstil ist das Ende, denn dieses kam viel zu plötzlich und lief mir zu glatt ab. Hier hätte ich viel lieber noch erfahren, was aus sämtlichen Figuren wurde, wie man in der Zeit danach miteinander umgegangen ist, etc. Leider hat der Autor sich hierbei viel zu wenig Zeit genommen, sodass für mich noch viel zu viele Fragen offen waren.
Ansonsten kann man aber wirklich nicht groß meckern, denn die Figuren sind gut ausgearbeitet und könnten unterschiedlicher nicht sein. Diese sitzen aufgrund eines Schneesturms in der Schule fest, da sie nicht wie die anderen Schüler mit den Schulbussen rechtzeitig weggefahren sind. Hauptfigur ist hierbei Scotty, der mit seinen beiden besten Freunden Jason und Pete, einem Lehrer, zwei Mädchen aus der Unterstufe (Krista und Julie) und zwei Außenseitern in der Schule überleben muss. Dies wird jedoch immer schwerer, da der Schneesturm schlimmer wird und auch die Stromleitungen deutlich unter den Schneemassen leiden.
Der Überlebenskampf in der Schule ist an sich ganz gut ausgearbeitet, manchmal spannend und manchmal passiert aber auch gar nichts. Dies hat mich allerdings nicht gestört, denn schließlich muss man sich hier die Frage stellen, was auch großartig passieren kann, wenn man komplett abgeschirmt ist?! Dennoch hat mir die Atmosphäre gut gefallen und als Leser wird man immer mehr an die Frage herangeführt, wie man sich selbst in so einer Ausnahmesituation verhalten würde.
Das Cover ist gut gewählt und könnte passender nicht sein, von daher hat mich dieses auch direkt angesprochen. Die Kurzbeschreibung liest sich ebenfalls gut und spannend und verspricht eine interessante Geschichte, bei der es ums knallharte Überleben geht.
Insgesamt hat mir "Kälte" gut gefallen. Es ist zwar kein großartiges Highlight und besitzt so manche Schwäche, allerdings konnten die Figuren und die bedrückte Stimmung einiges wieder herausreißen, sodass ich das Buch gerne weiterempfehlen möchte.
Problematisch ist bei diesem Buch allerdings der Schreibstil, denn diesen empfand ich sehr oft als anstrengend, da sich sehr vieles wiederholt hat und auch der ein oder andere Logikfehler dabei war. So erwähnt Scotty, aus dessen Sicht die Geschichte erzählt wird, in jedem zweiten Kapitel mindestens einmal, dass er sein Handy nicht mit dabei hat und somit für die anderen keine große Hilfe ist. Außerdem wurde auch sonst viel zu viel wiederholt, wie z.B. die Art und Weise, wie er seine Mitschüler beobachtet und besonders die überall beliebte Krista anschmachtet. Das ist beim ersten Mal noch interessant, danach allerdings nicht mehr, denn hier hätte man die Seiten mehr für die Ängste und Sorgen investieren können, die die Schüler in der verlassenen Schule immer mehr spüren.
Gleichzeitig habe ich mich bei der Geschichte immer wieder gefragt, wie ein Handy-Akku auch nach mehreren Tagen noch nicht leer sein kann, wo das Handy doch ständig in Gebrauch ist, da die Taschenlampen-App ständig an ist und auch viel damit gespielt wurde. Ich persönlich bin ja schon immer froh, wenn ich am Ende des Tages noch ein wenig Akku übrig habe...
Der zweite große Kritikpunkt neben dem Schreibstil ist das Ende, denn dieses kam viel zu plötzlich und lief mir zu glatt ab. Hier hätte ich viel lieber noch erfahren, was aus sämtlichen Figuren wurde, wie man in der Zeit danach miteinander umgegangen ist, etc. Leider hat der Autor sich hierbei viel zu wenig Zeit genommen, sodass für mich noch viel zu viele Fragen offen waren.
Ansonsten kann man aber wirklich nicht groß meckern, denn die Figuren sind gut ausgearbeitet und könnten unterschiedlicher nicht sein. Diese sitzen aufgrund eines Schneesturms in der Schule fest, da sie nicht wie die anderen Schüler mit den Schulbussen rechtzeitig weggefahren sind. Hauptfigur ist hierbei Scotty, der mit seinen beiden besten Freunden Jason und Pete, einem Lehrer, zwei Mädchen aus der Unterstufe (Krista und Julie) und zwei Außenseitern in der Schule überleben muss. Dies wird jedoch immer schwerer, da der Schneesturm schlimmer wird und auch die Stromleitungen deutlich unter den Schneemassen leiden.
Der Überlebenskampf in der Schule ist an sich ganz gut ausgearbeitet, manchmal spannend und manchmal passiert aber auch gar nichts. Dies hat mich allerdings nicht gestört, denn schließlich muss man sich hier die Frage stellen, was auch großartig passieren kann, wenn man komplett abgeschirmt ist?! Dennoch hat mir die Atmosphäre gut gefallen und als Leser wird man immer mehr an die Frage herangeführt, wie man sich selbst in so einer Ausnahmesituation verhalten würde.
Das Cover ist gut gewählt und könnte passender nicht sein, von daher hat mich dieses auch direkt angesprochen. Die Kurzbeschreibung liest sich ebenfalls gut und spannend und verspricht eine interessante Geschichte, bei der es ums knallharte Überleben geht.
Insgesamt hat mir "Kälte" gut gefallen. Es ist zwar kein großartiges Highlight und besitzt so manche Schwäche, allerdings konnten die Figuren und die bedrückte Stimmung einiges wieder herausreißen, sodass ich das Buch gerne weiterempfehlen möchte.
April 22, 2013
Review also posted at Ja čitam, a ti?
Before I say anything about the book I need to say that firstly I want to thank the author for singing this book. I was a really nice thing to do, as we all love signed books. Secondly I want to thank this book for saving me. Trust me I'd die of boredom if I didn't bring this book with me on my four-hour class.
We'll go back to that but first something about the book. Winter is officially over. I say officially cause a week ago I've seen the sun for the first time after I believe months. Now it's gone again and cold is still here. But in the book we've in stuck in blizzard. It's been snowing for days and it's been snowing badly. Our main characters are still in school unable to get out. If you want to ask why didn't they go before everything became hellish. Well...let's say that they're young and honestly no one believe that this would happen. Scotty is the boy that tells us the story. He and his two best friends are among the last seven kids at their high school. They have been waiting for their parents to pick them up but as time passes the chances for that are getting low. Without an adult and on their own in huge high school they must find a way to survive until snow stops. Soon enough this turned into a story about surviving in insane conditions.
Now back to the class. I really but really like most of my classes but this woman doesn't know when to stop. She talked and talked about the theory of cultural studies. Regardless I was safe cause I had this book with me so I enjoyed the story and was really focused on it. I couldn't wait to read what happens next so that time passed really quickly.
Back to the book again. One thing that I really love about this book is the design. Every chapter was decorated with snow and that really fit the story. As I read I noticed the connection better and really liked the idea.
Before I say anything about the book I need to say that firstly I want to thank the author for singing this book. I was a really nice thing to do, as we all love signed books. Secondly I want to thank this book for saving me. Trust me I'd die of boredom if I didn't bring this book with me on my four-hour class.
We'll go back to that but first something about the book. Winter is officially over. I say officially cause a week ago I've seen the sun for the first time after I believe months. Now it's gone again and cold is still here. But in the book we've in stuck in blizzard. It's been snowing for days and it's been snowing badly. Our main characters are still in school unable to get out. If you want to ask why didn't they go before everything became hellish. Well...let's say that they're young and honestly no one believe that this would happen. Scotty is the boy that tells us the story. He and his two best friends are among the last seven kids at their high school. They have been waiting for their parents to pick them up but as time passes the chances for that are getting low. Without an adult and on their own in huge high school they must find a way to survive until snow stops. Soon enough this turned into a story about surviving in insane conditions.
Now back to the class. I really but really like most of my classes but this woman doesn't know when to stop. She talked and talked about the theory of cultural studies. Regardless I was safe cause I had this book with me so I enjoyed the story and was really focused on it. I couldn't wait to read what happens next so that time passed really quickly.
Back to the book again. One thing that I really love about this book is the design. Every chapter was decorated with snow and that really fit the story. As I read I noticed the connection better and really liked the idea.
March 10, 2012
I picked this up at the library as a quick read. The idea was excellent- trapped in a high school during a massive blizzard with friends, enemies and crushes. But I felt that the characters weren't developed, and I didn't get to know them or feel attached to them. Right off the bat, Scotty tells us that not everybody makes it out alive, so you know that once a character is in a life-or-death situation, he/she's not going to make it. Jason and Pete, Scotty's friends, were important to the story, but I felt no distinction between them and I was getting them mixed up even as the story was finishing. The events seemed boring and unimportant, like getting up to use the bathroom or internal monologue about zits. I felt like I didn't know any of the other kids in the school, or even Scotty. It wasn't a terrible book, but Trapped wasn't good. A much better book with a similar premise is Life as We Knew It. It's like Trapped, except on a much larger scale and in my opinion, a much better book.
October 27, 2013
I'll start off by saying how much i liked the chapter headings. I thought it was really clever how it shown how snowed in they were, and it looked really pretty.
The pacing in Trapped was slow, but it was done in a way that it made it more suspenseful, instead of making it boring.
The characters weren't annoying, but i just didn't find myself liking them that much.
I didn't like the ending at all. It was very rushed, and felt kind of lazy.
Instead of writing a proper ending, it was left open.
A lot of things could have happened after that point, but we were forced to make our own ending.
Some readers may like that, but i find it to be annoying.
Overall, it was a good read, but unfortunately, the ending wrecked it.
The pacing in Trapped was slow, but it was done in a way that it made it more suspenseful, instead of making it boring.
The characters weren't annoying, but i just didn't find myself liking them that much.
I didn't like the ending at all. It was very rushed, and felt kind of lazy.
Instead of writing a proper ending, it was left open.
A lot of things could have happened after that point, but we were forced to make our own ending.
Some readers may like that, but i find it to be annoying.
Overall, it was a good read, but unfortunately, the ending wrecked it.
December 5, 2015
I did like this book, although I can easily say that it left something to be desired. The whole idea and concept of the story was really good, I kept wanting to see what happened next. However the characters could have been a little more developed, you didn't really get to know them that well. Also, the action in this book was a little "irregular." It started off strong, but then in the middle nothing really happens, and then BAM! his friend dies and he's off on his own in this crazy blizzard. It definitely was an interesting read, but it wasn't worthy of the whole 5 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2011
Erst wird seitenlang erklärt was ein Handy ist und
nun wird auch noch ewig diskutiert, wie ein Radio funktioniert O____O
Und zwischendurch bekommt der Protagonist einen Pickel auf der Stirn,
der ebenfalls ausführlich beschrieben wird. Mehr ist nicht passiert.
Ohne mich... nach 160/232 Seiten steige ich aus!
nun wird auch noch ewig diskutiert, wie ein Radio funktioniert O____O
Und zwischendurch bekommt der Protagonist einen Pickel auf der Stirn,
der ebenfalls ausführlich beschrieben wird. Mehr ist nicht passiert.
Ohne mich... nach 160/232 Seiten steige ich aus!
March 5, 2011
Trapped / 978-0-545-21012-6
I like "survival horror" style books and movies, and was really looking forward to "Trapped". Even the timing was great - I received the book right before the worst snowstorm in 15 years dumped right onto our house! So I was really looking forward to wrapping up with some fluffy blankets and vicariously experiencing the terror that comes with being cold, alone, and utterly trapped in a snowstorm. Unfortunately, I ended up disappointed. This slim, 230-page book that would normally take me only a few hours to read, actually took me days to finish because it was so consistently dull and frustrating that I couldn't read for more than a few short pages at a time.
Things started off badly when the narrator kept hyping up the incredible tale that he was going to tell us - a harrowing snowstorm that he barely survived! - but then kept veering off from the tantalizing tale to tell us a little more about his high school, or about the basketball team, or where he and his best friend used to ride their bikes together, or their interests and hobbies and obsessions, etc. In my experience, it's not a good idea to keep dangling an interesting story in front of your readers, only to keep yanking it back to introduce more stock high school stereotypes - especially when most of this exposition could have been revealed throughout the narrative instead of all at the beginning.
There's an overall problem, really, with this "retrospective" narrative voice; the story teller is supposed to be a teenage boy, but the voice frequently feels noticeably "off", like when he uses old idioms like "come on like gangbusters" and talks nostalgically about how it is when your hormones are taking control of you all the time. Indeed, far more attention is paid to "hormones" than the actual snowstorm: the narrator constantly refers to the girls stuck with them as "chicks" (who are really only fleshed out as the "hot love interest" and the "plain friend"), theorizes at length that hot chicks shouldn't be "allowed" to mingle in general public because of the havoc wreaked on hormonal boys, and frets frequently that 5 boys stuck in an extended snowstorm with 2 girls will lead to all kinds of trouble because the testosterone-filled boys will be compelled to fight each other for the attention of the girls, or something of that nature. It's all very melodramatic and not very interesting, at least it wasn't for me. Other narrative details are outright odd - the narrator goes into lavish detail about three different "prayer sessions" that the kids hold, and makes a big point of saying that "prayer in schools" would offend most people, which seems like a strange thing to mention under the circumstances, and it just doesn't flow naturally at all.
There's very little conflict or action in this book; most of the plot involves the kids sitting around waiting and being surprised by everything that happens. This seems odd - this is a northern school, and snowstorms are a way of life for the kids in the book, yet they seem to know next to nothing about cold weather! Roughly half of the book has the kids alternating between lamenting that no one knows they're trapped in the school and complaining that they can't get a cell phone signal in the storm. The kids are trapped in the school for *days*, and yet no one - not a single person - thinks to look for a land line phone in a nurse's or principal's office. I don't understand this - where I live, the phone wires are buried and the phone company has an extremely powerful generator to power the land lines, and I understood that even as a kid: when the power goes out in an emergency, get to a land line phone. These kids never even think of it; heck, they're shocked when the bathroom pipes finally freeze up - something that even happens in the southern states where I live. More often than not, it feels like the kids are deliberately stupid because then there wouldn't be as much story-time with them standing around complaining.
Overall, I just found this novel to be terribly disappointing. The characters seemed like stock stereotypes, and never really developed outside of their introductory info-dumps at the beginning. The bulk of the narrative seemed to contain complaining about things that most teenagers would understand; pipes freeze in winter, cell phones don't work in storms, your cell phone battery will run down if you keep playing graphics-intensive games on it during a power outage, and so on. All the macho posturing about being a hormone-ridden teenager didn't help the narrative, nor did it help define the narrator; it just seemed boring and distracting. The ending is *incredibly* abrupt and had I cared at all about the characters, I would have been furious, but as it was, I just felt relief that the book was finally over. I wouldn't recommend this book.
NOTE: This review is based on a free Advance Review Copy of this book provided through Amazon Vine.
~ Ana Mardoll
I like "survival horror" style books and movies, and was really looking forward to "Trapped". Even the timing was great - I received the book right before the worst snowstorm in 15 years dumped right onto our house! So I was really looking forward to wrapping up with some fluffy blankets and vicariously experiencing the terror that comes with being cold, alone, and utterly trapped in a snowstorm. Unfortunately, I ended up disappointed. This slim, 230-page book that would normally take me only a few hours to read, actually took me days to finish because it was so consistently dull and frustrating that I couldn't read for more than a few short pages at a time.
Things started off badly when the narrator kept hyping up the incredible tale that he was going to tell us - a harrowing snowstorm that he barely survived! - but then kept veering off from the tantalizing tale to tell us a little more about his high school, or about the basketball team, or where he and his best friend used to ride their bikes together, or their interests and hobbies and obsessions, etc. In my experience, it's not a good idea to keep dangling an interesting story in front of your readers, only to keep yanking it back to introduce more stock high school stereotypes - especially when most of this exposition could have been revealed throughout the narrative instead of all at the beginning.
There's an overall problem, really, with this "retrospective" narrative voice; the story teller is supposed to be a teenage boy, but the voice frequently feels noticeably "off", like when he uses old idioms like "come on like gangbusters" and talks nostalgically about how it is when your hormones are taking control of you all the time. Indeed, far more attention is paid to "hormones" than the actual snowstorm: the narrator constantly refers to the girls stuck with them as "chicks" (who are really only fleshed out as the "hot love interest" and the "plain friend"), theorizes at length that hot chicks shouldn't be "allowed" to mingle in general public because of the havoc wreaked on hormonal boys, and frets frequently that 5 boys stuck in an extended snowstorm with 2 girls will lead to all kinds of trouble because the testosterone-filled boys will be compelled to fight each other for the attention of the girls, or something of that nature. It's all very melodramatic and not very interesting, at least it wasn't for me. Other narrative details are outright odd - the narrator goes into lavish detail about three different "prayer sessions" that the kids hold, and makes a big point of saying that "prayer in schools" would offend most people, which seems like a strange thing to mention under the circumstances, and it just doesn't flow naturally at all.
There's very little conflict or action in this book; most of the plot involves the kids sitting around waiting and being surprised by everything that happens. This seems odd - this is a northern school, and snowstorms are a way of life for the kids in the book, yet they seem to know next to nothing about cold weather! Roughly half of the book has the kids alternating between lamenting that no one knows they're trapped in the school and complaining that they can't get a cell phone signal in the storm. The kids are trapped in the school for *days*, and yet no one - not a single person - thinks to look for a land line phone in a nurse's or principal's office. I don't understand this - where I live, the phone wires are buried and the phone company has an extremely powerful generator to power the land lines, and I understood that even as a kid: when the power goes out in an emergency, get to a land line phone. These kids never even think of it; heck, they're shocked when the bathroom pipes finally freeze up - something that even happens in the southern states where I live. More often than not, it feels like the kids are deliberately stupid because then there wouldn't be as much story-time with them standing around complaining.
Overall, I just found this novel to be terribly disappointing. The characters seemed like stock stereotypes, and never really developed outside of their introductory info-dumps at the beginning. The bulk of the narrative seemed to contain complaining about things that most teenagers would understand; pipes freeze in winter, cell phones don't work in storms, your cell phone battery will run down if you keep playing graphics-intensive games on it during a power outage, and so on. All the macho posturing about being a hormone-ridden teenager didn't help the narrative, nor did it help define the narrator; it just seemed boring and distracting. The ending is *incredibly* abrupt and had I cared at all about the characters, I would have been furious, but as it was, I just felt relief that the book was finally over. I wouldn't recommend this book.
NOTE: This review is based on a free Advance Review Copy of this book provided through Amazon Vine.
~ Ana Mardoll
February 15, 2017
I was never so glad to have a shelf called "shittier than Mel Gibson." It is, I admit, hard to find something shittier than him, and still this book managed.
A book that had all the elements make it a scary, claustrophobic story, was nothing but an incompetently written hot mess told by an insufferable jerk.
Scotty was as shallow as a piss on concrete.
The lack of skill in the writing was astonishing. If I was to narrate my reading experience borrowing Scotty's voice, it would go like this:
By page 6, I realised this book was going to be an epic disaster, but I'm getting ahead of myself, right?
On page 22, there was no doubt in my mind that this could only get worse, you'll see later on what I mean by that, you know?
I was ready to give up on page 45, the narrative style was rolling downhill from there and this started to look like a DNF...but I should just stick to the story and what matters at this point, right?
Intersperse a few "man" here and there; make some idiotic puns and bad jokes-always concerning someone's age or physical appearance, and VOILA! You have yourself a Scotty, plus piss-poor storytelling, a diluted, spineless story with a bunch of faceless brats no self-respecting reader could ever give a fuck about.
And I payed money for this shit.
Laughs all around!
A book that had all the elements make it a scary, claustrophobic story, was nothing but an incompetently written hot mess told by an insufferable jerk.
Scotty was as shallow as a piss on concrete.
The lack of skill in the writing was astonishing. If I was to narrate my reading experience borrowing Scotty's voice, it would go like this:
By page 6, I realised this book was going to be an epic disaster, but I'm getting ahead of myself, right?
On page 22, there was no doubt in my mind that this could only get worse, you'll see later on what I mean by that, you know?
I was ready to give up on page 45, the narrative style was rolling downhill from there and this started to look like a DNF...but I should just stick to the story and what matters at this point, right?
Intersperse a few "man" here and there; make some idiotic puns and bad jokes-always concerning someone's age or physical appearance, and VOILA! You have yourself a Scotty, plus piss-poor storytelling, a diluted, spineless story with a bunch of faceless brats no self-respecting reader could ever give a fuck about.
And I payed money for this shit.
Laughs all around!
March 18, 2011
I'm glad that I wasn't annoyed by the ending, as many other readers have been. It was definitely abrupt, but it made sense to me. This is a quick read, with great descriptions, and a strong voice. I expected it to get even more horrific than it did, and was pleasantly surprised when it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I think I partly assumed it would get horrific because the front door of the building, on the cover, looks like a maw to me. The voice seemed kind of "classic YA", but staying in the realm of reality made it a well-done modern survival story (rather than a horror story). I can't think of a better way to say that, but maybe something will come to me when I think about it more. We'll see how long a stint this has on my 2011favorites shelf, but it's definitely a good addition to the YA survival story subgenre. My 13 yr old son (12 at the time he read it) likes this one a lot, too. 3 1/2 stars.
11/3/11: Kicked off of my 2011favorites shelf by ACROSS THE GREAT BARRIER (by Wrede).
11/3/11: Kicked off of my 2011favorites shelf by ACROSS THE GREAT BARRIER (by Wrede).
November 13, 2021
das war so n crazy buch irgendwie
ich hab das gelesen weil lotte das in der 8. klasse gelesen hat
und es ist absolut nicht für 8. klässler gemacht weil am ende stirbt dieser eine freund so und es wird nie aufgeklärt richtig wie sie oder ob sie alle gerettet werden
ich hab keine ahnung was die message von buch sein soll weil sie arbeiten die ganze zeit an diesem gerät was sie am ende retten soll aber das ding funktioniert nciht also kann so „arbeite an deinen träumen“ schon mal nicht dir message sein aber sonst passiert halt auch nichts
ich hab das gelesen weil lotte das in der 8. klasse gelesen hat
und es ist absolut nicht für 8. klässler gemacht weil am ende stirbt dieser eine freund so und es wird nie aufgeklärt richtig wie sie oder ob sie alle gerettet werden
ich hab keine ahnung was die message von buch sein soll weil sie arbeiten die ganze zeit an diesem gerät was sie am ende retten soll aber das ding funktioniert nciht also kann so „arbeite an deinen träumen“ schon mal nicht dir message sein aber sonst passiert halt auch nichts
July 6, 2018
The premise was interesting but at a certain point I got frustrated with all the description of how hot the girls were. Apparently their personalities just amounted to ‘really nice breasts’
The incredibly stupid decisions some characters made also were frustrating. And I don’t know what cell phones they had but a cell battery that can last a week while being used constantly and searching for a signal makes me think about shelving this under fantasy.
The incredibly stupid decisions some characters made also were frustrating. And I don’t know what cell phones they had but a cell battery that can last a week while being used constantly and searching for a signal makes me think about shelving this under fantasy.
November 23, 2017
If you're planning to read this book, keep your expectations low.
I love survival stories. I hate books that drag on for a long time. I'm not saying this book was dragged, because it wasn't (?) but the writing made me want to skim a few pages, you know? I know the characters in this book are teenagers, but I'm telling you no one says 'dude' and 'holy crap' THAT much, you know? Scotty was a boring and shallow narrator; the narration tries it's best to seem like it's talking to you, with a great use of 'like' and 'you knows'', but it gets annoying really quickly, y'know?
I'll stop. Here are a few quotes.
Mind you, these aren't dialogue, but narration. This happened every 2 pages and made it pretty awkward to read. I know this isn't enough to make me give this book 2 stars, but there's more.
Besides the writing, the plot lacked complexity, although it had a lot of potential. 7 kids are stuck at school while there's a blizzard outside, and they do their best to survive for about a week. This book could've been better - maybe it was Scotty's narration that made me cross out stars because all he talked about was how hot Krista was and popping zits. Literally. There was one scene that irked me to no end. Basically they had to get food so they decided to check out the cafeteria, but Scotty says no and wants to wait. Why?
Son, there is a BLIZZARD outside, you are being SNOWED IN, people are HUNGRY, and you are worried about being kicked off the team?? For looking for food and trying to survive?
Excuse me while I cry over his IQ.
What is this logic???
The scenes were repetetive. Phone checking, feeling jealous when the girl was talking to someone else, concerning his appearance, being surprised at what the snow can do, etc.
As for the characters, I couldn't bring myself to care. We have a group of stereotypes, a bully, a 'weirdo' who Scotty labels goth, 2 'hot' girls and Scotty and his 2 best friends. They all fall flat and are boring and lifeless. I know nothing about them, except that Scotty is a jock and he really likes basketball. Krista's main purpose of existence was for Scotty to ogle at. I quote:
Every single time she is mentioned, so is her 'hotness'. Nothing else. This is literally how he sees her throughout the entire book. I have a problem with how the author uses the female characters in here. See, Krista's best friend Julie is also part of the group. There was this part where she came into the room crying, and SOMEHOW this led one of Scotty's friend Pete to IMMEDIATELY ASSUME that the bully, Les, had molested her, when he didn't.
This then escalated into a brawl with Les not even knowing why Pete was throwing punches. It was all a big MISUNDERSTANDING.
Pointless, misogynistic and unnecessary.
Elijah is the weird kid and loner of the group and damn, I didn't know that made you a goth.
^I forgot to mention the use of 'frickin'. I have a feeling the author was afraid to throw in curses so he changed them all into that. And 'crap'.
This book also misuses foreshadowing, telling us facts here and there and shattering expectations. It would've been better if some events were better left hidden at first. Every chapter ended with 'dramatic' sentences like "That's when we started to split up". Honestly I half expected a few people to go missing during the book and get kidnapped by aliens - and that is something I would've enjoyed reading about.
I love survival stories. I hate books that drag on for a long time. I'm not saying this book was dragged, because it wasn't (?) but the writing made me want to skim a few pages, you know? I know the characters in this book are teenagers, but I'm telling you no one says 'dude' and 'holy crap' THAT much, you know? Scotty was a boring and shallow narrator; the narration tries it's best to seem like it's talking to you, with a great use of 'like' and 'you knows'', but it gets annoying really quickly, y'know?
I'll stop. Here are a few quotes.
Anyway, that’s me. I’ll be sort of like your guide through all of this.
Pete was just, like, a normal kid.
I mean, it’s like, raise your hand if you’re God, right?
He, like, radiated danger.
I remember, maybe like mid-September, I was walking along the hallway outside the library
Mind you, these aren't dialogue, but narration. This happened every 2 pages and made it pretty awkward to read. I know this isn't enough to make me give this book 2 stars, but there's more.
Besides the writing, the plot lacked complexity, although it had a lot of potential. 7 kids are stuck at school while there's a blizzard outside, and they do their best to survive for about a week. This book could've been better - maybe it was Scotty's narration that made me cross out stars because all he talked about was how hot Krista was and popping zits. Literally. There was one scene that irked me to no end. Basically they had to get food so they decided to check out the cafeteria, but Scotty says no and wants to wait. Why?
“Because,” I said. I needed something to slow him down, so I tried the truth. “Because I don’t want to get kicked off the team, alright? Anything happens in here, it won’t be too hard to figure out who did it. We’ll all get blamed. I’m not saying we shouldn’t do it, I’m just saying we should at least pretend to hold out a little. We go a day without food, who’s gonna blame us? We start breaking things down first thing in the morning —it’s like we couldn’t wait to do it.”
Sports were pretty big at Tattawa. Most of us played something. Jason actually swung a pretty mean bat. “I just don’t want to get kicked off the team is all,” I said again, and that clinched it.
Son, there is a BLIZZARD outside, you are being SNOWED IN, people are HUNGRY, and you are worried about being kicked off the team?? For looking for food and trying to survive?
Excuse me while I cry over his IQ.
What is this logic???
The scenes were repetetive. Phone checking, feeling jealous when the girl was talking to someone else, concerning his appearance, being surprised at what the snow can do, etc.
As for the characters, I couldn't bring myself to care. We have a group of stereotypes, a bully, a 'weirdo' who Scotty labels goth, 2 'hot' girls and Scotty and his 2 best friends. They all fall flat and are boring and lifeless. I know nothing about them, except that Scotty is a jock and he really likes basketball. Krista's main purpose of existence was for Scotty to ogle at. I quote:
And did I mention her body? Because I will, repeatedly.
Every single time she is mentioned, so is her 'hotness'. Nothing else. This is literally how he sees her throughout the entire book. I have a problem with how the author uses the female characters in here. See, Krista's best friend Julie is also part of the group. There was this part where she came into the room crying, and SOMEHOW this led one of Scotty's friend Pete to IMMEDIATELY ASSUME that the bully, Les, had molested her, when he didn't.
This then escalated into a brawl with Les not even knowing why Pete was throwing punches. It was all a big MISUNDERSTANDING.
Pointless, misogynistic and unnecessary.
Elijah is the weird kid and loner of the group and damn, I didn't know that made you a goth.
“What did you mean, we’re all going to die here?” I said. “That goth crap is just not cool. Not now.”
It came out more hostile than I’d intended. Again, it was early. Elijah took a moment to process it and then fired back.
“I’m not goth,” he said, blinking into the light coming from the open door. “Is that what you think this is, me trying to be dark and cool and morbid, pretending to be a vampire or something stupid like that? I know this is serious, and I guess maybe I shouldn’t have said that to Les. I didn’t mean it literally. It was just, ‘We’re gonna frickin’ die,’ like, we’re all screwed, you know? And we are.”
^I forgot to mention the use of 'frickin'. I have a feeling the author was afraid to throw in curses so he changed them all into that. And 'crap'.
This book also misuses foreshadowing, telling us facts here and there and shattering expectations. It would've been better if some events were better left hidden at first. Every chapter ended with 'dramatic' sentences like "That's when we started to split up". Honestly I half expected a few people to go missing during the book and get kidnapped by aliens - and that is something I would've enjoyed reading about.
January 12, 2020
All my reviews can be found at: http://jessicasreadingroom.com
~~~~
This review will appear on my site on January 13, 2020.
~~~~
Trapped is a short and quick read that I enjoyed until it abruptly ended. Were the last few chapters accidentally left out of my copy? Nope, that was it! Who lives, who dies, and what’s going to happen next? I will have to decide that on my own…
I was pulled in from the beginning wondering what was going to happen. I knew it was going to be a bad storm, but the snow just would not stop! These poor kids just kept getting worse off as the novel progressed. For a YA novel that has boys and girls stuck alone together, there surprisingly was not much teenage drama: They were focused on survival.
If you like quick YA reads, give Trapped a try. Our narrator is a boy, which is a rarity in YA novels. *Disclaimer*: Going in keep in mind that the novel ends with no conclusion/ epilogue.
Northrop wrote another novel which interests me called Surrounded by Sharks. It is similar to Trapped in that it deals with survival, but I doubt I will read it. It is about the same length as Trapped and I am afraid that there will be no conclusion, and my thinking is this:
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
If you have actually read Surrounded by Sharks, I would love to know if there is a conclusion to that novel!
Other than the lack of conclusion, Trapped would be perfect to read while it is snowing: I just hope you don’t end up in a blizzard like our poor teens!
~~~~
This review will appear on my site on January 13, 2020.
~~~~
Trapped is a short and quick read that I enjoyed until it abruptly ended. Were the last few chapters accidentally left out of my copy? Nope, that was it! Who lives, who dies, and what’s going to happen next? I will have to decide that on my own…
I was pulled in from the beginning wondering what was going to happen. I knew it was going to be a bad storm, but the snow just would not stop! These poor kids just kept getting worse off as the novel progressed. For a YA novel that has boys and girls stuck alone together, there surprisingly was not much teenage drama: They were focused on survival.
If you like quick YA reads, give Trapped a try. Our narrator is a boy, which is a rarity in YA novels. *Disclaimer*: Going in keep in mind that the novel ends with no conclusion/ epilogue.
Northrop wrote another novel which interests me called Surrounded by Sharks. It is similar to Trapped in that it deals with survival, but I doubt I will read it. It is about the same length as Trapped and I am afraid that there will be no conclusion, and my thinking is this:
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
If you have actually read Surrounded by Sharks, I would love to know if there is a conclusion to that novel!
Other than the lack of conclusion, Trapped would be perfect to read while it is snowing: I just hope you don’t end up in a blizzard like our poor teens!
June 13, 2021
It has a first line* and chapter that draws kids in. What happens when a blizzard of the century strands Scotty, six of his classmates and one teacher at the school? How will they survive when their rides don't show? How long will the snow continue? These are only a few of the questions that Scotty and his classmates have in the days afterward. You may never envision a blizzard or a Nor'easter the same after reading this.
Fans of survival stories, Lois Duncan's Ransom or who enjoyed Lauren Tarshis's I Survived the Children’s Blizzard, 1888 wehn they were younger will want to give this one a read. With short chapters, it kept me turning the pages.
*We were the last seven kids waiting around to get picked up from Tattawa Regional High School.
Second line - It sounds like an everyday thing but this wasn't an ordinary day."
Fans of survival stories, Lois Duncan's Ransom or who enjoyed Lauren Tarshis's I Survived the Children’s Blizzard, 1888 wehn they were younger will want to give this one a read. With short chapters, it kept me turning the pages.
*We were the last seven kids waiting around to get picked up from Tattawa Regional High School.
Second line - It sounds like an everyday thing but this wasn't an ordinary day."
August 1, 2020
I loved the sound of this and was picking up ‘Alive’ vibes, and it certainly started well.
Our focus is a group of teens who find themselves in an unexpected situation when heavy snow hits. Arrangements are made for all students to leave school, but our main character Scott decides - with his friends - not to follow instructions. Along with a small group of others (who, for various reasons, also miss the school buses) they find themselves stranded in the worst snowstorm to hit their region in decades.
Slowly, we have descriptions of the storm and its impact. Though it was slow to start off with, it felt atmospheric rather than boring. I was surprised at how long it took these kids to grasp the seriousness of their situation, and there was a point a few days in when I started to wonder where this would end up.
Once we reached the crucial stage where the teens started to realise something had to be done, everything happened very quickly. Almost too quickly.
Perhaps I should have expected this but I felt the book lost something towards the end. A shame, but with such a subject I am hard pressed to see what else the author could have done.
Our focus is a group of teens who find themselves in an unexpected situation when heavy snow hits. Arrangements are made for all students to leave school, but our main character Scott decides - with his friends - not to follow instructions. Along with a small group of others (who, for various reasons, also miss the school buses) they find themselves stranded in the worst snowstorm to hit their region in decades.
Slowly, we have descriptions of the storm and its impact. Though it was slow to start off with, it felt atmospheric rather than boring. I was surprised at how long it took these kids to grasp the seriousness of their situation, and there was a point a few days in when I started to wonder where this would end up.
Once we reached the crucial stage where the teens started to realise something had to be done, everything happened very quickly. Almost too quickly.
Perhaps I should have expected this but I felt the book lost something towards the end. A shame, but with such a subject I am hard pressed to see what else the author could have done.
November 10, 2017
I liked this book. The only qualm I have about it was that it was way too short. So many things could have happened, more character involved but it was abrupt on a few levels.
I loved the story of a massive blizzard over taking a town, 11 foot of snow or more, high school kids trapped in the high school, trying to survive without adult supervision.
I just wish it hadn't been so short and I did like the ending, it was satisfying and plausible. It was a bit too descriptive in parts on situations that should have only been a paragraph. I kept thinking, "lets get to the story already"....
I do recommend this book but it will leave you craving for more.
I loved the story of a massive blizzard over taking a town, 11 foot of snow or more, high school kids trapped in the high school, trying to survive without adult supervision.
I just wish it hadn't been so short and I did like the ending, it was satisfying and plausible. It was a bit too descriptive in parts on situations that should have only been a paragraph. I kept thinking, "lets get to the story already"....
I do recommend this book but it will leave you craving for more.
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