I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Going into this I had great hopes - a non-contemporary with aI received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Going into this I had great hopes - a non-contemporary with a bisexual main character with a fairly diverse set of characters, and, as you may have heard, evil birds. That’s all I needed. Yet, it lacked in its execution.
The plot dragged and never came to fruition. It felt very scattered, without any real development, making it difficult for it to feel believable within the world the author created. I was really disappointed because there was so much potential with this idea (despite it not focusing on evil birds). It was something I haven’t come across in young adult sci-fi, which now a days, is hard to come by. But since it didn't follow up on what was promised, it ended up falling into the category of forgettable.
The plot may have been forgiven if the writing somehow made it distinct, but it felt bland. I would not be able to pick this author’s writing style out in a crowd. It was to the point where it often came across as juvenile. The lack of a writing style made the story feel even more sub-par.
One of the saving qualities of this story was the main character recognizing, and coming to terms with her sexuality. It gave an incredibly honest look at what it’s like to discover yourself, and experience your first queer crush. This book showed a relationship between two girls, and it was just genuine and honest, and I really, really appreciated that. That being said, I wish that Amber and Reese’s relationship hadn’t been insta-love. I understand that it’s Reese’s first relationship with a girl, so her feelings are intense – and that there was a crunch due to the plotline – but it was too rushed. I would’ve liked to see more development from their relationship, not only to take away the cliché, but also to aid the believability of events that occur later on in the story.
Another great element of this story is the diversity found in the characters. One of the love interests is Chinese; the main character’s best friend is half black, gay and Jewish, and several minor characters were poc. (Yes they were minor, but many of them were people of power; doctors, government officials, etc. Also, the President of the United States was a woman). It was a nice change from the all white cast of characters sometimes found in sci-fi novels.
The characters themselves were dull. There wasn’t really anything that distinguished one character from another in concerns to their personality. I was indifferent towards the main character, I didn’t care about either of the love interests, it was just a constant feeling of disinterest. This of course left me even less motivated to continue reading.
Unfortunately, the dragging of the plot, and lack of overall story line outweighed the positive components of this book. It left me wanting more on many levels, and just wasn't for me. You may enjoy this if you’re looking for a sci-fi that also looks at the development of someone’s sexuality, but I cannot recommend it honestly. ...more
I'm going to try and keep this review short and to the point, because my feelings throughout this book were pretty consistent. I did not enjoy this book. I unfortunately found it quite bland and left something to be desired. I haven't even watched that much of the show, but I can already tell I like the show more than the book. I can't imagine how disappointed hardcore fans of the show would be reading this.
The plot was dull. I was never motivated to continue reading and I could care less about what actually happened. It felt lifeless. I honestly just wanted to be over.
The concept itself had an incredible amount of potential. There were so many opportunities for complex characters, political intrigue and interesting relationships. The possibilities seemed endless. It could have gone in so many different innovative directions, but instead it went down the cliche route. Which makes me really sad because come on, so many prospects, but alas it wasn't meant to be.
Every single romantic relationship in this book was overdramatic, cliche, annoying and unrealistic. My eyes stared getting sore due to how many times I rolled them.
Now, the one thing that really made me mad reading this was the characters. The majority of the characters we followed (who were 99% teenagers mind you), were snooty assholes that didn't have a compassionate bone in their body. Seriously, what the hell. I understand that some teenagers, or really people in general act like that, but to have 99% of your teenage characters act like that is ridiculous, not to mention unrealistic.
The only characters I didn't want to give a good smack to the head were Clarke and Bellamy (surprise surprise), and even they pissed me off often enough. I hated most of the characters. Their selfishness astounded me. How they could treat others in this way in order to gain some twisted sense of accomplishment is bullshit. Let's take a look shall we?
Example #1 "To save the girl he loved, he'd have to endanger the entire human race." First of all, you selfish selfish, piece of shit. You're willing to end of the lives of thousands of people just because YOU can't live without someone. This isn't about Clarke, this is about YOU, Wells. I understand loving and wanting to protect someone, but this is one of the most selfish things I've ever read. Fuck you, Wells. Fuck you.
Example #2 "Glass would never forgive herself for the pain she'd caused her mother, but she didn't have a choice." There is no doubt that in this situation, she had a choice. She was just trying to justify her actions in order to try and take away her guilt. Not cool, Glass, not cool.
There are so many other examples of these characters being plain idiotic, but you and I, don't have time for that. I understand that not all people can handle certain things the same way, and that some may act "stupid" due to the stress of the situation. But I reiterate, to have all the characters lack logic is UNREALISTIC. I thought we were over all teenagers being portrayed as incompetent, but apparently not. How they didn't all end up killing each other, I'll never understand.
Easy to say, I'll be sticking to the tv show. ...more
I know this book is incredibly loved, and proclaimed a sci-fi classic that propelled many people into the genre, but I was bored out DNF at 200 pages
I know this book is incredibly loved, and proclaimed a sci-fi classic that propelled many people into the genre, but I was bored out of my mind. While reading this I felt that I didn't know what was going on half the time, especially during the "battles." I found the author's attempt to orient the reader during the battle situations only left me more confused.
Not only that, but I didn't care. I felt nothing towards any of the characters, leaving a disconnect, furthering my boredom while reading.
Ender was an unrealistic portal of a six year old. I'm sorry, I understand that he is "special", and that they have "plans for him", but the thoughts he was having did not follow the thought process of a six year old, no matter their IQ. I found it off-putting to read, and left me picturing Ender as a teenager, instead of someone that is actually significantly younger.
The plot felt static, and had me questioning if we're ever going to go anywhere with the story. That being said, the one interesting side plot was that of Ender's siblings. I was always disappointed when we returned to Ender's structured, dull story. (I know, I know, this is extremely unpopular opinion).
I'm sorry to have disappointed all you sci-fi fans out there, but I've given up on trying to care about this story. ...more
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