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desiree930
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Re-read May, 2017
This book is still as amazing as it was when I first read it. Especially in the crazy world we are living in now, the themes in this book are so relevant.
"You see, a conflict always begins with an issue--a difference of opinion, an argument. But by the time it turns into a war, the issue doesn't matter anymore, because now it's about one thing and one thing only: how much each side hates the other."
Amazing book! Built a world that was scary and different, but not unbelievable...also one of the most disturbing chapters I have ever read occurs near the end of this book.
This book is still as amazing as it was when I first read it. Especially in the crazy world we are living in now, the themes in this book are so relevant.
"You see, a conflict always begins with an issue--a difference of opinion, an argument. But by the time it turns into a war, the issue doesn't matter anymore, because now it's about one thing and one thing only: how much each side hates the other."
Amazing book! Built a world that was scary and different, but not unbelievable...also one of the most disturbing chapters I have ever read occurs near the end of this book.
2.5 stars
I really thought I was going to love this book. The concept of the letter library is amazing and I want to go to that bookstore TODAY. It's really a wonderful idea and gives this book a unique hook.
Unfortunately, I had some issues with this book that kept me from liking it as many other people did.
Things I liked:
1. The letter library. I know I already stated this, but I LOVE the letter library. I would love to go to a bookshop with something like this implemented.
2. The book club. I wish we'd had more than one scene with the book club, which seemed to have been a sort of group therapy for its members.
3. The fate of the books. Not gonna lie, I got a little choked up in the last couple pages.
4. The cover. Very nice.
Things I didn't like:
1. Characters. Henry was a whiny, weak, pathetic young man. If I had a friend, man or woman, who acted the way Henry did concerning his ex, I would have a hard time not hitting them upside the head and telling them to grow a damn spine. His consistent denial of reality and the way he crawls back to her over and over again borders on delusional. Maya Angelou once said, "When people show you who they are, believe them the first time." That is a lesson Henry never learned apparently. Maybe he needs to expand his literary horizons.
I hate the way he flip-flops between Amy and Rachel. He also literally says he will change everything about himself in order to get his ex back. If this was a female character we would be up in arms that she would change everything about herself for a guy. I don't like it any better this way.
Honestly, he reminds me of a character in a John Green book (I'm looking at you, Paper Towns). I felt like I was supposed to like his quirky 'hopeless romantic' schtick and ignore the fact that the girl he was obsessed with didn't give two shits about him, something that was demonstrated over and over again. Seriously, WHY DOES HE LIKE HER?!?! She has zero redeeming qualities. I just don't get it.
I'm not a big Rachel fan either. She doesn't tell anyone about her brother, but then gets upset when Henry doesn't appreciate what she lost...ummmm...you can't hold that against him when it was your choice to keep that information to yourself! I understand that grief affects everyone differently, so I don't hold her actions against her the way I hold Henry's against him.
I also felt like the side characters weren't well-developed. There were a couple characters mentioned who seemed to be an attempt at diversity (one character is a lesbian, as is another characters' parents)
2. Misunderstandings: there are so many misunderstandings that could be cleared up if the characters would just talk to each other...but they don't. So instead we get this angsty passive-aggressive nonsense from pretty much every character.
3. The writing: I understand that critiquing writing style is subjective. What may work for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. That being said, I was not a hue fan of this writing. I liked the idea that we would get to see letters and notes left in the books in the letter library. That was awesome, especially the random ones sprinkled in throughout the story. But I found the switching between Rachel and Henry's perspectives a little confusing. I also don't mind dual-perspective novels, even in first-person, but I didn't feel like their voices were distinct enough. There were several times where I had to remind myself whose perspective I was in. Also, the writing itself was relatively simplistic, and yet there were passages and interactions that felt a little clunky and awkward to me. I also struggled with the fact that when it would switch back to the other perspective, oftentimes it would jump back in the timeline and retread on things we'd just read, which felt a little messy and filler-y.
Other things: SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD
1. In the chapter that starts on 213, Rachel is hopeful about her relationship with Henry, not knowing that he was just kissing his ex. In her next chapter, she refers to Amy and Henry kissing and how she is sure Amy is going to go on a trip with Henry, regardless of the fact that as far as she knew, Amy hadn't come back to Henry yet...so why the change in attitude? I had to flip back and reread to make sure I didn't miss a piece of dialogue or action where she maybe saw them or was told about them getting back together...I didn't.
Slight Spoilers Over
All in all, I was disappointed with this. So many people seem to adore it, and I was sure I would too, but I just didn't.
I really thought I was going to love this book. The concept of the letter library is amazing and I want to go to that bookstore TODAY. It's really a wonderful idea and gives this book a unique hook.
Unfortunately, I had some issues with this book that kept me from liking it as many other people did.
Things I liked:
1. The letter library. I know I already stated this, but I LOVE the letter library. I would love to go to a bookshop with something like this implemented.
2. The book club. I wish we'd had more than one scene with the book club, which seemed to have been a sort of group therapy for its members.
3. The fate of the books. Not gonna lie, I got a little choked up in the last couple pages.
4. The cover. Very nice.
Things I didn't like:
1. Characters. Henry was a whiny, weak, pathetic young man. If I had a friend, man or woman, who acted the way Henry did concerning his ex, I would have a hard time not hitting them upside the head and telling them to grow a damn spine. His consistent denial of reality and the way he crawls back to her over and over again borders on delusional. Maya Angelou once said, "When people show you who they are, believe them the first time." That is a lesson Henry never learned apparently. Maybe he needs to expand his literary horizons.
I hate the way he flip-flops between Amy and Rachel. He also literally says he will change everything about himself in order to get his ex back. If this was a female character we would be up in arms that she would change everything about herself for a guy. I don't like it any better this way.
Honestly, he reminds me of a character in a John Green book (I'm looking at you, Paper Towns). I felt like I was supposed to like his quirky 'hopeless romantic' schtick and ignore the fact that the girl he was obsessed with didn't give two shits about him, something that was demonstrated over and over again. Seriously, WHY DOES HE LIKE HER?!?! She has zero redeeming qualities. I just don't get it.
I'm not a big Rachel fan either. She doesn't tell anyone about her brother, but then gets upset when Henry doesn't appreciate what she lost...ummmm...you can't hold that against him when it was your choice to keep that information to yourself! I understand that grief affects everyone differently, so I don't hold her actions against her the way I hold Henry's against him.
I also felt like the side characters weren't well-developed. There were a couple characters mentioned who seemed to be an attempt at diversity (one character is a lesbian, as is another characters' parents)
2. Misunderstandings: there are so many misunderstandings that could be cleared up if the characters would just talk to each other...but they don't. So instead we get this angsty passive-aggressive nonsense from pretty much every character.
3. The writing: I understand that critiquing writing style is subjective. What may work for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. That being said, I was not a hue fan of this writing. I liked the idea that we would get to see letters and notes left in the books in the letter library. That was awesome, especially the random ones sprinkled in throughout the story. But I found the switching between Rachel and Henry's perspectives a little confusing. I also don't mind dual-perspective novels, even in first-person, but I didn't feel like their voices were distinct enough. There were several times where I had to remind myself whose perspective I was in. Also, the writing itself was relatively simplistic, and yet there were passages and interactions that felt a little clunky and awkward to me. I also struggled with the fact that when it would switch back to the other perspective, oftentimes it would jump back in the timeline and retread on things we'd just read, which felt a little messy and filler-y.
Other things: SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD
1. In the chapter that starts on 213, Rachel is hopeful about her relationship with Henry, not knowing that he was just kissing his ex. In her next chapter, she refers to Amy and Henry kissing and how she is sure Amy is going to go on a trip with Henry, regardless of the fact that as far as she knew, Amy hadn't come back to Henry yet...so why the change in attitude? I had to flip back and reread to make sure I didn't miss a piece of dialogue or action where she maybe saw them or was told about them getting back together...I didn't.
Slight Spoilers Over
All in all, I was disappointed with this. So many people seem to adore it, and I was sure I would too, but I just didn't.
2.75 stars
I had so many feelings reading this book. I've always loved Princess Leia as a character, and admired the way Carrie Fisher worked to overcome her addiction (regardless of the circumstances surrounding her death) and manage her bipolar disorder. I really wanted to love this. The book is marketed as a kind of behind-the-scenes of Carrie's experience shooting the first Star Wars movie. In reality, it focuses almost entirely on her affair with Harrison Ford that apparently occurred in the three months they spent shooting A New Hope. She also briefly explores how playing Princess Leia shaped the rest of her life.
She is at times self-deprecating and candid, and at other times defensive and somewhat misleading. There are passages where she will recount something someone said or a conversation she had and then she follows it up by saying something like, "He could've said that. He didn't, but he could've." This happens a few times. It felt like she was trying to be humorous, but it just didn't quite work for me.
At the end of the section describing her 'relationship' with Ford, there are 68 pages (not all full pages, some are just a sentence or two) of her actual journal writings from that time. This was one of the more uncomfortable parts of the book. I know that she chose to publish them, but it felt very strange to literally read someone's diary. The entries reveal her obsessions, hopes, and fears in a mostly rambling, sometimes erratic-bordering-on-manic manner. It honestly made me sad, especially in hindsight. The following quotes come from those journal entries:
"I am the only one who can come to my rescue. I am the only one who can help me now. But I don't know how to help myself. It must follow then that I don't want to help myself."
"I would like to not be able to hear myself think. I constantly hear my mind chattering and jabbering away up there all by itself. I wish it would give me a fucking break."
"If anyone reads this when I have passed to the big bad beyond I shall be posthumorously (yes, this is the word she used...no, it's not actually a word) embarrassed. I shall spend my entire afterlife blushing."
"I call people sometimes hoping not only that they'll verify the fact that I'm alive but that they'll also, however indirectly, convince me that being alive is an appropriate state for me to be in. Because sometimes I don't think it's such a bright idea. Is it worth the trouble it takes trying to live life so that someday you get something worthwhile out of it, instead of it almost taking worthwhile things out of you?"
I don't know about anyone else, but I really felt for the 19-year old who seemed to feel so lost, and it's too bad that she wasn't able to get help before the point where she began using drugs as a way to cope.
Unfortunately, I had a little trouble in some parts of the narrative. Fisher would be talking about one event, then would go on a tangent and start talking about something else before actually finishing her original story. It came off as a little rambling for me.
In her writing about her relationship with Ford, she is incredibly vague. Now, I don't need or want to hear all of the intimate details, but there are essentially no details at all. Basically, this is the story:
They met on set and she was twitterpated about him. He made her nervous and she couldn't really talk to him. One night at a party she gets drunk and goes home with him. They don't talk about their relationship, EVER. Actually, according to her they don't talk much at all. She becomes obsessed with him (those are her words, and it's also obvious in her journal entries) and three months later the movie wraps and their affair ends...we get one story about them going out for a drink and her doing an impression of him and then him getting upset when he learns that she has only been in one relationship prior to their hookup...that's it. And it's 58 pages long...129 pages if you include the diary entries.
Now, I wouldn't have a problem with the length of the story if I felt like I learned anything or if it was entertaining...but I didn't and it wasn't. I think most people see Harrison Ford as a rather quiet, introverted guy. Reading about how they spent their weekends hooking up with pretty much no feeling behind it was not a fun or entertaining read.
Also, there is a section at the end of the book talking about her experiences with fans. She attributes these long, rambling, fanatic quotes to anonymous fans. At the end of it she says that she loves her fans and admires them, but her tone as she's relaying these stories comes of a little mocking.
I'm not sure if these were based on actual fans she met or if she was just exaggerating the quotes for entertainment value, but as someone who has a tendency to fangirl (not to the extent that she claims happens in the book, but still...) I found it a little disconcerting. I do think it would be frustrating to be approached by people all the time expecting you to BE the character you portrayed over 40 years ago, but at the same time, she chose to do these 'celebrity lap dances' as she calls the act of getting paid for autographs and pictures.
All in all, I found this book more than a little heartbreaking, especially considering her passing so shortly after the book's release. I wanted to love it. Unfortunately, I didn't think it was very well-written. What was supposed to be witty more often than not came off as rambling and a little self-important. And what I was expecting (a book chronicling her experience making Star Wars) became more about her airing her dirty laundry and I just wasn't a fan.
I had so many feelings reading this book. I've always loved Princess Leia as a character, and admired the way Carrie Fisher worked to overcome her addiction (regardless of the circumstances surrounding her death) and manage her bipolar disorder. I really wanted to love this. The book is marketed as a kind of behind-the-scenes of Carrie's experience shooting the first Star Wars movie. In reality, it focuses almost entirely on her affair with Harrison Ford that apparently occurred in the three months they spent shooting A New Hope. She also briefly explores how playing Princess Leia shaped the rest of her life.
She is at times self-deprecating and candid, and at other times defensive and somewhat misleading. There are passages where she will recount something someone said or a conversation she had and then she follows it up by saying something like, "He could've said that. He didn't, but he could've." This happens a few times. It felt like she was trying to be humorous, but it just didn't quite work for me.
At the end of the section describing her 'relationship' with Ford, there are 68 pages (not all full pages, some are just a sentence or two) of her actual journal writings from that time. This was one of the more uncomfortable parts of the book. I know that she chose to publish them, but it felt very strange to literally read someone's diary. The entries reveal her obsessions, hopes, and fears in a mostly rambling, sometimes erratic-bordering-on-manic manner. It honestly made me sad, especially in hindsight. The following quotes come from those journal entries:
"I am the only one who can come to my rescue. I am the only one who can help me now. But I don't know how to help myself. It must follow then that I don't want to help myself."
"I would like to not be able to hear myself think. I constantly hear my mind chattering and jabbering away up there all by itself. I wish it would give me a fucking break."
"If anyone reads this when I have passed to the big bad beyond I shall be posthumorously (yes, this is the word she used...no, it's not actually a word) embarrassed. I shall spend my entire afterlife blushing."
"I call people sometimes hoping not only that they'll verify the fact that I'm alive but that they'll also, however indirectly, convince me that being alive is an appropriate state for me to be in. Because sometimes I don't think it's such a bright idea. Is it worth the trouble it takes trying to live life so that someday you get something worthwhile out of it, instead of it almost taking worthwhile things out of you?"
I don't know about anyone else, but I really felt for the 19-year old who seemed to feel so lost, and it's too bad that she wasn't able to get help before the point where she began using drugs as a way to cope.
Unfortunately, I had a little trouble in some parts of the narrative. Fisher would be talking about one event, then would go on a tangent and start talking about something else before actually finishing her original story. It came off as a little rambling for me.
In her writing about her relationship with Ford, she is incredibly vague. Now, I don't need or want to hear all of the intimate details, but there are essentially no details at all. Basically, this is the story:
They met on set and she was twitterpated about him. He made her nervous and she couldn't really talk to him. One night at a party she gets drunk and goes home with him. They don't talk about their relationship, EVER. Actually, according to her they don't talk much at all. She becomes obsessed with him (those are her words, and it's also obvious in her journal entries) and three months later the movie wraps and their affair ends...we get one story about them going out for a drink and her doing an impression of him and then him getting upset when he learns that she has only been in one relationship prior to their hookup...that's it. And it's 58 pages long...129 pages if you include the diary entries.
Now, I wouldn't have a problem with the length of the story if I felt like I learned anything or if it was entertaining...but I didn't and it wasn't. I think most people see Harrison Ford as a rather quiet, introverted guy. Reading about how they spent their weekends hooking up with pretty much no feeling behind it was not a fun or entertaining read.
Also, there is a section at the end of the book talking about her experiences with fans. She attributes these long, rambling, fanatic quotes to anonymous fans. At the end of it she says that she loves her fans and admires them, but her tone as she's relaying these stories comes of a little mocking.
I'm not sure if these were based on actual fans she met or if she was just exaggerating the quotes for entertainment value, but as someone who has a tendency to fangirl (not to the extent that she claims happens in the book, but still...) I found it a little disconcerting. I do think it would be frustrating to be approached by people all the time expecting you to BE the character you portrayed over 40 years ago, but at the same time, she chose to do these 'celebrity lap dances' as she calls the act of getting paid for autographs and pictures.
All in all, I found this book more than a little heartbreaking, especially considering her passing so shortly after the book's release. I wanted to love it. Unfortunately, I didn't think it was very well-written. What was supposed to be witty more often than not came off as rambling and a little self-important. And what I was expecting (a book chronicling her experience making Star Wars) became more about her airing her dirty laundry and I just wasn't a fan.
Sigh. This book bums me out. I had such high hopes for it. I've liked previous novels from this author, and I liked the idea that this was a standalone novel.
I know that many people are over the dystopian craze, but I don't mind admitting that I still enjoy a good dystopian novel. Emphasis on the word 'good'. Unfortunately, I had so many issues with this book that I wouldn't call it good. I would barely call it mediocre.
Many spoilers follow.
Characters: 2/5
Aya (a.k.a. Ayaina, a.k.a. Clover) is ridiculous. She is supposed to be this street-smart (Wilderness smart?) girl who is able to outsmart everyone around her in order to manipulate situations to her advantage. The trouble is, she's an idiot. She acts impetuously and without any thoughts to the consequences of her actions, even when it's obvious that the consequences will be severe. She thinks she's playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers...unfortunately, I think Candyland is more her style.
Kiran (a.k.a Varick, because apparently the characters in this book need several names.) is a Driver, a selective mute belonging to a group of selective mutes who is also supposed to be intelligent...but he falls for Aya...so I'm really having trouble buying him as an intelligent guy. Aya doesn't think he can speak at first, or even understand her, and ends up telling him all about herself. Meanwhile, he knows exactly what she's saying and let's her keep talking and baring her soul to him...because THAT'S not creepy. You know from the beginning that this is supposed to be a love interest, but it just does nothing for me. At all.
She gets all jealous when he's nice to other female characters, and I'm like, "YOU'VE KNOWN HIM FOR LIKE A WEEK. YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HE HAD THE ABILITY TO SPEAK OR UNDERSTAND ENGLISH. JUST STOP."
Near the end of the book she gets all metaphysical, talking about how his soul belongs to her and hers belongs to him. Basically they are in love forever and ever...but she doesn't even know that one of the girls she's jealous of is actually his little sister. Don't you think you should know something...anything...about the person you're supposedly head over heels in love with?!?! They have no real conversations getting to know each other, but we're supposed to be okay with that because they have a 'connection.' 🤢
Side characters: None of them are fleshed-out enough to actually comment on. There are so many things alluded to that are never explained or explored as far as characters and their backstories...this really felt like half a book, which brings us to...
Plot: 1/5
1. Wild girl gets kidnapped and put up for auction
2. Wild girl escapes from creepy owners with help of quiet boy.
3. Wild girl runs home, just to run back to the city to save her relatives.
4. Wild girl and quiet boy run back to quiet camp and live...happily? Maybe? Who the eff knows?
Really, nothing happened in this book. And yet, there were many characters and settings throughout the book. But none of them felt well-developed to me. They just go from one scene to the next to the next. Ugh.
World Building: 1/5
This is where the book just really loses me. The world-building is so incredibly murky. So this book is set in some sort of dystopian future where women are basically slaves. They have no rights, and they are pretty much being sold in auction's to the highest better to be a broodmare before they're put back up on the auction block. Supposedly, this happened when two men in power both fell for the same woman and because she was with both of them and that caused a war (or something...again, it made no sense) all women are made to suffer and be property. It just feels like a very flimsy premise to me. It's asking a huge suspension of disbelief.
Also, apparently in this future there is little to no food in the city and so people have to take pills that are basically meal supplements. This isn't ever really satisfactorily explained, it's just the way it is. It felt like the authors attempt to have some sort of interesting society, but it makes literally no sense. Aya talks throughout the book about how she's used to eating fresh food that she caught or picked outside the city and it doesn't make any sense to me that they couldn't send some people outside the city to go hunting and gathering especially when they are thinking that that is why the people outside the city are more fertile than others.
Another absurdity is the idea that we've gone backwards in technology in some ways, but not in others. For example, horses are used instead of cars for...reasons? But science is technologically advanced enough that detention centers which put up girls for auction can actually redistribute the weight a girl is carrying to make her more appealing to potential buyers and they can genetically modify people to suit their purposes. It's ridiculous.
One of my biggest issues with this book was the scale. What I mean by that is, if all of this is to be believed...what the heck is going on in the rest of the world (or he'll, even the country) that this is allowed to occur? What is the scale of this corruption? We only see a very limited setting. One city, and a couple small camps in the mountains outside the city. Unless I missed it, nothing is ever mentioned regarding any other places.
Also, the idea of the Drivers and their subculture is never explained. They are a group of people who go into the city to trade. They do not speak and people assume that for some reason they're all mute. But we come to find out that they are not mute; that they choose to not speak and make it seem like they are mute to everybody else and it's never explained why. At one point, Kiran says something about needing to protect all the girls in their camp, but never really explains how them being silent protects anybody.
One last thing. And that is...this book is pointless. Maybe it's because I like the idea (especially in this day and age) of good conquering evil. I like my dystopia to end with a regime being brought down. Call me basic, I freely admit it. Absolutely NO ONE in this book gets their comeuppance. Nothing is changed. Aya gets away from this awful place and goes back to the Driver camp and that's the end of the book. Now, I could maybe accept it if this was just a well-written survival story about a smart girl defeating the odds...but it wasn't. Like I said earlier, Aya is not nearly as smart as she thinks she is. She makes it out IN SPITE of the fact that she makes terrible fucking decisions. I found myself hating her by the end of the book. And that's not supposed to be the case. We are supposed to root for her.
The only thing that saved this book from a 1-star rating from me was that there was a kernel of an interesting story here. It COULD have been good.
I feel really bad that I didn't like this book. When I read Article 5 years ago when it first came out, I really enjoyed it. I kind of wonder if I went back now and reread it if I would feel the same. I will pick up more from this author in the future because I do believe that she has a real talent for creating compelling premises. Hopefully I will be able to connect with it better.
I know that many people are over the dystopian craze, but I don't mind admitting that I still enjoy a good dystopian novel. Emphasis on the word 'good'. Unfortunately, I had so many issues with this book that I wouldn't call it good. I would barely call it mediocre.
Many spoilers follow.
Characters: 2/5
Aya (a.k.a. Ayaina, a.k.a. Clover) is ridiculous. She is supposed to be this street-smart (Wilderness smart?) girl who is able to outsmart everyone around her in order to manipulate situations to her advantage. The trouble is, she's an idiot. She acts impetuously and without any thoughts to the consequences of her actions, even when it's obvious that the consequences will be severe. She thinks she's playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers...unfortunately, I think Candyland is more her style.
Kiran (a.k.a Varick, because apparently the characters in this book need several names.) is a Driver, a selective mute belonging to a group of selective mutes who is also supposed to be intelligent...but he falls for Aya...so I'm really having trouble buying him as an intelligent guy. Aya doesn't think he can speak at first, or even understand her, and ends up telling him all about herself. Meanwhile, he knows exactly what she's saying and let's her keep talking and baring her soul to him...because THAT'S not creepy. You know from the beginning that this is supposed to be a love interest, but it just does nothing for me. At all.
She gets all jealous when he's nice to other female characters, and I'm like, "YOU'VE KNOWN HIM FOR LIKE A WEEK. YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HE HAD THE ABILITY TO SPEAK OR UNDERSTAND ENGLISH. JUST STOP."
Near the end of the book she gets all metaphysical, talking about how his soul belongs to her and hers belongs to him. Basically they are in love forever and ever...but she doesn't even know that one of the girls she's jealous of is actually his little sister. Don't you think you should know something...anything...about the person you're supposedly head over heels in love with?!?! They have no real conversations getting to know each other, but we're supposed to be okay with that because they have a 'connection.' 🤢
Side characters: None of them are fleshed-out enough to actually comment on. There are so many things alluded to that are never explained or explored as far as characters and their backstories...this really felt like half a book, which brings us to...
Plot: 1/5
1. Wild girl gets kidnapped and put up for auction
2. Wild girl escapes from creepy owners with help of quiet boy.
3. Wild girl runs home, just to run back to the city to save her relatives.
4. Wild girl and quiet boy run back to quiet camp and live...happily? Maybe? Who the eff knows?
Really, nothing happened in this book. And yet, there were many characters and settings throughout the book. But none of them felt well-developed to me. They just go from one scene to the next to the next. Ugh.
World Building: 1/5
This is where the book just really loses me. The world-building is so incredibly murky. So this book is set in some sort of dystopian future where women are basically slaves. They have no rights, and they are pretty much being sold in auction's to the highest better to be a broodmare before they're put back up on the auction block. Supposedly, this happened when two men in power both fell for the same woman and because she was with both of them and that caused a war (or something...again, it made no sense) all women are made to suffer and be property. It just feels like a very flimsy premise to me. It's asking a huge suspension of disbelief.
Also, apparently in this future there is little to no food in the city and so people have to take pills that are basically meal supplements. This isn't ever really satisfactorily explained, it's just the way it is. It felt like the authors attempt to have some sort of interesting society, but it makes literally no sense. Aya talks throughout the book about how she's used to eating fresh food that she caught or picked outside the city and it doesn't make any sense to me that they couldn't send some people outside the city to go hunting and gathering especially when they are thinking that that is why the people outside the city are more fertile than others.
Another absurdity is the idea that we've gone backwards in technology in some ways, but not in others. For example, horses are used instead of cars for...reasons? But science is technologically advanced enough that detention centers which put up girls for auction can actually redistribute the weight a girl is carrying to make her more appealing to potential buyers and they can genetically modify people to suit their purposes. It's ridiculous.
One of my biggest issues with this book was the scale. What I mean by that is, if all of this is to be believed...what the heck is going on in the rest of the world (or he'll, even the country) that this is allowed to occur? What is the scale of this corruption? We only see a very limited setting. One city, and a couple small camps in the mountains outside the city. Unless I missed it, nothing is ever mentioned regarding any other places.
Also, the idea of the Drivers and their subculture is never explained. They are a group of people who go into the city to trade. They do not speak and people assume that for some reason they're all mute. But we come to find out that they are not mute; that they choose to not speak and make it seem like they are mute to everybody else and it's never explained why. At one point, Kiran says something about needing to protect all the girls in their camp, but never really explains how them being silent protects anybody.
One last thing. And that is...this book is pointless. Maybe it's because I like the idea (especially in this day and age) of good conquering evil. I like my dystopia to end with a regime being brought down. Call me basic, I freely admit it. Absolutely NO ONE in this book gets their comeuppance. Nothing is changed. Aya gets away from this awful place and goes back to the Driver camp and that's the end of the book. Now, I could maybe accept it if this was just a well-written survival story about a smart girl defeating the odds...but it wasn't. Like I said earlier, Aya is not nearly as smart as she thinks she is. She makes it out IN SPITE of the fact that she makes terrible fucking decisions. I found myself hating her by the end of the book. And that's not supposed to be the case. We are supposed to root for her.
The only thing that saved this book from a 1-star rating from me was that there was a kernel of an interesting story here. It COULD have been good.
I feel really bad that I didn't like this book. When I read Article 5 years ago when it first came out, I really enjoyed it. I kind of wonder if I went back now and reread it if I would feel the same. I will pick up more from this author in the future because I do believe that she has a real talent for creating compelling premises. Hopefully I will be able to connect with it better.
I didn't really care for this book. I went into the story not really knowing anything about it, other than it was a mystery/suspense YA book...and even after reading it I'm not sure what the point was.
The pacing in this book is just too slow for my tastes. I appreciate a slow-burn kind of suspense, but this was just slow with no burn. At only 275ish pages, I would normally get through a book this size in under three hours. This took me almost four because I just couldn't get into it. The author tries to build suspense by hinting at the twist that we all know has to be coming at some point...but when it does I was left feeling underwhelmed.
I didn't really care for either of the main characters. Gloria is a selfish, spoiled, whiny protagonist and I didn't get the appeal of Uman at all. I see that he is supposed to come off as this mysterious, persuasive, almost hypnotic boy, but what really ends up happening is that he comes across as an entitled, pushy shit.
I'm not sure if we are supposed to take Gloria's word that Uman was not manipulative, but all textual evidence shows that he was exactly that. Up to the very last page, he is manipulating her emotions and actions. Maybe this was the author's attempt to make Gloria an unreliable narrator (This is seriously a trope that I am getting so tired of reading.) but it just made me dislike Gloria even more because it showed just how immature and idiotic she was.
All in all, this book was a miss for me. I'm still looking for a good YA mystery/thriller...
The pacing in this book is just too slow for my tastes. I appreciate a slow-burn kind of suspense, but this was just slow with no burn. At only 275ish pages, I would normally get through a book this size in under three hours. This took me almost four because I just couldn't get into it. The author tries to build suspense by hinting at the twist that we all know has to be coming at some point...but when it does I was left feeling underwhelmed.
I didn't really care for either of the main characters. Gloria is a selfish, spoiled, whiny protagonist and I didn't get the appeal of Uman at all. I see that he is supposed to come off as this mysterious, persuasive, almost hypnotic boy, but what really ends up happening is that he comes across as an entitled, pushy shit.
I'm not sure if we are supposed to take Gloria's word that Uman was not manipulative, but all textual evidence shows that he was exactly that. Up to the very last page, he is manipulating her emotions and actions. Maybe this was the author's attempt to make Gloria an unreliable narrator (This is seriously a trope that I am getting so tired of reading.) but it just made me dislike Gloria even more because it showed just how immature and idiotic she was.
All in all, this book was a miss for me. I'm still looking for a good YA mystery/thriller...
I really enjoyed this book. I haven't read Simon vs. the Homosapien's Agenda yet, but even though a couple of the characters cross over from that story I never felt lost or anything. I read this in one sitting.
Things I liked:
Molly is a big girl with insecurities...as someone who was also a big girl in high school (many, many years ago), I related to a lot of her inner monologue. I've seen a lot of critiques saying that they hated that all of her focus was on wanting a boyfriend...but what do you expect?! This girl is 17, and everyone around her is coupled up and trying to push her into coupling up as well, as if being alone is just unfathomable. It makes sense to me that she would be focused on that...
The friendship-turned-romance between her and Reid was pretty sweet. I spent quite of bit of my time reading their scenes with a big stupid grin on my face.
The diversity of the characters and their discussions revolving around tolerance and acceptance was very welcomed. I did feel like some of the conversations the teens had in big groups was a little unrealistic, but like I said, it's been a long time since I was a teenager myself...
Most of the side characters were well-written. I enjoyed the interactions with the girls, for the most part.
Things I didn't like:
I didn't feel like Mina was very well fleshed out as a side character. This also applies to Max and Will. I feel like all I really know about Will is that he's a decent guy who drinks too much, and Max makes people wear their seat belts...that's about it.
Cassie was kind of a manipulative person. She knew exactly how Molly would react to any given situation and used it to get her own way. When she threw her little tantrum about not being allowed to visit Mina, I just didn't like it. And I didn't necessarily buy the scene where she and Molly mend fences. It should've been explored a little further.
All in all, I really did have a wonderful reading experience with this book and can't wait to pick up more from this author.
Things I liked:
Molly is a big girl with insecurities...as someone who was also a big girl in high school (many, many years ago), I related to a lot of her inner monologue. I've seen a lot of critiques saying that they hated that all of her focus was on wanting a boyfriend...but what do you expect?! This girl is 17, and everyone around her is coupled up and trying to push her into coupling up as well, as if being alone is just unfathomable. It makes sense to me that she would be focused on that...
The friendship-turned-romance between her and Reid was pretty sweet. I spent quite of bit of my time reading their scenes with a big stupid grin on my face.
The diversity of the characters and their discussions revolving around tolerance and acceptance was very welcomed. I did feel like some of the conversations the teens had in big groups was a little unrealistic, but like I said, it's been a long time since I was a teenager myself...
Most of the side characters were well-written. I enjoyed the interactions with the girls, for the most part.
Things I didn't like:
I didn't feel like Mina was very well fleshed out as a side character. This also applies to Max and Will. I feel like all I really know about Will is that he's a decent guy who drinks too much, and Max makes people wear their seat belts...that's about it.
Cassie was kind of a manipulative person. She knew exactly how Molly would react to any given situation and used it to get her own way. When she threw her little tantrum about not being allowed to visit Mina, I just didn't like it. And I didn't necessarily buy the scene where she and Molly mend fences. It should've been explored a little further.
All in all, I really did have a wonderful reading experience with this book and can't wait to pick up more from this author.
Things I liked:
The meeting of the two main characters and the progression of their friendship and romance wasn't insta-lovey at all. Maybe insta-crush on Eva's part, but definitely not love at first sight.
Eva's devotion to her family, especially her siblings.
Charlotte and Eva's friendship and the fact that even though they had a small falling out it didn't last the entire book.
The use of curse words and actual intimate scenes! This may sound like a strange thing to 'like', but I used to be a teenager (oh, so many years ago) and I remember how we spoke and acted. Most YA contemporaries are so chaste and mild that they just don't ring true.
I'm not in any way, shape, or form a math nerd, but I did appreciate that Eva was. It was cute to read about.
Things I didn't like:
There is some mild slut shaming in this book that is a little annoying. It's not really directed at any one character, and is usually used for the sake of an off-the-cuff attempt at humor, but making a joke about your baby sister someday being a slutty stripper is a little much.
There are a few trope-y things that happen in this book, but not to the extent that I hated it...it just didn't feel necessarily like the most original thing ever.
Pacing in the first half. There is one big plot point that I as a reader figured out pretty much right off the bat that our main character didn't figure out for about half the book, and there were scenes that felt slightly repetitive because I just wanted her to figure it out already!
There is a reveal about 3/4 of the way through the book that was surprising, but also pretty unbelievable. As readers we are already accepting this world where our main character has some sort of psychic abilities, but the reveal pushes us to also accept several crazy coincidences as being destiny.
The ending felt a little abrupt to me, as if the author wasn't quite sure how to wrap everything up.
I believe this is a debut novel, and it was interesting enough that I would definitely pick up a future book by her.
The meeting of the two main characters and the progression of their friendship and romance wasn't insta-lovey at all. Maybe insta-crush on Eva's part, but definitely not love at first sight.
Eva's devotion to her family, especially her siblings.
Charlotte and Eva's friendship and the fact that even though they had a small falling out it didn't last the entire book.
The use of curse words and actual intimate scenes! This may sound like a strange thing to 'like', but I used to be a teenager (oh, so many years ago) and I remember how we spoke and acted. Most YA contemporaries are so chaste and mild that they just don't ring true.
I'm not in any way, shape, or form a math nerd, but I did appreciate that Eva was. It was cute to read about.
Things I didn't like:
There is some mild slut shaming in this book that is a little annoying. It's not really directed at any one character, and is usually used for the sake of an off-the-cuff attempt at humor, but making a joke about your baby sister someday being a slutty stripper is a little much.
There are a few trope-y things that happen in this book, but not to the extent that I hated it...it just didn't feel necessarily like the most original thing ever.
Pacing in the first half. There is one big plot point that I as a reader figured out pretty much right off the bat that our main character didn't figure out for about half the book, and there were scenes that felt slightly repetitive because I just wanted her to figure it out already!
There is a reveal about 3/4 of the way through the book that was surprising, but also pretty unbelievable. As readers we are already accepting this world where our main character has some sort of psychic abilities, but the reveal pushes us to also accept several crazy coincidences as being destiny.
The ending felt a little abrupt to me, as if the author wasn't quite sure how to wrap everything up.
I believe this is a debut novel, and it was interesting enough that I would definitely pick up a future book by her.