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1.76k reviews by:
diamondxgirl
As Gerard Way says, this book isn’t meant to be reviewed but to be experienced.
And experienced it, I did.
And experienced it, I did.
If you know Alexis Bass, you know she writes unlikeable characters doing unlikeable things that you end up cheering for. An Education in Ruin is exactly that with a side of dark academia. If you love the drama of Gossip Girl, this is your book!
COVER REVEAL
Check out the cover of An Education in Ruin, get your preorder on, and be sure it's on your TBR!
COVER REVEAL
Check out the cover of An Education in Ruin, get your preorder on, and be sure it's on your TBR!
If you’ve read David’s other stories, you know the characters come first and the plot next. And by characters I mean the the people and the world building, which plays a critical role in The Electric Kingdom. While most YA stories drop you in the middle of the action, The Electric Kingdom slowly unrolls the world through a variety of experiences.
You have the adults, who lived in the before. Before a deadly pandemic swept the world. The world we currently live in. You have the youth, Nico and Kit, who live in a lonely world without the social constructs we are so accustomed to.
And then you have The Deliverer, a mysterious entity that reminds you this isn’t your typical apocalyptic book. This isn’t the apocalypse story of the early 2010s, where teens are trying to save the world. These youth are trying to save their humanity and understand the world they live in - and shifting it into the future, rather than changing back to the before. I’ll just leave it at that.
The scary part of this book is that it takes place in a not too distance future, primarily in the 2040s but beginning in 2025. As a person living through a current pandemic, a fictional pandemic that is started by humanity trying to genetically engineer an actual problem hits a little different. David, is there something we need to know?
The world is brutal and David does not shy away from describing it that way. These kids have had to grow up far too fast, running for their lives as swarms of deadly flies literally carry off their loved ones, never to be seen again. Through Nico and Kit’s eyes, we see the world and their motivations. The ending left me in tears and wanting more, satisfied and uplifted…needless to say, I felt a lot of things.
And yes, the dog makes it in the end.
tw: pandemic, suicide, murder, and a bunch of unnecessary HP references.
You have the adults, who lived in the before. Before a deadly pandemic swept the world. The world we currently live in. You have the youth, Nico and Kit, who live in a lonely world without the social constructs we are so accustomed to.
And then you have The Deliverer, a mysterious entity that reminds you this isn’t your typical apocalyptic book. This isn’t the apocalypse story of the early 2010s, where teens are trying to save the world. These youth are trying to save their humanity and understand the world they live in - and shifting it into the future, rather than changing back to the before. I’ll just leave it at that.
The scary part of this book is that it takes place in a not too distance future, primarily in the 2040s but beginning in 2025. As a person living through a current pandemic, a fictional pandemic that is started by humanity trying to genetically engineer an actual problem hits a little different. David, is there something we need to know?
The world is brutal and David does not shy away from describing it that way. These kids have had to grow up far too fast, running for their lives as swarms of deadly flies literally carry off their loved ones, never to be seen again. Through Nico and Kit’s eyes, we see the world and their motivations. The ending left me in tears and wanting more, satisfied and uplifted…needless to say, I felt a lot of things.
And yes, the dog makes it in the end.
tw: pandemic, suicide, murder, and a bunch of unnecessary HP references.
3 days into the new year and I already have a book for my best of list. I want to say We Could Be Heroes took me completely by surprise but I have read Mike’s words before and knew I was in for a treat.
Looking for a speculative novel that is character driven and full of heart? Enter We Could Be Heroes, with action that keeps you fully immersed and characters you’re cheering for the whole way through.
In a world that could easily be ours, two unsuspecting characters have developed superpowers….with no memory before that moment. Humans are fundamentally always in search of who they are so two adults waking up with extraordinary powers that no one else appears to have and no recollection of how they got there is cause for immediate crisis.
…or is it? The book opens in action scene that is at first jarring - what a terrifying ability! Robbing a bank by threatening to erase a person’s loved one from their memory? I was immediately terrified of Jamie and his mind-bending ability. Turns out Jamie is a cinnamon roll and he just wants to spoil his cat and retire to a beach. Do I think he would do it? No.
Of course, Zoe, the vigilante with your more typical abilities (speed, strength, etc) is planning her big moment, capturing the memory (and bank) robber. She’s…a mess with a heart of gold. Impulsive. Reckless. Determined.
This is a typical romance set up but I appreciate that Mike played off their shared connection to find out their pasts and the friendship that develops between these two unlikely heroes. Ultimately this is a story about who we are and who we want to be. How we shape our futures and honor our pasts. It also has an interesting world that is uncovered in the back half of the book, which I flew through.
Someone adapt this because it has all the makings of an amazing movie!
Looking for a speculative novel that is character driven and full of heart? Enter We Could Be Heroes, with action that keeps you fully immersed and characters you’re cheering for the whole way through.
In a world that could easily be ours, two unsuspecting characters have developed superpowers….with no memory before that moment. Humans are fundamentally always in search of who they are so two adults waking up with extraordinary powers that no one else appears to have and no recollection of how they got there is cause for immediate crisis.
…or is it? The book opens in action scene that is at first jarring - what a terrifying ability! Robbing a bank by threatening to erase a person’s loved one from their memory? I was immediately terrified of Jamie and his mind-bending ability. Turns out Jamie is a cinnamon roll and he just wants to spoil his cat and retire to a beach. Do I think he would do it? No.
Of course, Zoe, the vigilante with your more typical abilities (speed, strength, etc) is planning her big moment, capturing the memory (and bank) robber. She’s…a mess with a heart of gold. Impulsive. Reckless. Determined.
This is a typical romance set up but I appreciate that Mike played off their shared connection to find out their pasts and the friendship that develops between these two unlikely heroes. Ultimately this is a story about who we are and who we want to be. How we shape our futures and honor our pasts. It also has an interesting world that is uncovered in the back half of the book, which I flew through.
Someone adapt this because it has all the makings of an amazing movie!
A bold look at how young Black women are encouraged to grow up too fast by men that mean them harm.
A beautiful tale that explores the pain of growing up. Bring tissue for the end.
What if I said I wanted to marry both Elle and Darcy? So good!
If you took a typical fantasy structure and laid it over this book, they’d be identical. Sadly not for me! I did appreciate that the story revolved around a relationship that wasn’t romantic