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diamondxgirl
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"[Our perspective] is like the moon. We can see it differently by climbing a mountain, but we can not outrun it."
The last two sentences will absolutely break you. I completely lost it. It's like I was holding Mercy's journey and could finally let go.
Lee's command of historical fiction and diversity here and in her other works remain consistently wonderful. This book took me far longer to read because I continuously looked up events or cultural references that intrigued me. Even though I live right outside of San Francisco, I still have so much to learn about the city's diverse population and deep culture. Outrun the Moon kept me going down the Google hole, learning more than I ever could in any history class.
Mercy Wong is one of the strongest female characters you'll ever have the pleasure of meeting. She's determined but not stubborn, setting her own course in order to better her situation as well as her family's. She meets and surrounds herded with a group of people who each have their own strengths and she helps them develop into the people I imagine they later become.
Outrun the Moon is a story of hope in a time of extreme adversity. There's racial tension and discrimination which isn't thrown to the wayside or unfairly represented. History is not ignored but rather this is a story of what could be.
***I won a copy of Outrun the Moon on GR Giveaways and while I feel SUPER lucky, it did not impact my opinion of the book.
"[Our perspective] is like the moon. We can see it differently by climbing a mountain, but we can not outrun it."
The last two sentences will absolutely break you. I completely lost it. It's like I was holding Mercy's journey and could finally let go.
Lee's command of historical fiction and diversity here and in her other works remain consistently wonderful. This book took me far longer to read because I continuously looked up events or cultural references that intrigued me. Even though I live right outside of San Francisco, I still have so much to learn about the city's diverse population and deep culture. Outrun the Moon kept me going down the Google hole, learning more than I ever could in any history class.
Mercy Wong is one of the strongest female characters you'll ever have the pleasure of meeting. She's determined but not stubborn, setting her own course in order to better her situation as well as her family's. She meets and surrounds herded with a group of people who each have their own strengths and she helps them develop into the people I imagine they later become.
Outrun the Moon is a story of hope in a time of extreme adversity. There's racial tension and discrimination which isn't thrown to the wayside or unfairly represented. History is not ignored but rather this is a story of what could be.
***I won a copy of Outrun the Moon on GR Giveaways and while I feel SUPER lucky, it did not impact my opinion of the book.
DNF @ 50%. Ugh. I think I caught the wave of these types of stories too late. Nothing really pulled me in. The characters were inconsistent and boring. The premise is also boring - Love/Emotions make you crazy so they've developed a way to remove it. Didn't we have a (much better) story called THE GIVER with similar tones? Come on.
Reviews for other books in this series: The Infinite Sea and The Last Star
Starting out this review, I'll give you a few head's up. 1. Aliens are not my thing & 2. That said, I absolutely LOVED The Infinite Sea and encourage everyone to hold on through The 5th Wave because it gets better (worse?)
We all know the premise. Extraterrestrials show up and try to wipe out the human species. They do this methodically through 5 waves of destruction. But humans find ways to survive. We always do.
Enter Cassie, who's on the run after her parents end up dead and her brother is taken by parties that claim to be a government organization designed to keep the next generations safe. Uh huh. Cassie is trying to stay alive while being hunted down by the Others and is one day shot. She's then rescued by Evan, who is pretty much everyone's book boyfriend within a few pages of being introduced.
On the flip side, her brother is being trained to take out the aliens in tandem with the guy Cassie had a thing for and a band of other orphaned kiddos. Cassie has to break in and rescue him so WHAT COULD GO WRONG?!
Here's the truth about this book: it felt heavy on the military type stuff and the portrayal of the female characters wasn't super believable. I was disappointed in it, but it gets 3 stars because the premise is good and the series is worth your investment. Catch up now before The Last Star comes out in a few weeks!
Starting out this review, I'll give you a few head's up. 1. Aliens are not my thing & 2. That said, I absolutely LOVED The Infinite Sea and encourage everyone to hold on through The 5th Wave because it gets better (worse?)
We all know the premise. Extraterrestrials show up and try to wipe out the human species. They do this methodically through 5 waves of destruction. But humans find ways to survive. We always do.
Enter Cassie, who's on the run after her parents end up dead and her brother is taken by parties that claim to be a government organization designed to keep the next generations safe. Uh huh. Cassie is trying to stay alive while being hunted down by the Others and is one day shot. She's then rescued by Evan, who is pretty much everyone's book boyfriend within a few pages of being introduced.
On the flip side, her brother is being trained to take out the aliens in tandem with the guy Cassie had a thing for and a band of other orphaned kiddos. Cassie has to break in and rescue him so WHAT COULD GO WRONG?!
Here's the truth about this book: it felt heavy on the military type stuff and the portrayal of the female characters wasn't super believable. I was disappointed in it, but it gets 3 stars because the premise is good and the series is worth your investment. Catch up now before The Last Star comes out in a few weeks!
Reviews for other books in this series: The 5th Wave and The Infinite Sea
Ok, so. This is mostly a review for The Last Star but I want to say this...Contrary to popular views, my favorite book in this series was definitely The Infinite Sea. The 5th Wave was focused on the world building and setting the stage, The Infinite Sea was all about how these characters are surviving and managing in this world, and The Last Star...well, it was a mess.
The Last Star was way heavier on the sci-fi then the other books were, which is fine except the elements we love about YA...THE PEOPLE AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS...were all over the place! I don't know about you but I loved getting to know Cassie, who has been the main focus for most of the story. Not on The Last Star. It's clearly all about Ringer now, which sucks because the parts with Cassie are definitely the best parts of the book. Every scene she was in had me laughing (mostly). Her characterization was spot on.
Couple this with really big stuff happening 25 pages from the end...Can you imagine? 338 pages of a book and you save the height of the action till the last 8% of the book. There's no time for closure. It feels as rushed as all the important parts in the fourth Hunger Games movie. I honestly had to go back over it twice to be sure I wasn't missing something here.
Team Cassie/Evan...I'm so sorry but this book is not going to make you happy.
I did like that the Others vs Aliens question was answered within the first few pages of the book. I also enjoyed the depth of the secondary characters, including Nugget. There's a lot of depth to the non-people parts overall, so it feels very sci-fi compared to the other two books. Overall the story would have been best served as a duology with novellas versus a trilogy.
Ok, so. This is mostly a review for The Last Star but I want to say this...Contrary to popular views, my favorite book in this series was definitely The Infinite Sea. The 5th Wave was focused on the world building and setting the stage, The Infinite Sea was all about how these characters are surviving and managing in this world, and The Last Star...well, it was a mess.
The Last Star was way heavier on the sci-fi then the other books were, which is fine except the elements we love about YA...THE PEOPLE AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS...were all over the place! I don't know about you but I loved getting to know Cassie, who has been the main focus for most of the story. Not on The Last Star. It's clearly all about Ringer now, which sucks because the parts with Cassie are definitely the best parts of the book. Every scene she was in had me laughing (mostly). Her characterization was spot on.
Couple this with really big stuff happening 25 pages from the end...Can you imagine? 338 pages of a book and you save the height of the action till the last 8% of the book. There's no time for closure. It feels as rushed as all the important parts in the fourth Hunger Games movie. I honestly had to go back over it twice to be sure I wasn't missing something here.
Team Cassie/Evan...I'm so sorry but this book is not going to make you happy.
I did like that the Others vs Aliens question was answered within the first few pages of the book. I also enjoyed the depth of the secondary characters, including Nugget. There's a lot of depth to the non-people parts overall, so it feels very sci-fi compared to the other two books. Overall the story would have been best served as a duology with novellas versus a trilogy.
Reviews for other books in this series: The 5th Wave and The Last Star
In The 5th Wave, the best way to describe the world is:
The Infinite Sea? IT'S WORSE AND THERE'S NO HOPE. A friend of mine described it as "good, but soul crushing."
I had a really hard time getting into The 5th Wave until the end. The Infinite Sea is the opposite. You will not want to put this book down. Whereas The 5th Wave character development was overshadowed by the explanation of what's going on in the world, The Infinite Sea is the opposite. I don't know if Yancey got a better editor or listened to the feedback of people but this book is spot on with the character development within the happenings of the world.
The opening of the book puts you right in the action. You'll hate humans and aliens and the unknown all the same by the end. You'll root for people you never thought you would. Highly recommend for people who love plot twists and dystopian stories.
In The 5th Wave, the best way to describe the world is:
The Infinite Sea? IT'S WORSE AND THERE'S NO HOPE. A friend of mine described it as "good, but soul crushing."
I had a really hard time getting into The 5th Wave until the end. The Infinite Sea is the opposite. You will not want to put this book down. Whereas The 5th Wave character development was overshadowed by the explanation of what's going on in the world, The Infinite Sea is the opposite. I don't know if Yancey got a better editor or listened to the feedback of people but this book is spot on with the character development within the happenings of the world.
The opening of the book puts you right in the action. You'll hate humans and aliens and the unknown all the same by the end. You'll root for people you never thought you would. Highly recommend for people who love plot twists and dystopian stories.
The Worst X-Man Ever fit all of my criteria for comics: written by an unusual source (Max Bemis...yes, of Say Anything), out of continuity, and engaging art. So there was no way this was going to be a failure for me!
Bailey is a high school kid who spends his lunch times scrolling through Facebook with his gay BFF, Steve, trying to find a prom date. He's not goth enough for hardcore Jennifer, not cool enough for it-girl Amanda, and not "cool" enough for hipster Kate. In fact, Bailey can't think of a single personality trait that might make him attractive to the opposite sex and tries a slew of new hobbies to find a way to connect before settling back - defeated - into video games. Enter his parents, who have some news to share: they're mutants and he might be carrying the X-Gene. Um, awesome *high five*. Problem solved. Sort of. Bailey makes his way to Xaiver's School for Mutants, where Beast tests him. Bailey's wish has come true...He's a human firework! Like, he can totally explode. Once. And die
You can imagine what it would be like to wish so badly to be different and then find out you are but you can't really show it. You're still the outsider looking in. Prime opportunity for the baddies to recruit you, yeah? What's normal anyways?
Bailey is a high school kid who spends his lunch times scrolling through Facebook with his gay BFF, Steve, trying to find a prom date. He's not goth enough for hardcore Jennifer, not cool enough for it-girl Amanda, and not "cool" enough for hipster Kate. In fact, Bailey can't think of a single personality trait that might make him attractive to the opposite sex and tries a slew of new hobbies to find a way to connect before settling back - defeated - into video games. Enter his parents, who have some news to share: they're mutants and he might be carrying the X-Gene. Um, awesome *high five*. Problem solved. Sort of. Bailey makes his way to Xaiver's School for Mutants, where Beast tests him. Bailey's wish has come true...He's a human firework! Like, he can totally explode. Once. And die
You can imagine what it would be like to wish so badly to be different and then find out you are but you can't really show it. You're still the outsider looking in. Prime opportunity for the baddies to recruit you, yeah? What's normal anyways?
Aw, Jonesy...our little misunderstood Cupid.
Imagine navigating high school as the cool-geek...self described, of course. Now add that with the power to make anyone (except yourself) fall in love with anyone or thing else (except yourself). As you can imagine, Jonesy finds herself in quite a few pickles.
I was glad to see the "to be continued" at the end of the last issue because I'm not ready to be done with her sassy little self just yet!
Imagine navigating high school as the cool-geek...self described, of course. Now add that with the power to make anyone (except yourself) fall in love with anyone or thing else (except yourself). As you can imagine, Jonesy finds herself in quite a few pickles.
I was glad to see the "to be continued" at the end of the last issue because I'm not ready to be done with her sassy little self just yet!
Carol and the Alpha Team are back with new costumes and adventures. Something strange is happening, calling to Carol in the most unnerving way. It'll take the entire team to figure out what's going on and how to stop it.
I really enjoyed this story but I thought it was going to go a lot deeper. Five issues is not enough to dive into what could have been. A lot of build up with a quick resolution; hopefully we see more of this visited later!
I really enjoyed this story but I thought it was going to go a lot deeper. Five issues is not enough to dive into what could have been. A lot of build up with a quick resolution; hopefully we see more of this visited later!
The yearbook issues had some great things going on and some not so great things going on. It's worth reading but understand there's little plot furthering and very inconsistent.
There's a lot of strength in seeing a variety of authors and artists. We get to see the GA kids through the lens of many people, which brings a lot of depth but also a lot of eh-moments.
My favorite issue was #16 because Maps/Damien OTP. My favorite stories were: Scottie Dog, Hammin' Around, Maps' Day Out, and Boring Sunday.
Overall it's a cute set of side stories to fill in while the universe rebirths.
There's a lot of strength in seeing a variety of authors and artists. We get to see the GA kids through the lens of many people, which brings a lot of depth but also a lot of eh-moments.
My favorite issue was #16 because Maps/Damien OTP. My favorite stories were: Scottie Dog, Hammin' Around, Maps' Day Out, and Boring Sunday.
Overall it's a cute set of side stories to fill in while the universe rebirths.