Author: Rachel Fisher
Published: April 8, 2012
Pages: 382
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Description from Goodreads:
The year is 2033 and the
world hovers on the edge of explosion as unexplained crop deaths lead to
severe global food shortages. In the United States, the Sickness is
taking lives slowly, creeping its way into every family. Fi Kelly has
already faced the Sickness in her own family, toughening her beyond her
years. But a shocking confession from her dying father will push her
toughness to its absolute limits. Saddled with an impossible secret and
the mission of saving her little sister, Fi sets out to transform
herself into the warrior that she must become to survive the coming
collapse. Along the way, she will discover that evil can be accidental
and that love can be intentional.
Review:
Dystopian novels are quite popular now, but finding one that catches and holds your attention throughout the book is harder to find. This one not only caught my attention from the first page, I was found it difficult to put it down. The author creates a realistic world where genetic crop manipulation has created an environmental disaster, resulting in a place where crops no longer grow and a worldwide food shortage ensues. It is a world created with care and easily pictured with the author's descriptions.
The characters are well crafted and easy to relate to. Fi and her family bond together to search for Eden, a place where they can find safety in a world gone wrong. She makes a wonderful, strong heroine that fights to keep her family alive against all odds. As they make their journey across a barren land their plight for survival is well told and frightening to watch at times. No need for monsters or zombies here; the cruelty men have for each other is makes survival difficult.
My only complaint here is that after following their journey over time the ending seemed a bit rushed. But this is a minor complaint, anyone who enjoys this genre of literature will want to add this one to their reading list. A sequel, Seeds of War, is now available and I cannot wait to see what happens to Fi and her family next.
Review: A well crafted dystopian tale you will not want to miss.
4/5 Stars
Author: Annie Oldham
Published: September 26, 2011
Pages: 235
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Description from Goodreads:
The Burn is full of
nuclear fallout, roving gangs, anarchy, unreliable plumbing. That's what
Terra's father tells her. She has lived her whole life in comfort in a
colony at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. She hates it. And she would
pay any price to leave. But when Terra finally escapes the colony, she
finds out her father is right.
She finds a group of survivors
that quickly become friends, and every day with them is a race for
survival. When she witnesses and commits unspeakable acts, she has to
decide where her loyalty lies: with the colony she despises or The Burn,
where every day is filled with nightmares.
Review:
I am always looking for a good post apocalyptic book and this one adds another voice to the genre. Set 100 years after the end of WWIII, the story opens with Terra living in an underwater world, The Colony, that was built by her ancestors who sought refuge from a destroyed world above the sea. It is a highly regimented place where everything is planned, down to the number of calories and vitamins you consume each day. As a teen, soon to be an adult, Terra is being encouraged to choose her job in the Colony. She feels like a prisoner here, and longs to see the world above the water, a place that she learned about from a teacher and old books. Another society exists in what is left of America, known as "The Burn". The people who survived the war struggled to build a place where they eked out a meager life. The people in The Burn have heard about underwater colonies, but do not know where they are located and resent those who found a safe place to go when the world fell apart. Terra eventually finds a way to leave her underwater home, paying a high price in order to escape. The book follows her journey as she discovers how difficult life in The Burn can be.
Oldham has done a magnificent job in building an underwater world, as well as a dark, realistic, post-war world where survival is difficult and harsh. As Terra explores her new world she experiences all of this but also finds moments of happiness and love, showing how the human spirit can deal with adversity.
The characters are well developed and Terra is a strong girl who makes sacrifices to get what she wants out of life. But her choices are not easy and she struggles with them and questions herself along the way, just like any normal teen who is making their way in the world does. She has to learn how to survive in The Burn, making friends (and enemies) along the way, while always keeping her background as a Colonist a secret.
This was a great read. The story grabbed my attention and kept it throughout the book. I was fascinated by both worlds Oldham built and feel that this is a great read for anyone who enjoys post apocalyptic novels. A sequel is planned for the Fall of 2012, I an anxiously awaiting to continue Tessa's journey. The book is available in print or as an e-book for only .99 on Amazon.
Rating: A great story set in a devastated world, you will enjoy this one.
Author: Michael Mullin
Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new world in which disaster has brought out both the best and worst in people desperate for food, water, and warmth. With a combination of nonstop action, a little romance, and very real science, this is a story that is difficult to stop reading and even more difficult to forget.
Note: I received this book from the publisher via NeyGalley for review but did not get any compensation for the review.
Enter my giveaway for The Blizzard by Marty Martins. Comment on this post to enter.
Author: James Dashner
Published: October 6, 2009
Pages: 400
Rating: 2/5 Stars
My Review:
Thomas wakes up to find that he has arrived in a strange place called the Glade, a and he has no memory of his past life. The Glade is a dystopic self sufficient colony without adults in the middle of a maze with lots of boys and weird monsters. This is the setting for The Maze Runner. The kids in The Glade have tried for two years to find a way out of The Glade without success. Every day several boys run through the maze trying to find a way out, every night the walls in the maze move. The day after Thomas arrives a girl also arrives, an event because there had never been a girl in The Glade before. The book explores how Thomas reacts to his situation in The Glade, what his relationship with the new girl is, and if there is a way out of the maze.
I am a huge fan of dystopian fiction and I was really looking forward to The Maze Runner. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I was disappointed. The characters in the book were not well developed and there was nothing to make me care about what happened to them. Even when they died, I felt nothing for them. The premise of the story sounded good, but after hearing about the maze that could not be solved over and over again, I didn't really care if they found a way out or not. What was meant to be an adventure with building tension was a boring story that I found difficult to get through. The use of words unique to The Glade didn't make any sense. I think that if an author uses unique words or languages, there should be a reason for it. As used the words made no sense and were distracting. Finally, the end was abrupt and obviously a set up for the sequel, but I think books should have some sort of a stopping point, not just a cut off that leaves the reader hanging. There was nothing here that made me want to seek out the next book in the trilogy.
I will note that my opinion of this book is in the minority. Many other reviewers love the story and have given it very positive reviews. I encourage you to read other opinions and decide for yourself if this is a book that will appeal to you.
My Rating: A disappointment
Author: Lauren Oliver
Published: February 1, 2011
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 448
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Description from Amazon:
Lena Haloway is content in her safe, government-managed society. She feels (mostly) relaxed about the future in which her husband and career will be decided, and looks forward to turning 18, when she’ll be cured of deliria, a.k.a. love. She tries not to think about her mother’s suicide (her last words to Lena were a forbidden “I love you”) or the supposed “Invalid” community made up of the uncured just beyond her Portland, Maine, border. There’s no real point—she believes her government knows how to best protect its people, and should do so at any cost. But 95 days before her cure, Lena meets Alex, a confident and mysterious young man who makes her heart flutter and her skin turn red-hot. As their romance blossoms, Lena begins to doubt the intentions of those in power, and fears that her world will turn gray should she submit to the procedure. In this powerful and beautifully written novel, Lauren Oliver, the bestselling author of Before I Fall, throws readers into a tightly controlled society where options don’t exist, and shows not only the lengths one will go for a chance at freedom, but also the true meaning of sacrifice.
My Review:
"It has been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists perfected a cure. Everyone else in my family has had the procedure already. My older sister, Rachel, has been disease-free for nine years now. She's been safe from love for so long, she says she can't even remember its symptoms. I'm scheduled to have my procedure in exactly ninety-five days, on September 3rd. My birthday."- Opening from DELIRIUM.
This novel is set in the future where the government has declared love a disease, known as deliria. In order to control the disease everyone gets "the cure" at age 18, basically a laser guided lobotomy to make you forget about feelings, fears and other things that may make you want to rebel against authority. Strictly enforced by regulators, everyone has to have the procedure and then live the life the government has planned for you, from your job to your spouse to the number of children you will have.
This is the world where Lena Haloway lives. She is weeks away from high school graduation and her 18th birthday, when she will be "cured". Her past harbors a dark secret: when Lena was eight years old her mother committed suicide because she was infected with love. Despite three attempts at a cure, none worked and she was left to suffer all the emotions associated with the disease. Lena's memories of her mother include laughter, gleeful dancing and her whispers of "I love you," something unheard of in their world. As she prepares herself for the cure she begins to notice the world around her. She notices how calm and serene those who have been cured seem. In fact they are robotic people, void of emotion and who mindlessly follow what the government tells them to do. Then she meets Alex who introduces her to an underground world where people believe that love is not a disease and that the cure should be avoided at all cost. She learns how they live in the world beyond the restricted borders of her town.
Lena begins to question everything she has been told about the disease of love, especially when she begins to fall for Alex. We follow her awakening to the feelings of love and to her realization that her mother was not crazy, just a woman in love. We follow her journey as she learns more about her mother and tries to escape the mandated cure.
I found this to be a terrible premise that could happen in a society where people do not have the ability to question authority. It would be so easy for a government to control people who feel no joy, love or pain. And I think there are leaders in the world who would welcome having this type of control.
The book is beautifully written and a joy to read. It made me think about how emotions can alter your perception of the world and how different the world would be without love. Lena's journey and her discovery of love reminded me of those early feelings of love one discovers during the teen years. A sample of the wonderful prose is found when Lena realizes she is falling in love:
"I know what the problem is, of course. The disorientation, the distraction, the difficulty focusing - all Phase One signs of deliria. But I don't care. If pneumonia felt this good I'd stand out in the snow in winter with bare feet and no coat, or march into the hospital and kiss pneumonia patients." (p.237).
The book stayed with me for days after I finished it, thinking about Lena's heartbreaking and painful journey to discover herself. In fact, the more I thought about it, the better the story became and I came to appreciate the deep inner meaning of the book. I was sorry to see the story end, but pleased to learn that there is a sequel in the works. I can't wait to find out what happens next for Lena.
Rating:
An outstanding,
thought provoking read, don't miss this one
