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millennialbookreview's review
2.0
I can see what the author was trying to do with Chipless. He clearly had a really great idea and the storyline had potential. Unfortunately, it feels more like a series of missed opportunity than achieving any of the potential the story had. For me, at least, there wasn’t enough about this book that stood out.
My full review can be found here
My full review can be found here
apagetoturn's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of the better young adult dystopian novels I've read in a long time. If you like Ally Condie's Matched series, this one might just keep you entertained. I loved the idea behind the chips and the class system in this world, it was very well written and developed. I have never read anything like this book before. The main characters, especially Kal and Amber, are easy to relate to. I love when a YA book pairs an unlikely couple and we get to see them learn to get along. The story muddies up a little with all the additional characters and side stories, but I really was entertained and held captive wanting to know if Kal would complete his mission and get his answers. He had always been told one thing, raised one way; then his eyes are forced open and to see him have to make new choices and stand up for what he believes was really captivating.
shh_reading85's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I really struggled with this.
The synopsis sounded so exciting and I was keen on it but it just fell flat for me. This story felt rushed. There was very little world-building and the characters were very one-dimensional. Kal made so many decisions that made zero sense; things that put him and Amber directly into harm's way. It just needs a lot of work.
I received a copy of this book from the author for free and I am leaving a review voluntarily.
The synopsis sounded so exciting and I was keen on it but it just fell flat for me. This story felt rushed. There was very little world-building and the characters were very one-dimensional. Kal made so many decisions that made zero sense; things that put him and Amber directly into harm's way. It just needs a lot of work.
I received a copy of this book from the author for free and I am leaving a review voluntarily.
myra_'s review
4.0
This review first published on Oh Just Books.
This book is a dystopian Sci-Fi novel - both things that I love reading. I really enjoyed the story. Dystopian novels often have a great focus on world building and settings and concepts related to the world created. Chipless created a very good world, definitely. The concept was eerie, and yet very credible. I think credibility of a possible concept is important in dystopian novels, specially if they also have to do with Sci-Fi. The whole idea of The City and Freeland was very well constructed.
The book flowed well too, it was fast paced, situational and all towards a climactic end goal. What I didn't like was the lack of time given to characters to process their emotions and feelings. Especially Kal, the lead, who has spent his entire life being indoctrinated by The City, surely it wouldn't be so easy for him to give it all up?
Read the rest of the review here.
*A review copy was provided to Oh Just Books by the author in exchange for an honest review*
This book is a dystopian Sci-Fi novel - both things that I love reading. I really enjoyed the story. Dystopian novels often have a great focus on world building and settings and concepts related to the world created. Chipless created a very good world, definitely. The concept was eerie, and yet very credible. I think credibility of a possible concept is important in dystopian novels, specially if they also have to do with Sci-Fi. The whole idea of The City and Freeland was very well constructed.
The book flowed well too, it was fast paced, situational and all towards a climactic end goal. What I didn't like was the lack of time given to characters to process their emotions and feelings. Especially Kal, the lead, who has spent his entire life being indoctrinated by The City, surely it wouldn't be so easy for him to give it all up?
Read the rest of the review here.
*A review copy was provided to Oh Just Books by the author in exchange for an honest review*
r_j_setser's review
4.0
A race against their government through dangerous territory will either get them killed, their friends killed..... or both.
Chipless grapples with the idea of a chip implanted in the brain to maintain health and wellness for humans. Each person has a chip that regulates their emotions, health, and are forced to obey all the laws of The City, that is, except for the chipless.
Kal and Amber are quite the charming pair. She is the fearless, chipless individual who has trouble speaking her feelings; and Kal is the kind-heart whose world just fell apart and who struggles to process it all. Together, their character development is wonderful as we watch Amber learn to release the build-up of tension through her life, and Kal as he begins to understand what's at stake and what has to be done to keep Amber safe.
I'm not going to lie, at first, I really hated Kal. To the point that I almost stopped reading because his character was just not doing it for me. He seemed like such a wimp who wasn't able to make up his own opinion and just went with whatever anyone told him, but I'm glad I didn't stop, because his character development towards the end really redeemed him and now he's one of my favorites!
I was quite taken with the story-line, but I do think it moved a little too fast. There were action scenes that I almost missed because there wasn't enough build up so I didn't realize that I was in the middle of an important fight. However, the story was done very well and it certainly kept my interest for the majority of the day. I think the main problem I had with the story-line is at the beginning of the book, Kal should have questioned everything more and been more hesitant to jump headlong into this adventure. And I say that based off his personality and how much loyalty he seems to have for The City in the first few chapters, only to engage in a brief conversation with a guy he doesn't know to throw all of that loyalty out the door and join Amber on the adventure of a lifetime. It was just very out of character for him and if had been done differently, would have raised my opinion of him much quicker.
There is some mild cursing, some mildly detailed violence, and a medium amount sexual content which mainly consists of detailed kissing scenes, though there are several characters who voice and act out their intentions for more. There are no sex scenes though.
Overall, I did really enjoy Chipless and find myself teetering between a 3 and 4 star rating, so I give it 3.5 stars but it will be 4 stars on sites that don't accept halves.
I received this book from the author for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.
This is LiteratureApproved.com Review.
Chipless grapples with the idea of a chip implanted in the brain to maintain health and wellness for humans. Each person has a chip that regulates their emotions, health, and are forced to obey all the laws of The City, that is, except for the chipless.
Kal and Amber are quite the charming pair. She is the fearless, chipless individual who has trouble speaking her feelings; and Kal is the kind-heart whose world just fell apart and who struggles to process it all. Together, their character development is wonderful as we watch Amber learn to release the build-up of tension through her life, and Kal as he begins to understand what's at stake and what has to be done to keep Amber safe.
I'm not going to lie, at first, I really hated Kal. To the point that I almost stopped reading because his character was just not doing it for me. He seemed like such a wimp who wasn't able to make up his own opinion and just went with whatever anyone told him, but I'm glad I didn't stop, because his character development towards the end really redeemed him and now he's one of my favorites!
I was quite taken with the story-line, but I do think it moved a little too fast. There were action scenes that I almost missed because there wasn't enough build up so I didn't realize that I was in the middle of an important fight. However, the story was done very well and it certainly kept my interest for the majority of the day. I think the main problem I had with the story-line is at the beginning of the book, Kal should have questioned everything more and been more hesitant to jump headlong into this adventure. And I say that based off his personality and how much loyalty he seems to have for The City in the first few chapters, only to engage in a brief conversation with a guy he doesn't know to throw all of that loyalty out the door and join Amber on the adventure of a lifetime. It was just very out of character for him and if had been done differently, would have raised my opinion of him much quicker.
There is some mild cursing, some mildly detailed violence, and a medium amount sexual content which mainly consists of detailed kissing scenes, though there are several characters who voice and act out their intentions for more. There are no sex scenes though.
Overall, I did really enjoy Chipless and find myself teetering between a 3 and 4 star rating, so I give it 3.5 stars but it will be 4 stars on sites that don't accept halves.
I received this book from the author for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.
This is LiteratureApproved.com Review.
cupofbooksreviews's review
2.0
I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I have given Chipless by Kfir Luzzatto two out of five stars ⭐️⭐️
Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book nearly enough as I would have liked to.
I found it very difficult to connect with the characters Luzzatto created in Chipless. The two main characters, Kal and Amber, although they looked out for each other I couldn't connect to them individually or as a team and found it hard to like them overall. They practically came from two different worlds so I could understand why Kal gave off distant and unfamiliar characteristics throughout the novel, due to his chip, but it didn't work for me as I became confused and, at times, felt awkward reading some of the conversations Kal and Amber had. *queue tumbleweed*
I thought the events that took place throughout the dystopian-esque book did not go into enough detail. There were certain events that took place and it was as though the characters shrugged off what had just happened so easily (no matter how dangerous or important that particular event was to the story) as though it was nothing and simply moved on. I found that very bizarre. I would have liked to have learnt more about certain characters and places, such as The City, the Freeland, Astrine, Afex and the High Professor as The City and the High Professor both had a big part to play in the storyline and yet there wasn't much about either place nor character within the book.
On the other hand, I really liked the concept of this book and thought it could have turned out to be a real hit to the dystopian book fans of the world, but unfortunately I thought this book could have developed better through the writing and the detailed descriptions of the book, especially when it came to the action parts.
If you happen to pick up this book or have already, let me know what you think/thought of it in the comments below.
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