Scan barcode
fallingwings's review against another edition
4.0
I actually really enjoyed this book. I know many compare it to the Hunger Games -- but let's be frank. Outside of it taking place in a dystopian world and pitting teenagers against one another, there are no real similarities that make it a knock-off or copy cat. It's darker, and grittier, and more is on the line. If anything, I think I liked this more than the Hunger Games. HG has better writing, no doubt, but this was more enjoyable and harder to put down. There was even a particular scene that made me tear up -- and not many books do that to me, regardless of how much I love them.
My only (minor) complaints are that sometimes it could be cringey/cheesy when it came to dialogue or writing with particular characters. And that Ophelia was a straight out Yandere, making her feel more like an anime character than an actual person.
I'm looking forward to reading the next installment.
My only (minor) complaints are that sometimes it could be cringey/cheesy when it came to dialogue or writing with particular characters. And that Ophelia was a straight out Yandere, making her feel more like an anime character than an actual person.
I'm looking forward to reading the next installment.
justlily's review against another edition
2.0
This book took me almost two months to finish. It just dragged for me and I can't even really tell you why. I can tell you that, as someone who HATES comparing books... This basically reads like a mediocre author wanted to rewrite The Hunger Games and add a little more blood and gore.
I didn't really connect with any of the characters and I felt like there were serious gaps in their development. Also almost all of them suffered from a serious case of really, really awful dialogue.
I don't know. I wanted to like it. But I don't think I did.
I didn't really connect with any of the characters and I felt like there were serious gaps in their development. Also almost all of them suffered from a serious case of really, really awful dialogue.
I don't know. I wanted to like it. But I don't think I did.
hollyollyoxenfree's review against another edition
3.0
As the number of dystopian books increases exponentially, I find it harder and harder to decide which to read and which to pass up. Honestly, when I first saw The Culling I was willing to pass it up, because of how similar to The Hunger Games it sounded. But when I saw it had an LGBT main character, my curiosity was piqued.
It wasn't a bad book. I genuinely enjoyed parts of it, and I thought it was a really interesting concept, while not completely original, but the more dystopian books there are coming out, the harder it seems to be to not compare them to all of the others and see similarities. That being said, this book had incredibly fast pacing. It was filled to the brim with action, which I loved, although at some points it seemed a little too fast to be realistic. So while I enjoyed all the action and everything, it sometimes felt a little disjointed, and I felt I would flip back a few pages to see if I had skipped something, or if it had really moved that fast. There were also quite a few scenes that tended to be on the gory side. Now personally I have no problem whatsoever with that, at all, but I don't know if it was because it was so detailed, or if there were just more scenes, but it really struck me how graphic it got, though it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Just very visual. I commend Steven dos Santos on how vividly he described things. I felt I could usually picture what was happening perfectly in my imagination.
One disappointment for me was the lack of world building in this story. How did the Parish come to be? What prompted the Establishment? What were the Ash Wars? However, while disappointed I didn't get to learn more, I hold onto the hope that more will be explained in the second book. It seems to be a trend with some dystopian series that the real explanations of how the world came to be occur in the second book. Which tends to irk me, but I suppose as long as it happens, I'm okay with that. Also, the romance angle in this book wasn't really anything special. I mean sure, Lucky is an LGBT character, which was cool, and I haven't really seen that in dystopian books, but the hint at a love triangle, and the little romance there was, wasn't anything super special and unique in how it was handled. But it was a nice change of pace, and I really like Digory a lot...
So overall, the book was fine. It wasn't the best book I have ever read, and I don't see myself reading it again or rushing out to buy it, but I was satisfied. It's a quick read, and if you're really into the dystopian genre, The Culling definitely one of the more fast-paced, action-packed ones!
It wasn't a bad book. I genuinely enjoyed parts of it, and I thought it was a really interesting concept, while not completely original, but the more dystopian books there are coming out, the harder it seems to be to not compare them to all of the others and see similarities. That being said, this book had incredibly fast pacing. It was filled to the brim with action, which I loved, although at some points it seemed a little too fast to be realistic. So while I enjoyed all the action and everything, it sometimes felt a little disjointed, and I felt I would flip back a few pages to see if I had skipped something, or if it had really moved that fast. There were also quite a few scenes that tended to be on the gory side. Now personally I have no problem whatsoever with that, at all, but I don't know if it was because it was so detailed, or if there were just more scenes, but it really struck me how graphic it got, though it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Just very visual. I commend Steven dos Santos on how vividly he described things. I felt I could usually picture what was happening perfectly in my imagination.
One disappointment for me was the lack of world building in this story. How did the Parish come to be? What prompted the Establishment? What were the Ash Wars? However, while disappointed I didn't get to learn more, I hold onto the hope that more will be explained in the second book. It seems to be a trend with some dystopian series that the real explanations of how the world came to be occur in the second book. Which tends to irk me, but I suppose as long as it happens, I'm okay with that. Also, the romance angle in this book wasn't really anything special. I mean sure, Lucky is an LGBT character, which was cool, and I haven't really seen that in dystopian books, but the hint at a love triangle, and the little romance there was, wasn't anything super special and unique in how it was handled. But it was a nice change of pace, and I really like Digory a lot...
So overall, the book was fine. It wasn't the best book I have ever read, and I don't see myself reading it again or rushing out to buy it, but I was satisfied. It's a quick read, and if you're really into the dystopian genre, The Culling definitely one of the more fast-paced, action-packed ones!
christajls's review against another edition
4.0
This review originally posted at More Than Just Magic
A lot of books get compared to The Hunger Game, but The Culling probably fits that comparison better than most. It takes place in a dystopian world, there is a competition in which teens are randomly selected and then pitted against one another, and it is a violent and heart breaking story. But even though it’s a bit derivative of The Hunger Games it is still unique enough that I think it’s worth reading.
Right away The Culling sets itself apart with the male narrator – Lucky. Lucky lives alone with his brother and tries to keep his head down in a society dominated by government control and regulation. I loved the emphasis on family (another similarity to The Hunger Games – but a theme I’ll never get sick of) and Lucky’s brother is just so sweet! You are sure to fall in love with him instantly.
The stakes are high right off the bat and they never decrease. As soon as Lucky is picked in The Culling he must complete challenges against other teenagers. Whoever loses the challenge has to choose between their two Incentives (the people they care about the most) – who will live and who will die. You spend the whole time on the edge of your seat, heart pounding, because you don’t want Lucky to lose. But you also don’t want any of the others to face that choice either. No matter what happens it’s sure to be devastating.
What really struck me about The Culling was how LGBTQ characters are represented. Being gay isn’t presented as something different from the norm. No one even blinks at the mention of a gay couple or same sex marriage. It’s as if the assumption of heterosexuality doesn’t exist in this world. In many other books if someone suddenly announced they were gay it’s usually met with surprise (even if it’s understanding surprise) but that isn’t the focus here. It’s as if being gay is no more remarkable than the colour of your eyes or hair. I loved it!
At its heart The Culling is a story of surviving not for yourself but for others. Both literally in the case of the Incentives and figuratively in regard to the more day to day sacrifices people have made for one another.
Recommendation: The Culling is a fast paced and heart pounding read. Fair warning, it is a lot more violent than other YA books out there, but if that doesn’t bother you than you should definitely pick it up!
A lot of books get compared to The Hunger Game, but The Culling probably fits that comparison better than most. It takes place in a dystopian world, there is a competition in which teens are randomly selected and then pitted against one another, and it is a violent and heart breaking story. But even though it’s a bit derivative of The Hunger Games it is still unique enough that I think it’s worth reading.
Right away The Culling sets itself apart with the male narrator – Lucky. Lucky lives alone with his brother and tries to keep his head down in a society dominated by government control and regulation. I loved the emphasis on family (another similarity to The Hunger Games – but a theme I’ll never get sick of) and Lucky’s brother is just so sweet! You are sure to fall in love with him instantly.
The stakes are high right off the bat and they never decrease. As soon as Lucky is picked in The Culling he must complete challenges against other teenagers. Whoever loses the challenge has to choose between their two Incentives (the people they care about the most) – who will live and who will die. You spend the whole time on the edge of your seat, heart pounding, because you don’t want Lucky to lose. But you also don’t want any of the others to face that choice either. No matter what happens it’s sure to be devastating.
What really struck me about The Culling was how LGBTQ characters are represented. Being gay isn’t presented as something different from the norm. No one even blinks at the mention of a gay couple or same sex marriage. It’s as if the assumption of heterosexuality doesn’t exist in this world. In many other books if someone suddenly announced they were gay it’s usually met with surprise (even if it’s understanding surprise) but that isn’t the focus here. It’s as if being gay is no more remarkable than the colour of your eyes or hair. I loved it!
At its heart The Culling is a story of surviving not for yourself but for others. Both literally in the case of the Incentives and figuratively in regard to the more day to day sacrifices people have made for one another.
Recommendation: The Culling is a fast paced and heart pounding read. Fair warning, it is a lot more violent than other YA books out there, but if that doesn’t bother you than you should definitely pick it up!
frosted_minispooner's review against another edition
3.0
3,5 stars
So many sub-plots that could've been handled better. Nevertheless, I couldn't put it down, the action was flowing and I enjoyed it!
So many sub-plots that could've been handled better. Nevertheless, I couldn't put it down, the action was flowing and I enjoyed it!
sweeneysays's review against another edition
1.0
Review originally written for SnarkSquad.com
http://www.snarksquad.com/2013/01/the-culling-by-steven-dos-santos-disappointing.html
In a nutshell: The Hunger Games with a gay romance and a million times more contrivance!
Main Character: Lucky can apparently read all of your emotions in your eyes. Like, he can tell you entire paragraphs worth of your back story, because he saw you look at something. You were clearly looking longingly at that cupcake, but can never have it because of some deep traumatic past relationship, in which someone probably assaulted you with cupcakes and so your cupcake love can never be.
Yeah, this is going to be a snarktastic review, because I've got feelings.
I tried so hard to like this book. This book is basically a sloppy THG rip-off, which I would forgive because of my respect for the male-male romance, but it's so poorly written that I can't. But let's start with my complaints about Lucky. The other recruits (the other players in The Hunger Games) are all more interesting than Lucky. They are soap opera ridiculous, but at least more interesting.
Lucky is supposedly super interested in protecting his little brother (much like Katniss/Prim) but Cole (the brother) really just gets lip service from Lucky. He never seems to have any real, thoughtful reflections on Cole while he's off inThe Hunger Games training, and most of his choices are motivated more by his love interests than by his supposed wish to protect Cole (more on this later). I just found it really hard to care about him, because he wasn't actually that interesting or well developed.
Love Interest? Can I just say again how excited I was that this was a dystopian YA with a gay romance? I was so pumped. This review is going to be incredibly redundant because each category is going to begin with a reiteration about how fully disappointing this book was.
Digory is oh-so-perfect. He's a charming golden boy who is also part of a resistance movement to overthrow the evil government AND he's totally self-sacrificing in every conceivable way. The trouble with all this perfection is that while it may be dreamy, it's also boring as shit. Although, still more interesting than Lucky.
Digory is contrasted by the only slightly more complex foil that is Cassius, Lucian's cray cray ex-boyfriend. Cassius is like the dystopian YA version of Christian Grey. He's mega powerful and mega controlling and basically condemns Lucky and his brother to certain death because Lucky "lied to him."
Negligent Parents? Lucky's parents are dead, as are several of the other main characters' parents, due to the early mortality brought on by Reaper's disease. The few recruits whose parents are alive seem to have abusive parents, though. Lucky has a Substitute Parent who could be halfway decent, except she's too insufficiently developed for me to issue a verdict.
Ho Suspension? Lucky's a ho fo sho, in the "thinking-with-your-genitals" sense of the great ho suspension tradition. Specifically, in spite of all the lip service that Lucky pays to his concern for his brother, his actions are almost always dictated by his feelings for his two love interests. Quite frankly, the incident that starts this story never made sense to me for Lucky's stated purpose. It was completely illogical and while it was fantastically blown out of proportion by the series of contrivance that followed that initial decision, the only reason to justify his choice to get himself in trouble and appeal to Cassius for help was that he wanted to see his (ex?) boyfriend again, not some bullshit about protecting Cole. Because that made negative sense.
A+: Nothing? I kid. Maybe. I did enjoy the fellow recruits, even if they were absurd. Cypress is awesome and was probably my favorite character, even though her story suffered, like the whole book, from outlandish plot twists. I did appreciate that homosexuality was a non-issue in this world. It was probably one of the few trite/easy choices that Steven Dos Santos didn't make, by letting the government's cruelty be a separate issue. I liked that the fact that several main characters were gay was never made into an issue.
Fail: The plot. The world-building. I never believed this world. It didn't make any sense. The government seemed to exist solely to create plot twists for Lucky. Everything that happened in this book happened so that Steven Dos Santos could have some new ludicrous plot device with his paper thin characters and universe. Nothing was fleshed out because if he had tried to do that, he would have seen how bullshit it all was. The very premise is ridiculous:The Hunger Games the recruitment and culling is how they create their military leadership? This is just a recipe for disaster for an evil government; you give the guns and power to the people with the most reason to hate you? Nobody saw this plan as a problem? Aside from the overarching plot/world, the whole bit with the fleshers in the middle of the book was also exceptionally nonsensical, and pointless. The balance between instilling absolute government loyalty and the underlying wish to escape is always weird and inconsistent.
The End: By the time you get to the end, you've been conditioned to accept bullshit. Within the larger framework of this bullshit, the very end wasn't so bad. The scene shortly before the end is the biggest #hosuspension of all for Lucky, because for the milliontieth time, he pays lip service to caring about his brother without actually making choices which reflect that priority. The final scene tries to be this beautiful moment for one of the other recruits but, as with the rest of this story, ends up being trite and ridiculous.
And so: The Goodreads folk who have already read this all seem to love it, and I don't understand. So maybe there's something I'm missing, but I did not enjoy this book. Just to make sure you absolutely get the point: this book was thoroughly disappointing.
For Traumateers who love: I don't know. If you just REALLY love dystopian novels and don't mind them being formulaic and ill-conceived, and are super stoked about the idea of a gay romance in a dystopian YA, then you might enjoy this. Or maybe for Traumateers who love to rant about shit? There are actually a lot of you in that category.
Final Grade: D
http://www.snarksquad.com/2013/01/the-culling-by-steven-dos-santos-disappointing.html
In a nutshell: The Hunger Games with a gay romance and a million times more contrivance!
Main Character: Lucky can apparently read all of your emotions in your eyes. Like, he can tell you entire paragraphs worth of your back story, because he saw you look at something. You were clearly looking longingly at that cupcake, but can never have it because of some deep traumatic past relationship, in which someone probably assaulted you with cupcakes and so your cupcake love can never be.
Yeah, this is going to be a snarktastic review, because I've got feelings.
I tried so hard to like this book. This book is basically a sloppy THG rip-off, which I would forgive because of my respect for the male-male romance, but it's so poorly written that I can't. But let's start with my complaints about Lucky. The other recruits (the other players in The Hunger Games) are all more interesting than Lucky. They are soap opera ridiculous, but at least more interesting.
Lucky is supposedly super interested in protecting his little brother (much like Katniss/Prim) but Cole (the brother) really just gets lip service from Lucky. He never seems to have any real, thoughtful reflections on Cole while he's off in
Love Interest? Can I just say again how excited I was that this was a dystopian YA with a gay romance? I was so pumped. This review is going to be incredibly redundant because each category is going to begin with a reiteration about how fully disappointing this book was.
Digory is oh-so-perfect. He's a charming golden boy who is also part of a resistance movement to overthrow the evil government AND he's totally self-sacrificing in every conceivable way. The trouble with all this perfection is that while it may be dreamy, it's also boring as shit. Although, still more interesting than Lucky.
Digory is contrasted by the only slightly more complex foil that is Cassius, Lucian's cray cray ex-boyfriend. Cassius is like the dystopian YA version of Christian Grey. He's mega powerful and mega controlling and basically condemns Lucky and his brother to certain death because Lucky "lied to him."
Negligent Parents? Lucky's parents are dead, as are several of the other main characters' parents, due to the early mortality brought on by Reaper's disease. The few recruits whose parents are alive seem to have abusive parents, though. Lucky has a Substitute Parent who could be halfway decent, except she's too insufficiently developed for me to issue a verdict.
Ho Suspension? Lucky's a ho fo sho, in the "thinking-with-your-genitals" sense of the great ho suspension tradition. Specifically, in spite of all the lip service that Lucky pays to his concern for his brother, his actions are almost always dictated by his feelings for his two love interests. Quite frankly, the incident that starts this story never made sense to me for Lucky's stated purpose. It was completely illogical and while it was fantastically blown out of proportion by the series of contrivance that followed that initial decision, the only reason to justify his choice to get himself in trouble and appeal to Cassius for help was that he wanted to see his (ex?) boyfriend again, not some bullshit about protecting Cole. Because that made negative sense.
A+: Nothing? I kid. Maybe. I did enjoy the fellow recruits, even if they were absurd. Cypress is awesome and was probably my favorite character, even though her story suffered, like the whole book, from outlandish plot twists. I did appreciate that homosexuality was a non-issue in this world. It was probably one of the few trite/easy choices that Steven Dos Santos didn't make, by letting the government's cruelty be a separate issue. I liked that the fact that several main characters were gay was never made into an issue.
Fail: The plot. The world-building. I never believed this world. It didn't make any sense. The government seemed to exist solely to create plot twists for Lucky. Everything that happened in this book happened so that Steven Dos Santos could have some new ludicrous plot device with his paper thin characters and universe. Nothing was fleshed out because if he had tried to do that, he would have seen how bullshit it all was. The very premise is ridiculous:
The End: By the time you get to the end, you've been conditioned to accept bullshit. Within the larger framework of this bullshit, the very end wasn't so bad. The scene shortly before the end is the biggest #hosuspension of all for Lucky, because for the milliontieth time, he pays lip service to caring about his brother without actually making choices which reflect that priority. The final scene tries to be this beautiful moment for one of the other recruits but, as with the rest of this story, ends up being trite and ridiculous.
And so: The Goodreads folk who have already read this all seem to love it, and I don't understand. So maybe there's something I'm missing, but I did not enjoy this book. Just to make sure you absolutely get the point: this book was thoroughly disappointing.
For Traumateers who love: I don't know. If you just REALLY love dystopian novels and don't mind them being formulaic and ill-conceived, and are super stoked about the idea of a gay romance in a dystopian YA, then you might enjoy this. Or maybe for Traumateers who love to rant about shit? There are actually a lot of you in that category.
Final Grade: D
bookishvice's review against another edition
4.0
Lucian’s little brother, Cole, calls him Lucky which is sort of ironic in the world they live in. But Lucian still does whatever is in his power to keep Cole happy, and innocent and believing in things like faery tales. Then, after a bad turn of fate, Lucian is betrayed and drafted to participate in The Recruitment. He will have to do everything in his power to win the trials that await him if he hopes to see his brother again. But winning the trials would mean eliminating all competition, including bad boy Digory Tycho. If only Lucian could deny his feelings for Digory.
Steven Dos Santo’s The Culling is gritty, scary, gory, and gruesome. Yet amid it all there's friendship and love and romance. I love it!
Lucian was a great character to meet. He starts out weak and naïve, and when the horrible stuff starts happening he doesn’t crumble, but rises to the challenge. He’s also a very kind and caring person. I think this is what attracted Digory from the start. Their romance is slow and shy, like a burning ember just waiting for the right wind to ignite it. I found myself sighing out loud in a couple of scenes, that’s how good the romance was.
However, the world they live in is horrible. It’s filthy, dangerous, the mortality rate is at forty, and the Establishment is cruel. Much like in the Hunger Games, The Establishment has The Recruitment in which they select a group of five people to undergo participate in a set of trials. But that’s where the similarities stop. The world of The Culling is vicious, and Steven Dos Santos pulls no punches when describing just how gruesome it is. It might be just me being squeamish, but I thought the horror was sometimes too much. The looser of each trial has to choose between his two Incentives (people the recruit loves) and kill him or her. And I’m not talking about a bullet through the brain. No, that would be too merciful. The horrors that happened every time one of the recruits lost truly made my skin shiver. Add insult to injury, and the winner of the trials has to continue on their training to become an Imposer (the elite guard), essentially working for the people who made him do all the horrible stuff in the trials.
I think part of what made this more shocking than The Hunger Games is the fact that we get to know the Recruits on a personal level. Ophelia the sweet and cheery but scary as hell girl. Cypress the thought girl with a soft heart. Gideon the guy with some deep issues who’s nice. And Digory whose kindnesses towards Lucky won me over from the minute he appeared on the page. We get to care about these people…And then we have to watch them kill their loved ones, and suffer, and ultimately die! When you have to think, “Well, at least they died in a gas chamber,” you know things are seriously f-up.
The ending was epic on so many levels. It was fast paced—well most of the book is anyways—it was full of action, deception, and heartbreak. Steven Dos Santos left a lot of things to work on for the next book, like what happened to Digory, and what are the Fleshers, and how will Lucian rebel. Seriously. There better be a next book.
*Arc copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley*
Steven Dos Santo’s The Culling is gritty, scary, gory, and gruesome. Yet amid it all there's friendship and love and romance. I love it!
Lucian was a great character to meet. He starts out weak and naïve, and when the horrible stuff starts happening he doesn’t crumble, but rises to the challenge. He’s also a very kind and caring person. I think this is what attracted Digory from the start. Their romance is slow and shy, like a burning ember just waiting for the right wind to ignite it. I found myself sighing out loud in a couple of scenes, that’s how good the romance was.
However, the world they live in is horrible. It’s filthy, dangerous, the mortality rate is at forty, and the Establishment is cruel. Much like in the Hunger Games, The Establishment has The Recruitment in which they select a group of five people to undergo participate in a set of trials. But that’s where the similarities stop. The world of The Culling is vicious, and Steven Dos Santos pulls no punches when describing just how gruesome it is. It might be just me being squeamish, but I thought the horror was sometimes too much. The looser of each trial has to choose between his two Incentives (people the recruit loves) and kill him or her. And I’m not talking about a bullet through the brain. No, that would be too merciful. The horrors that happened every time one of the recruits lost truly made my skin shiver. Add insult to injury, and the winner of the trials has to continue on their training to become an Imposer (the elite guard), essentially working for the people who made him do all the horrible stuff in the trials.
I think part of what made this more shocking than The Hunger Games is the fact that we get to know the Recruits on a personal level. Ophelia the sweet and cheery but scary as hell girl. Cypress the thought girl with a soft heart. Gideon the guy with some deep issues who’s nice. And Digory whose kindnesses towards Lucky won me over from the minute he appeared on the page. We get to care about these people…And then we have to watch them kill their loved ones, and suffer, and ultimately die! When you have to think, “Well, at least they died in a gas chamber,” you know things are seriously f-up.
The ending was epic on so many levels. It was fast paced—well most of the book is anyways—it was full of action, deception, and heartbreak. Steven Dos Santos left a lot of things to work on for the next book, like what happened to Digory, and what are the Fleshers, and how will Lucian rebel. Seriously. There better be a next book.
*Arc copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley*
pmiller1208's review against another edition
4.0
I was a great book. I had to force myself not to ski to the end to see what happened.
emerson01's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
susannah_n's review against another edition
2.0
This book had terrific potential even as it did bear such a close resemblance to The Hunger Games. However, it suffered from mercurial characters as well as the author's tendency to overwrite. Unfortunately, it seems that Steven dos Santos never met a simile he didn't like, which became quite distracting as they added up like numbers in a ledger (ahem). I can imagine that a good 20 pages or more could have been eliminated from this overlong novel if the book's editor had been a little more aggressive.