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cindyjac's review against another edition
4.0
This is a book that fans of dystopian futures will enjoy. The ending leaves you hoping for a sequel.
thisisstephenbetts's review against another edition
4.0
Dystopian future YA novel (there are a lot of them aren't there?). This one set in an unspecified period in the future, where global warming has hit many tipping points (where positive feedback kicks in). One of the upshots of this is that managed euthanasia is widespread - the narrator of this story is involved in a week long 'goodbye' to her parents who are about to depart this world. Apart from global warming and living through catastrophes, there are also themes of corporate power and individual responsibility. Although the milieu is much closer to our world and is therefore more relatable, it definitely has a strong Hunger Games feel to it.
It's a nicely told story, satisfying with nice characterisations. Nothing blew me away about it, and I feel the narrator is a little too passive (in some respects, apart from her desire to record things, she is the least interesting character). But a good, fun, pretty quick read.
It's a nicely told story, satisfying with nice characterisations. Nothing blew me away about it, and I feel the narrator is a little too passive (in some respects, apart from her desire to record things, she is the least interesting character). But a good, fun, pretty quick read.
zenarae's review against another edition
3.0
I have pretty mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I really enjoyed the concept, and I thought it did a great job of creating a future that could become all too real given our current environmental state. I didn't enjoy the narrative style though-- while I don't mind the conceit of the diary to have a reason for such a personal, first person point of view, the constant reminders that Nat was writing this story in her journal to some imagined space traveler got tired pretty fast. I also found the ending to be unnecessarily preachy, especially in context of the rest of the book.
Overall, a so-so read. It was a quick read, and I thought the world building was fantastic. I might not be running out singing its praises and throwing copies at people, but I wouldn't steer anyone away from it either.
Overall, a so-so read. It was a quick read, and I thought the world building was fantastic. I might not be running out singing its praises and throwing copies at people, but I wouldn't steer anyone away from it either.
ashleyeila's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
emslund's review against another edition
2.0
When I was going to choose this book I read one review that complained about its title not making any sense - eh, not really true. The entire novel is framed with a narrative of journal entries written to another imaginary teen in a starship orbiting earth. The novel starts and ends with this idea in mind - so it's pretty clear to me that was tied into the title of the novel since it's the entire frame of it. And the pills - they take pills throughout this whole novel too. In fact, the pills become a major plot point that come about towards the end, but I won't say anything more. So while I started this novel thinking I would also be just as confused by the title or something - I totally wasn't, haha. But anyway, that wasn't why I gave it three stars.
I wasn't very impressed by the plot. I didn't mind the character's voice - though look at me, I've already forgotten her name. At first my biggest gripe were the kids' parents - who seemed to be making their decisions completely nonsensically to me without clear motivation. The fact that they were the youngest contracts and had the youngest children - they kept saying things like, "We think it's best if you live on your own from now on because you are both so independent" (the MC and her brother Sam). Well uh, after the whole contract thing, Sam and - Nat (! I think I remembered?) actually have to be relocated to a community living place for minors. So if your kids aren't even old enough to be legally living on their own - why the hell would you just think it's right to go abandon them? That bothered me through the entire book until the end, when it's kind of explained through a plot point. Okay - that's fine. But I was just clueless on picking up the foreshadow for that one. I guess I just didn't "get" the characterization of the parents at all right off the bat.
That sort of led into the later plot of the novel, which I felt just had too many conveniences. At no point here did I ever think any character was going to die or there was a major threat or anything. There's a plot point of a giant storm towards the end that does uh - nothing, but perhaps provide the author time to coup the characters together so they can talk and then relates back to a Sam plot point - but I'm not sure that the whole storm needed to happen for that. It might've been more fun / action packed to write a jail break scene instead of avoid it. BUT I think as a writer, it also shows the confines of writing in a journal-frame. You can't do as much because you've got to allow your character realistic time to go back and write it all down. I never really liked that form because I often find it unbelievable - that people remember dialogue that other people say, etc. and then of course inherently unreliable too - what would the story be like from Sam's perspective, completely different? Is Nat just paraphrasing, is she just summarizing the conversations she has with people? etc.
Things I did like, though that stopped me from rating this lower - I liked the non-traditional YA aspect of this being about a brother/sister. Though I will say, I didn't feel like there was a whole lot of characterization of Sam. By the end he was still sort of a mystery or at least - defined by his archetype "hacker kid" without ever going into it. Again - I felt like the author might've been avoiding things. Like writing an engaging scene where we actually see Sam using his hacking skills or something. That never really happened, which was a shame. There were so many moments where there could've been some crazy action going on in this novel and high risks - but it felt all avoided. Anyway though, back to the good stuff. So I liked the brother/sister dichotomy. I also liked Nat being more passive at the opening of this novel. That was cool. She's not a Katniss, that's for sure, which was almost a breath of fresh air for me because she felt more relatable - to me, anyway. Still though, once she gets roped into the world that her brother shows her - I would've liked to have seen less passivity and more action/independence.
I'm glad I read this. I wasn't too bothered by the overarching messages of carbon footprints and the destruction of nature. But that's a big theme. I'm always interested in seeing the reimagining of a dystopic future. Though this world had a lot of potential - and in the end it felt like the narrative was holding way back. This really could've been quite the fast action-packed ride a la Lunar Chronicles or something with huge conspiracies and running from robo corp cops or something, but alas, it just wasn't - and fell a bit flat because of it.
I wasn't very impressed by the plot. I didn't mind the character's voice - though look at me, I've already forgotten her name. At first my biggest gripe were the kids' parents - who seemed to be making their decisions completely nonsensically to me without clear motivation. The fact that they were the youngest contracts and had the youngest children - they kept saying things like, "We think it's best if you live on your own from now on because you are both so independent" (the MC and her brother Sam). Well uh, after the whole contract thing, Sam and - Nat (! I think I remembered?) actually have to be relocated to a community living place for minors. So if your kids aren't even old enough to be legally living on their own - why the hell would you just think it's right to go abandon them? That bothered me through the entire book until the end, when it's kind of explained through a plot point. Okay - that's fine. But I was just clueless on picking up the foreshadow for that one. I guess I just didn't "get" the characterization of the parents at all right off the bat.
That sort of led into the later plot of the novel, which I felt just had too many conveniences. At no point here did I ever think any character was going to die or there was a major threat or anything. There's a plot point of a giant storm towards the end that does uh - nothing, but perhaps provide the author time to coup the characters together so they can talk and then relates back to a Sam plot point - but I'm not sure that the whole storm needed to happen for that. It might've been more fun / action packed to write a jail break scene instead of avoid it. BUT I think as a writer, it also shows the confines of writing in a journal-frame. You can't do as much because you've got to allow your character realistic time to go back and write it all down. I never really liked that form because I often find it unbelievable - that people remember dialogue that other people say, etc. and then of course inherently unreliable too - what would the story be like from Sam's perspective, completely different? Is Nat just paraphrasing, is she just summarizing the conversations she has with people? etc.
Things I did like, though that stopped me from rating this lower - I liked the non-traditional YA aspect of this being about a brother/sister. Though I will say, I didn't feel like there was a whole lot of characterization of Sam. By the end he was still sort of a mystery or at least - defined by his archetype "hacker kid" without ever going into it. Again - I felt like the author might've been avoiding things. Like writing an engaging scene where we actually see Sam using his hacking skills or something. That never really happened, which was a shame. There were so many moments where there could've been some crazy action going on in this novel and high risks - but it felt all avoided. Anyway though, back to the good stuff. So I liked the brother/sister dichotomy. I also liked Nat being more passive at the opening of this novel. That was cool. She's not a Katniss, that's for sure, which was almost a breath of fresh air for me because she felt more relatable - to me, anyway. Still though, once she gets roped into the world that her brother shows her - I would've liked to have seen less passivity and more action/independence.
I'm glad I read this. I wasn't too bothered by the overarching messages of carbon footprints and the destruction of nature. But that's a big theme. I'm always interested in seeing the reimagining of a dystopic future. Though this world had a lot of potential - and in the end it felt like the narrative was holding way back. This really could've been quite the fast action-packed ride a la Lunar Chronicles or something with huge conspiracies and running from robo corp cops or something, but alas, it just wasn't - and fell a bit flat because of it.
froydis's review against another edition
3.0
Thanks to Edelweiss and Akashic Books for early access to this title.
3 1/2 stars -
This is an interesting book in that the language is so strange, yet the plot fits in with many of the teen apocalyptic novels that have gained so much popularity in recent years. I liked that the language was so unique - it was similar enough that it was understandable, but structured to seem like it had evolved over the centuries from our time. I liked the characters for the most part, but found the parents to be fairly unbelievable. I hope the scenario painted here is unbelievable too, but I do think its one possibility if we don't get more serious about the climate issues. I think teens who enjoy dystopian/apocalyptic type novels will enjoy this book.
3 1/2 stars -
This is an interesting book in that the language is so strange, yet the plot fits in with many of the teen apocalyptic novels that have gained so much popularity in recent years. I liked that the language was so unique - it was similar enough that it was understandable, but structured to seem like it had evolved over the centuries from our time. I liked the characters for the most part, but found the parents to be fairly unbelievable. I hope the scenario painted here is unbelievable too, but I do think its one possibility if we don't get more serious about the climate issues. I think teens who enjoy dystopian/apocalyptic type novels will enjoy this book.
piperhudsburn's review against another edition
1.0
My good book streak has, unfortunately, ended. Thanks Winter Storm Jonas.
I do not understand the point of this book. It was long and tedious and had a lot in common the wonderful drug known as NyQuil. It will put you sleep and it's monotonous prose will leave you disoriented the next day. Like I said- just don't get a damn thing about this book. Nothing happens.
Nothing.
Basically it's a YA dystopian in which a girl just journals details about her parent's last days on Earth in Hawaii. The world the author constructs his so, so confusing that the plot lags because of it.
I'm not going to rip apart this book further because that's not good for me and it's not good for Lydia Millet. I will just say that the concept was interesting, but the execution was atrocious. To make matters worse, the cover is a complete whitewashing (the main character is a POC)- to I send tsk tsk's the publisher's way as well.
I do not understand the point of this book. It was long and tedious and had a lot in common the wonderful drug known as NyQuil. It will put you sleep and it's monotonous prose will leave you disoriented the next day. Like I said- just don't get a damn thing about this book. Nothing happens.
Nothing.
Basically it's a YA dystopian in which a girl just journals details about her parent's last days on Earth in Hawaii. The world the author constructs his so, so confusing that the plot lags because of it.
I'm not going to rip apart this book further because that's not good for me and it's not good for Lydia Millet. I will just say that the concept was interesting, but the execution was atrocious. To make matters worse, the cover is a complete whitewashing (the main character is a POC)- to I send tsk tsk's the publisher's way as well.
shellihuntley4's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe I'm just tired of YA dystopian fiction. This book had a slow beginning, with a great deal of exposition. Once the author had finished explaining the world and its rules, the action kicked in and made the second half of the book more interesting.
annm1121's review against another edition
4.0
Lydia Millet fills that juicy space that craves something weird but human. This book preys on my deepest fears about a world taken over by technology and is certainly an interesting apocalypse interpretation; the main characters escape one prison to enter another. The end was a bit sentimental.
kevinhendricks's review against another edition
2.0
A dystopian, post-apocalyptic world where environmental collapse means the end of humanity. Nat's parents have opted for the final solution, a "contract" that's basically assisted suicide with a fancy vacation to say goodbye to your loved ones. Nat and her brother Sam aren't so sure about it. It really plods along and by the end feels pretty short in the plot department. Could have been a lot more.