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pelargonia's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
momwithareadingproblem's review
3.0
Influence by David R. Bernstein is the first book in his YA dystopian series of the same name. I have wanted to read this book for a long time. It’s one of those that is constantly recommended to me so I went in with high expectations. However they were not met. This is more of a reflection of me as the reader than the book. I’ve read too many dystopians, and unfortunately they are all starting to run together.
Influence follows Kaylin, a young teen nomad who stays away from big factions/colonies in an effort to hide her Influencer ability. Not much is revealed about these abilities. Why do some have them and others don’t? What happened to the country that we know live isolated and in factions? What is the threat and why do the characters live in fear and revolt? I’m hoping these answers are revealed as the series progresses. As it is right now, we have a bunch of teens with supernatural abilities, ranging from influencing a person’s actions to telepathy, leading a revolution against the largest faction.
I like Kaylin. She’s a typical teen, despite her influencer ability. This ability makes her a target for all the factions. She is hunted, and as a result never stays in one place to long. When her and her best friend encounter a bounty hunter of sorts on the road, her friend is trapped in the faction walls and the hunter helps Kaylin escape. He knows that this is the girl they’ve all been looking for and exactly what their rebellion needs. Farren is one of those characters that I wanted to like. He’s there for us to (he’s the love interest!), but he fell flat for me. As a result, the relationship the author portrays between Farren and Kaylin feels forced and unnatural.
Overall, Influence was an okay read for me. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either. I was somewhere in the middle which made writing this review hard! I plan to read more of the series. I love dystopians, and I’m hopeful that the world-building will be present in the books to come as this one focused more on the character development of Kaylin. While not what I expected, this YA dystopian still held enough interest for me to keep reading.
Now I listened to the audiobook version of this story. The narrator is fantastic. Her infections and tone kept my attention making Influence a quick listen. In fact, I’ll be looking for more audios narrated by her.
This review first appeared on Mom with a Reading Problem. To see it and other reviews, follow the link.
Influence follows Kaylin, a young teen nomad who stays away from big factions/colonies in an effort to hide her Influencer ability. Not much is revealed about these abilities. Why do some have them and others don’t? What happened to the country that we know live isolated and in factions? What is the threat and why do the characters live in fear and revolt? I’m hoping these answers are revealed as the series progresses. As it is right now, we have a bunch of teens with supernatural abilities, ranging from influencing a person’s actions to telepathy, leading a revolution against the largest faction.
I like Kaylin. She’s a typical teen, despite her influencer ability. This ability makes her a target for all the factions. She is hunted, and as a result never stays in one place to long. When her and her best friend encounter a bounty hunter of sorts on the road, her friend is trapped in the faction walls and the hunter helps Kaylin escape. He knows that this is the girl they’ve all been looking for and exactly what their rebellion needs. Farren is one of those characters that I wanted to like. He’s there for us to (he’s the love interest!), but he fell flat for me. As a result, the relationship the author portrays between Farren and Kaylin feels forced and unnatural.
Overall, Influence was an okay read for me. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either. I was somewhere in the middle which made writing this review hard! I plan to read more of the series. I love dystopians, and I’m hopeful that the world-building will be present in the books to come as this one focused more on the character development of Kaylin. While not what I expected, this YA dystopian still held enough interest for me to keep reading.
Now I listened to the audiobook version of this story. The narrator is fantastic. Her infections and tone kept my attention making Influence a quick listen. In fact, I’ll be looking for more audios narrated by her.
This review first appeared on Mom with a Reading Problem. To see it and other reviews, follow the link.
gingerpuff11's review
3.0
This book was just okay, but I believe it is the first novel for this author. I would definitely read more of his work in the future. There's some promising creativity!
sunny_care's review
4.0
That was an adventure from start to finish.
Kaylin is an influencer. She has the ability to "push" people to do or feel what she wants them to. In this dystopian future people like Kaylin are prized possessions for the powerful.
Kaylin and her best friend Amanda have been fleeing from these powerful people ever since Kaylin's power surfaced in a stunningly dramatic way.
But they end up in deep trouble when they aid a man in need, only to find out he works for the most dangerous sector, hunting down influencers.
This story is action-packed, there is never a dull moment. The concept of people who can "influence" how others feel is also fascinating. I'm glad I had a chance to listen to this audiobook.
Kaylin is an influencer. She has the ability to "push" people to do or feel what she wants them to. In this dystopian future people like Kaylin are prized possessions for the powerful.
Kaylin and her best friend Amanda have been fleeing from these powerful people ever since Kaylin's power surfaced in a stunningly dramatic way.
But they end up in deep trouble when they aid a man in need, only to find out he works for the most dangerous sector, hunting down influencers.
This story is action-packed, there is never a dull moment. The concept of people who can "influence" how others feel is also fascinating. I'm glad I had a chance to listen to this audiobook.
wordsandnocturnes's review
2.0
[b:Influence|31455623|Influence (Influence, #1)|David R. Bernstein|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1471320345s/31455623.jpg|52160115] is another dystopian.
The events in this book takes place in a world where there's Harvesters, terrible people who is considered dangerous to other people. They "harvest" whatever they can find, taking things roughly for themselves. There is also groups like Magnus and... Vernon(?). I can't remember the name, but these groups compete with each other, gaining power and more civilians. The group with more of all these things are deemed more powerful. To gain power and keep civilians in line, they kidnap Influencers, who are people who can control people's minds with their minds.
Influencers have different types of what they call the Push. Some can control people's thoughts, some can send messages (thoughts) to other people's minds... The main Push many Influencers specialise in is changing the mood and will of other people without Influencer powers.
Kaylin is a teenage girl with strong Influencer powers, being able to imply her Push powers immediately on others without having to nurture the bond and make the bond between her and others grow stronger. She lives out in the wild, moving around with her friend (who she cares a lot for), Amanda. They try not to connect with others because of Kaylin's powers, which would land them being chased after by groups like Magnus.
However, Kaylin IS caught along with Amanda. It all begins when she meets and helps a guy they found almost dying by the streets named Farren that turns out to be from Magnus. Many dystopian-y stuff ensues, including a mission to rescue Amanda and a fight to destroy Magnus once and for all. There is no love triangle, and there's a plot twist at the end which sort of reminds me of the ending in [b:City of Bones|256683|City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)|Cassandra Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1432730315s/256683.jpg|2267189] by [a:Cassandra Clare|150038|Cassandra Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1270502031p2/150038.jpg]. It's nothing like City of Bones though.
Influence is average (in my opinion), which is why I'm giving it 3 stars. Quite worth a read if you don't really have anything else to read at the moment. It's not bad, interesting enough, but not as gripping as [b:Configured|32065903|Configured (Configured #1)|Jenetta Penner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474136270s/32065903.jpg|52710430], another dystopian I read this year (which I do reccomend picking up!).
I couldn't connect with Kaylin or any of the other characters, even if I did try my best to put myself into their shoes. They weren't really well-developed, but as this is the first book, perhaps there would be more character development in the upcoming books. Still, when sad things and touching things happened, I didn't feel a thing. I was more like "oh". And there are quite a lot of characters, many of whom I keep forgetting.
The story is also fine, but I didn't absolutely like it or fell willingly into it or even keep rushing back to read what happened next. The pacing and writing style are well. No memorable and beautiful quotes to quote or anything that made me feel amazed and longing for the next book. I was around Chapter 20+ when I thought it should have ended, but it didn't. Quite good, but not my cup of tea.
Still, there's the lovely bullet-filled death of someone which made me say "finally".
I received a copy from the author.
The events in this book takes place in a world where there's Harvesters, terrible people who is considered dangerous to other people. They "harvest" whatever they can find, taking things roughly for themselves. There is also groups like Magnus and... Vernon(?). I can't remember the name, but these groups compete with each other, gaining power and more civilians. The group with more of all these things are deemed more powerful. To gain power and keep civilians in line, they kidnap Influencers, who are people who can control people's minds with their minds.
Influencers have different types of what they call the Push. Some can control people's thoughts, some can send messages (thoughts) to other people's minds... The main Push many Influencers specialise in is changing the mood and will of other people without Influencer powers.
Kaylin is a teenage girl with strong Influencer powers, being able to imply her Push powers immediately on others without having to nurture the bond and make the bond between her and others grow stronger. She lives out in the wild, moving around with her friend (who she cares a lot for), Amanda. They try not to connect with others because of Kaylin's powers, which would land them being chased after by groups like Magnus.
However, Kaylin IS caught along with Amanda. It all begins when she meets and helps a guy they found almost dying by the streets named Farren that turns out to be from Magnus. Many dystopian-y stuff ensues, including a mission to rescue Amanda and a fight to destroy Magnus once and for all. There is no love triangle, and there's a plot twist at the end which sort of reminds me of the ending in [b:City of Bones|256683|City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)|Cassandra Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1432730315s/256683.jpg|2267189] by [a:Cassandra Clare|150038|Cassandra Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1270502031p2/150038.jpg]. It's nothing like City of Bones though.
Influence is average (in my opinion), which is why I'm giving it 3 stars. Quite worth a read if you don't really have anything else to read at the moment. It's not bad, interesting enough, but not as gripping as [b:Configured|32065903|Configured (Configured #1)|Jenetta Penner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474136270s/32065903.jpg|52710430], another dystopian I read this year (which I do reccomend picking up!).
I couldn't connect with Kaylin or any of the other characters, even if I did try my best to put myself into their shoes. They weren't really well-developed, but as this is the first book, perhaps there would be more character development in the upcoming books. Still, when sad things and touching things happened, I didn't feel a thing. I was more like "oh". And there are quite a lot of characters, many of whom I keep forgetting.
The story is also fine, but I didn't absolutely like it or fell willingly into it or even keep rushing back to read what happened next. The pacing and writing style are well. No memorable and beautiful quotes to quote or anything that made me feel amazed and longing for the next book. I was around Chapter 20+ when I thought it should have ended, but it didn't. Quite good, but not my cup of tea.
I received a copy from the author.
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