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beastreader's review against another edition
4.0
Esther and her sister, Sarah live in Prin. A town that may have once been beautiful but has not been almost all but destroyed. The survivors are just that. Surviving. People in Prin have three jobs…harvesting, gleaning, or excavation. Their leader Levi lives in a fortress called the Source. Levi is a mean leader. However the people of Prin have to worry more about the variant or mutants. The variant live on the outskirts of Prin. Lately, they have gotten more violent.
The people receive a hero in the form of a young boy named Caleb.
Wasteland is a good start to this new young adult series. This series is more post apocalyptic, which is fastly becoming one of the hottest rising genres around along with steam punk.
Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan make a great writing team. The story just flowed and I did not have to stumble along or could tell who wrote which parts. This is important when there are several writers involved in a book. I want to be able to just read. What really got me hooked with this book is the world that Esther lives in. The authors described it in such detail that it was like I could feel the heat from the sun scorching my skin. The best way that I can describe it is to compare it to the movie, Pitch Black with Vin Diesel. Where Vin and his crew crashed on a planet that was pretty much desolate.
The people receive a hero in the form of a young boy named Caleb.
Wasteland is a good start to this new young adult series. This series is more post apocalyptic, which is fastly becoming one of the hottest rising genres around along with steam punk.
Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan make a great writing team. The story just flowed and I did not have to stumble along or could tell who wrote which parts. This is important when there are several writers involved in a book. I want to be able to just read. What really got me hooked with this book is the world that Esther lives in. The authors described it in such detail that it was like I could feel the heat from the sun scorching my skin. The best way that I can describe it is to compare it to the movie, Pitch Black with Vin Diesel. Where Vin and his crew crashed on a planet that was pretty much desolate.
sk24's review against another edition
3.0
**A big thank you to HarperCollins for sending me this ARC!**
(Due to the fact that it is an Advanced copy that I am reviewing, my review will not reflect the quality of the writing)
I had high hopes for this novel but, unfortunately, find myself feeling disappointed. This was a very "meh" novel. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. There wasn't really anything memorable about it to me. Wasteland is a dystopia novel, where there are no adults living past the age of 19. And what's the most important aspect in a dystopia? World-building! Well, this one fell short in that area. I'm coming out of the novel with a ton of questions about the world: Why are there no adults? What happened to the society we live in now? What caused it to change? How is it that the one character, Joseph, has cats? This does not feel like a world where one would have pets -- adults can't survive, but domesticated animals can?
I found the characters to be bland and forgettable. Esther is the main character and I found it very difficult to connect with her, or with any of the characters for that matter. Probably the most developed character was Levi, the villain. We learn about his tortured past and why he is the way that he is.
Overall, I honestly don't know if I would recommend this book. The story is interesting, but lacking in explanatory aspects. It is definitely a unique premise for a story, I'll give it that. But, a lot of things fell short for me and I find myself uninterested in reading the sequel. I probably still will, but it won't be high up on my list.
This review was originally posted on SIK Book Reviews
(Due to the fact that it is an Advanced copy that I am reviewing, my review will not reflect the quality of the writing)
I had high hopes for this novel but, unfortunately, find myself feeling disappointed. This was a very "meh" novel. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. There wasn't really anything memorable about it to me. Wasteland is a dystopia novel, where there are no adults living past the age of 19. And what's the most important aspect in a dystopia? World-building! Well, this one fell short in that area. I'm coming out of the novel with a ton of questions about the world: Why are there no adults? What happened to the society we live in now? What caused it to change? How is it that the one character, Joseph, has cats? This does not feel like a world where one would have pets -- adults can't survive, but domesticated animals can?
I found the characters to be bland and forgettable. Esther is the main character and I found it very difficult to connect with her, or with any of the characters for that matter. Probably the most developed character was Levi, the villain. We learn about his tortured past and why he is the way that he is.
Overall, I honestly don't know if I would recommend this book. The story is interesting, but lacking in explanatory aspects. It is definitely a unique premise for a story, I'll give it that. But, a lot of things fell short for me and I find myself uninterested in reading the sequel. I probably still will, but it won't be high up on my list.
This review was originally posted on SIK Book Reviews
tasharobinson's review against another edition
3.0
Great premise, so-so execution. I loved the authors' graphic novels Brain Camp and City Of Spies, which also have great premises and plotting, and the storyline here is compelling, with characters in a tough, potentially complicated Dying Earth situation. But the writing is frustratingly blunt and simple, and so are the emotions that drive people. Everything feels rushed, with people veering from one emotional extreme to another and reversing their motivations — or instantly falling in love — within the space of a sentence or two. It's reminiscent of Michael Grant's Gone series if the entire thing was compressed down to one hurried volume. So much about the world is never explained or developed, and never makes sense. For instance, the book summary presents the "married at 15, pregnant at 17, dead at 19" concept as though it's a Logan's Run-like societal imperative, but it's just one of many arbitrary statements meant to provoke drama, and never fleshed out in the book. People assume they will be dead by 19, but there's no specific reason, apart from harsh conditions, and their society is barely sketched out, so it never seems plausible that such a community could sustain itself. A quick, exciting, but unsatisfying read that leaves a lot of big questions behind.
lawbooks600's review against another edition
2.0
6.5/10, not recommended, try The Maze Runner instead of this.
jenmat1197's review against another edition
3.0
This is the story of Esther. In a post-apocolytic United States, all that are left are children. Those children only live until the age of 19 and then they die. Something has poisoned the rain and the water, and no matter how much they try to avoid it, eventually the sickness comes for them all.
Esther lives in a city called Prin, which is run by the older teenagers in the group. Every day is a looming threat of disease, hunger, and attacks by outsiders called variants (children born that are neither male or female at birth). But Esther just wants to live a normal life while she can - hang out with her best friend and her sister, and avoid having to work hard. She becomes an outside in the society, but soon meets Caleb and he changes everything. Soon Esther has something worth fighting for.
This is an okay book. I actually found it by accident at my library while I was looking for something else. I love a good apocolyptic story line. The writing isn't great, but it was an interesting enough story. It is how I assume kids would run things who are under the age of 19 and trying to figure out how to survive and create future generations.
This is a trilogy, so I think I will at least try the second book to see where it is going.
Esther lives in a city called Prin, which is run by the older teenagers in the group. Every day is a looming threat of disease, hunger, and attacks by outsiders called variants (children born that are neither male or female at birth). But Esther just wants to live a normal life while she can - hang out with her best friend and her sister, and avoid having to work hard. She becomes an outside in the society, but soon meets Caleb and he changes everything. Soon Esther has something worth fighting for.
This is an okay book. I actually found it by accident at my library while I was looking for something else. I love a good apocolyptic story line. The writing isn't great, but it was an interesting enough story. It is how I assume kids would run things who are under the age of 19 and trying to figure out how to survive and create future generations.
This is a trilogy, so I think I will at least try the second book to see where it is going.
123erty456's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Murder, Death, and Kidnapping
Minor: Terminal illness, Dementia, and Fire/Fire injury
landscapesofink's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the spoiler in the middle of the book. Just really was not expecting that. I had no idea that
I was also confused because throughout the whole book because I thought Joseph was
I also liked how Esther was friends with Skar, which was predictable, but in the end the variants helped them.
It always annoys me how the amazing guy gets with the outcast girl, and the amazing guy's always just plain amazing. But then it also gives me hope because I'm not exactly the most popular person haha. If only I had a bf at all, ever. :( Oh well haha. At least I can live vicariously through books.
I like it how Esther doesn't hate but she will do anything to help Caleb even if it doesn't involve her.
Spoiler
Caleb and Levi would be brothers!I was also confused because throughout the whole book because I thought Joseph was
Spoiler
young - like under the age of 19 - but he's not!!!! He's 26! There was not even any indicator that he was old, which I thought was odd.I also liked how Esther was friends with Skar, which was predictable, but in the end the variants helped them.
It always annoys me how the amazing guy gets with the outcast girl, and the amazing guy's always just plain amazing. But then it also gives me hope because I'm not exactly the most popular person haha. If only I had a bf at all, ever. :( Oh well haha. At least I can live vicariously through books.
I like it how Esther doesn't hate
Spoiler
Caleb's partner,booksandbraids's review against another edition
3.0
It was okay. I read a couple of the other poorer reviews and I agree with a lot of the stuff said. The concept of the whole world itself had flaws. It wasn't as clearly explained as it could have been and there were a lot of facts that didn't quite fit together.
All the things that didn't quite work for me that I can think of at the moment after finishing the book at 1am:
-horrible explanation of exactly when or how this future dystopian came into being
-why did no one decide to grow their own crops and raise livestock? Not even at the end.
-why had no one thought of aquifers and underground springs to begin with. It's not like its some big secret. And what made that water safe and not any other water? The water that rains soaks into the ground. It could contaminate it. The access to the water with the spring was above ground. Why didn't that especially get contaminated.
-what made joe go into hiding in the first place? If he knew he was like a decade almost olde than everyone else. Why didn't he mention something. And why did no one else notice.
Also, as someone else had pointed out in their review, the whole idea of 12 year olds settling down in "partners" as an official pair and starting a family that young is weird in my opinion. I guess they really have no other choice considering they all die at 19 but still.
All the things that didn't quite work for me that I can think of at the moment after finishing the book at 1am:
-horrible explanation of exactly when or how this future dystopian came into being
-why did no one decide to grow their own crops and raise livestock? Not even at the end.
-why had no one thought of aquifers and underground springs to begin with. It's not like its some big secret. And what made that water safe and not any other water? The water that rains soaks into the ground. It could contaminate it. The access to the water with the spring was above ground. Why didn't that especially get contaminated.
-what made joe go into hiding in the first place? If he knew he was like a decade almost olde than everyone else. Why didn't he mention something. And why did no one else notice.
Also, as someone else had pointed out in their review, the whole idea of 12 year olds settling down in "partners" as an official pair and starting a family that young is weird in my opinion. I guess they really have no other choice considering they all die at 19 but still.