Scan barcode
themisscrazii's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
kay34's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
cburgbennett's review
3.0
I love Aprilynne Pike's series 'Wings'. This was a step down from that amazing series.
I found this book to be very fast paced, which i like. I hate it when books drag. There was a lot of stuff that was confusing in the beginning and middle with all of the new magical terms...but once the main character Tavia understood them, so did I.
There were a lot of twists that were pretty epic. But some of the main twists were very guessable...which was disappointing.
Overall a good read.
I found this book to be very fast paced, which i like. I hate it when books drag. There was a lot of stuff that was confusing in the beginning and middle with all of the new magical terms...but once the main character Tavia understood them, so did I.
There were a lot of twists that were pretty epic. But some of the main twists were very guessable...which was disappointing.
Overall a good read.
michalice's review against another edition
5.0
I have read and loved Aprilynne's Wings series, so when I first heard about Earthbound I knew I HAD to read it, there was no question about it. However some authors don't quite manage to make the transition to another series, with the new books not being liked as much as the previous work, with Aprilynne however, Earthbound is even more gripping than her Wings series, and while it took me a while to make my way to it, once I began I did not want to stop.
Earthbound is full of mystery, suspense, romance, and action. Just when you think it can't get better or nothing else can surprise you, BAM, something happens that has you saying OMFG!!!! I read some of this book on my dinner break in work and I'm sure I looked like a fool staring dumbfoundedley at the pages while inside my head I was thinking, what the hell just happened, I can't believe that happened, each chapter I finished had me in so much suspense that I had to find out what happened next, I didn't even want to go back to work I wanted to sit and read.
The world Aprilynne has created is rich in everything you need to make a perfect book. The area it is set in is ideal for Tavia, the protagonist, full of inspiration for her art, and easy for her to relax, blend in and make new friends. The friendship Tavia has with Benson is the perfect blend of personalities, they just get each other, no questions asked.
The characters are instantaneously likeable and you are immediately drawn into their world, their feelings, and want the best for them all. The story itself doesn't pull you in, it drags you in, heart and soul and while it lets you go whenever you choose, you really don't want to part with it. Before I had even reached halfway through the book I was already wanting the second book in this new series, when I had finished it was more of a demand than a want.
There is so much I want to say about Earthbound, how much I loved the characters, the world, the ideas behind it, even down to giving exacts of what happens, but I just can't bring myself to spoil it for you. I want every reader to be shocked and surprised just like I was. I want you to feel every emotion that I experienced while reading this book, and when you eventually reach the very last word, to be able to put down the book and say "Wow"
Earthbound is full of mystery, suspense, romance, and action. Just when you think it can't get better or nothing else can surprise you, BAM, something happens that has you saying OMFG!!!! I read some of this book on my dinner break in work and I'm sure I looked like a fool staring dumbfoundedley at the pages while inside my head I was thinking, what the hell just happened, I can't believe that happened, each chapter I finished had me in so much suspense that I had to find out what happened next, I didn't even want to go back to work I wanted to sit and read.
The world Aprilynne has created is rich in everything you need to make a perfect book. The area it is set in is ideal for Tavia, the protagonist, full of inspiration for her art, and easy for her to relax, blend in and make new friends. The friendship Tavia has with Benson is the perfect blend of personalities, they just get each other, no questions asked.
Benson just stares at me. "Could you do anything... I don't know, supernatural when you were little?"
"yeah, I made the glass on a snake's cage disappear right before my acceptance letter from Hogwarts arrived."
The characters are instantaneously likeable and you are immediately drawn into their world, their feelings, and want the best for them all. The story itself doesn't pull you in, it drags you in, heart and soul and while it lets you go whenever you choose, you really don't want to part with it. Before I had even reached halfway through the book I was already wanting the second book in this new series, when I had finished it was more of a demand than a want.
There is so much I want to say about Earthbound, how much I loved the characters, the world, the ideas behind it, even down to giving exacts of what happens, but I just can't bring myself to spoil it for you. I want every reader to be shocked and surprised just like I was. I want you to feel every emotion that I experienced while reading this book, and when you eventually reach the very last word, to be able to put down the book and say "Wow"
haleyelisereads's review
5.0
Oh my goodness gracious! I freaking loved this book! Aprilynne Pike has completely stepped up in her new series Earthbound, I for one really liked her novel Wings, but this was something completely of its own! Fans of Aprilynne Pike will adore this, and people that maybe are not currently Aprilynne Pike fans really need to give her another shot with her new Earthbound series! I am totally fan-girling over this and cannot WAIT to get my hands on book two!
Okay so lets cut right to the chase and talk about the romance, I am a HUGE lover of romance in my novels! If a book has a cruddy romance or no romance at all, it is very hard for me to enjoy the book. The romance in Earthbound was wonderful! I felt the love triangle was a nice one, it didn't annoy me that Tavia found herself confused between the two guys, I found it easy to understand her predicament. I also liked that even though the blurb makes it sound like the love triangle is front and center, it wasn't in my opinion. Was it there? Yes, but it was subtle and never annoying. So if you are someone that hates love triangles, this would still be a book I would recommend and you may enjoy despite there being a love triangle.
The characters in Earthbound were another thing I found myself enjoying while reading. Each of them were unique, and did not lack depth what so ever. One thing I really loved about the characters in Earthbound was that none of them were predictable! I was never quite sure how the characters were going to react or what each character was REALLY up to. This made the reading experience all the more enjoyable. My favorite characters were easily our three main characters Tavia, Benson, and Quinn. Tavia being the ultimate favorite, she is such a strong character, and a realistically strong character at that, did she have weak moments? Yes of course! But that made her seem all the more real and made me love her even more. Benson and Quinn are great matches to have apart of a love triangle, they are each so different than the other, and I can easily say that these are two guys that readers are going to love big time (book boyfriend material!)
Besides the romance, and the characters the book itself was written amazingly. While like I said before I did love Wings, I feel personally in Earthbound you can see alot of growth in Aprilynne Pike's writing. She is an author I can now honestly say I think is going to keep getting better and better with each book she releases. Earthbound was descriptive, without being too descriptive. It had the perfect pace, never did I feel bored or that things were going too slow, I also never felt things were being rushed and going too fast. Everything flowed nicely, dialogue was great, scenery was great, I just really have no complaints when it comes to Aprilynne's writing in Earthbound, I thoroughly enjoyed all of it.
Overall, as you can tell I just really loved this book. If you are an Apirlynne Pike fan, you will not be disappointed with Earthbound. If you have never read Aprilynne Pike's work, well then Earthbound would be a pretty epic place to start with her books, if you are not a fan of Aprilynne Pike, I would seriously recommend you giving her new novel Earthbound a try anyways. This is an awesome start to what I hope is going to be an epic series, Earthbound will keep your attention, and then leave you seriously dying for book 2 with it's ending!
Okay so lets cut right to the chase and talk about the romance, I am a HUGE lover of romance in my novels! If a book has a cruddy romance or no romance at all, it is very hard for me to enjoy the book. The romance in Earthbound was wonderful! I felt the love triangle was a nice one, it didn't annoy me that Tavia found herself confused between the two guys, I found it easy to understand her predicament. I also liked that even though the blurb makes it sound like the love triangle is front and center, it wasn't in my opinion. Was it there? Yes, but it was subtle and never annoying. So if you are someone that hates love triangles, this would still be a book I would recommend and you may enjoy despite there being a love triangle.
The characters in Earthbound were another thing I found myself enjoying while reading. Each of them were unique, and did not lack depth what so ever. One thing I really loved about the characters in Earthbound was that none of them were predictable! I was never quite sure how the characters were going to react or what each character was REALLY up to. This made the reading experience all the more enjoyable. My favorite characters were easily our three main characters Tavia, Benson, and Quinn. Tavia being the ultimate favorite, she is such a strong character, and a realistically strong character at that, did she have weak moments? Yes of course! But that made her seem all the more real and made me love her even more. Benson and Quinn are great matches to have apart of a love triangle, they are each so different than the other, and I can easily say that these are two guys that readers are going to love big time (book boyfriend material!)
Besides the romance, and the characters the book itself was written amazingly. While like I said before I did love Wings, I feel personally in Earthbound you can see alot of growth in Aprilynne Pike's writing. She is an author I can now honestly say I think is going to keep getting better and better with each book she releases. Earthbound was descriptive, without being too descriptive. It had the perfect pace, never did I feel bored or that things were going too slow, I also never felt things were being rushed and going too fast. Everything flowed nicely, dialogue was great, scenery was great, I just really have no complaints when it comes to Aprilynne's writing in Earthbound, I thoroughly enjoyed all of it.
Overall, as you can tell I just really loved this book. If you are an Apirlynne Pike fan, you will not be disappointed with Earthbound. If you have never read Aprilynne Pike's work, well then Earthbound would be a pretty epic place to start with her books, if you are not a fan of Aprilynne Pike, I would seriously recommend you giving her new novel Earthbound a try anyways. This is an awesome start to what I hope is going to be an epic series, Earthbound will keep your attention, and then leave you seriously dying for book 2 with it's ending!
mamap's review against another edition
2.0
Apparently, the only theme for YAFIC is 2 boys - 1 girl.
And the fate of the world in her hands. Seriously, it's enough.
It's not poorly written and there are things to like - I'm just tired of the whole thing. A personal problem?
And the fate of the world in her hands. Seriously, it's enough.
It's not poorly written and there are things to like - I'm just tired of the whole thing. A personal problem?
jenny9625's review against another edition
3.0
Idea molto originale, peccato che, a parte per le ultime 50 pagine, abbia trovato la narrazione un po’ confusa, dato che inizialmente non avevo capito cosa stesse succedendo… Fatto sta che poteva essere sviluppato molto meglio!
P.s: che Benson fosse “cattivo” si intuiva da subito.
Curiosa di leggere il prossimo.
P.s: che Benson fosse “cattivo” si intuiva da subito.
Curiosa di leggere il prossimo.
pixelski's review
1.0
I don't know I'm so confused by what I just read... What DID I just read?! Review to come.
--- [07.08.13] Updated with review.
Firstly, thanks to HarperCollins Australia for this review copy <3
“Who can fight fate, really?”
Earthbound held a very promising concept to me and I had this preconceived idea of what it would be like – something of a cross between Hodkin’s Mara Dyer and Brennan’s Unspoken. What I got instead was almost a mix of Twilight and Fallen. Everything felt so forced and coincidental, it was all a bit too much and by the end I was just sceptical of the previous 350 pages. I’m sort of at a loss as to what to say about my experience with Earthbound. There were times when I liked It, but the majority was me thinking “Wait, slow down, WHY is this happening?!”I got frustrated a lot.
The story commences months after the accident that killed our MC’s parents and the whole plane, save for our protagonist, Tavia, who’s the lone survivor. She’s on the road to recovery and attending therapy when she starts seeing this boy – well actually it’s one occurrence when she’s in the car and then he appears in her backyard at 2am the next morning and when he disappears? Well she misses him. This was the yellow light to me that something was slightly off, but I kept reading because in Tavia’s defence, she does freak out. This was chapter three. Everything went downhill in chapter four. He feels special to her. Makes her feel all warm and frothy inside. Based on one chance encounter and one where he appears at her BEDROOM window and BECKONS her outside. And then he disappears. So they haven’t spoken a word and even though Tavia’s mind is saying maybe he’s a stalker, it’s acceptable because he’s her age and she feels he won’t hurt her. Oh my fucking goodness everything is just wrong with that. On every bloody level. Don’t worry, I’m not spoiling anything, this is only page 31. Her reactions are supposedly off because she suffered brain damage. Tavia thinks her initial reaction to vision-boy is because of her brain… I’m not sure if Pike is trying to play off that insta-love/obsession thing as something to do with Tavia’s brain or not. But either way, Tavia decides her feelings are true. Or something. And she seems to react to this perfectly FINE. She wants to get to know him. NEEDS to. At this point I’m just going “Nuh qurrrlllll, just no, no matter how yummy he looks”. Her priorities are all over the place. When revelations are made about certain events and situations I just felt her initial thoughts and reactions were wrong – she’d think about less important things when something else was screaming at her in the face and she’d only see this later. I also hated how EASY everything came to her. Such a freaking coincidence really.
“I don’t even know his name, but he feels special somehow. My secret. Not the kind of secret that makes you feel guilty and empty inside; he’s a cappuccino secret – something sweet and frothy that warms me from the middle out.”
Usually this paragraph is reserved for my commenting on the male MC – cue my gushing and lip biting over how gorgeous he is and how much I love him. So you’ll excuse me if I don’t, except to say that I actually don’t know what to say about vision-boy. He just pops in and out and there’s a hug here, a kiss there, and I just got sort of bored even though there’s all this enigma surrounding him. And best friend Benson? By god this guy was ANNOYING as hell. In my eyes he tried too hard, was too perfect and understanding and to me that just screams that something is wrong. Everything between Benson and Tavia felt so forced. The crush, the chemistry(?), everything. I. Did. Not. Feel. A. Thing. Horrible, forced, unrelatable love triangle. And this is coming from someone who saw the devotion Jacob Black and Edward Cullen had to Bella Swan, wrong as it was. Ick.
All the secondary characters were so full of crap ugh. Elizabeth her therapist, Jay and Reese her step-uncle and step-aunt. All the same bland characters. Accepting and kind, encouraging, all unbelievably giving her the space she needs and supporting her. I had raised eyebrows every time I read them. And just the way everybody seemed to be ok with everything that was going on with Tavia. I mean, hello WARNING bells when your therapist says it’s completely normal to be seeing things and encourages it, not asking WHY Tavia thinks she sees the things she sees. It wasn’t the kind of inquisitive psychology where the other party sees how the person thinks, there was no attempt at understanding.
“You’ve made so much progress lately that I’ve actually been expecting you to start experiencing some… some changes.”
“And Tavia, you might have more strange things happen. Unexplainable things. And that’s okay.”
The actual plot? It was all over the place! Pike was trying to do everything at once, packing too many ideas into one story. It got so convoluted I kept questioning “why here”, “why him”, “why her”. I got so confused I didn’t know if there were plot holes or not. It was all a jumble of science-fiction, paranormal, history, mythology and Pike tried to tie everything so it seemed connected but I just got this information dump. By the end I got the feeling Pike was trying for a conspiracy theory type feel with roots from deep within mythology and I was meant to be blown away by all this. But I just wasn’t.
“It’s the reason you see things the rest of us can’t.”
If my review didn’t make sense it’s because I don’t really know what went on with most of the book. I got the whole story in the space of five chapters through information dumps basically. Forgive me if I feel slightly overwhelmed.
This book held so much potential. It was a quick read and I could see Pike trying to pull everything together. But sadly the fragments failed to give Earthbound the integrity it strived to achieve. I think there are many people out there that would enjoy this, but Earthbound just wasn’t my thing.
“He needs me. And the world needs us.”
--- [07.08.13] Updated with review.
Firstly, thanks to HarperCollins Australia for this review copy <3
“Who can fight fate, really?”
Earthbound held a very promising concept to me and I had this preconceived idea of what it would be like – something of a cross between Hodkin’s Mara Dyer and Brennan’s Unspoken. What I got instead was almost a mix of Twilight and Fallen. Everything felt so forced and coincidental, it was all a bit too much and by the end I was just sceptical of the previous 350 pages. I’m sort of at a loss as to what to say about my experience with Earthbound. There were times when I liked It, but the majority was me thinking “Wait, slow down, WHY is this happening?!”I got frustrated a lot.
The story commences months after the accident that killed our MC’s parents and the whole plane, save for our protagonist, Tavia, who’s the lone survivor. She’s on the road to recovery and attending therapy when she starts seeing this boy – well actually it’s one occurrence when she’s in the car and then he appears in her backyard at 2am the next morning and when he disappears? Well she misses him. This was the yellow light to me that something was slightly off, but I kept reading because in Tavia’s defence, she does freak out. This was chapter three. Everything went downhill in chapter four. He feels special to her. Makes her feel all warm and frothy inside. Based on one chance encounter and one where he appears at her BEDROOM window and BECKONS her outside. And then he disappears. So they haven’t spoken a word and even though Tavia’s mind is saying maybe he’s a stalker, it’s acceptable because he’s her age and she feels he won’t hurt her. Oh my fucking goodness everything is just wrong with that. On every bloody level. Don’t worry, I’m not spoiling anything, this is only page 31. Her reactions are supposedly off because she suffered brain damage. Tavia thinks her initial reaction to vision-boy is because of her brain… I’m not sure if Pike is trying to play off that insta-love/obsession thing as something to do with Tavia’s brain or not. But either way, Tavia decides her feelings are true. Or something. And she seems to react to this perfectly FINE. She wants to get to know him. NEEDS to. At this point I’m just going “Nuh qurrrlllll, just no, no matter how yummy he looks”. Her priorities are all over the place. When revelations are made about certain events and situations I just felt her initial thoughts and reactions were wrong – she’d think about less important things when something else was screaming at her in the face and she’d only see this later. I also hated how EASY everything came to her. Such a freaking coincidence really.
“I don’t even know his name, but he feels special somehow. My secret. Not the kind of secret that makes you feel guilty and empty inside; he’s a cappuccino secret – something sweet and frothy that warms me from the middle out.”
Usually this paragraph is reserved for my commenting on the male MC – cue my gushing and lip biting over how gorgeous he is and how much I love him. So you’ll excuse me if I don’t, except to say that I actually don’t know what to say about vision-boy. He just pops in and out and there’s a hug here, a kiss there, and I just got sort of bored even though there’s all this enigma surrounding him. And best friend Benson? By god this guy was ANNOYING as hell. In my eyes he tried too hard, was too perfect and understanding and to me that just screams that something is wrong. Everything between Benson and Tavia felt so forced. The crush, the chemistry(?), everything. I. Did. Not. Feel. A. Thing. Horrible, forced, unrelatable love triangle. And this is coming from someone who saw the devotion Jacob Black and Edward Cullen had to Bella Swan, wrong as it was. Ick.
All the secondary characters were so full of crap ugh. Elizabeth her therapist, Jay and Reese her step-uncle and step-aunt. All the same bland characters. Accepting and kind, encouraging, all unbelievably giving her the space she needs and supporting her. I had raised eyebrows every time I read them. And just the way everybody seemed to be ok with everything that was going on with Tavia. I mean, hello WARNING bells when your therapist says it’s completely normal to be seeing things and encourages it, not asking WHY Tavia thinks she sees the things she sees. It wasn’t the kind of inquisitive psychology where the other party sees how the person thinks, there was no attempt at understanding.
“You’ve made so much progress lately that I’ve actually been expecting you to start experiencing some… some changes.”
“And Tavia, you might have more strange things happen. Unexplainable things. And that’s okay.”
The actual plot? It was all over the place! Pike was trying to do everything at once, packing too many ideas into one story. It got so convoluted I kept questioning “why here”, “why him”, “why her”. I got so confused I didn’t know if there were plot holes or not. It was all a jumble of science-fiction, paranormal, history, mythology and Pike tried to tie everything so it seemed connected but I just got this information dump. By the end I got the feeling Pike was trying for a conspiracy theory type feel with roots from deep within mythology and I was meant to be blown away by all this. But I just wasn’t.
“It’s the reason you see things the rest of us can’t.”
If my review didn’t make sense it’s because I don’t really know what went on with most of the book. I got the whole story in the space of five chapters through information dumps basically. Forgive me if I feel slightly overwhelmed.
This book held so much potential. It was a quick read and I could see Pike trying to pull everything together. But sadly the fragments failed to give Earthbound the integrity it strived to achieve. I think there are many people out there that would enjoy this, but Earthbound just wasn’t my thing.
“He needs me. And the world needs us.”
kamarie112's review
2.0
The book was okay. It was an interesting idea, and Aprilynne Pike is an amazing author. I read the first book in her other series, Wings, and am waiting to read the second one. But, with Earthbound, it felt like the chemistry between Tavia and Benson was forced. It didn't seem real and how she found out who she was. It just didn't seem to be believable, I guess.
echo_echo_echo's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75