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izzys_internet_bookshelf's review
3.0
3.5/5
A mixture of 451 and 1981? yes please! I loved the concept of book. the dystopian and slowing finding out that this is world they are in is covered up by censorship. Can't wait for the second book!
REREAD 8/4/22
3.5/5
As the last review states I still love what qualities I said about the book. I need to find a way to get my hands on the sequel.
A mixture of 451 and 1981? yes please! I loved the concept of book. the dystopian and slowing finding out that this is world they are in is covered up by censorship. Can't wait for the second book!
REREAD 8/4/22
3.5/5
As the last review states I still love what qualities I said about the book. I need to find a way to get my hands on the sequel.
laalako's review against another edition
adventurous
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
ipetrine's review
3.0
I finally finished Verify by Joelle Charbonneau. It took me long and I read several other books in between because this didn't hold my interest enough.
There are parts I like a lot. The premise is good and I love reading books about books. Paper and paper books are banned, everything is digitalized, and the society is more peaceful and happy than ever. But what happens when the government decides which books, parts of history and even specific words shouldn't be brought into this new age of peace and prosperity?
An underground movement called the Stewards are harboring thousands and thousands of books and old dictionaries. They are keeping the information the government don't want people to have, and someday they will release it / set it free. But the people have to be ready for it. Enter Meri.
Meri has her struggles. Her mother recently died in an accident according to the government, and her father is drinking away his grief. Meri then stumbles over the word VERIFY written on a piece of paper, and from there the rest happens in only a few days. Some scenes are exciting and I want to keep reading, but it's not enough to save this book from a mediocre rating from me.
It is said that this book is set several decades from now. Is it really possible to erase several words from the people's vocabulary just like that? I think not.
The pacing is off. I don't really have a sense of how much time goes by after Meri meets Atlas for the first time. She becomes leader of the revolution way too quickly, I don't think the Stewards would have followed her just like that. For a group of people valuing trust so high, it's just not likely.
The insta-love. Please. We didn't need it.
I would have preferred if Charbonneau took more time building the characters and making them seem less like cardboard figures.
Overall, this book reads young. I think younger readers will enjoy it, and I hope the sequel has better pacing and more character building.
Thank you, Edelweiss and HarperCollins for an eARC in exchange of an honest review.
There are parts I like a lot. The premise is good and I love reading books about books. Paper and paper books are banned, everything is digitalized, and the society is more peaceful and happy than ever. But what happens when the government decides which books, parts of history and even specific words shouldn't be brought into this new age of peace and prosperity?
An underground movement called the Stewards are harboring thousands and thousands of books and old dictionaries. They are keeping the information the government don't want people to have, and someday they will release it / set it free. But the people have to be ready for it. Enter Meri.
Meri has her struggles. Her mother recently died in an accident according to the government, and her father is drinking away his grief. Meri then stumbles over the word VERIFY written on a piece of paper, and from there the rest happens in only a few days. Some scenes are exciting and I want to keep reading, but it's not enough to save this book from a mediocre rating from me.
It is said that this book is set several decades from now. Is it really possible to erase several words from the people's vocabulary just like that? I think not.
The pacing is off. I don't really have a sense of how much time goes by after Meri meets Atlas for the first time. She becomes leader of the revolution way too quickly, I don't think the Stewards would have followed her just like that. For a group of people valuing trust so high, it's just not likely.
The insta-love. Please. We didn't need it.
I would have preferred if Charbonneau took more time building the characters and making them seem less like cardboard figures.
Overall, this book reads young. I think younger readers will enjoy it, and I hope the sequel has better pacing and more character building.
Thank you, Edelweiss and HarperCollins for an eARC in exchange of an honest review.
vidhi26p's review
3.0
This was an interesting concept for a novel but it just didn’t hit hard enough. I wasn’t emotionally invested in this novel like I am I was in Charbonneau’s previous work of “The Testing” or “Need.” In a world where residents have been deprived of something we take for granted, the shock and immersive experience just didn’t exist. It was subpar writing which meant a creative idea just had kind of terrible execution. It also didn’t help that the romance in the novel felt incredibly shallow and nauseatingly forced. While still a kind of entertaining real it’s just wasn’t the quality I expected from Charbonneau.
alongreader's review against another edition
3.0
In a future version of Chicago, the death of a teenager's mother is the catalyst for her to begin questioning, peeling back the layers of her world to discover the truth hidden underneath.
The summary led me to believe this would be a bit different than it is. This isn't a world without lies so much as a world without questions from the public, which isn't the same thing at all.
The idea of removing words to control people isn't new...it wasn't new when George Orwell made it famous in 1984...but it's seen a bit of a surge lately, with several titles in both YA and Adult featuring the idea. Sadly, Verify doesn't add anything new. Some of the ideas around the evolution of tech are intriguing, but even that doesn't seem far enough ahead of where we are now. (Possibly partly justified by Atlas' comment that America is falling behind other countries after closing its borders and refusing travel in either direction.)
My other main problem with this book is that it doesn't end, it stops. I understand it's part of a duology, but there are ways to end the first book without simply stopping dead; Brigid Kemmerer managed it wonderfully in her Cursebreakers duology, off the top of my head, and so do plenty of others. This honestly reads like Joelle wrote the whole thing at once, measured out the halfway point and cut it in half there.
An intriguing idea, but sadly not the best execution.
The summary led me to believe this would be a bit different than it is. This isn't a world without lies so much as a world without questions from the public, which isn't the same thing at all.
The idea of removing words to control people isn't new...it wasn't new when George Orwell made it famous in 1984...but it's seen a bit of a surge lately, with several titles in both YA and Adult featuring the idea. Sadly, Verify doesn't add anything new. Some of the ideas around the evolution of tech are intriguing, but even that doesn't seem far enough ahead of where we are now. (Possibly partly justified by Atlas' comment that America is falling behind other countries after closing its borders and refusing travel in either direction.)
My other main problem with this book is that it doesn't end, it stops. I understand it's part of a duology, but there are ways to end the first book without simply stopping dead; Brigid Kemmerer managed it wonderfully in her Cursebreakers duology, off the top of my head, and so do plenty of others. This honestly reads like Joelle wrote the whole thing at once, measured out the halfway point and cut it in half there.
An intriguing idea, but sadly not the best execution.
z_brarian's review against another edition
5.0
A modern day twist on Fahrenheit 451. Super strong female protagonist who, when she opens her eyes, is able to see the truth & power words truly have. I will admit when I first started reading the book, I was skeptical, but then the story started to flow even faster and I was unable to put it down...and wouldn't you know, a CLIFFHANGER! Favorite quote "Words have power. They change minds. They inspire and create fear. Words shape ideas--they shape our world--..."
Very powerful, especially in this day and age of "fake news". Highly recommend this title, especially to HS ELA Ts.
Very powerful, especially in this day and age of "fake news". Highly recommend this title, especially to HS ELA Ts.
kawarwick's review against another edition
4.0
Lots of suspense, I couldn’t put it down. The possibility of this happening is scary!
cozyoat's review
the premise was interesting but the main character was just too much and lacking all at the same time
zbrarian's review against another edition
5.0
A modern day twist on Fahrenheit 451. Super strong female protagonist who, when she opens her eyes, is able to see the truth & power words truly have. I will admit when I first started reading the book, I was skeptical, but then the story started to flow even faster and I was unable to put it down...and wouldn't you know, a CLIFFHANGER! Favorite quote "Words have power. They change minds. They inspire and create fear. Words shape ideas--they shape our world--..."
Very powerful, especially in this day and age of "fake news". Highly recommend this title, especially to HS ELA Ts.
Very powerful, especially in this day and age of "fake news". Highly recommend this title, especially to HS ELA Ts.
vickireadsalot's review against another edition
5.0
“Get people focused on other things while you limit their choices in ways they don’t think to complain about. Only so many television channels—that way the ideas in them can be controlled. Only certain artists are allowed to display their work—because others might provoke different thoughts and viewpoints. You limit immigration and say it’s for safety and insist other countries have made it harder to travel to theirs. Little by little, piece by piece, lives are controlled—minds are controlled—even as people still believe they are free.”
A timely read. I am excited to read the sequel to see how the author finishes the story.
A timely read. I am excited to read the sequel to see how the author finishes the story.