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laurelinpaige's review against another edition
5.0
This book has the unusual quality of feeling both futuristic and historical. It surprised me and enthralled me from page one. Especially beautiful is Bethany's lyrical writing style. It is a true pleasure to have been an early reviewer of this book.
elizpeace's review against another edition
1.0
Ugg, I just couldn't finish it. Just felt so insincere.
amber04's review
4.0
I really enjoyed Landry Park. It weaves a few of my favorite genres into one interesting read. I most definitely will read the next book.
cjyu's review
3.0
I felt like it tried to be The Winner's Curse and kind of failed at being The Winner's Curse. The characters just weren't that interesting, and it was dragged out far too long at places.
maggiemaggio's review
2.0
2.5 stars
When I picked Landry Park up I was craving a dystopian novel. After so many contemporaries in a row I really wanted to learn about another world and get lost in that world and its characters. At the beginning of Landry Park I fully expected that to happen, the story opens with a few pages about how the world of Landry Park came to be, something I really appreciated. It was nice to go in knowing something about the world and to not have to spend the first part of the story piecing it together.
The Madeline we meet at the beginning of the book is also promising. She’s a member of the gentry and her ancestor is credited with saving American society after the Easteners (China is the world superpower) barred the United States from buying oil. Because of this Madeline’s family is the most powerful family of all the gentry families and as the oldest, and only, child she is set to inherit everything. While she’s excited to take over Landry Park, an estate she loves, she also wants to attend university, something not allowed for a gentry heir. As much as I liked Madeline at the beginning of the book, as the story went on she was just kind of dull. She has no friends, she’s somewhat of an academic but that’s not particularly interesting here, and she pretty much seems to have no interests besides the estate. Even when she begins to question the society and her father’s role in holding down the lower classes, she never really does it, it’s accompanied by so many reservations and a lack of commitment that I never really felt like she was going to do anything.
David Dana, the supposed love interest in the story, came as a surprise to me. Given the description I expected him to be from the lower classes, but he’s not, he’s actually extremely wealthy, but also a bit of a mystery as he’s recently moved to Kansas City from Atlanta, with his mother, who has a history with Madeline’s father. When David and Madeline first meet they have a bit of a love-hate relationship, but I never felt the love or the hate very well. For much of the book David is actually with Madeline’s frenemy, a girl named Cara. I suspected all along that there was a reason for David and Cara’s relationship, and I was right, but the fact that Madeline was lusting after someone else’s boyfriend, a boyfriend who didn’t seem to have a particularly winning personality, left me a little miffed.
There were also some things about the world building and several story lines that gave me pause. The society where they live is not a patriarchal society, Madeline and Cara, as oldest/only children, will inherit their family estates even as women. Yet all of the gentry people in power at the time of the story are men. It could just be a fluke, but I found it rather odd. There was also a pattern of story lines not really being carried through. David, even when it’s in Kansas City, flits in and out of Madeline’s life and, especially at the end of the story, seemed to just vanish. After Madeline sees the horrors of the lower classes firsthand she vows to help, but she kind of does it off and on. And it’s not as though she’s doing anything else of real importance to the story in the meantime. Also, although it’s a story line kept in the background, David’s mother and Madeline’s father grow closer, with Madeline even seeming to refer to her as her father’s mistress at one point, but nothing ever comes of it other than Madeline mentioning it.
A sequel is planned for Landry Park, but I wouldn’t call the ending a cliffhanger. There are still questions left up in the air, but most of the story lines wrapped up, at least temporarily. I do have a certain level of curiosity about how it will all turn out, but I also can’t quite imagine myself picking up the sequel.
Bottom Line: So much about this book was promising, but in the end it never came together. I never got a good feeling for any of the characters, the world they live in, or the romance. This book seems to have its fans, but sadly I am not one of them.
This review first appeared on my blog.
When I picked Landry Park up I was craving a dystopian novel. After so many contemporaries in a row I really wanted to learn about another world and get lost in that world and its characters. At the beginning of Landry Park I fully expected that to happen, the story opens with a few pages about how the world of Landry Park came to be, something I really appreciated. It was nice to go in knowing something about the world and to not have to spend the first part of the story piecing it together.
The Madeline we meet at the beginning of the book is also promising. She’s a member of the gentry and her ancestor is credited with saving American society after the Easteners (China is the world superpower) barred the United States from buying oil. Because of this Madeline’s family is the most powerful family of all the gentry families and as the oldest, and only, child she is set to inherit everything. While she’s excited to take over Landry Park, an estate she loves, she also wants to attend university, something not allowed for a gentry heir. As much as I liked Madeline at the beginning of the book, as the story went on she was just kind of dull. She has no friends, she’s somewhat of an academic but that’s not particularly interesting here, and she pretty much seems to have no interests besides the estate. Even when she begins to question the society and her father’s role in holding down the lower classes, she never really does it, it’s accompanied by so many reservations and a lack of commitment that I never really felt like she was going to do anything.
David Dana, the supposed love interest in the story, came as a surprise to me. Given the description I expected him to be from the lower classes, but he’s not, he’s actually extremely wealthy, but also a bit of a mystery as he’s recently moved to Kansas City from Atlanta, with his mother, who has a history with Madeline’s father. When David and Madeline first meet they have a bit of a love-hate relationship, but I never felt the love or the hate very well. For much of the book David is actually with Madeline’s frenemy, a girl named Cara. I suspected all along that there was a reason for David and Cara’s relationship, and I was right, but the fact that Madeline was lusting after someone else’s boyfriend, a boyfriend who didn’t seem to have a particularly winning personality, left me a little miffed.
There were also some things about the world building and several story lines that gave me pause. The society where they live is not a patriarchal society, Madeline and Cara, as oldest/only children, will inherit their family estates even as women. Yet all of the gentry people in power at the time of the story are men. It could just be a fluke, but I found it rather odd. There was also a pattern of story lines not really being carried through. David, even when it’s in Kansas City, flits in and out of Madeline’s life and, especially at the end of the story, seemed to just vanish. After Madeline sees the horrors of the lower classes firsthand she vows to help, but she kind of does it off and on. And it’s not as though she’s doing anything else of real importance to the story in the meantime. Also, although it’s a story line kept in the background, David’s mother and Madeline’s father grow closer, with Madeline even seeming to refer to her as her father’s mistress at one point, but nothing ever comes of it other than Madeline mentioning it.
A sequel is planned for Landry Park, but I wouldn’t call the ending a cliffhanger. There are still questions left up in the air, but most of the story lines wrapped up, at least temporarily. I do have a certain level of curiosity about how it will all turn out, but I also can’t quite imagine myself picking up the sequel.
Bottom Line: So much about this book was promising, but in the end it never came together. I never got a good feeling for any of the characters, the world they live in, or the romance. This book seems to have its fans, but sadly I am not one of them.
This review first appeared on my blog.
lisamparkin's review
3.0
Interesting take on a dystopian future where the gentry class still exist. The storyline fell a little short for me. Overall pretty good.
goodbetterbetsy's review against another edition
3.0
It is funny that I listened to this right after A Mad, Wicked Folly. Even though one took place in the past and one took place in the future, they were pretty similar. Both featured a world where women didn't have many rights and married young. Both had girls who wanted to go to college before doing what was expected of her. They also dealt a lot of difference in class between people. It was an interesting read. I don't know if there are more books planned in the series. It wrapped up nicely but still with a lot unresolved.
tamreel_stitches's review against another edition
2.0
I received this book as a Good Reads first winner. I didn't really like it. It's set in the future where were back to class status. It was rather dark and depressing.