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natalie_reads_'s review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
usbsticky's review
4.0
I did not read book 1, which is really the prequel to this book but enough was explained throughout the book so that I was not lost. But I would highly recommend reading book 1 (The Living) first. Also, I did not know this before but from the writing style, I guessed this to be a Young Adult book and on coming here to write this review, I found this indeed to be the case.
This is a post-apocalyptic dystopia book where an earthquake and a disease has affected the west coast of the USA and the coastal states. I don't really know what the circumstances of the destruction was or even what the disease is other than it's known as the Romero disease. When the book begins, the group of 4 has just reached the California coast and they try to make their way past the affected area into Arizona where they can give the vaccine and its formula to scientists in order to cure the Romero disease.
The writing was easy to read and follow. I thought the author did a good job of writing the characters and making them real. Also quite well written was the dystopian state of affairs and their journey, the dangers and their interaction with the inhabitants of the affected area.
I had felt this was a YA book partly because of the writing style, grammar and vocab but also that the issues dealt with were somewhat simplified and less complex than that of an adult book. This also applied to the depth of the personalities written. But that's not knock against the book, it's perfectly written for the audience intended. But a warning, the action has not been whitewashed, there's plenty of action and gore here.
Overall, I thought this was a well written YA post-apocalyptic dystopian book. It hit all the right spots: well written, easy to read, involving young characters, plenty of action.
I received this book free as a review copy.
This is a post-apocalyptic dystopia book where an earthquake and a disease has affected the west coast of the USA and the coastal states. I don't really know what the circumstances of the destruction was or even what the disease is other than it's known as the Romero disease. When the book begins, the group of 4 has just reached the California coast and they try to make their way past the affected area into Arizona where they can give the vaccine and its formula to scientists in order to cure the Romero disease.
The writing was easy to read and follow. I thought the author did a good job of writing the characters and making them real. Also quite well written was the dystopian state of affairs and their journey, the dangers and their interaction with the inhabitants of the affected area.
I had felt this was a YA book partly because of the writing style, grammar and vocab but also that the issues dealt with were somewhat simplified and less complex than that of an adult book. This also applied to the depth of the personalities written. But that's not knock against the book, it's perfectly written for the audience intended. But a warning, the action has not been whitewashed, there's plenty of action and gore here.
Overall, I thought this was a well written YA post-apocalyptic dystopian book. It hit all the right spots: well written, easy to read, involving young characters, plenty of action.
I received this book free as a review copy.
lisaluvsliterature's review
4.0
First thanks to Edelweiss and Delacorte Press for allowing me to read an egalley of the sequel to The Living. I read the first book as an egalley over a year ago, and then was lucky enough to get to meet the author and get an autographed copy of the first book. While it definitely had what could be an ending, I feel there could definitely be a sequel as I want to know what happened for sure to the person who didn't make it to the end. And I want to know about the family members we don't know for sure about. Those of you who want more diverse characters, Matt de la Pena is one of the authors that does it very well. His stories usually are more contemporary types of stories, and I loved the extra Sci-Fi and disaster parts of this story. You can read the rest of my review atLisa Loves Literature
futurememory's review
1.0
Oof, I did not like this follow-up to The Living.
While The Living wasn't my favorite book that I've read this year, it has a nice pace. It managed to combine issues about race and class with a fairly fast-paced adventure.
This one, though... I wasn't invested in any of the action, or any of the characters. Plot points happen haphazardly, and end unresolved. There are several narrative cop-outs, mostly including. The main conflict of the novel doesn't resolve in a satisfying way .
There are passages here that try to be deep and florid, but instead, they come across as jarringly out of place and pretentious.
I have no idea if a third book is planned. It seems like this ends pretty resolutely, albeit not gracefully.
So yeah, one big pile of meh.
While The Living wasn't my favorite book that I've read this year, it has a nice pace. It managed to combine issues about race and class with a fairly fast-paced adventure.
This one, though... I wasn't invested in any of the action, or any of the characters. Plot points happen haphazardly, and end unresolved. There are several narrative cop-outs, mostly including
Spoiler
everything regarding Shoeshine, and his journal. Jesus, can we get more Magical Negro stereotype than this character?!Spoiler
(I mean, really, what happens with Addie? We never see a conversation between her and Shy after he kills her father)There are passages here that try to be deep and florid, but instead, they come across as jarringly out of place and pretentious.
Spoiler
I'm looking at you, sex scene in the hot springs.I have no idea if a third book is planned. It seems like this ends pretty resolutely, albeit not gracefully.
So yeah, one big pile of meh.
heisereads's review
4.0
An exciting, suspenseful, thrilling, edge-of-your seat conclusion to the events of [b:The Living|13515320|The Living (The Living, #1)|Matt de la Pena|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1380695038s/13515320.jpg|19071680] as Shy, Carmen, Marcus, and Shoeshine end up back on land...but between the earthquakes and Romero Disease, the land is nothing like it was when they left it. What happens to society when society has been devastated? The realness of the diverse characters always strikes me as being honest, and not what the focus is, but what the reality is. Their fight for survival, understanding, their families, a vaccine, and each other lead the pacing of the plot to the final lines.
Spoiler
Will be very interested to hear what others think about the very ending of the book. I was left wondering how it could end like that and not feeling like I knew where that would leave everything. I'm not sure Shy's journey is done.nyxshadow's review
2.0
Trop linéaire. Ça manque un peu de tension également.
http://www.nyx-shadow.com/2016/04/les-vivants-t2-les-proies-matt-de-la.html
I'm not a great fan of this saga. I mean, the plot is interesting with a human-made apocalypse, but I don't like the events or the characters. Particularly Shy.
A Made-in-Humanity virus is not a very original idea but, hey, why not! We can make great stories with common plot. But this one is so much simple...
I mean Shy and his companions go through hard tests, but this tests, just happen one by one... With luck more than intelligence, Shy go to his goal.
I don't understand the other characters' minds: Abby, her father...
Shy is the boy-next-door: not very smart, but nice, but even in the catastrophic situations he isn't a leader. Or even a charismatic boy. And he is the main character...
The end is strange... There are no-answer questions and I think the events are too quick and incredible. But, this is the end.
http://www.nyx-shadow.com/2016/04/les-vivants-t2-les-proies-matt-de-la.html
I'm not a great fan of this saga. I mean, the plot is interesting with a human-made apocalypse, but I don't like the events or the characters. Particularly Shy.
A Made-in-Humanity virus is not a very original idea but, hey, why not! We can make great stories with common plot. But this one is so much simple...
I mean Shy and his companions go through hard tests, but this tests, just happen one by one... With luck more than intelligence, Shy go to his goal.
I don't understand the other characters' minds: Abby, her father...
Shy is the boy-next-door: not very smart, but nice, but even in the catastrophic situations he isn't a leader. Or even a charismatic boy. And he is the main character...
The end is strange... There are no-answer questions and I think the events are too quick and incredible. But, this is the end.
falconerreader's review
3.0
Four star book with a two star ending--so, three stars.
As I reached the latter chapters of this great adventure story, I started to wonder how on earth they were going to wrap everything up. I even double checked that it was a duology instead of trilogy, because it just didn't seem like there were enough pages left to satisfactorily tie up all the lose ends.
Well, there weren't.
Spoilers ahead.
From the very beginning of this story, Shy has been enamored with Carmen, who's engaged to a pre-law student back home. The attraction was at least a little bit mutual in book one, and in this book we get to see Shy grow as a character, and Carmen come to respect him and connect to him more and more. When the engaged couple finally are reunited, instead of having to have the difficult "I got really emotionally invested in this other guy while we were undergoing life and death situations" or the brave "I realized I was more into the idea of you than the reality" admission, there's a cop-out, with pre-law having pulled the douche move of not checking on her family during the disaster, so she can just dump him for that instead of dealing with her shit.
Another issue I had was with Shoeshine. There were all these murky hints about his past, but in the end, he tells Shy that it's lame to try to find out who he is and what he's up to. Then his journal turns out to be book one of the series. Also, the journal lights a river on fire. WTF?!? Tell me Matt de la Pena did not just create a Magical Negro. Or tell me he did not create this character and then struggle to figure out a convincing enough story to justify him, and so said, "Screw it, he's magic, and he's also me, the author, and now he's going to say some mumbo-jumbo to make you feel like a jerk for wanting to have it nailed down better." C'mon.
The crazy coincidences with Shy's dad, the way Abby's secret message was completely useless and her reappearance didn't affect Shy's emotions, the murder(s) Shy committed and recovered from --it really felt to me like either the author couldn't figure out how to wrap it up, or he had another book in his head and wasn't allowed to write it, so he just dropped stuff.
I wouldn't be this disappointed if I hadn't enjoyed the first 1 3/4 of the books so much. The ending is not shockingly sub-par compared to plenty of other books, it is just sub-par for what de la Pena is capable of and what I was hoping for.
As I reached the latter chapters of this great adventure story, I started to wonder how on earth they were going to wrap everything up. I even double checked that it was a duology instead of trilogy, because it just didn't seem like there were enough pages left to satisfactorily tie up all the lose ends.
Well, there weren't.
Spoilers ahead.
From the very beginning of this story, Shy has been enamored with Carmen, who's engaged to a pre-law student back home. The attraction was at least a little bit mutual in book one, and in this book we get to see Shy grow as a character, and Carmen come to respect him and connect to him more and more. When the engaged couple finally are reunited,
Another issue I had was with Shoeshine. There were all these murky hints about his past, but in the end,
The crazy coincidences with Shy's dad, the way Abby's secret message was completely useless and her reappearance didn't affect Shy's emotions, the
I wouldn't be this disappointed if I hadn't enjoyed the first 1 3/4 of the books so much. The ending is not shockingly sub-par compared to plenty of other books, it is just sub-par for what de la Pena is capable of and what I was hoping for.
tinamariecolon's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0