Scan barcode
mlboyd20's review
5.0
As it states, this is a short story at 25 pages, but oh, does it pack a punch. I was breathless, eating up each page to see what was going to happen next. The reader learns a bit about Nathan, before the war. He's a jerk, but we get to see the side of him that is dying for his fathers attention. We learn how just by trying to make his father proud, he ends the world as we know it. We also get to see him try to make a wrong, right, while in the middle of a living hell.
In 25 pages, my emotions ran from one end of the scale to the other and back and forth. I felt disgust, sympathy, anger, pain, fear and much more. For an author to do this with a short story, that author has mastered the art of storytelling. I bet her campfire stories keep even the forest creatures too scared to rest! The suspense, the doom, the ending, oh my!
This is a must read for those just starting this series and for those that have read Sovereign and The Offering. Both groups will be wanting more. I recommend this for anyone who likes the post-apocalyptic genre.
In 25 pages, my emotions ran from one end of the scale to the other and back and forth. I felt disgust, sympathy, anger, pain, fear and much more. For an author to do this with a short story, that author has mastered the art of storytelling. I bet her campfire stories keep even the forest creatures too scared to rest! The suspense, the doom, the ending, oh my!
This is a must read for those just starting this series and for those that have read Sovereign and The Offering. Both groups will be wanting more. I recommend this for anyone who likes the post-apocalyptic genre.
jaironside's review
3.0
3.5 stars. An enjoyable YA dystopian read and definitely value for money since it's free. It handles the usual tropes and trials of the sub genre with energy though not from an especially new angle. It took me ages to get into because I found the first chapter off putting. It seemed jumbled and incoherent and tbh at that point I didn't care about Cori. Once I got past the first few chapters I got sucked in a read it in 24hrs.
As another reviewer has noted, Cori is a bit inconsistent. She pendulums from being shut off, closed down and recklessly fearless to bawling her eyes out. I'm afraid I didn't buy that. The only time when I thought her crying was in character was when she realised what humanity had lost, and what she had missed out on, in the ruined house. Otherwise it seemed as though it was to make her more vulnerable and it didn't come off.
I didn't like Dylan. I didn't dislike him either but he was a chameleonic presence who changed to fit what the plot needed rather than a character in his own right.
There were flashes of really good writing (on the whole it was good throughout) even excellent writing. It's a shame that perhaps a bit more time shaking out the plot wasn't taken. No real holes as such but the pacing is off and there are original ideas in there that didn't get the exploration they merited.
My real niggle was the end though. It felt rushed and facile. Didn't really buy into it especially how Cori reacts to the reappearance of an important character. It just wouldn't be sunshine and rainbows: they wouldn't really know each other after so long. Cori would resent a curb on her decision making, she might resent that this person didn't look for her at the compound, she'd probably regress to a childish role again. It really wouldn't have happened the way it was written - that jarred me out of the whole story.
But I would still recommend this a good read in it's own right especially if dystopian fiction is your bag. A nice, light romp through a post apocalyptic world with an interesting MC.
As another reviewer has noted, Cori is a bit inconsistent. She pendulums from being shut off, closed down and recklessly fearless to bawling her eyes out. I'm afraid I didn't buy that. The only time when I thought her crying was in character was when she realised what humanity had lost, and what she had missed out on, in the ruined house. Otherwise it seemed as though it was to make her more vulnerable and it didn't come off.
I didn't like Dylan. I didn't dislike him either but he was a chameleonic presence who changed to fit what the plot needed rather than a character in his own right.
There were flashes of really good writing (on the whole it was good throughout) even excellent writing. It's a shame that perhaps a bit more time shaking out the plot wasn't taken. No real holes as such but the pacing is off and there are original ideas in there that didn't get the exploration they merited.
My real niggle was the end though. It felt rushed and facile. Didn't really buy into it especially how Cori reacts to the reappearance of an important character. It just wouldn't be sunshine and rainbows: they wouldn't really know each other after so long. Cori would resent a curb on her decision making, she might resent that this person didn't look for her at the compound, she'd probably regress to a childish role again. It really wouldn't have happened the way it was written - that jarred me out of the whole story.
But I would still recommend this a good read in it's own right especially if dystopian fiction is your bag. A nice, light romp through a post apocalyptic world with an interesting MC.
More...