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pantsreads's review against another edition
2.0
2.5/5
Interesting idea, and the book is well-written, but the story focuses too much on glamorizing drug use for my taste.
Ready my full review on FYA.
Interesting idea, and the book is well-written, but the story focuses too much on glamorizing drug use for my taste.
Ready my full review on FYA.
celsius273's review against another edition
4.0
This has been a really busy semester so I haven’t gotten around to reading the stuff I got from goodreads giveaways (@goodreads and publisher and authors of said books, please don’t hate me). I started this one first because it had a flashy cover and I mean listen to that blurb, teens on drugs running around NYC catching teen criminals… it sounds awesome. And you know what, it was pretty good. A bit predictable at times for me but it moved quickly and I really felt for each of the characters, regardless of whether I liked them or not.
Let’s start with our cast actually, b/c character relationships really form a lot of the motivations for their actions in this book. Our protagonist is Alana who is on the one hand cool, deadly, and mature beyond her years due to losing her father and having to take care of her disabled brother. On the other hand, she’s a teenager who’s overconfident at times and sometimes difficult to make change her mind and I liked that, it made her seem human and reminded me that in some ways, she’s just like me and my friends and at other times, completely awesomer than we could ever be. Her brother was actually paralyzed after being knocked over by a rushing (the term they use when people are using Tetra) breakneck and this is the event that fuel’s Alana’s desire to see the breaknecks stopped. She really really loves her brother so much that she keeps him in the dark about things to protect him sometimes even though she knows that it will hurt him at first. What happens to her as the book progresses is kind of mind blowing actually, having her whole M.O. turned upside down and everything. Seriously, how weird must that be to want to do so much good for the world yet have to question whether your actions are actually beneficial or not.
Okay i said “cast” earlier but the rest of the characters really aren’t that important imo. I feel like the breaknecks that Alana meets are just there to show her that not all of them are bad people. There’s Ethan with whom Alana kind of has a thing, like the romance is just barely there and though it was predictable, the moments they had were sweet because it’s really just both of them dancing around each other’s secrets trying to figure out if they can trust each other and they finally settling things out. The other breaknecks, though they are treated like horrible criminals all turn out to have personalities. As you can expect, the actual villains of the book are not who you would think they are though Alana kind of points these things out way too obviously. I would have liked it better if things were more plot-twist surprise bomb dropped on me as I was reading.
As for the rest of the book, despite venturing into the world of criminals and seeing trying to figure out what right and wrong mean, the book didn't turn overly depressing. It really gets you thinking about who is in the right position to judge things and if in the end, what make something justifiable. Speaking of the ending, it was left perfectly with an image of the characters still suffering but healing and with an open yet hopeful future ahead of them. It wasn't enthusiastic (for lack of a better term) but still managed to be moving in it's gravity.
As the first book of my summer, Night Speed has started of things pretty well! It goes into some dark territories with ease and I really enjoyed watching the internal struggles for all of the characters playing out. YA Sci-fi hasn’t lost its touch I see!
Let’s start with our cast actually, b/c character relationships really form a lot of the motivations for their actions in this book. Our protagonist is Alana who is on the one hand cool, deadly, and mature beyond her years due to losing her father and having to take care of her disabled brother. On the other hand, she’s a teenager who’s overconfident at times and sometimes difficult to make change her mind and I liked that, it made her seem human and reminded me that in some ways, she’s just like me and my friends and at other times, completely awesomer than we could ever be. Her brother was actually paralyzed after being knocked over by a rushing (the term they use when people are using Tetra) breakneck and this is the event that fuel’s Alana’s desire to see the breaknecks stopped. She really really loves her brother so much that she keeps him in the dark about things to protect him sometimes even though she knows that it will hurt him at first. What happens to her as the book progresses is kind of mind blowing actually, having her whole M.O. turned upside down and everything. Seriously, how weird must that be to want to do so much good for the world yet have to question whether your actions are actually beneficial or not.
Okay i said “cast” earlier but the rest of the characters really aren’t that important imo. I feel like the breaknecks that Alana meets are just there to show her that not all of them are bad people. There’s Ethan with whom Alana kind of has a thing, like the romance is just barely there and though it was predictable, the moments they had were sweet because it’s really just both of them dancing around each other’s secrets trying to figure out if they can trust each other and they finally settling things out. The other breaknecks, though they are treated like horrible criminals all turn out to have personalities. As you can expect, the actual villains of the book are not who you would think they are though Alana kind of points these things out way too obviously. I would have liked it better if things were more plot-twist surprise bomb dropped on me as I was reading.
As for the rest of the book, despite venturing into the world of criminals and seeing trying to figure out what right and wrong mean, the book didn't turn overly depressing. It really gets you thinking about who is in the right position to judge things and if in the end, what make something justifiable. Speaking of the ending, it was left perfectly with an image of the characters still suffering but healing and with an open yet hopeful future ahead of them. It wasn't enthusiastic (for lack of a better term) but still managed to be moving in it's gravity.
As the first book of my summer, Night Speed has started of things pretty well! It goes into some dark territories with ease and I really enjoyed watching the internal struggles for all of the characters playing out. YA Sci-fi hasn’t lost its touch I see!
booksandladders's review against another edition
4.0
Full review to come
I'm a little disappointed by the ending. I thought there would be idk more? It felt like there was so much build up and not enough release. Also I thought the whole wishy-washy aspect of Alana and her decision at the end was kind of weird and stupid. However, I really liked the story itself. I think it was interesting to see how the drug use affected different people and both sides of taking the drug.
Books and Ladders | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
I'm a little disappointed by the ending. I thought there would be idk more? It felt like there was so much build up and not enough release. Also I thought the whole wishy-washy aspect of Alana and her decision at the end was kind of weird and stupid. However, I really liked the story itself. I think it was interesting to see how the drug use affected different people and both sides of taking the drug.
Books and Ladders | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
megatsunami's review against another edition
3.0
I thought this book didn't live up to its potential.
If you wanted to like this book, or liked parts of it but felt like it didn't hang together, or liked it but wished the characters were more 3-dimensional, you might enjoy:
[b:Love Is the Drug|20894021|Love Is the Drug|Alaya Dawn Johnson|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1394523193s/20894021.jpg|40236944] by Alaya Dawn Johnson
[b:Proxy|16101023|Proxy (Proxy, #1)|Alex London|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1391051757s/16101023.jpg|19075979] by Alex London
[b:More Happy Than Not|19542841|More Happy Than Not|Adam Silvera|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1437759419s/19542841.jpg|27669922] by Adam Silvera
If you wanted to like this book, or liked parts of it but felt like it didn't hang together, or liked it but wished the characters were more 3-dimensional, you might enjoy:
[b:Love Is the Drug|20894021|Love Is the Drug|Alaya Dawn Johnson|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1394523193s/20894021.jpg|40236944] by Alaya Dawn Johnson
[b:Proxy|16101023|Proxy (Proxy, #1)|Alex London|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1391051757s/16101023.jpg|19075979] by Alex London
[b:More Happy Than Not|19542841|More Happy Than Not|Adam Silvera|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1437759419s/19542841.jpg|27669922] by Adam Silvera
hannchilada's review against another edition
3.0
I had been waiting to read this book for a while. I was really intrigued by the concept - still am, after reading it, really. And the plot was good, a good pace and well-planned. Although, if I'm being honest, the ending was pretty predictable. However, I really am a character person, and this book had very poorly fleshed out characters. There was a lot of opportunity for backstory here, with a lot of different characters, but it was all missing. The main character I didn't really like especially. She was boring, selfish, and, once again, two-dimensional. I didn't believe that she cared that much for her family, nor did I believe she cared for her two love interests. Both relationships were rushed and lackluster, and the one I liked better didn't get picked anyways. My other favorite writing concept, world building, didn't get involved in this story either. It didn't show how the public really reacted to tetra; I feel like a superhuman drug like that would have a lot of pop culture impact. So, yeah. It wasn't really awful, but all in all it was pretty disappointing.
sukino's review against another edition
5.0
So I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book and I am so happy I did. I knew I wanted to read Night Speed as soon as I finished reading the blurb. And as soon as I started reading I was sucked in and I felt like I was on terta as I was flying through the pages. There were twists in the story I didn't expect that had me gasping in surprise and eager to see where they would lead.
This book was amazing and I'm upset it's over. It's like I turned eighteen and my rushing days are over. If you love high speed action with a mystery and a tale of what addiction can do , then Night Speed is for you.
This book was amazing and I'm upset it's over. It's like I turned eighteen and my rushing days are over. If you love high speed action with a mystery and a tale of what addiction can do , then Night Speed is for you.
pwbalto's review against another edition
2.0
This book read very slowly, mostly because every time I picked it up I had to backtrack quite a bit to remember what was going on. And by page 350, it became evident that the reason for this was that the book was unintentionally very silly.
She joined the 21 Jump Street state-sanctioned drug-fueled bank robber catchers because one of the bank robbers that they try to catch ran into her little brother leaving him crippled - like literally ran into. The drug in question turns teens into the Flash, but only teens because grownups can’t metabolize the drug...ok...
But then one of the bank robbers jumps out a window instead of being caught and everyone thinks Jump Street did it because everyone on the scene had taken off their helmet cameras at the crucial moment...ok...
And Jump Street is forced to go undercover with the bank robbers, given the mission of finding out where they get their drugs...although if this stuff is so difficult to synthesize that there’s only ONE source, wouldn’t there be other ways to track its manufacture? and while she’s on the dark side she realizes the bank robbers are not all bad people and she gets into the drug more - best part of the book, *almost* gets to authentic addiction narrative - but then OH NO the runner who jumped out the window was the bank robbers’ best friend and they suddenly discover video that implies that Jump Street threw the girl out the window, and then SHE suddenly discovers that her best friend from the cop side was the runner who hurt her brother, and the guns come out and I GAVE UP, I’m sorry.
Ridiculous plot with a lot of pointless running around not mitigated by entertaining writing or interesting characters.
She joined the 21 Jump Street state-sanctioned drug-fueled bank robber catchers because one of the bank robbers that they try to catch ran into her little brother leaving him crippled - like literally ran into. The drug in question turns teens into the Flash, but only teens because grownups can’t metabolize the drug...ok...
But then one of the bank robbers jumps out a window instead of being caught and everyone thinks Jump Street did it because everyone on the scene had taken off their helmet cameras at the crucial moment...ok...
And Jump Street is forced to go undercover with the bank robbers, given the mission of finding out where they get their drugs...although if this stuff is so difficult to synthesize that there’s only ONE source, wouldn’t there be other ways to track its manufacture? and while she’s on the dark side she realizes the bank robbers are not all bad people and she gets into the drug more - best part of the book, *almost* gets to authentic addiction narrative - but then OH NO the runner who jumped out the window was the bank robbers’ best friend and they suddenly discover video that implies that Jump Street threw the girl out the window, and then SHE suddenly discovers that her best friend from the cop side was the runner who hurt her brother, and the guns come out and I GAVE UP, I’m sorry.
Ridiculous plot with a lot of pointless running around not mitigated by entertaining writing or interesting characters.
impalalove's review
2.0
I hated the ending. It seemed like it ended too quickly -
Spoiler
I would have liked to see more of the fallout of the government (was it government-sanctioned or just a dirty agent using the tetra to his own advantage - it seemed more of the government agent, but the lead character didn't seem that positive, either, saying "I guess they would have to say that".)islandgeekgirl's review against another edition
3.0
The cover and concept of this book was the first thing to catch my attention. The cover reminded me a bit of The Flash, and having the word Speed right there also helped my mind make the leap. The concept sounded really interesting: Tetra, a drug to make you super-human but only for nine minutes and a girl wanting to track down all the users because one of them hurt her brother. And an undercover mission. It definitely had a lot of potential.
The main character, Alana, was someone I found easy to relate to with her determination to rid the streets of the thing that hurt her brother and her guilt that he'd been hurt while with her. I have siblings, I understood her. I also liked her competitiveness to be the best runner on the task force. The things I liked about her the most were the little things, things like wanting to make sure no civilians were injured while she was running on Tetra or not wanting her little brother looking up news about her arrests on the internet. She worried that she would end up like some of the past runners who'd been hit hard by the side effects and what the future would hold for her when she couldn't take Tetra anymore.
I liked that the book didn't shy away from the drug being addictive. The rush it gave its users, the feeling of being so alive, was so addicting and Alana wasn't an exception. It was a struggle for her and it was hard to see her justify her need for the drug. Her good intentions to find the dealers to get the drug off the streets didn't stop her from getting just as addicted to the rush as the criminals.
There was a lot of action and it was fast-paced action. The romance was light, mostly in the background, and stayed pretty undeveloped in terms of falling in love. It was more 'I like you, we could be something, but there's so much other stuff going on right now so let's see where this attraction and kissing takes us'. It focused more on the action, the character development for Alana, and undercover mission to take down the main source of Tetra. There were only a few times when I felt like things were moving too fast to keep up and it meant re-reading a few pages to make sure I fully understood what was happening.
Overall, it was an exciting book and so much action was packed into this standalone.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The main character, Alana, was someone I found easy to relate to with her determination to rid the streets of the thing that hurt her brother and her guilt that he'd been hurt while with her. I have siblings, I understood her. I also liked her competitiveness to be the best runner on the task force. The things I liked about her the most were the little things, things like wanting to make sure no civilians were injured while she was running on Tetra or not wanting her little brother looking up news about her arrests on the internet. She worried that she would end up like some of the past runners who'd been hit hard by the side effects and what the future would hold for her when she couldn't take Tetra anymore.
I liked that the book didn't shy away from the drug being addictive. The rush it gave its users, the feeling of being so alive, was so addicting and Alana wasn't an exception. It was a struggle for her and it was hard to see her justify her need for the drug. Her good intentions to find the dealers to get the drug off the streets didn't stop her from getting just as addicted to the rush as the criminals.
There was a lot of action and it was fast-paced action. The romance was light, mostly in the background, and stayed pretty undeveloped in terms of falling in love. It was more 'I like you, we could be something, but there's so much other stuff going on right now so let's see where this attraction and kissing takes us'. It focused more on the action, the character development for Alana, and undercover mission to take down the main source of Tetra. There were only a few times when I felt like things were moving too fast to keep up and it meant re-reading a few pages to make sure I fully understood what was happening.
Overall, it was an exciting book and so much action was packed into this standalone.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.