Scan barcode
A review by heabooknerd
Signal Boost by Alyssa Cole
3.0
I was really happy that SIGNAL BOOST finally gave some answers about what caused the blackout since that was left as a big unanswered question in the previous book. I was also excited to see that the story would be venturing away from the house because I was hoping that this would lead to some more action and a more interesting story line. However, I still found myself bored while reading this book and I had to work a bit to finish it. I've been racking my brain for days trying to figure out why I had such a hard time connecting with the story, but I just can't put my finger on it. Since I found nothing wrong with Alyssa Cole's writing I can only say that this book just wasn't really for me.
I really liked John in the first book, so I was excited to read this one and I'm glad he still had his sarcastic sense of humor, but I was surprised how whiny he was in the beginning part. Since I was already struggling to connect to the book, this started to wear on my nerves probably more than it would for anyone else. But even with the rough beginning, it's clear just how compassionate and understanding John is and the way he tries to help and support Mykhail is incredibly admirable. I also liked that even though there were a few misunderstandings, for the most part these two really communicate and work out their problems quickly by talking through what they're thinking and feeling.
Mykhail was an interesting character but without his POV he's left a big mystery for the first half of the book. One of the hardest things about this book was just that it was incredibly heavy for me as a reader. Mykhail's experience after The Flare was heartbreaking and I completely understand his depression and struggle to keep going. Had this been the only issue in the second half of the book, it wouldn't have been too bad. But on top of that, there's a situation that's occurring at the university; I won't go into detail, because spoiler, but I found this portion of the book very hard to get through as a reader because it was a really negative and depressing look at humanity and how we treat others. I guess you could say that speaks for how strong Alyssa Cole's writing is, but in terms of enjoyment, I just wasn't there.
Content Warning: Mykhail has depression and occasional suicidal thoughts; references to assisted suicide, rape and sodomy
I really liked John in the first book, so I was excited to read this one and I'm glad he still had his sarcastic sense of humor, but I was surprised how whiny he was in the beginning part. Since I was already struggling to connect to the book, this started to wear on my nerves probably more than it would for anyone else. But even with the rough beginning, it's clear just how compassionate and understanding John is and the way he tries to help and support Mykhail is incredibly admirable. I also liked that even though there were a few misunderstandings, for the most part these two really communicate and work out their problems quickly by talking through what they're thinking and feeling.
Mykhail was an interesting character but without his POV he's left a big mystery for the first half of the book. One of the hardest things about this book was just that it was incredibly heavy for me as a reader. Mykhail's experience after The Flare was heartbreaking and I completely understand his depression and struggle to keep going. Had this been the only issue in the second half of the book, it wouldn't have been too bad. But on top of that, there's a situation that's occurring at the university; I won't go into detail, because spoiler, but I found this portion of the book very hard to get through as a reader because it was a really negative and depressing look at humanity and how we treat others. I guess you could say that speaks for how strong Alyssa Cole's writing is, but in terms of enjoyment, I just wasn't there.
Content Warning: Mykhail has depression and occasional suicidal thoughts; references to assisted suicide, rape and sodomy