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A review by iainp
Strikers by Ann Christy
4.0
Required disclosure - I was sent this book as a winner of a giveaway on GoodReads.
I wasn't exactly sure what I was getting when I won the giveaway, and that's fine. It's nice to try something new once in a while, and when someone sends me something for free I'm more inclined to ensure I work my way through it and give it a shot.
I didn't need that inclination with Strikers as, within the first chapter or so, I was already enjoying it!
According to the blurb at the back, the author is a serving naval officer so it's perhaps unusual that the main setting is an arid Texas with water only featuring much later in the story. It's a simple first-person tale of a young girl brought up in a town subject to strict rules and unfair governance, as is the rest of the state of Texas.
Why is Texas under these restrictions? We aren't clearly told at the beginning, but we accept them... as our central character does. After all, that's how things always have been as far as she's concerned.
If I had to liken it to anything at all, it's probably Hunger Games but it's nowhere near as grand or formulaic. The story is more about the characters' journey - both geographically and through life - than that of Katnis in HG.
I'm not sure if it's aimed at a young adult audience, but it's perfectly suitable for them and I would say it's the ideal place to file it. Nothing too sexual or violent occurs - certainly compared to other books aimed at the 13-16 year old market - and the way that the main characters communicate with the listener are easy to read yet sympathetic. Although we're following a girl around, her experiences with the opposite sex ring remarkably true in my own male mind from around that point in my life!
The whole book is well written with good pacing and chapter size; just big enough for "one more before bedtime" addiction. The characters are well-rounded and believable. There are enough questions and tension to keep you interested without things getting too silly or extreme.
I'd definitely be interested in reading another volume, if one comes out.
I wasn't exactly sure what I was getting when I won the giveaway, and that's fine. It's nice to try something new once in a while, and when someone sends me something for free I'm more inclined to ensure I work my way through it and give it a shot.
I didn't need that inclination with Strikers as, within the first chapter or so, I was already enjoying it!
According to the blurb at the back, the author is a serving naval officer so it's perhaps unusual that the main setting is an arid Texas with water only featuring much later in the story. It's a simple first-person tale of a young girl brought up in a town subject to strict rules and unfair governance, as is the rest of the state of Texas.
Why is Texas under these restrictions? We aren't clearly told at the beginning, but we accept them... as our central character does. After all, that's how things always have been as far as she's concerned.
If I had to liken it to anything at all, it's probably Hunger Games but it's nowhere near as grand or formulaic. The story is more about the characters' journey - both geographically and through life - than that of Katnis in HG.
I'm not sure if it's aimed at a young adult audience, but it's perfectly suitable for them and I would say it's the ideal place to file it. Nothing too sexual or violent occurs - certainly compared to other books aimed at the 13-16 year old market - and the way that the main characters communicate with the listener are easy to read yet sympathetic. Although we're following a girl around, her experiences with the opposite sex ring remarkably true in my own male mind from around that point in my life!
The whole book is well written with good pacing and chapter size; just big enough for "one more before bedtime" addiction. The characters are well-rounded and believable. There are enough questions and tension to keep you interested without things getting too silly or extreme.
I'd definitely be interested in reading another volume, if one comes out.