Month: November 2015

YA

Review: Reboot by Amy Tintera

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Reboot #1

reboot -amy tinteraFive years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders.

4 Drink Me Potions

Wren Connolly, otherwise known by her branded number as 178, having “rebooted” to life after 178 minutes after dying.

She should have lost more of her humanity than anyone else, but it seems all it needed to surface was a push in the right direction.

I held off reading Reboot for a long time. I’m not really sure why. But oh boy, I’m so glad I finally picked it up. This story follows a beautiful protagonist who truly feels that emotions and other trivial human things are just a part of her ill-spent childhood. I love that Wren is such a complicated character. She feels emotions, but she doesn’t believe she’s really human anymore. Even she believes she can be a monster, mindlessly following even the cruelest of orders coming from HARC. After all, she’s 178, right? How much humanity could have been left in her after being dead for so long?

In a way, this inner conflict against her own personal demons reminded me a lot of Rosamund Hodge’s Crimson Bound. I admired the protagonist for the complexity in which her character couldn’t be defined as strictly good or bad. Although Wren wasn’t as monstrous or as dark of a character (for which I am grateful, ’cause poor me can only handle so much darkness at a time), she definitely went through a similar struggle. She killed people. People who were supposedly bad. And she enjoyed the hunt.

Enter Callum, with his wee number of 22 minutes. You would think that a guy like him, who was barely a Reboot and probably retained most of his humanity, would have nothing in common with someone like Wren, who scared even most of the other Reboots in the facility. But he did. With his contagious smile and hopeful attitude, he showed her that there was still a large piece of humanity in her.

Man, this just makes me want to find a Callum for myself.

The romance was sweet and slow-progressing. Reboot as a whole was an extremely fast read, gobbled up in a few sittings, and the romance still felt like it was written in a nice, even pace. And it wasn’t just the romance, but the pacing of the action sequences was well-done. Things weren’t as normal back in the facility, leading Wren to question her role with HARC for probably the very first time.

The world building and setting was definitely interesting. A new virus caused a major outbreak in the area known as today’s Texas. But it had strange effects. It killed a ton of people, but it also “rebooted” some young people after a range of minutes from death. Hence, a new and stronger species of humans called Reboots started roaming. The world building was familiar, in a sense, but with familiar cities remodelled to fit with this fallen world after the virus. I do wish Tintera let us explore a little more into the world she’s created, so that’s something to look forward to in the sequel.

I’ll keep this review short and sweet, closing off with this. The romance does give a lot of weight to Reboot, probably more so than other novels in this genre, but I think it’s well-placed alongside the fighting and the rebellion against the higher order. It connects us to Wren and to Callum in such a strong way that it’ll have you rooting for their survival way before the end of it.

Overall Recommendation:
For a synopsis that suggests rebellion and loads of action, Reboot also has a fair share of romance, as well as diving into the inner conflict that Wren has to deal with. Is she a monster now that she’s a Reboot, having been dead for so long? Could she find a piece of humanity left in her? All that is explored alongside her growing friendship and attraction for newbie Callum, someone she normally would never give a second thought about. I loved that it explored her character like this to give us a sense of who she really is and to let us connect with her, whether she be a monster or not. That’s not to say the novel isn’t exciting and still full of some ass-kicking. I’d say Reboot has something to offer for everyone.

YA

Review: The Body Electric by Beth Revis

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

the body electric -beth revisThe future world is at peace.

Ella Shepherd has dedicated her life to using her unique gift—the ability to enter people’s dreams and memories using technology developed by her mother—to help others relive their happy memories.

But not all is at it seems.

Ella starts seeing impossible things—images of her dead father, warnings of who she cannot trust. Her government recruits her to spy on a rebel group, using her ability to experience—and influence—the memories of traitors. But the leader of the rebels claims they used to be in love—even though Ella’s never met him before in her life. Which can only mean one thing…

Someone’s altered her memory.

Ella’s gift is enough to overthrow a corrupt government or crush a growing rebel group. She is the key to stopping a war she didn’t even know was happening. But if someone else has been inside Ella’s head, she cannot trust her own memories, thoughts, or feelings.

So who can she trust?

2.5 Drink Me Potions

A potentially corrupt government system that’s apparently always watching through the tiniest lens? Uh, Big Brother, anyone?

The Body Electric has left me with amazingly conflicted feelings by the end of it. This is a story that follows a conspiracy that takes everything to a whole new, futuristic level set in the 22nd century. I liked Beth Revis’ Across the Universe trilogy and was excited to see another standalone book from her. I love the fact that the science fiction doesn’t go all techy and hard to follow. It enhances the experience of this futuristic setting but doesn’t take centre stage and grabs all the attention away from the central plot. For the most part.

But, for the first two-thirds of the book, I was half driven insane by our dear, dear protagonist, Ella. Sometimes I complain about protagonists who are just SO special that only they can save the world. As if no one else is capable of doing the same thing ’cause they just don’t have that intrinsic ability in them.

This girl? Ella Shepherd? She’s just plain boring and tiresome to follow. Ok, so she may not be entirely unspecial, as she plays an interesting role in the story, but she definitely lacks something.

And that something is courage.

She wavers ALL the time about not starting another war. Not trusting Jack, the guy she supposedly loved but couldn’t remember. Not wanting blood on her hands. She tries my patience to the very extreme. She’s weak and clearly not cut out of the same fabric as heroes with “saving the world” as their destinies. She leads trouble to the very group of people who may be the only thing standing in the way against the government. She’s the liability. And even she knows this.

“My nanobot count, the tracker bots that were inside of me, my abilities…I don’t know if I can’t be trusted because of what I am or because Jack doubts what side I’m on, but at the end of the day — I’m a liability.”

Even when it’s clear the government isn’t what they appear to be, she’s willing to set Jack up for them on a golden platter all like “Oh hey, maybe I can trick some details out of him to give to the person RULING this entire world”. You’re damn right she’s not special. She’s downright cowardly. And I absolutely DETEST following a character like that.

That’s not to say Jack doesn’t annoy me either, with his devil-may-care kinda attitude. His many flippant remarks about just “how devilishly handsome he is” makes me wanna slap him whether or not he was serious or joking. The time and place for those comments weren’t ever appropriate in the context of the situation. I couldn’t take him seriously saying those things.

But for a love interest, for a girl like Ella, he could’ve done SO much better than her. For the most part, he was at least courageous and believed strongly in his cause for fixing up the government’s mistakes. Looking out for the people the government has forgotten. And if his only flaw was calling Ella “love”, then he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to her. Too bad she couldn’t see that and just acted like some petulant child.

“Jack looks up and notices my nervous face. “I don’t bite, love.”
I whip around. “I told you to quit calling me that. I don’t care what kind of person I am in your memory. Because I’m not that person now.”

Clearly, she’s not the easiest person to be around. To be fair, she did have her memory wiped of him, but still.

Anyway, if you can stick it to the last 1/3 of The Body Electric, it does get a little exciting. I could never quite figure out where Revis was going with the plot, or how this whole conspiracy thing was going to end.

I don’t want to ruin anything, but I will say this. It confused the crap out of me. Like, seeing as Revis’ inspiration for “reveries” and Ella’s ability to slip into other people’s dreamscapes was based on Total Recall (if you know what that is), it was hard to determine what was reality or not in the end. However, the overall conclusion was satisfactory and didn’t leave any loose ends hanging. Although the romance never really quite hit it for me, even after Ella started falling for Jack again.

Overall, it really makes one think. With the way science and technology is going, what would the difference really be between an Artificial Intelligent cybernetic android and a human?

A soul, maybe? That’s something to think about.

Overall Recommendation:
The Body Electric presented a really unique futuristic setting on Earth with technology that was believable and concerns that seem quite real with how governments and people would use such technology. If it hadn’t been for a heroine that just seemed more like a liability than a, well, hero, for most of the story, I think I would’ve rated this a lot higher. Unfortunately, Ella doesn’t really mold into her own until far too late, but if the central conspiracy theme has hooked you in from the start, I’d say this novel can still be saved by its very reflective (and slightly confusing) ending.

YA

Review: The Jewel by Amy Ewing

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: The Lone City #1

the jewel -amy ewingThe Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.

Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.

Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence… and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.

2.5 Drink Me Potions

I must say, I had such high hopes for The Jewel. The synopsis was brilliantly intriguing. And the plot line was definitely unique. Come on, our protagonist is a human incubator–I mean, a surrogate for the royalty’s babies. You don’t see that kind of idea popping up everywhere in the YA genre these days.

And that’s about all the genuinely great things I can think of to say about this book.

It was disappointingly slow. It took a long time to even get the Auction started. I mean, I totally get that it’s very important to set the background of this place known as the Lone City.

Oh, and that wasn’t done very well either. World building. So it’s basically broken into 5 rings of society with Violet’s family coming out of the poorest group (of course). And the royalty is broken into 4 founding families with the ruling couple known as the Exetor and Electress. First of all, what’s with those names? Originality, I suppose. Like, I think of circuits whenever I saw the Electress’ name pop up. Not sure if that’s what Ewing was going for.

So the pacing was SLOW as crap. And after reading the whole novel, I look back and think to myself, “What the heck really happened in this book?” . ‘Cause seriously, it’s basically a bunch of gossiping among the royal ladies who brag about their purchased surrogates like they’re freaking furniture or pets they could care less about. Oh, and the odd backstabbing and political scheming. But nothing really EXCITING ever happens. Except maybe about the potential plannings of a rebellion….which is so overdone but at least it’s something beyond gossip, right? I’ll get back to this point later.

Anyway, world building wasn’t great. I still barely know anything about how it all came to be or how the Auction even started. If I thought the history of the Lone City was weird, the idea of Auguries and these “magical powers” that surrogates were born with mystifies me 100 times more.

Being a science person, it’s genuinely confusing. A genetic mutation found ONLY in people from the Marsh (aka the poorest ring of society) gave these girls the ability to become surrogates for the royalty who seemed to be making defective babies as of late. Okay, I can accept that. But uh, a genetic mutation also gave rise to 3 magical properties that could change colours, shapes and growth of things? Is this a fantasy novel or a science fiction story?

This was the randomest thing I’ve read in a long time. Being incubators wasn’t enough, they had to be “magical” too? I guess the story wouldn’t have survived very well if these girls were just “normal”. Harder to overthrow a society, hmm?

And apparently in this society, men are absolute pathetic and weak excuses for human beings. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy having such strong female presence for a change. After all, nearly every character with a personality beyond something equivalent to a boring piece of cardboard was, well, female . Those backstabbing ladies in the royalty. The other surrogates. The Electress, of course. But the men don’t have to be written so….I don’t even have a word for it. Disrespectfully? We don’t really know much about the Exetor beyond the fact that he rules. The Duke of the Lake is definitely the submissive half to the Duchess. Most men, in fact, are described as either frail or desperately drunk at dinners to tune out the schemings of their wives.

What is with this? The only male even worth an inkling of respect is Lucien, an unexpected and only friend of Violet’s in the Jewel. And he’s a lady-in-waiting, so maybe that’s why he appears to be the exception to this. I guess in a world dominated by surrogacy in the royalty, the women are in charge of their own destinies and have more pressure in securing their bloodline. But still. No excuse for not giving many males even the slightest backbone of a personality.

And that , my dear friend, leaves me with our love interest. Ash. I have nothing against him. Nothing at all. He seems like a decent guy who also got wrecked by people from the Jewel. They own him, although not in as obvious a way as how Violet and other surrogates are.

He pops up midway in the novel, and oh my goodness, it’s practically LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. In the weirdest way. Like, Violet, I get you haven’t spent much time with males your own age that aren’t related to you because A) you’re a surrogate and held in some holding facility since you hit puberty and B) you don’t have time to think about your own love life when you’re a surrogate. But HELLO, here’s some fairly attractive guy and BOOM. Instant-love.

Literally. She sees him and all of a sudden, she can’t get him out of her head. Or the itching desire for him to hold her or whatever. It was slightly nauseating to read.

Oh, and if that wasn’t awful enough, Ash fell for her rather fast too. I just couldn’t understand their dying love for each other when I practically did not know Ash all too well myself. Like I said, he popped up midway in The Jewel. We never had the time to get to know him beyond the fact that he was a lonely companion screwed over by the royalty. Like who wasn’t really screwed over by these people at the end of the day? Even the royalty screwed each other over. He wasn’t all that special just for his sad history.

So for the first time in my life, I was VERY excited about everything EXCEPT the romance. I’m a huge romantic, so this is saying a HUGE something.

Sigh. And right when the rebellion, or whispers of the rebellion, was starting to heat up….I flip the page and it ENDS there. With one slightly surprising twist that maybe I should’ve seen earlier, but still. Now I’m gonna have to read book 2 ’cause that was maybe the only highlight for me.

All I can say is, I think The Jewel is gonna be a hit or miss for you. Especially if you hate insta-love romances. This was 100% in that category, and I’d like to think that I’m a sucker for most romances as long as they’re written somewhat decently. You have been warned. Don’t get misled like I did. You’ll just be facing a huge disappointment by the end of it.

Overall Recommendation:
The Jewel presented itself with a unique idea: girls being sold as surrogates to carry babies to full term for the royalty. And in this society, there are political unrest and stirrings of change for the roles of the surrogates. What could’ve been an amazing fantasy novel with a crazy concept just didn’t hold up to the awful insta-love romance and slow pacing of the story. Violet was a decent protagonist with strong powers (I know, these surrogates are also magical?) and may just have what it takes to be the “saviour” for all the other surrogates, but nothing really happens in this first novel beyond a glimpse of an underground rebellion stirring in the Jewel, the heart of the royalty and the wealthy. I wouldn’t recommend this novel unless you may find the synopsis intriguing enough to try it. I don’t hate it enough to not continue the series out of morbid curiosity, but it really is a hit or miss.