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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
I received a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
The concept of this novel was really fascinating. In general dystopian stories are written about the aftermath of some event that wiped out society. They focus on the new society and its problems, which can be very interesting, but this was kind of a story leading up to the destruction, so I was intrigued.
The story is told in third person, from various perspectives, focusing mainly on Maggie. I thought this worked really well, although I do think the writing could use some more polish to improve the overall flow of the story. We see most of the events through Maggie's eyes, but on occasion we get scenes from other characters, which was interesting.
The first half of the novel focuses mainly on the dreams and Maggie's life leading up to the outcome of those dreams. While I enjoyed some aspects of this portion of the story, it never really reached its full potential. The dreams themselves were kind of glossed over and the family issues seemed to just get deeper and deeper without much resolution for my liking. This first half was kind of slow and repetitive in many instances. With more focus on the dreams and maybe even some more development into Maggie's family life, this would flow much more smoothly.
The second half of the novel focuses on what happens in regards to Maggie's dreams. I won't give too many details because I don't want to spoil anyone, but we mainly follow Maggie, her best friend Dawn, and friend/classmate Andy. I was hoping that once we hit this point the story would pick up and become faster paced, but it stayed at pretty much the same pace throughout this portion as well.
The fact that this is kind of introducing a dystopian world instead of taking place in an already functioning dystopian society is one of the main reasons I think this story is as slow as it is. The author is trying to set background as to why what's happening is happening, which I understand. I can also see why most authors choose to focus on an already established society rather than introducing one.
The story ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, hinting at a sequel. I don't know if this is intended as a series, but that's what it looks like.
This story has lots of potential. Overall it was fun, but not brilliant. A very imaginative concept that would appeal to many readers.
This and other reviews can be found on my blog: www.courtneysreads.blogspot.com
The concept of this novel was really fascinating. In general dystopian stories are written about the aftermath of some event that wiped out society. They focus on the new society and its problems, which can be very interesting, but this was kind of a story leading up to the destruction, so I was intrigued.
The story is told in third person, from various perspectives, focusing mainly on Maggie. I thought this worked really well, although I do think the writing could use some more polish to improve the overall flow of the story. We see most of the events through Maggie's eyes, but on occasion we get scenes from other characters, which was interesting.
The first half of the novel focuses mainly on the dreams and Maggie's life leading up to the outcome of those dreams. While I enjoyed some aspects of this portion of the story, it never really reached its full potential. The dreams themselves were kind of glossed over and the family issues seemed to just get deeper and deeper without much resolution for my liking. This first half was kind of slow and repetitive in many instances. With more focus on the dreams and maybe even some more development into Maggie's family life, this would flow much more smoothly.
The second half of the novel focuses on what happens in regards to Maggie's dreams. I won't give too many details because I don't want to spoil anyone, but we mainly follow Maggie, her best friend Dawn, and friend/classmate Andy. I was hoping that once we hit this point the story would pick up and become faster paced, but it stayed at pretty much the same pace throughout this portion as well.
The fact that this is kind of introducing a dystopian world instead of taking place in an already functioning dystopian society is one of the main reasons I think this story is as slow as it is. The author is trying to set background as to why what's happening is happening, which I understand. I can also see why most authors choose to focus on an already established society rather than introducing one.
The story ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, hinting at a sequel. I don't know if this is intended as a series, but that's what it looks like.
This story has lots of potential. Overall it was fun, but not brilliant. A very imaginative concept that would appeal to many readers.
This and other reviews can be found on my blog: www.courtneysreads.blogspot.com
DNF
I will not rate this book because I cannot finish it.
I'm not saying that it's poorly written or it's not a good book but it's just not something I could dive into.
I tried about three or four times to get through this book but I just couldn't I'm sad to say that this is a book I Did Not Finish.
I will not rate this book because I cannot finish it.
I'm not saying that it's poorly written or it's not a good book but it's just not something I could dive into.
I tried about three or four times to get through this book but I just couldn't I'm sad to say that this is a book I Did Not Finish.
I have conflicted feelings about this novel. It had an interesting storyline with relatable characters plus it had some pretty awesome parts, but based on the synopsis I was expecting a more action-packed story. For instance the blurb suggests that the whole world is afraid of what will happen when Stonehenge falls, meanwhile most people couldn't care less. They watched the news (like always) but didn't see anything strange into old stones falling one by one.
I had a few problems with the plot but overall it wasn't bad. Actually, up until Stonehenge completely fell apart I enjoyed the book quite a lot. It was a bit stretched out because after all, nothing really important happened but it wasn't half bad. It had a feel to it that made me anticipate the end of the world. Unfortunately, the apocalypse didn't live up to my expectations. It happened too fast and what came after wasn't that exciting either.
Basically, after the last stone fell Maggie left school with Dawn, her best friend, and Andy the supposed love interest. Then they travelled. And travelled. And travelled a bit more. It wasn't totally boring, of course but I expected more from a story about the apocalypse. What I liked though, was seeing how the characters changed, not always for the better but it was greatly described.
The relationship between the family members was terrible but it felt realistic up until the moment where I started to hate the mother. It annoyed me to hell how she felt like a completely different person than she did in the beginning, and how feeling sorry for herself took the majority of her time. Another thing I didn't like was that all the siblings were described as terrible brothers/sisters. This was way too unrealistic for my taste. I just can't imagine that Maggie is the only normal person in the family, and her other siblings can't act normal even for a minute.
The friendship between Dawn and Maggie was a great addition to the story. I liked Dawn's character, the few problems I had with her could be thanked to the fact that she was pretty young. For a while I thought their friendship will fall apart but thankfully they remained each other's support.
The romance was non-existent, and yet again I blame the synopsis for making me think otherwise when it was barely a promise of what can happen in the future. I quite liked the ending, it was one of those endings that sort of gave us a closure but still left the story open.
Overall, this book is an enjoyable read, recommended to those who'd like to read an apocalyptic novel that concentrates on the characters rather than on the action.
The story idea: 4/5
The realisation of the story: 3/5
The characters: 3/5
The cover: 4/5
Enjoy factor: 3/5
I had a few problems with the plot but overall it wasn't bad. Actually, up until Stonehenge completely fell apart I enjoyed the book quite a lot. It was a bit stretched out because after all, nothing really important happened but it wasn't half bad. It had a feel to it that made me anticipate the end of the world. Unfortunately, the apocalypse didn't live up to my expectations. It happened too fast and what came after wasn't that exciting either.
Basically, after the last stone fell Maggie left school with Dawn, her best friend, and Andy the supposed love interest. Then they travelled. And travelled. And travelled a bit more. It wasn't totally boring, of course but I expected more from a story about the apocalypse. What I liked though, was seeing how the characters changed, not always for the better but it was greatly described.
The relationship between the family members was terrible but it felt realistic up until the moment where I started to hate the mother. It annoyed me to hell how she felt like a completely different person than she did in the beginning, and how feeling sorry for herself took the majority of her time. Another thing I didn't like was that all the siblings were described as terrible brothers/sisters. This was way too unrealistic for my taste. I just can't imagine that Maggie is the only normal person in the family, and her other siblings can't act normal even for a minute.
The friendship between Dawn and Maggie was a great addition to the story. I liked Dawn's character, the few problems I had with her could be thanked to the fact that she was pretty young. For a while I thought their friendship will fall apart but thankfully they remained each other's support.
The romance was non-existent, and yet again I blame the synopsis for making me think otherwise when it was barely a promise of what can happen in the future. I quite liked the ending, it was one of those endings that sort of gave us a closure but still left the story open.
Overall, this book is an enjoyable read, recommended to those who'd like to read an apocalyptic novel that concentrates on the characters rather than on the action.
The story idea: 4/5
The realisation of the story: 3/5
The characters: 3/5
The cover: 4/5
Enjoy factor: 3/5
Looook at this cover!!! It's so beautiful *_* I was actually recently in the UK and went to Stonehenge, so the timing on this is perfect!
I have a thing for fiction where someone completely ordinary finds out that there's something extraordinary about them, or figures out that something extraordinary is going to happen. So as you can imagine, when I read this summary I was fascinated and wanted to know more!
I think one of my favourite things about this book was the build-up. So often apocalyptic fiction focuses on the action - and for good reason, of course, since that's what fascinates a lot of people. Sometimes, however, that is at the expense of character development or even just world building - if I'm going to read about a world being torn apart, the author had better make sure that I care about the world and the people in it, and illustrate fully why what's about to happen is a bad thing.
So this book does a great job of that. Maggie's home life isn't the happiest - she has four siblings, a small house, a mother run ragged. When things start going haywire, all of that adds to the pressure on Maggie's shoulders as she finds nightmares plaguing her, seemingly in sync with the mysterious events at Stonehenge... Then when the proverbial crap hits the fan things really get fascinating as the world falls apart around them and Maggie and her two friends find themselves running for their lives, struggling for basic survival and to keep themselves hidden.
At times the plot dragged, however. Finding a balance between build-up and dragging is very difficult and there were points where I wanted things to move along just a wee bit faster, particularly in the first part of the book. The repetition of dreams, fights with her mother and siblings, difficulty at school, etc, all became a bit too much after awhile. In the second half of the book things were much better, though it did remind me of the complaints that people had about the 'tramping through the forest' in the Deathly Hallows!
The end of the book was also a bit uneven and left me with a lot of questions. What's going on? Who caused it? What's going to happen next? To what end is all of this going on? Etc. None of that is a bad thing, I just wished that we'd gotten some more hints along the way, but it serves as a bit of a build-up for book two.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
I have a thing for fiction where someone completely ordinary finds out that there's something extraordinary about them, or figures out that something extraordinary is going to happen. So as you can imagine, when I read this summary I was fascinated and wanted to know more!
I think one of my favourite things about this book was the build-up. So often apocalyptic fiction focuses on the action - and for good reason, of course, since that's what fascinates a lot of people. Sometimes, however, that is at the expense of character development or even just world building - if I'm going to read about a world being torn apart, the author had better make sure that I care about the world and the people in it, and illustrate fully why what's about to happen is a bad thing.
So this book does a great job of that. Maggie's home life isn't the happiest - she has four siblings, a small house, a mother run ragged. When things start going haywire, all of that adds to the pressure on Maggie's shoulders as she finds nightmares plaguing her, seemingly in sync with the mysterious events at Stonehenge... Then when the proverbial crap hits the fan things really get fascinating as the world falls apart around them and Maggie and her two friends find themselves running for their lives, struggling for basic survival and to keep themselves hidden.
At times the plot dragged, however. Finding a balance between build-up and dragging is very difficult and there were points where I wanted things to move along just a wee bit faster, particularly in the first part of the book. The repetition of dreams, fights with her mother and siblings, difficulty at school, etc, all became a bit too much after awhile. In the second half of the book things were much better, though it did remind me of the complaints that people had about the 'tramping through the forest' in the Deathly Hallows!
The end of the book was also a bit uneven and left me with a lot of questions. What's going on? Who caused it? What's going to happen next? To what end is all of this going on? Etc. None of that is a bad thing, I just wished that we'd gotten some more hints along the way, but it serves as a bit of a build-up for book two.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.