Reviews

Thrive: A Novel by Kenneth Oppel

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coram02's review against another edition

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5.0

I read the first book and couldn't stop reading. It's so good!!

londonhowell's review against another edition

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3.0

Oppel has a bunch of great ideas that he has trouble delivering on. This book was even shakier than the previous one until the climactic battle scenes. There, the ideas seemed fully developed, but for a lot of the rest of the series, concepts and relationships are introduced and then all but abandoned.

The series just wasn't satisfying to me beyond some neat ideas. And it got really close to the Maximum Ride fatal flaw of pushing too hard and too preachily on climate change. (Thankfully, it drew back before impaling itself on THAT sword.)

Even if you're writing for younger readers, write some characters we can care about for more than a couple of minutes. So much potential here, just fell short.

kmoz's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.75

virginiagp's review against another edition

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5.0

Thrive is the 3rd and final book in Kenneth Oppel’s “The Overthrow” series, a science-fiction trilogy about invasion of the earth by an alien species. There is an interesting quirk to this entry in the science fiction genre in that there are already human/alien hybrids living amongst the other humans on earth, though that is not apparent to anyone - including the hybrids - in the beginning.

Without giving too much away, I will say that I really enjoyed the developing relationships between Anaya, Petra, and Seth - the series’ protagonists- and the cryptogens who they meet in this third book. The book is action-packed and fast-paced. It did have a message for us about how we need to care for and protect our planet, through that is a tertiary theme, and one that readers will need to infer.

My 5th graders can’t get enough of this series, and were very excited for this third and final book to be published!

cbatelka's review against another edition

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4.0

This was such an action-packed, really clever ending to The Overthrow trilogy! I thoroughly enjoyed all of these books, and I AM NOT a sci-fi lover. Highly recommend especially because of the complex family, friend, and social relationships that develop throughout the three books. There was also a ton of creativity involved in the world-building!