Category Archives: Dystopia or Post-Apocalyptic

They aren’t the same genre, but both deal with a future of uncertainties.

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Pure by Julianna Baggott

I’m not even sure what to write about this book. It was yet another dystopian novel, and yet it wasn’t. Because the future painted in this book is one that people can actually think of. Each time the Detonations are mentioned, it’s hard to not think about what could have happened, had the Cold War ended very differently.

People remember what the world was like before, and they see what life has become after. Life has been changed so much, and yet there are touches of the old world thrown about to remind the survivors of what used to be. This eerie collision of the past and present creates one of the best settings for a novel I’ve ever read.

Pressia slowly became one of my favorite examples of a strong novel heroine. She does not have the physical strength to compete against others, she can’t scare attackers away with just her looks, she’s not the most creative thinker, and yet she gets things done. She finds strength in her hope and compassion, in her drive to remember the past and who she is. She wants to prove people wrong, and to prove herself wrong and to find something better in the dark world she lives in.

Partridge finds his strength when he sees just how imperfect his seemingly perfect world is. He’s hunting for his mother and he sees just what has happened to those people that weren’t lucky like he was. It makes him want to fight for those people and what he knows to be right, not what he’s told is right.

The one hitch I found in the book is how easily some things slide into place, or are explained. It seems like some aspects of the story were made to fit easier into the story instead of present a problem so the story could progress a little fast. While I understand why it was done, I do wish a few parts of the story hadn’t been so easy.

I was completely drawn into this story and am already wishing I had the next part of the story. I can’t wait to see the next part of Pressia and Partridge’s story.

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Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield

I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to read Hunted through JKSCommunications. I’m so happy I was able to read this book.

I was a little worried when I started this book. The first couple of chapters felt a little too much like a typical teen/high school story. The new girl shows up, almost everybody dislikes her right away, she crushes on the hot guy everyone wants and is befriended by the other outcasts. However, once the story really started to pick up, it was fantastic.

Caitlyn is a wonderful strong female lead character. She knows her own strength and uses it to not only help herself, but help others. She doesn’t look to others for her power; she looks to herself for strength. Rachel is the best friend everyone needs to have and Alex is completely swoon-worthy. I have to say, my favorite character was Mrs. Vespa. There was just something about her that made me love her.

The message for this book is an important one and I feel Rainfield was able to get it across without using flashing lights and neon signs. It’s in the way she reveals the characters, the school, and society. It’s a subtle placing of words that makes your skin crawl because you know what is happening is wrong.

This was a wonderful book and I can’t wait to read what happens next.

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Crossed by Ally Condie

I really liked parts of this book, and others were a little disappointed when compared to Matched.

The relationships between the characters are very well-written, in my opinion. And not only the relationship between Ky and Cassia, whose romance is sweet and not too much. Condie doesn’t let the romance element of the story completely override everything else in the story. The new characters (Eli, Hunter, Indie, and Vick) added a little something extra to the story. Indie is just what Cassie needs when she’s surviving in the wilderness and provides a bit of mystery concerning her character. Eli provides a touch of innocence, even though he has seen so much in his short life. Vick is someone Ky can talk with and someone he has respect for.

The descriptions of The Carving and all its colors and intricacies were wonderful and provided an interesting contrast to the world the Society built in Matched.

Unfortunately, Crossed seems to have fallen into a trap of being set-up for the third book instead of being its own. There was not much plot development and really no action. No big answers were revealed and while a few of the smaller questions were answered, they didn’t really help the reader figure much out.

So while I loved pieces of the writing and the characters, I was left wanting more story. I’m holding out hope that the last book will be back up to the Matched level and will close the series out in a fantastic way.

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Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

This is a wonderfully fabulous book that I completely devoured. It was hard for me to put it down to sleep.

Juliette is a fantastically written character. She starts the book as somewhat weak, yet resilient. She thinks of herself as a monster, something that doesn’t really deserve to be around people. By the time the novel reaches its conclusion, you can see her strength growing, her acceptance of herself finally starting to come about. Throughout the entire novel, you can see that her heart is what makes her powerful, not whatever power she actually has. It’s her heart that gives her strength.

I love Adam. I want an Adam of my own. He is amazing and kind and wonderful. I’m sure I could come up with more adjectives to describe him, but I won’t. I just love him.

Kenji provides a bit of relief with his whole persona. His little comments, inserted exactly where they need to be, let me take a breath and prepare myself for more of the intensity sure to come.

Beyond the characters and the storyline, I adored Mafi’s writing style. You see inside Juliette’s head and are aware of just how broken she is in the beginning. You can feel her faith in herself grow through the writing. And the metaphors on every page really let you feel what she is feeling. As an example, there are many interpretations of how realization could feel for a person. But when you read, “Realization is ice-cold water and it’s dripping down my spine,” you know exactly what to feel. You feel that cold water dripping down your back. I can’t get over how stunning the writing is.

This may be the first book in a trilogy, but it is a complete book that I’ll definitely be telling people to read, as I anxiously await the second book.

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The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

This book was much better than I thought it was going to be. I was a little worried when I started that this would not only be yet another dystopian fantasy book, but feel younger than the young adult genre it fell under.

I’m very happy I was wrong. This book might have started out a little weak, but it quickly recovered and drew me in, keeping me awake much later than I should have been and was the first thing I picked up when I woke up. While a few parts of it felt a little clichéd and predictable, most of it was different from everything else I’ve read. Separating the classes through language was an ingenious idea for Derting to make, and really set the tone of distrust, fear and caution for the rest of the novel.

Charlie was a fantastic character to read about. She was a strong female, and although she liked the secure feeling she felt with Max, she was able to stand on her own and fight for herself. She used her own motivations and those things important to her to gain power and strength, and I love reading that.

Max was a swoon worthy character. His devotion to Charlie was sweet and amazing to read, and I fell in love with him almost immediately after one important development.

Overall, this was a fantastic book, and worth a read. It’s a little fast-paced, and some parts were a touch cheesy, but as a whole, it’s an interesting and worthy take on the dystopian genre.

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Delirium By Lauren Oliver

After reading Oliver’s “Before I Fall,” I was anxiously awaiting reading this book, even though I knew it was the beginning of a series that would not be concluded for a few years. That is how much I love Oliver’s writing style.

Lena lives in a world where love is viewed as a disease, and doctors have found a way to “cure” people of the swoony, fluttery feeling people get when they fall in love. They remove that wonderful feeling people get when they fall in love and people are okay with this. Love is crazy and makes people go crazy.

Lena only has 95 more days before she will be cured, but of course, that is too much time. She starts to feel the love disease creeping up on her, and she can’t stop it. More to the point, she knows she should want to stop it, but she doesn’t. It’s the disease taking control of her.

The end of the book has my heart continually breaking every time I think of it, and Pandemonium cannot be release soon enough. I’ll be waiting at the front of the line to get my copy.

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Matched by Ally Condie

When I started Matched, I wasn’t sure I would enjoy reading yet another love-triangle centered book, but I still decided to give it a try. I’m very glad I did. While there is a love triangle, it is not focused on, rather, it only adds to the confusion Cassia feels regarding how her world is run. She decides almost nothing, and for many years, she never questioned that. In Matched, a few things shake her and make her start to really think about if her life is really her own.

Both guys in the book are wonderful. One is her best friend and supposed match, and the other is someone she’s seen, but never really noticed. Her best friend is safe, and she knows she’d be happy if she followed society’s rules, but once she realizes what else is out there, through Ky, she wants more.

The ending was enough to hold me over until the next book, and I can’t wait until it’s released and I have it in my hands.