Category: Distopia

Shatter Me #1
Shatter Me is a hard book to review. The premise is so intriguing, and the stream-of-consciousness style so unique and engaging, that I couldn’t help but enjoy the book. On the other hand, the story is filled with so much mystery, and so little is explained, that it doesn’t stand well at all on its own. This whole book really feels like a prequel, full of preamble for things to come. As a reader, you feel constantly in the dark, never quite understanding what’s going on. And then just when you start to understand things, something comes along to drastically change the story’s course.

As far as putting you in the shoes of our heroine, Shatter Me does a great job. As far as having a fully formed and complete plot, if falls a little short. But I certainly enjoyed it, and am curious enough to see what happens next. I just wish that there was a little less mystery and a little more defined plot in this first novel. The ending could also have been a little less abrupt, cutting us off right before we started to get some answers.

Arc of a Scythe #1
Man, I was not expecting that! This book was so deliciously dark and twisted and unique, and so much better than I could have hoped for. In a post-mortality society, where people never die, someone needs to glean the population so it doesn’t get out of hand. And so the Scythedom was born, a self-governing group of licensed murderers, going around and killing people on society’s behalf.

This unique premise was what attracted me to the book, but what I got was way more than I expected. Scythe is an intense look at the human psyche, about the difference between doing something fundamentally wrong versus doing something that is necessary, even when the outcome is the same. As I read, I found myself glued to the page, fascinated by the workings of the post-mortality society. And in a lot of ways, the society is pretty perfect. And while gruesome, everyone accepts the Scythedom as necessary. But a dark side is emerging within the Scythedom, and I quickly became caught up in its intrigue.

This book threw surprises at me again and again, things I never would have seen coming! And our characters, Citra and Rowan, go through such monumental and fundamental transformations in this novel. And not all of them may be for the better…

I really can’t wait to see where this series goes from here!

The Elected Series #3
I wanted to like this book, I really did. I enjoyed the first books so much, with fresh ideas on distopia, gender roles, and sexuality for the genre. But the final installment just fell flat for me. The new antagonists were over the top, more insane then calculating. They didn’t have near the depth of character when compared to Calix (whose storyline in this novel I was seriously disappointed with). Overall the characters felt flat and disingenuous, even when compared with their portrayals in earlier books. I stuck it out till the end, which held out nice hope for the future and wasn’t so bad, but the journey was disappointing and a bit difficult to get through.

The Elected Series #2
Quite a few ups and downs for me in this book. Overall I really enjoyed the story and the contrast between East Country and Mid Country was great. I really hoped that Aloy could bring a change within Calix, perhaps she still can. Still many more mysteries in the story to uncover. Looking forward to the final book.

The Elected Series #1
A very interesting story, though I found the basis of the accords a bit hard to swallow in the beginning. I loved Aloy’s struggles with her feelings and identity, constantly pulled between being herself and who she needs to be for her country. Though I found it at times a bit predictable, the love triangle was definitely different and intriguing. Overall a fast and interesting read. I look forward to continuing Aloy, Griffin, and Vienne’s story.