★★★★★ 4
Guilty pleasure
Format: Kindle
- MINOR SPOILERS -
First, let me say I'm definitely past the target audience's age. So for me, this was more of some idle mind candy than anything else, and as that's exactly what i got, I quite enjoyed it. I finished it all in one go, so it was interesting enough to hold my interest start to finish.
I'm not going to say the plot or characters were mind-blowing or original, but I found Cassia likable and didn't get the same amount of Mary Sue/self-insertion feel as from some other YA lit. I have to admit to having a bit of a crush on Ky, who's smart enough not to want to seem smart. And I am a COMPLETE sucker for love triangles, especially when it's not so clear-cut, like "this guy is horrible to her and this guy is perfect," because where's the dilemma in that? Xander and Ky are both good people who genuinely care about Cassia, and she cares for both of them in turn. I might have liked to learn more about some of her friends. We get to know her family very well, but the book seems to indicate that she has strong bonds with her friends as well. And this is the time in their life when they're beginning to go their separate ways, graduating from school and moving on to careers, so I think there were some missed opportunities there.
I'm not a huge fan of books that are specifically written to be series (like the cliffhanger ending here). I'm of the mindset that at least the first book in a series should be able to stand on its own without throwing it in the reader's face that, hey, there's more to read so make sure to buy the next book! I don't mind if a story concludes without having answered all my questions, but ending on a question mark is different from ending on an ellipsis, if that makes sense.
As far as the dystopian part goes, once again nothing about it really stuck out to me. There are some interesting ideas in here, like the pills and the Banquets and such. Probably some readers will want to have learned more about the world and heard less about the romance, but I'm a romantic at heart. I also find lengthy world-building passages to be a little self-indulgent and irritating; I'd prefer for the world to unfold bit by bit; and I acknowledge the pace at which it does this will probably be too slow for some. This isn't a high-octane adventure story like The Hunger Games or Divergent. I get the sense that the following two books might be more in that vein, though. I've started on Crossed and, depending on how well I like it, I will probably finish the series.
Overall, this is an enjoyable read, but don't go in expecting to be blown away. Nothing about it makes it stand out from the dozens of other dystopian teen lit stories out there. I don't think it'd be fair for me to guess how teen audiences will receive it, as I read virtually no YA lit besides this latest interest. But older readers can still get an afternoon of light reading out of it. And if nothing else, it can be a topic of conversation with younger siblings or children. 3.5/5
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Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2014
