"Twenty years ago, the robots designed to fight our wars abandoned the battlefields.
Then they turned their weapons on us.
Headstrong seventeen-year-old Nick has spent his whole life in a community in the wilderness, hiding out from the robots that have enslaved mankind. But when the bots discover the community's location, he, his tech-geek younger brother, kevin and adopted sister, Cass, barely make it out alive-only to discover that their home has been destroyed and everyone they love is missing.
All survivors were captured and taken to one of the robots' cities. The siblings have been hearing tales about the cities all their lives-humans are treated like animals, living in outdoor pens and forced to build new bots until they drop dead from exhaustion. Determined to find out if their parents are among the survivors, Nick, Kevin, and Cass venture into the heart of the city, but it is nothing like they've been told.
As they live among the bots for the first time, they realise they're fighting for more than just their family. The robots have ruled for too long, and now it's time for a revolution."
Review:
Revolution 19 is the first installment of the series and had previously been collecting dust on my bookshelf, however the attention grabbing jacket finally coerced me into picking it up. The themes and central plot, while well established within the Sci-Fi realm of artificial intelligence, is, in my opinion a fresh take on the genre.
The writing style, while seemingly pedestrian, keeps you reading and urges you onto the next chapter. One fault i wasn't able forgive though, was the fact that there was no real establishment of character, no connection created from the first crucial pages and therefore when everything goes pear shaped i didn't desperate hope or that desire for them to pull through against the odds, more of a shrug of the shoulders and turn the page.
I found it incredibly fast paced which i think works in the authors favor as it doesn't allow time for the story line to become tedious. The action is constant and doesn't allow you to mourn or take a break. Generally i'm not the biggest fan of a consistent bombardment of action and crisis, however, in this case i think it creates a better read.
The ending leaves a lot of unanswered questions, however I'm not dying to have them answered, which was rather a disappointment.
"Franny Banks has just six months left of the three-year deadline she set herself when she came to New York, dreaming of Broadway and doing 'important' work. But all she has to show for her efforts is a part in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters. She needs a backup plan because she's not ready to give up on her goal of having a career like her idols Diane Keaton and Meryl Streep. Not just yet."
Review:
The moment i saw the author of Someday, Someday, Maybe i had to snatch the novel up. Lauren Graham, well known and fabulous actress, most well known for her role as Lorelai Gilmore in the TV series Gilmore Girls and personally one of my favorite fictional characters.
I could barely put her debut novel down and read the sizable book within a matter of days.
Following the life of Franny Banks in her pursuit of an acting career and the road blocks she comes up against while attempting to break into a highly competitive industry with only a commercial for hideous Christmas sweaters under her belt.
Cleverly witty and engaging Graham steeps her novel in funny one liners and amusing anecdotes. The characters are created with substance and there is a reality about the characters and their reaction to life and the hope of dreams coming true.
After reading this novel one could wonder if it is semi-autobiographical through possible parallels between the fictional Franny and real life acting career of Graham. One wonders if her own struggles and experience in becoming an appreciated actress can be seen within the novel.
The writing is clearly by a pen experienced in the ways of satire and mature comedic anecdotes. Graham has produced an entertaining piece of writing.
With the slightly predictable ending that you're rooting for Someday, Someday, Maybe is worth the read.
"Seventeen-year-old Gene struggles to survive in a society where humans have been eaten to near extinction by the general population. When Gene is chosen to participate in the government-sponsored hunt for the remaining humans, he must learn the art of the hunt but also elude his fellow hunters whose suspicions about his true human nature are growing."
Review:
The Hunt is the first installment in the HUNT trilogy. Without ever mentioning the word "vampire" Fukuda introduces a vampiric society without ever uttering the word. They sleep upside down, can't go out in the daylight and feast on human flesh.
As a spin on the typical teenage love story Fukuda manages to incite mystery and intrigue with the book. Plot twists and surprises not at all predictable. Which adds to the over all appeal of the book.
I found the first person perspective limiting in relation of character development and rather stunting throughout. While the central plot was not particularly unique within the genre, Fukuda places a unique spin on the events which reads as fresh and exciting.
The end chapters, however, did not leave within me the overwhelming need to read the next installment the Prey.
"When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war.
"Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems.
"And the empty seat left by Barry on the Parish Council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen.
Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?"
Review:
Known for the Harry Potter series J.K. Rowling is beloved by countless avid readers. Myself being one of them. While branching out into other styles and genres of writing it can be difficult to disassociate one book from the other. And with a book as confronting as The Casual Vacancy it is absolutely essential that one removes their previous image of this acclaimed author and the words written in hardback.
The book erratically flits from perspective to perspective and story to story which ultimately are revealed as intrinsically connected tales. Events that unfold within the book are extremely raw and confronting, and not for the faint hearted kiddies that can't let go of their Harry Potter fantasies.
The first half of the book is employed as an introduction to the multitude of characters. Rowling has spent an extended amount of time developing characterisation, and due to the volume of the novel it does not take away, or in any way diminish, the formulation of the central plots. In my opinion it has allowed the reader to make a deeper connection with the characters, whether in like or dislike of them.
Rowling captures the colloquial British slang and vulgar vocabulary perfectly. Admittedly it does make some sections of the book difficult to understand but also thoroughly entertaining.
In the end I found The Casual Vacancy a devastatingly enthralling book that I couldn't put down.
Don't forget that box of tissues.
