Book Review: Icons

Icons

by Margaret Stohl

Published: May 2013 by Harper Voyager

Version: Paperback from publisher (all views are my own, honest opinion)

Rating: 3.5 sofas

Everything changed on The Day. The day the windows shattered. The day the power stopped. The day Dol’s family dropped dead. The day Earth lost a war it didn’t know it was fighting.

Since then, Dol has lived a simple life in the countryside — safe from the shadow of the Icon and its terrifying power. Hiding from the one truth she can’t avoid.

She’s different. She survived. Why?

When Dol and her best friend, Ro, are captured and taken to the Embassy, off the coast of the sprawling metropolis once known as the City of Angels, they find only more questions. While Ro and fellow hostage Tima rage against their captors, Dol finds herself drawn to Lucas, the Ambassador’s privileged son. But the four teens are more alike than they might think, and the timing of their meeting isn’t a coincidence. It’s a conspiracy.

Within the Icon’s reach, Dol, Ro, Tima, and Lucas discover that their uncontrollable emotions — which they’ve always thought to be their greatest weaknesses — may actually be their greatest strengths.

Bestselling author Margaret Stohl delivers the first book in a heart-pounding series set in a haunting new world where four teens must piece together the mysteries of their pasts — in order to save the future.

At first it sounds very War of the Worlds-esque, as we learn of the icons that have descended around all the major cities on Earth.  On The Day, a billion people were killed instantly, including Dolly’s parents. Since then, the icons have been in charge of all power. Anyone who gets close enough is wiped out by an electrical pulse.

From the beginning we know that Dolly and Ro are different, bonded together by the dots on their arms. With only each other to rely on, immediately I am backing their side. But when they are captured by the Embassy,  Dolly starts to really think about and question the way icons changed the world, and her purpose in it.

This book was paced really well, it made me want to continue reading. As the book progresses it involves quite well, and we begin to know more about the Embassy and the world as whole, rather than being thrown into it at the beginning.

Character wise, Dol is the only real likeable one out of the bunch. There is the classic love triangle going on, and I can’t really understand Tima’s motive. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, I’m not even sure whether I’m meant to like her or not. Baring in mind they are meant to be the ‘good’ team, I expected to like them more. As such they are just irritating. I’m also not really sure if the meaning (point?) of the binding of dots, but I hope this is explained more in the next book. 

This is a dystopian I would definitely recommend for fans of War of the Worlds. Although I found the characters quite unlikeable, I did enjoy the world building. I will be picking up the sequel to find out more about the aliens and how the story ends up. 3.5 sofas! 

Book Review: Exodus Code

It starts with a series of unexplained events. Earth tremors across the globe. People being driven insane by their heightened and scrambled senses. Governments and scientists are bewildered and silent. The world needs Torchwood, but there’s not much of Torchwood left. Captain Jack has tracked the problem to its source: a village in Peru, where he’s uncovered evidence of alien involvement. Back in Cardiff, Gwen Cooper has discovered something lurking inside the Torchwood software – something alien and somehow connected to Jack. If the world is to be restored, she has to warn him – but she’s quickly becoming a victim of the madness, too!

So the blurb of this book sounded quite good. A bit dystopian-esque, where the world is sort of infected by something, and it’s down to Jack to discover what. It is my first Torchwood book, but I have watched the series’ on tv and absolutely love it. This is one of the first Torchwood books I have seen written by John Barrowman, so I thought I’d give it a try!

My first critique is that I just found it so confusing. It jumps about so much, I found myself several times looking back to check who/where/when the events were supposed to be happening. Also, for most of the book there is hardly any action, and I think the action in the finale is wrapped up pretty quickly.

There was a big lack of main characters in this novel too, which I was disappointed about. Obviously we follow Jack, but Gwen goes crazy so is out of the picture. Rhys and Andy pop up now and again, but do not really have a main role. Thus there are lots of insignificant people mentioned in the book, which just aids to confuse and bore me.

Overall I think this book just didn’t grab my attention. There wasn’t anything exciting or new, nothing that made me want to keep reading aside from John Barrowman as Jack!

Sadly I think I just better stick to the TV show.

Book Review: Unravelling

STOP THE COUNTDOWN. SAVE THE WORLD…

Leaving the beach, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit head on by a pickup truck.
And killed.
Then Ben Michaels, resident stoner, is leaning over her. And even though it isn’t possible, she knows Ben somehow brought her back to life…
Meanwhile, Janelle’s father, a special agent for the FBI, starts working on a case that seems strangely connected to Ben. Digging in his files, Janelle finds a mysterious device – one that seems to be counting down to something that will happen in 23 days and 10 hours time. 
That something? It might just be the end of the world. And if Janelle wants to stop it, she’s going to need to uncover Ben’s secrets – and keep from falling in love with him in the process…

‘Unravelling‘ by Elizabeth Norris has been sitting on my tbr read shelf for a couple of months, I picked it up from the library for the intriguing cover, but it is quite a thick paperback (for a YA novel) and other books have been too tempting. 

But I have been missing out! I absolutely loved this book, and devoured it in a day. Even on the tube I couldn’t put it down! Some of the chapters are very short (about a page) and I think this really helps in the pacing because I fell into the trap of ‘just one more chapter’. 

Basically the story is about Janelle, who gets hit by a truck and dies, but is brought back to life by Ben. Obviously no one believes her, but she has to find out more about Ben, and how/why he saved her. 

Meanwhile, her dad (an FBI agent) is working on a new case where radioactively burned bodies are turning up everywhere. Then a bomb-like device is discovered, with a countdown. Janelle decides to do her own investigation as to what the device means, and how they can stop it. 

I think this book had great character development. Obviously the book surrounds Janelle, but Ben is such an intriguing person (and also good looking). We follow Janelle as she finds out more and more about him, and pieces the information together. I think the book contains enough action to create suspense, but enough background to really invest in the characters. 

One think I will say is that Ben did seem a little perfect, but you gotta have good characters I suppose! It was nice that Janelle was the daughter of an FBI agent, as it made her a strong character, and she definitely showed it! I think it’s good not to have wimpy girl characters. 

The ending was good, but I’ve just discovered there is a sequel planned for next year! And god I can’t wait. Though I really hope they change the cover again, as I think the US one is just awful. For once the UK have done much better. Roll on next year! 

I would definately reccommend this books for people who like strong character development, and scifi action. Have you read it, and can you suggest anything similar? Do you agree or disagree with my review? 

Book Review: Eternal War (Timeriders #4)

Liam O’Connor should have died at sea in 1912.
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010.
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026.

But all three have been given a second chance—to work for an agency that no one knows exists. Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history…

A time wave has struck that alters the entire history of the American Civil War. Abraham Lincoln has followed Liam into the present from 1831 and now the world is in a dangerous state of limbo…Can Maddy persuade two colonels on either side of no man’s land to cease fire long enough to save the future?

‘Eternal War‘ by Alex Scarrow is the third in the TimeRider series. The basic storyline is three teenagers who have been saved from death are transported to a hub where time replays itself every 2/3 (i cant remember!) days, before and after 9/11.

A bit like the tv show ‘Primeval’, each book takes place in a different timeline. If something changes history, then a time wave occurs and changes the present. The three then have to figure out how to change it back, by going back in time.

I really enjoyed the first three books in the series; however I did read them all in one go so by the 3rd it was a bit too much. The books do jump around a lot; from the present to the past/future and sometimes different places too. I think it takes some time to be immersed in the book because of this. However, each chapter is clearly defined in time and place so it’s easy to double check you know where/when you are!

I think these books are great for YAs who like a bit of action, but aren’t afraid of the sci-fi aspect of the timechanging. There is great character development throughout the books, and I think these books are underrated.

The reason I’ve jumped back on the TimeRider ship is because I received the 5th book as a present, so had to read the fourth. And I can’t wait! But what do you think? Have you read any of the Timerider series? Should I keep reading? Please share your thoughts/comments below 🙂

Book Review: The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

‘The Rise of Nine‘ is the third in the Lorien Legacies series by Pittacus Lore, and was released at the end of August. I received my copy from the library, ordered by yours truly. I loved the first book ‘I am Number Four‘; the connection between John and Henri and John’s struggle with his newly found legacies and the chaos that came with them. The film based on the first book was about average in my opinion; there are too many superhuman action films nowadays, and I just didn’t think it was anything special. The second book ‘The Power of Six’ continued my love of the series, and surprised me by writing from two perspectives.

‘The rise of nine’ continues to live up to the reputation of its predecessors. It is written from three perspectives, which I found a bit confusing at first, but disappears as you settle into the action of the book. I liked that we meet more new characters in the book, whilst still fleshing out the ones we know and love. I think this one took a bit longer to get into; it felt a bit separated in the beginning, and I was unsure where it was going. Rest assured that by 1/3 of the way I was hooked, and the book ends on a fantastic note. But once again, an annoying cliffhanger, leaving us waiting for the next one!

Although this book is shelved in our sci-fi section, I would say the human connections out rule the fantasy side, and it is easy to pick up the characters. Saying that, this isn’t a book you could read out of sequence, so if you haven’t already, go read the first one!