This book was just...meh for me. There was some good parts to it, but I felt like there were too many coincidences. She should have died about a billion times in this book but somehow she was miraculously saved each time. So it was a bit of a stretch for me. I don't know if it's the fact that I've read too many books like this, which I don't think I have or the fact that it was too predictable. But I'll go with the latter. I had quite a few moments of... "I called it." Which was alright, but at times it was like...come on. But I will admit, it is a good cliff hanger. About the last page and a half, it's like...really!? I mean I knew it was coming, but I just figured there would be a little more closure to it rather than just that one worded ending to the book.
The book is formatted differently than I've seen most books. It actually reminded me more of a movie. The chapters went from "then" to "now". I actually really liked it. It would go from how she became an Invalid and also you get to know other characters. And then it shoots you back to the 'now' where she's back in a deliria free society.
Well, after losing Alex when they escaped...or well she escaped. She runs, and she just keeps running. She never makes it back to Alex's encampment. Instead she almost dies, but is rescued by some Invalids. She ended up running 60 miles. She soon becomes integrated into their little 'family'. But as winter gets closer they all need to start to migrate to a warmer place and they start to make their way to Delaware. All of that is in the 'then' chapters.
And in the 'now' chapters, she's been invalidated into a society in New York. There's a rally and she needs to keep an eye on Jullian Fineman, no matter what. And then all hell breaks lose. They end up in a situation where they are forced to be together for...maybe two weeks? <---it's kinda fuzzy with the timeline. That's about all I'll say, because I don't want to spoil anything.
Characters to know:
Lena: Main character, of course. She's heart broken after losing Alex and constantly dreams about him.
Tack: He's part of the Resistance. He infiltrates New York with Lena and Raven.
Raven: Raven, a few years older than Raven. She seems almost older though, wiser I suppose. She is closed off and refuses to talk about the past with anyone. She claims that it's over and there's no more to be said about it. Lena often recites some of Raven's mantras.
Jullian: The son of Thomas Fineman. He was very sickly as a young child and had cancer. The procedure may kill him, but that's what he's willing to do to support the procedure and a deliria free society.
Hunter: He's part of the Resistance and becomes on of Lena's friends. He was known as an Unnatural. It doesn't go into much detail, but I'm assuming that means he's homosexual.
Alex: He doesn't really need to be addressed, but he is the boy Lena is heart broken over and longs for.
Thomas Fineman (Jullian's father): Kinda like the leader of New York, he's
Spoiler alert after this! It's my reaction to the ending, I had to share it. =]
Of course after the last book, knowing she lost the only person she's ever loved...in a romantic way. She HAS to fall in love with someone else, and she does. I don't know if it's my age, but I felt like it was a real stretch for this love interest. I found myself angry with Lena for 'loving' this guy. I honestly said to myself, "Lena, you stupid ho, how can you love him?"
My reaction to the book? Really Lena...how can you fall in love with a guy you've barely known for 2 weeks! I mean is this your rebound boy? And you don't even know if Alex is dead! The whole time she kept getting closer and closer to Jullian I got angry. I didn't want her to fall in love with him. I mean sure, he's not horrible once he realizes how bad the cure is.
And then...at the end Alex showing up, just as Lena and Jullian are getting awfully close I was like, YES! Alex is back! Shit....now he's hurt because she's with Jullian. Lena, I told you not to get close to that sickly boy! Gah! But I'm glad he's back. Oh and then the appearence of her mother?! I totally called that. I was like, I know that's her mom. But I'm glad that it gave Lena a little bit of closure, knowing that she's alive, although I really hope that she gets a bigger role in the next book.
Anywho, that's enough of that!
EDIT: Alright, it's the morning after, so to speak, and I've had time to think about it and process the book. I suppose in a society where you don't know what love is, any sort of attraction that seems inappropriate could be misinterpreted as love. I mean Jullian and Lena were kidnapped together and had some near death experiences together, and that would create a bond.
No comments:
Post a Comment