sakusha's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The third book in the series features a different girl as the main character. It is based on the real Hopi prophecies, which I learned about from the End of Days book by Sylvia Browne. Since this book is based on those prophecies, you would think that it would go into more detail about the full list of prophecies, but it only briefly mentioned three (105). Like the other books in the series, this one is simplistic and barebones, but still worthwhile for a middle schooler to read.
The book uses fracking as the reason the universe is in peril (110). I think it’s unrealistic to blame fracking for any peril beyond Earth. But I still appreciate that the book informs young readers about fracking.
The barcode still exists in this book, but employers and insurance companies can no longer see it (42). Now instead of Global-1 killing people with the barcode, they just track people. And it is still required for adults to buy and sell.
This book has the inventor of the bar code tattoo turn against the agenda to barcode everyone (44). Reminded me of Dr. Robert Malone, inventor of the MRNA technology in covid vaccines who spoke out against the forced vaccination of everyone.
Quotes I liked:
“Genetics was what Global-1 was all about. It had started as a company that made hybrid food and grew to one that made animal clones for meat production. Now it was trying to make hybrid people. And it was doing everything in its power to control the population, just as they had cornered the market on the world’s food supply. We’re just a product to them, like cattle” (83).
“We all do what Global-1 wants us to do, live the way they say, believe what their commercials and TV news want us to believe. It’s set up so that they can get richer and greedier and more powerful by the day. And all the while they destroy the planet we inhabit and make our lives smaller” (130). Just replace Global-1 with Big Pharma.
Quote I didn’t like:
Mfumbe: “I was taught in Bible class that the world would never again be destroyed by flood like it was back in Noah’s ark times.”
Kayla: “It’s not destroyed.”
Eutonah: “It’s just been given a second chance” (201).
By that logic, the world was also given a second chance in Noah’s time too.
Mistake by the author:
Eutonah is supposed to travel around in spirit while in prison, but she’s somehow able to lift objects in this form, which shouldn’t be possible (102).
The book uses fracking as the reason the universe is in peril (110). I think it’s unrealistic to blame fracking for any peril beyond Earth. But I still appreciate that the book informs young readers about fracking.
The barcode still exists in this book, but employers and insurance companies can no longer see it (42). Now instead of Global-1 killing people with the barcode, they just track people. And it is still required for adults to buy and sell.
This book has the inventor of the bar code tattoo turn against the agenda to barcode everyone (44). Reminded me of Dr. Robert Malone, inventor of the MRNA technology in covid vaccines who spoke out against the forced vaccination of everyone.
Quotes I liked:
“Genetics was what Global-1 was all about. It had started as a company that made hybrid food and grew to one that made animal clones for meat production. Now it was trying to make hybrid people. And it was doing everything in its power to control the population, just as they had cornered the market on the world’s food supply. We’re just a product to them, like cattle” (83).
“We all do what Global-1 wants us to do, live the way they say, believe what their commercials and TV news want us to believe. It’s set up so that they can get richer and greedier and more powerful by the day. And all the while they destroy the planet we inhabit and make our lives smaller” (130). Just replace Global-1 with Big Pharma.
Quote I didn’t like:
Mfumbe: “I was taught in Bible class that the world would never again be destroyed by flood like it was back in Noah’s ark times.”
Kayla: “It’s not destroyed.”
Eutonah: “It’s just been given a second chance” (201).
By that logic, the world was also given a second chance in Noah’s time too.
Mistake by the author:
Eutonah is supposed to travel around in spirit while in prison, but she’s somehow able to lift objects in this form, which shouldn’t be possible (102).
holly_mcc's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
greisreads's review
2.0
I finally finished this series and now I can stop caring about it!
I felt like the writing in this one was a lot slower than the other two books, which was great because the other ones just felt like brief scenes thrown together with no transition between them. That being said, there was some stuff that was brought up with almost explanation to it, like the Hopi people and stuff.
There was some prophecy about the Bar Code tattoo and somehow it was linked to this place that was sacred to the Hopi people but it was never explained why these Hopi people were even relevant to the prophecy or why there was a prophecy in the first place. This entire book could've been told the exact same way without the mention of a prophecy.
My relationship with this book is complicated because I absolutely love and adore the idea of bar codes and everything that's happened so far but the problem is that the books are so short that the idea never really gets fully fleshed out and I feel like the author didn't go into enough depth about it. This is the type of series that I honestly would not have minded if each book was 500 and more pages long in small print because it's such an interesting idea and the author could've gone in so many directions with it.
The romance would've been so much better because it would've built up and the characters would've actually gotten time to get to know each other. But because the books are so short and cramped, every time someone says I love you I want rip my brain out with my bare hands and scream to the world.
This trilogy had so much potential to be great and brilliant but it really fell short of that of for me and I just wish that the author had spent more time fleshing out the story and the details and how everything was connected instead of giving the readers something that didn't feel like it had only a little bit of thought put into it.
I wanted to know more about Global-1 and what they were doing. These people sounded like they had the best of the best on board with them so why would they refuse to stop doing what they were doing if they knew that it wouldn't end well for anyone? If they want to control the world, how are they going to do that if the things that they're doing is destroying everyone living on earth?
I had such high expectations and I was really let down.
I felt like the writing in this one was a lot slower than the other two books, which was great because the other ones just felt like brief scenes thrown together with no transition between them. That being said, there was some stuff that was brought up with almost explanation to it, like the Hopi people and stuff.
There was some prophecy about the Bar Code tattoo and somehow it was linked to this place that was sacred to the Hopi people but it was never explained why these Hopi people were even relevant to the prophecy or why there was a prophecy in the first place. This entire book could've been told the exact same way without the mention of a prophecy.
My relationship with this book is complicated because I absolutely love and adore the idea of bar codes and everything that's happened so far but the problem is that the books are so short that the idea never really gets fully fleshed out and I feel like the author didn't go into enough depth about it. This is the type of series that I honestly would not have minded if each book was 500 and more pages long in small print because it's such an interesting idea and the author could've gone in so many directions with it.
The romance would've been so much better because it would've built up and the characters would've actually gotten time to get to know each other. But because the books are so short and cramped, every time someone says I love you I want rip my brain out with my bare hands and scream to the world.
This trilogy had so much potential to be great and brilliant but it really fell short of that of for me and I just wish that the author had spent more time fleshing out the story and the details and how everything was connected instead of giving the readers something that didn't feel like it had only a little bit of thought put into it.
I wanted to know more about Global-1 and what they were doing. These people sounded like they had the best of the best on board with them so why would they refuse to stop doing what they were doing if they knew that it wouldn't end well for anyone? If they want to control the world, how are they going to do that if the things that they're doing is destroying everyone living on earth?
I had such high expectations and I was really let down.
kdotsart's review
2.0
I think Weyn should have stopped with the Bar Code Rebellion. This book didn't make much sense and didn't tie any loose ends from the first one. Some of it was quite a stretch. Hopi prophecies that predict the Bar Code Tattoo disaster? Maybe the kids that read these books will make that leap, but I couldn't. I literally rolled my eyes.
I didn't like that Grace so readily accepted Decode's explanation after fighting it so long. It didn't fit into her "don't buck the system" attitude. And the most popular boy in school is all of a sudden on assignment to look out for her? I ended up asking more questions that were answered. During the last few chapters, I kept telling myself there must be another book coming. There's no way it will end with only a few pages left.
But it did.
And it was way too tidy and way too vague.
The Bar Code prophecy had similar action and characters as the first two, but there are lots of loopholes that leave more confusion than anything.
I didn't like that Grace so readily accepted Decode's explanation after fighting it so long. It didn't fit into her "don't buck the system" attitude. And the most popular boy in school is all of a sudden on assignment to look out for her? I ended up asking more questions that were answered. During the last few chapters, I kept telling myself there must be another book coming. There's no way it will end with only a few pages left.
But it did.
And it was way too tidy and way too vague.
The Bar Code prophecy had similar action and characters as the first two, but there are lots of loopholes that leave more confusion than anything.
guardyanangel's review
1.0
I mean, after the first two books I had fairly low expectations, but just when I thought the bar couldn't go lower, a tunnel was dug beneath the bar and crawled under.
It's disappointing because this book (and this whole series, really,) holds such potential! At least this time the love story didn't pop up so completely out of the blue. But that's about the only thing that wasn't unexpected in this book-- and not in the good, "whoa-that-plot-twist-blew-my-mind" kind of way. Honestly, the series could have (and should have) ended with the second book and it would have been more satisfying.
But in this series, Weyn had the opportunity to present us with a really fascinating dystopian concept (identity, privacy, etc.) AND present a little more POC representation than the usual whitebread YA dystopian shenanigans (although it's still a white protagonist, so not by much,) and she just totally dropped the ball. This book was almost her chance to redeem it, but things spiraled from middling to just absolutely unbelievable within a few pages. I almost never dislike a book/series so entirely, but this one just has a little too much negatively going on with it for me to give it much more than the ratings I already have.
It's disappointing because this book (and this whole series, really,) holds such potential! At least this time the love story didn't pop up so completely out of the blue. But that's about the only thing that wasn't unexpected in this book-- and not in the good, "whoa-that-plot-twist-blew-my-mind" kind of way. Honestly, the series could have (and should have) ended with the second book and it would have been more satisfying.
But in this series, Weyn had the opportunity to present us with a really fascinating dystopian concept (identity, privacy, etc.) AND present a little more POC representation than the usual whitebread YA dystopian shenanigans (although it's still a white protagonist, so not by much,) and she just totally dropped the ball. This book was almost her chance to redeem it, but things spiraled from middling to just absolutely unbelievable within a few pages. I almost never dislike a book/series so entirely, but this one just has a little too much negatively going on with it for me to give it much more than the ratings I already have.
prationality's review
3.0
I'm kind of split on this book. THE BAR CODE TATTOO, originally published 8 years ago (when I was just 20), was one of the few young adults novels I picked up before the upsurge in the market. At the time it had been years since I read any other then the fantasies of Tamora Pierce, but Suzanne Weyn wrote titles in a bunch of Publisher Series I enjoyed and the cover was striking. I really enjoyed it.
Its sequel, THE BAR CODE REBELLION, published in 2006 didn't quite peak my interest as much, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit (though I admit the bird-DNA splicing had me smacking my head a lot). I didn't know Weyn was planning on another book. In fact I only found out at this past Book Expo when I saw it being featured at the Scholastic Booth! I was a bit iffy on it, since other then some ambiguous 'The fight must go on!' vibes I got from the second book I didn't remember it not being tied up pretty well.
I want to say now I purposely didn't go back and re-read the first two books because I wanted to see how much I remembered (good news is I remembered a lot of the more important details).
On one level its vastly interesting to see that Global 1 just can't help itself and continues to be scum-suckers. Its also nice to see how things ended up for Kayla, Mfumbe and the Decode movement. However maybe because I'm older now, I'm kind of looking at this whole thing and saying 'Wait...no wait a second.' Some of the logic doesn't hold up, nor does some of the science and certainly none of the believability.
Weyn jumps from point to point to point at a break-neck speed with little care for transitioning. Which I probably wouldn't have had an issue with if it didn't mean it left a lot to be desired in terms of understanding the plot and characters. Grace is...kind of fleshed out, with Eric getting the runner up position, but everyone else is pretty much dependent on how much the reader either a) remembers from the first two books or b) cares to read between the lines.
Its sequel, THE BAR CODE REBELLION, published in 2006 didn't quite peak my interest as much, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit (though I admit the bird-DNA splicing had me smacking my head a lot). I didn't know Weyn was planning on another book. In fact I only found out at this past Book Expo when I saw it being featured at the Scholastic Booth! I was a bit iffy on it, since other then some ambiguous 'The fight must go on!' vibes I got from the second book I didn't remember it not being tied up pretty well.
I want to say now I purposely didn't go back and re-read the first two books because I wanted to see how much I remembered (good news is I remembered a lot of the more important details).
On one level its vastly interesting to see that Global 1 just can't help itself and continues to be scum-suckers. Its also nice to see how things ended up for Kayla, Mfumbe and the Decode movement. However maybe because I'm older now, I'm kind of looking at this whole thing and saying 'Wait...no wait a second.' Some of the logic doesn't hold up, nor does some of the science and certainly none of the believability.
Weyn jumps from point to point to point at a break-neck speed with little care for transitioning. Which I probably wouldn't have had an issue with if it didn't mean it left a lot to be desired in terms of understanding the plot and characters. Grace is...kind of fleshed out, with Eric getting the runner up position, but everyone else is pretty much dependent on how much the reader either a) remembers from the first two books or b) cares to read between the lines.
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