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ctorretta's review
3.0
This started out so slow. And sort of Steam Punkish even though it’s set in 2025 after a horrible disease has ravaged the world. I’m not sure if it was just the world building and the characters or the fact that I really haven’t loved Steam Punk but whatever it was, it took me forever to get into this. It seemed like something that just was not my forte.
Fortunately there is enough to the story to make me curious. At least curious enough when I was on the fence about putting it down to keep reading instead. That does happen with books that are out of my genre. And I felt like the writing was exquisite! I felt like I should have really enjoyed this but for some reason it was only that bit of curiosity that kept me going.
The good behind this is that the characters really started growing. Characters that I thought I would never get into nor like, were starting to make an impression. The plot line got better and made me more anxious for the characters too!
Dodge was a weird one for me. I still cannot tell you if I truly wound up liking him fully or not. It’s one of those things where I’m sitting here going over the plot and wondering if the author could have changed anything. But there again, I honestly think this is a case of “It’s me, not you” hitting. The conclusion, however, was the complete opposite from the beginning and had me at the edge of my seat.
In short: The intensity and the plot line really picks up as you go along. If you find this a bit slow but normally enjoy apocalyptic, stick with it! You might be surprised.
Fortunately there is enough to the story to make me curious. At least curious enough when I was on the fence about putting it down to keep reading instead. That does happen with books that are out of my genre. And I felt like the writing was exquisite! I felt like I should have really enjoyed this but for some reason it was only that bit of curiosity that kept me going.
The good behind this is that the characters really started growing. Characters that I thought I would never get into nor like, were starting to make an impression. The plot line got better and made me more anxious for the characters too!
Dodge was a weird one for me. I still cannot tell you if I truly wound up liking him fully or not. It’s one of those things where I’m sitting here going over the plot and wondering if the author could have changed anything. But there again, I honestly think this is a case of “It’s me, not you” hitting. The conclusion, however, was the complete opposite from the beginning and had me at the edge of my seat.
In short: The intensity and the plot line really picks up as you go along. If you find this a bit slow but normally enjoy apocalyptic, stick with it! You might be surprised.
jessbaggins's review
3.0
ALL THE SPOILERS!!! MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS!!!! That is all.
Okay so the Artful Dodger is my favorite literary character, and he is also the only character I have that I love who doesn't FREAKING DIE (besides Mr. Bingley, thank you for living to the end of your book, dear). AND WHAT DOES THIS BOOK DO?!
IT KILLS DODGER OFF AND MAKES HIM JOIN FINNICK AND FRED AND ENJOLRAS AND HENRY V IN THAT BOOKSHOP IN THE SKY.
Okay. Now that that part of my review is done, we can get into the meat of it, shall we? I got this book because, as I said, I ADORE Dodger from Dickens's "Oliver Twist." And with a title like "The Artful," I figured that it would be through his POV or be mostly about him. But much to my disappointment... It was all about Oliver and through his POV. And quite apparently, no matter what the world or the story, Oliver is as annoying as nails on a chalk-board! His whiny narrative made me want to bash my head into a wall and FREAKING GIA... Okay. First off. One of the most annoying Mary-Sue made-up YA girl characters out there. Like... Bella material. Second of all, Oliver is DISGUSTING. The way he fawns all over her beauty at the most inappropriate times, the way he's more worried about her than his BROTHER Dodger, the way he is fretting over her and not mourning Dodge at the end, the way he doesn't even TRY and save Dodger when he takes the bullet for Gia... Shocking. I couldn't handle it. And poor Dodger! He never got a break cut for him! Though I will say Stanton wrote him very mean, and made me miss the good-hearted Dodger from Terry Pratchett's pen, or even Dickens's original Jack Dawkins. Not only that, but there were many typos, and when Dodger was recounting his tale of killing Adam... OMG nobody talks like that and certainly not the Artful Dodger.
Not that this book was all bad... The concept was brilliant, and the moments where the Dodger we all know and love DID shine through made up for the times he had a slip in character. To be honest, however, Stanton better find a way to bring back Dodger in the next book somehow someway because he was the only reason I found any good in this book, and if the whole next book is about Oliver and Gia well... Needless to say I will not be needing a copy, thank you.
I just... I had to go re-read the last sentence of Terry Pratchett's "Dodger" after finishing this book. It was gripping and lovely at parts, and at other parts I wanted to throw it across the room. I am left with many, many feels... And I'm not sure if they are the good feels or not. That's all I have to say about that.
Okay so the Artful Dodger is my favorite literary character, and he is also the only character I have that I love who doesn't FREAKING DIE (besides Mr. Bingley, thank you for living to the end of your book, dear). AND WHAT DOES THIS BOOK DO?!
IT KILLS DODGER OFF AND MAKES HIM JOIN FINNICK AND FRED AND ENJOLRAS AND HENRY V IN THAT BOOKSHOP IN THE SKY.
Okay. Now that that part of my review is done, we can get into the meat of it, shall we? I got this book because, as I said, I ADORE Dodger from Dickens's "Oliver Twist." And with a title like "The Artful," I figured that it would be through his POV or be mostly about him. But much to my disappointment... It was all about Oliver and through his POV. And quite apparently, no matter what the world or the story, Oliver is as annoying as nails on a chalk-board! His whiny narrative made me want to bash my head into a wall and FREAKING GIA... Okay. First off. One of the most annoying Mary-Sue made-up YA girl characters out there. Like... Bella material. Second of all, Oliver is DISGUSTING. The way he fawns all over her beauty at the most inappropriate times, the way he's more worried about her than his BROTHER Dodger, the way he is fretting over her and not mourning Dodge at the end, the way he doesn't even TRY and save Dodger when he takes the bullet for Gia... Shocking. I couldn't handle it. And poor Dodger! He never got a break cut for him! Though I will say Stanton wrote him very mean, and made me miss the good-hearted Dodger from Terry Pratchett's pen, or even Dickens's original Jack Dawkins. Not only that, but there were many typos, and when Dodger was recounting his tale of killing Adam... OMG nobody talks like that and certainly not the Artful Dodger.
Not that this book was all bad... The concept was brilliant, and the moments where the Dodger we all know and love DID shine through made up for the times he had a slip in character. To be honest, however, Stanton better find a way to bring back Dodger in the next book somehow someway because he was the only reason I found any good in this book, and if the whole next book is about Oliver and Gia well... Needless to say I will not be needing a copy, thank you.
I just... I had to go re-read the last sentence of Terry Pratchett's "Dodger" after finishing this book. It was gripping and lovely at parts, and at other parts I wanted to throw it across the room. I am left with many, many feels... And I'm not sure if they are the good feels or not. That's all I have to say about that.
justangus's review
2.0
Still quite undecided about this book. See my full review here: http://www.7thpage.com/2014/08/01/review-the-artful-by-wilbur-stanton/
readingwithana's review
4.0
(Review thanks to a free digital ARC from NetGalley)
The Artful is a post-apocalytic story based in New York City in the year 2025. New York City has been divided into two different areas: Brooklyn and Manhattan. This was caused by a virus that spread and caused everything to fall apart. Now, people cannot tolerate sunlight and the majority of the population scavenges for food. Twist and Dodger, the two main characters, scavenge for food, but that is not the only thing they scavenge. There is a privileged class in this society, that has all the luxury items that the disadvantaged cannot get. Twist and Dodge steal from the most fortunate and give it to others. On one of their trips to steal, they encounter some trouble and Dodge ends up being injected with a virus that he can die from if he is not given a cure quickly. They, along with Gia, a girl they meet along the way, embark on a mission to find the cure for Dodge.
The plot line did seem very promising. At some points it was very good, other times, not so much. The beginning was sort of slow. It made it hard to get into the story. But once the action started and picked up a little more, it got so good and I could not stop reading.
The characters.... they were likable... at times. There were moments in which they did some very predictable things. But what bothered me the most was a lot of the things they would say. For example, Dodge tended to be very misogynist and felt entitled and thought that any women should have sex with him. That really bothered me a lot. Also, Twist always belittled himself and that got very repetitive. Overall, though, there was a lot of character development that changed that and the story redeemed itself in that way.
On another note, the ending though. It got very confusing and I could not really understand what was going on. I finally understood it when I realized that this is the first book in the series. I am excited to see what else can happen in this series, so I am for sure going to be in the lookout for the sequel to be published. This is a pretty good read and I highly recommend it.
The Artful is a post-apocalytic story based in New York City in the year 2025. New York City has been divided into two different areas: Brooklyn and Manhattan. This was caused by a virus that spread and caused everything to fall apart. Now, people cannot tolerate sunlight and the majority of the population scavenges for food. Twist and Dodger, the two main characters, scavenge for food, but that is not the only thing they scavenge. There is a privileged class in this society, that has all the luxury items that the disadvantaged cannot get. Twist and Dodge steal from the most fortunate and give it to others. On one of their trips to steal, they encounter some trouble and Dodge ends up being injected with a virus that he can die from if he is not given a cure quickly. They, along with Gia, a girl they meet along the way, embark on a mission to find the cure for Dodge.
The plot line did seem very promising. At some points it was very good, other times, not so much. The beginning was sort of slow. It made it hard to get into the story. But once the action started and picked up a little more, it got so good and I could not stop reading.
The characters.... they were likable... at times. There were moments in which they did some very predictable things. But what bothered me the most was a lot of the things they would say. For example, Dodge tended to be very misogynist and felt entitled and thought that any women should have sex with him. That really bothered me a lot. Also, Twist always belittled himself and that got very repetitive. Overall, though, there was a lot of character development that changed that and the story redeemed itself in that way.
On another note, the ending though. It got very confusing and I could not really understand what was going on. I finally understood it when I realized that this is the first book in the series. I am excited to see what else can happen in this series, so I am for sure going to be in the lookout for the sequel to be published. This is a pretty good read and I highly recommend it.
ltg584's review
4.0
Starting off, I had no clue what to expect. After reading a synopsis, I have this wonderful habit of forgetting all about it. Sure, my memory’s not great, but I’m not sure if it’s entirely accidental, because I love going into a book with an entirely fresh perspective. So, really, when I started off with the first chapter, I was a little confused. Was it post apocalyptic? Was it steampunk? It seemed like a strange combination of the two. What age range was it for? While the author keeps the language clean, there are some seriously mature topics being dealt with. But you know what? By the time I reached the end of the story, I was surprised to find that I was utterly addicted!
The characters! They’re awesome! The story was told from Twist’s perspective, and that surprised me at first. I mean, he wasn’t overly charismatic, and he seemed to mostly stand in the shadow of his friend Dodger. It just seemed to me that Dodger would have been the more obvious choice as a main protagonist. But that’s the beauty of it! Stanton handed us a character with an infinite amount of growing to do. I absolutely loved watching Twist’s transition throughout the course of the story! Beyond the key players, there are a few minor characters who were so intriguing and I’m desperate to read book two just to get to know them better.
This one is easy for me to recommend… but I’m still not sure who to recommend it to. Definitely some mature content; war, starvation, murder, teen alcohol consumption, prostitution, cannibalism, to name a few. The characters are mostly upper teens, but I think I might have preferred to have more swears. Not something I would usually ask for, but considering the way that these kids have been forced to mature at a young age, I would think that swearing would come with the territory. It didn’t feel natural that they didn’t.
A copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
The characters! They’re awesome! The story was told from Twist’s perspective, and that surprised me at first. I mean, he wasn’t overly charismatic, and he seemed to mostly stand in the shadow of his friend Dodger. It just seemed to me that Dodger would have been the more obvious choice as a main protagonist. But that’s the beauty of it! Stanton handed us a character with an infinite amount of growing to do. I absolutely loved watching Twist’s transition throughout the course of the story! Beyond the key players, there are a few minor characters who were so intriguing and I’m desperate to read book two just to get to know them better.
This one is easy for me to recommend… but I’m still not sure who to recommend it to. Definitely some mature content; war, starvation, murder, teen alcohol consumption, prostitution, cannibalism, to name a few. The characters are mostly upper teens, but I think I might have preferred to have more swears. Not something I would usually ask for, but considering the way that these kids have been forced to mature at a young age, I would think that swearing would come with the territory. It didn’t feel natural that they didn’t.
A copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
carol26388's review
1.0
So.
Bad.
So very, very not good.
But I'm not in the mood to be unkind, though this was filled with tropes, angsty teens, dippy dystopia, weak worldbuilding, overwrought emotion, and every teen romance cliche you can think of
(for those too young to understand the picture, this is a boy lifting his car's carburetor over his head to impress someone)
I'm feeling kind, so may I recommend instead... say, anything?
Ok, under the spoiler are specifics. You want to know why this book wasn't good? Let me tell you. With quotes.
Truthfully, I can only blame myself. With a well-known addiction to the apocalypse (but a choosy one), a kindle sale and a couple positive friend reviews, I had to give this a go. Sadly, the blurb is misleading, making it sound like a buddy-movie adventure in the apocalypse. It isn’t: it’s a coming-of-age thing.
In a post-something New York City, the populace at large has become allergic to sunlight through some virus. Twist and Dodger are two orphan teens have formed their own ‘gang,’ and have made their home with other misfits in the sewers and subway tunnels of the city. They’re on a run to steal some medical supplies from the “Tower brats.” Because all the wealthy people with resources are holed up in the skyscrapers and NYC is isolated from the rest of the world. They’ve infiltrated a tower by pretending to be rich brats themselves, but when they get to the stash, one of their old friends is already there. A daring escape from the Tower and they think they’re free, only to discover men in black (Tower security) chasing them through the streets and subway tunnels. The young men are forced to bargain with the men in back to retrieve the package their friend stole or they won’t get the Cure (and we don’t mean Robert Smith). It will mean navigating wild areas of New York they usually avoid.
The plotting should feel familiar to anyone who has had more than a passing genre glance, except that Stanton tries to fit them all in. Virus, warring Manhattan factions, rag-tag group of street people, children from Lord of the Flies, a drug commune, the uncharted ‘wild, wild, West,’ religious zealots, vague hints that the world outside of Manhattan may be more habitable. Except Brooklyn (naturally), because of the cannibals who sharpen their teeth and act an awful lot like zombies. Oh, and the don who runs an arena with war games (what is it with young adult and death arenas? Seriously?) Each of these would be deserving of a book in and of itself, but robbed of book-length attention, the quick stereotypical view stands in for world-building.
I’m not sure Stanton had a specific target, though, because under the McGuffin, it’s really about Twist growing up, falling in love and negotiating his changing relationship with Dodger. Now there’s a twist I would have liked to see–Twist falling in love with Dodger. Might have made for something more interesting instead of falling for a girl they ‘rescued.’ Instead we have a mediocre internal struggle about his dependency on Dodger, desire to stand on his own two feet and Dodger’s rampant sexualization of women (only relevant because one of the targets is a woman Twist is attracted to). It’s bad. It’s emotional and overwrought, and worse, it’s relayed to the reader by Twist explaining it to us. Or himself. Occasionally there will be active adjectives like “Twist yelled at Dodger” to help convey the strength of the feeling, but mostly the reader knows because of telling.
“Something in me snapped. I couldn’t tell you what or why, but that seemed to be the last straw. It wasn’t uncommon for him to make foolish remarks, but the jealousy of the previous night still ran hot through my mind. I needed little excuse to lash out. “Are you kidding me?’ I asked, more angrily than merited.”
Then the world-building ought to drive genre fans to distraction. I kept wondering how these Towers the rich people lived in had air conditioning, elevators and sewage flow. We are shown that there are two ‘classes’ of people, the rich drug-heads and the poor-street people, but I’m kind of puzzled because there doesn’t seem to be much of an infrastructure to keep this all going. Zepplins make supply deliveries but how are the Towers powered? Where are supplies coming from? And I still don’t understand why sunlight is so awful–has Stanton never met anyone who really can’t deal with sunlight? You wear clothes, use umbrellas, sunblock, but you can still go outside. No reason to become people of the night or sewer people. Then there’s our 16 year-olds’ nostalgia for time they’ve barely experienced–they’re referencing movies like Titanic in the year 2025 (although movie theaters don’t work). Sure; teenagers now reference movies I’ve never heard about, so I have no doubt future teens will care even less. And can I even mention how many times people were knocked out with a punch to the jaw? I’d give it at least four or five times. Certainly makes for dramatic movie footage but not so much on the realism front, particularly when it is teens doing the punching.
And then there’s the writing. Like the florescent pink cupcakes I saw at the grocery store yesterday, it’s florid and overwrought and makes no sense. What do I mean? Read on:
“He smiled, and, as always, his broken lips that encased missing teeth shook me back to the realization that he was in fact just a mere child, for all his intelligence, conniving nature, and resourcefulness.”
******
“I urged him on with an annoyed nod.”
*****
“It all made me angry. ‘I’m not his shadow! We’re best friends. Why is it that I have to be his shadow? He’s more to be than a brother. Is that so wrong?’
‘Not at all, it’s just I see something in you that you aren’t letting out. You are content with contentment.’”
What the hell does that even mean??
Young adult often doesn’t work for me, but it was hard not to be disappointed given positive reviews. I expected more than this poorly executed teen angst. Wait, maybe it’s not me: Mockingjay had a revolutionary social commentary. Blood Red Road was an interesting dystopia with a gritty, determined heroine even if it did have an arena. Rot&Ruin did very interesting things with the young adult character development and world-building in an isolated settlement. Ship Breaker did great things with one small part of the dystopic world. This is Not a Test took a group of teens forced to rely on themselves post-apocalypse and wrenched my heart out. I believe this is my way of saying, it’s not me.
It’s this book.
Bad.
So very, very not good.
But I'm not in the mood to be unkind, though this was filled with tropes, angsty teens, dippy dystopia, weak worldbuilding, overwrought emotion, and every teen romance cliche you can think of
(for those too young to understand the picture, this is a boy lifting his car's carburetor over his head to impress someone)
I'm feeling kind, so may I recommend instead... say, anything?
Ok, under the spoiler are specifics. You want to know why this book wasn't good? Let me tell you. With quotes.
Truthfully, I can only blame myself. With a well-known addiction to the apocalypse (but a choosy one), a kindle sale and a couple positive friend reviews, I had to give this a go. Sadly, the blurb is misleading, making it sound like a buddy-movie adventure in the apocalypse. It isn’t: it’s a coming-of-age thing.
In a post-something New York City, the populace at large has become allergic to sunlight through some virus. Twist and Dodger are two orphan teens have formed their own ‘gang,’ and have made their home with other misfits in the sewers and subway tunnels of the city. They’re on a run to steal some medical supplies from the “Tower brats.” Because all the wealthy people with resources are holed up in the skyscrapers and NYC is isolated from the rest of the world. They’ve infiltrated a tower by pretending to be rich brats themselves, but when they get to the stash, one of their old friends is already there. A daring escape from the Tower and they think they’re free, only to discover men in black (Tower security) chasing them through the streets and subway tunnels. The young men are forced to bargain with the men in back to retrieve the package their friend stole or they won’t get the Cure (and we don’t mean Robert Smith). It will mean navigating wild areas of New York they usually avoid.
The plotting should feel familiar to anyone who has had more than a passing genre glance, except that Stanton tries to fit them all in. Virus, warring Manhattan factions, rag-tag group of street people, children from Lord of the Flies, a drug commune, the uncharted ‘wild, wild, West,’ religious zealots, vague hints that the world outside of Manhattan may be more habitable. Except Brooklyn (naturally), because of the cannibals who sharpen their teeth and act an awful lot like zombies. Oh, and the don who runs an arena with war games (what is it with young adult and death arenas? Seriously?) Each of these would be deserving of a book in and of itself, but robbed of book-length attention, the quick stereotypical view stands in for world-building.
I’m not sure Stanton had a specific target, though, because under the McGuffin, it’s really about Twist growing up, falling in love and negotiating his changing relationship with Dodger. Now there’s a twist I would have liked to see–Twist falling in love with Dodger. Might have made for something more interesting instead of falling for a girl they ‘rescued.’ Instead we have a mediocre internal struggle about his dependency on Dodger, desire to stand on his own two feet and Dodger’s rampant sexualization of women (only relevant because one of the targets is a woman Twist is attracted to). It’s bad. It’s emotional and overwrought, and worse, it’s relayed to the reader by Twist explaining it to us. Or himself. Occasionally there will be active adjectives like “Twist yelled at Dodger” to help convey the strength of the feeling, but mostly the reader knows because of telling.
“Something in me snapped. I couldn’t tell you what or why, but that seemed to be the last straw. It wasn’t uncommon for him to make foolish remarks, but the jealousy of the previous night still ran hot through my mind. I needed little excuse to lash out. “Are you kidding me?’ I asked, more angrily than merited.”
Then the world-building ought to drive genre fans to distraction. I kept wondering how these Towers the rich people lived in had air conditioning, elevators and sewage flow. We are shown that there are two ‘classes’ of people, the rich drug-heads and the poor-street people, but I’m kind of puzzled because there doesn’t seem to be much of an infrastructure to keep this all going. Zepplins make supply deliveries but how are the Towers powered? Where are supplies coming from? And I still don’t understand why sunlight is so awful–has Stanton never met anyone who really can’t deal with sunlight? You wear clothes, use umbrellas, sunblock, but you can still go outside. No reason to become people of the night or sewer people. Then there’s our 16 year-olds’ nostalgia for time they’ve barely experienced–they’re referencing movies like Titanic in the year 2025 (although movie theaters don’t work). Sure; teenagers now reference movies I’ve never heard about, so I have no doubt future teens will care even less. And can I even mention how many times people were knocked out with a punch to the jaw? I’d give it at least four or five times. Certainly makes for dramatic movie footage but not so much on the realism front, particularly when it is teens doing the punching.
And then there’s the writing. Like the florescent pink cupcakes I saw at the grocery store yesterday, it’s florid and overwrought and makes no sense. What do I mean? Read on:
“He smiled, and, as always, his broken lips that encased missing teeth shook me back to the realization that he was in fact just a mere child, for all his intelligence, conniving nature, and resourcefulness.”
******
“I urged him on with an annoyed nod.”
*****
“It all made me angry. ‘I’m not his shadow! We’re best friends. Why is it that I have to be his shadow? He’s more to be than a brother. Is that so wrong?’
‘Not at all, it’s just I see something in you that you aren’t letting out. You are content with contentment.’”
What the hell does that even mean??
Young adult often doesn’t work for me, but it was hard not to be disappointed given positive reviews. I expected more than this poorly executed teen angst. Wait, maybe it’s not me: Mockingjay had a revolutionary social commentary. Blood Red Road was an interesting dystopia with a gritty, determined heroine even if it did have an arena. Rot&Ruin did very interesting things with the young adult character development and world-building in an isolated settlement. Ship Breaker did great things with one small part of the dystopic world. This is Not a Test took a group of teens forced to rely on themselves post-apocalypse and wrenched my heart out. I believe this is my way of saying, it’s not me.
It’s this book.
thefox22's review
4.0
*Review can be found here.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this novel, except that it was a dystopian in an upside down New York City. At first I wasn't quite sure I'd like it, wasn't sure I wanted to push through it, and I still don't know what to make of it. But it was a highly entertaining and quick read.
Rating: 4 Stars!
There are some characters who are just so immature, childish, and vulgar that it's hard to find any likable quality to them. However, because of this story-line and dystopian world, it made complete sense that the characters would act how they did. They're orphans who lost their childhood innocence to a virus that wiped out thousands of people. And now they're doing all that they can to survive in a world that keeps telling them to give up. Their attitudes, personalities, and brazen dialogue fit their characters, though it still grated on my nerves a little bit.
This book is told in the POV of Twist, a Gutter Punk who steals from the rich to give to the poor. A real-life Little John to his buddy Dodge's Robin Hood. Twist was an interesting character. He was quick and intelligent, brash and brave. But he was still a kid who felt like his best friend's shadow and who still had insecurities as any boy would. His voice was that of a boy who grew up without his parents and who survived in this messed-up world as a thief. I liked him a lot, and his character development was genuine. He grew into someone who did whatever it took to save his friends, even if it meant a hard road for him.
The two main side characters, Dodge and Gia, were also likable ones. I wasn't the biggest fan of Dodge in the beginning; he comes across as rude, arrogant, selfish, and the vulgarest of them all. But he slowly grew on me, and I found him to be most interesting. I wish he'd had a deeper personality, but his dialogue was highly entertaining. Gia, on the other hand, is someone that I was unsure about when she met up with our main boys. She was a mystery, someone who had secrets and a past that's questionable. I liked her strength and sassiness. But she did feel a lot less mature than I would have thought, especially considering her background.
I loved Dodge's and Twist's friendship; they're practically brothers. They look out for each other, tease mercilessly, and will go to the ends of the earth for one another. For so long, it's just been the two of them. But throughout this quest, Twist takes the time to wonder about his relationship with Dodge, doesn't want to keep leaning on him for everything, and finds the inner courage he's always had to be the hero for once. Their friendship might have been changing, but in the end, they will always have each other.
In terms of story-line, this was more about a race against time and the growing uneasiness between a lot of groups of people in New York. Dodge and Twist happen at the wrong place, wrong time and they become pawns in a deadly game. Everyone wants something, and they'll have to navigate a treacherous world and people that are only out for themselves to save each other. There was a little bit of romance mixed in with the suspense and dangerous New York City, amid the turmoil and fighting. There was also a lot of introspection on Twist's part, which I liked.
This book was like a mix of The Gladiator, The Hunger Games, and Divergent. I know, weird combination, right? It's the best I could come up with. And that last one has left me with mixed feelings concerning where the story-line is headed. But that ending killed me! I hadn't realized I'd become so invested in the characters until I wanted to throw my kindle in anger at the injustice of it all. And now I'm left wondering what the sequel to The Artful will entail.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this novel, except that it was a dystopian in an upside down New York City. At first I wasn't quite sure I'd like it, wasn't sure I wanted to push through it, and I still don't know what to make of it. But it was a highly entertaining and quick read.
Rating: 4 Stars!
There are some characters who are just so immature, childish, and vulgar that it's hard to find any likable quality to them. However, because of this story-line and dystopian world, it made complete sense that the characters would act how they did. They're orphans who lost their childhood innocence to a virus that wiped out thousands of people. And now they're doing all that they can to survive in a world that keeps telling them to give up. Their attitudes, personalities, and brazen dialogue fit their characters, though it still grated on my nerves a little bit.
This book is told in the POV of Twist, a Gutter Punk who steals from the rich to give to the poor. A real-life Little John to his buddy Dodge's Robin Hood. Twist was an interesting character. He was quick and intelligent, brash and brave. But he was still a kid who felt like his best friend's shadow and who still had insecurities as any boy would. His voice was that of a boy who grew up without his parents and who survived in this messed-up world as a thief. I liked him a lot, and his character development was genuine. He grew into someone who did whatever it took to save his friends, even if it meant a hard road for him.
The two main side characters, Dodge and Gia, were also likable ones. I wasn't the biggest fan of Dodge in the beginning; he comes across as rude, arrogant, selfish, and the vulgarest of them all. But he slowly grew on me, and I found him to be most interesting. I wish he'd had a deeper personality, but his dialogue was highly entertaining. Gia, on the other hand, is someone that I was unsure about when she met up with our main boys. She was a mystery, someone who had secrets and a past that's questionable. I liked her strength and sassiness. But she did feel a lot less mature than I would have thought, especially considering her background.
I loved Dodge's and Twist's friendship; they're practically brothers. They look out for each other, tease mercilessly, and will go to the ends of the earth for one another. For so long, it's just been the two of them. But throughout this quest, Twist takes the time to wonder about his relationship with Dodge, doesn't want to keep leaning on him for everything, and finds the inner courage he's always had to be the hero for once. Their friendship might have been changing, but in the end, they will always have each other.
In terms of story-line, this was more about a race against time and the growing uneasiness between a lot of groups of people in New York. Dodge and Twist happen at the wrong place, wrong time and they become pawns in a deadly game. Everyone wants something, and they'll have to navigate a treacherous world and people that are only out for themselves to save each other. There was a little bit of romance mixed in with the suspense and dangerous New York City, amid the turmoil and fighting. There was also a lot of introspection on Twist's part, which I liked.
This book was like a mix of The Gladiator, The Hunger Games, and Divergent. I know, weird combination, right? It's the best I could come up with. And that last one has left me with mixed feelings concerning where the story-line is headed. But that ending killed me! I hadn't realized I'd become so invested in the characters until I wanted to throw my kindle in anger at the injustice of it all. And now I'm left wondering what the sequel to The Artful will entail.
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