erinarkin20's review against another edition
3.0
Remake by Ilima Todd was an interesting dystopian story. It started out a bit slow for me but picked up as the story unfolded.
In Freedom One, children are born in batches to control the population. At the age of seventeen, the children are sent to the Remake facility where they can choose to be anything they want. The main character, Nine, struggles with this choice and as she compares herself to those around her, continues to wonder how she will make the right choice.
To begin, Nine is different from all of the others in her batch. She has red hair and freckles and this has always made her stand out in the group. Because of this, she quickly forged a friendship with Theron and they have always been close.
On the way to the facility, the shuttle they are traveling in crashes into the ocean and from there things change drastically for Nine. She is no longer in a world where she is protected by her best friend and can buy anything she wants or needs. Now she is living on an island where people have real families and work together to survive. As she learns more about herself, she also begins to see what she has been missing. While her relationship with Kai starts off very rocky, they eventually forge a friendship and then more.
Unfortunately, the tracker in Nine’s head begins to act up and she believes she has put the family she now loves just like her own, in danger. To protect them, she decides she needs to go back to Freedom One to get the tracker removed and Kai is determined to go with her. Of course, things don’t go as smoothly as they planned and they both end up captured. As Nine is taken to the Prime Maker, she finds out more about herself than she expected. She also finds out more than she expected about the Prime Maker.
I can’t say a lot about the plot and everything that happens as I don’t want to give anything away. I don’t know that everyone will enjoy this story as it poses some questions that not everyone will be comfortable with. Although the ending was fairly abrupt I found the story interesting.
Thank you to Netgalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for the review copy.
In Freedom One, children are born in batches to control the population. At the age of seventeen, the children are sent to the Remake facility where they can choose to be anything they want. The main character, Nine, struggles with this choice and as she compares herself to those around her, continues to wonder how she will make the right choice.
To begin, Nine is different from all of the others in her batch. She has red hair and freckles and this has always made her stand out in the group. Because of this, she quickly forged a friendship with Theron and they have always been close.
On the way to the facility, the shuttle they are traveling in crashes into the ocean and from there things change drastically for Nine. She is no longer in a world where she is protected by her best friend and can buy anything she wants or needs. Now she is living on an island where people have real families and work together to survive. As she learns more about herself, she also begins to see what she has been missing. While her relationship with Kai starts off very rocky, they eventually forge a friendship and then more.
Unfortunately, the tracker in Nine’s head begins to act up and she believes she has put the family she now loves just like her own, in danger. To protect them, she decides she needs to go back to Freedom One to get the tracker removed and Kai is determined to go with her. Of course, things don’t go as smoothly as they planned and they both end up captured. As Nine is taken to the Prime Maker, she finds out more about herself than she expected. She also finds out more than she expected about the Prime Maker.
I can’t say a lot about the plot and everything that happens as I don’t want to give anything away. I don’t know that everyone will enjoy this story as it poses some questions that not everyone will be comfortable with. Although the ending was fairly abrupt I found the story interesting.
Thank you to Netgalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for the review copy.
stacylmoll's review against another edition
5.0
What a scary world this is. But I loved every minute of it and am hoping that there are more books to come, you can't leave me hanging that way Todd! My daughter and I listened to this one on a trip this week and we were laughing so hard at it, it was hard to drive!
greergreer's review against another edition
1.0
Was so excited that I had found a book with a similar theme as "Brave New world"
Then was so disappointed that I did not enjoy this book one bit.
Then was so disappointed that I did not enjoy this book one bit.
elowgang's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.5
This is literally a Fundamentalist anti-trans manifesto masquerading as a dystopian novel. And on top of that, terrible writing and poor character work. Really, really disliked.
llkendrick's review against another edition
3.0
I liked that this dystopian YA had its own spin to it and wasn't as predictable as others. I also liked the overall message it shared - that families and loved ones are important. What I disliked was the main characters inability to make her own decisions and that I never felt connected with the characters enough to really care what happened to them. I don't think I'll continue this series.
kaykay1307's review against another edition
5.0
Would have finished this book sooner, but about 70 pages from the end I got so frustrated with the characters I threw the book down and curled up under my covers, making weird noises. When my roommate asked what was the matter I pointed at book and she nodded in understanding.
teawithe's review against another edition
2.0
Really good dystopian concept, however this book is YOUNG YA. Middle school me would have devoured this book, however adult me can appreciate the concept, but just makes for a juvenile read. Once the book fully sinks in I may come back and raise the star rating to a 3 just for the nostalgia of middle school dystopia, but we shall see.
maddieeeeelyn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
mokey81's review against another edition
4.0
I almost gave this book three stars solely for the idiotic trope of the love triangle. Why is this a requirement of modern YA fiction? It’s so stupid.
But, aside from that I liked the story. It’s an interesting universe. I liked the growth of the main character. And I’m interested enough to read the next one.
But, aside from that I liked the story. It’s an interesting universe. I liked the growth of the main character. And I’m interested enough to read the next one.
eatingfiction's review against another edition
1.0
I've given this book one star, but that seems a little harsh. But two stars is just too generous! I'm almost as conflicted as the main character was about which guy she loved more! (sarcasm.) This book has at it's core, good intentions. There are some aspects that could be good. They're not, but they could have been. So, in total fairness, I think this is more of a 1.5 star rating.
This is one of those very bland YA dystopians that seems to have been published purely because the genre is popular. It has super! original! YA dystopian ideas like:
-Strong And Independent Female Main Character! (who always needs protecting???)
-Main Character's Best Friend Who Is (apparently) In Love With Her!
-Moody Mysterious Guy Who Hates Her For No Reason But Then Falls In Love With Her!
-Dark And Gritty Future! (But outside the community everything is so happy perfect all the tiiimmmeee)
-A Corrupted Government With Mindless Citizens! (and what would that be without the weird fashion.)
But yeah, did you know that is not how writing a good novel works?! Congratulations Remake, you have the pleasure of being one of the worst dystopians I have ever laid my eyeballs on!
I should have known the moment I saw that cover. Could you get anymore generic? Half a girls face, looking all dramatic and gloomy. Wearing a ton of make up. The main character is very frequently described as having freckles. I can see a tiny, almost invisible, handful of freckles added there. Nice.
I want to say that there were moments I almost actually enjoyed. There was one funny moment that made me genuinely laugh out loud. There were a handful of other moments that were certainly not meant to be funny but still made me laugh out loud.
This book suffers terribly in world building, plot, and pacing. ESPECIALLY pacing! This book has to have the weirdest pacing ever?! There are literally chapters and chapters of the characters learning to swim...picking coconuts...and then SUDDENLY SOMETHING DRAMATIC HAPPENS and then they are over it really quickly and it's back to gardening. Okay. The entire plot continued like this until the "climax". (It was a very dull climax.)
Honestly, this book was such a weird mash up. By far the strangest thing was the love triangle. It was so poorly done that I didn't even realize it was a love triangle until I FINISHED the book and glanced at the "Discussion Questions" in the back. (I was mostly just like, what could you possibly want to discuss from this???) One of the questions was: Are you Team Mysterious Bad Boy or Team Nice Best Friend? (I forgot their names.) I was like WAIT? That was a love triangle??? I couldn't stop laughing. In the book, there was her best friend and then there was this guy that she fell in love with. I didn't even occur to me that there was a love triangle there. One of them was clearly an actual relationship, and one was not. *cries because remembering this is painful*
So overall, as you may have guessed, I don't recommend this book. It's pretty bad.
I don't really want to think about it anymore, so, goodbye.
This is one of those very bland YA dystopians that seems to have been published purely because the genre is popular. It has super! original! YA dystopian ideas like:
-Strong And Independent Female Main Character! (who always needs protecting???)
-Main Character's Best Friend Who Is (apparently) In Love With Her!
-Moody Mysterious Guy Who Hates Her For No Reason But Then Falls In Love With Her!
-Dark And Gritty Future! (But outside the community everything is so happy perfect all the tiiimmmeee)
-A Corrupted Government With Mindless Citizens! (and what would that be without the weird fashion.)
But yeah, did you know that is not how writing a good novel works?! Congratulations Remake, you have the pleasure of being one of the worst dystopians I have ever laid my eyeballs on!
I should have known the moment I saw that cover. Could you get anymore generic? Half a girls face, looking all dramatic and gloomy. Wearing a ton of make up. The main character is very frequently described as having freckles. I can see a tiny, almost invisible, handful of freckles added there. Nice.
I want to say that there were moments I almost actually enjoyed. There was one funny moment that made me genuinely laugh out loud. There were a handful of other moments that were certainly not meant to be funny but still made me laugh out loud.
This book suffers terribly in world building, plot, and pacing. ESPECIALLY pacing! This book has to have the weirdest pacing ever?! There are literally chapters and chapters of the characters learning to swim...picking coconuts...and then SUDDENLY SOMETHING DRAMATIC HAPPENS and then they are over it really quickly and it's back to gardening. Okay. The entire plot continued like this until the "climax". (It was a very dull climax.)
Honestly, this book was such a weird mash up. By far the strangest thing was the love triangle. It was so poorly done that I didn't even realize it was a love triangle until I FINISHED the book and glanced at the "Discussion Questions" in the back. (I was mostly just like, what could you possibly want to discuss from this???) One of the questions was: Are you Team Mysterious Bad Boy or Team Nice Best Friend? (I forgot their names.) I was like WAIT? That was a love triangle??? I couldn't stop laughing. In the book, there was her best friend and then there was this guy that she fell in love with. I didn't even occur to me that there was a love triangle there. One of them was clearly an actual relationship, and one was not. *cries because remembering this is painful*
So overall, as you may have guessed, I don't recommend this book. It's pretty bad.
I don't really want to think about it anymore, so, goodbye.