paperbackd's review against another edition
2.0
Birthmarked is yet another 'lite' dystopia published in the wake of The Hunger Games' success. Don't get me wrong - I love dystopian YA and I'm thrilled that the genre has been thriving. But the fallout of this success is that there are a lot more poorly-developed dystopias on the shelves. Birthmarked isn't badly written, but weak worldbuilding and flat characterisation made this one an unremarkable read.
Gaia Stone, the protagonist, lacks personality. After finishing the book I still wasn't sure who she was or why O'Brien's other characters found the few moments when she wasn't passively narrating life behind bars inspirational. Gaia's love interest was a little bit more fleshed out, but still forgettable.
The dystopian society of Birthmarked was interesting, but unoriginal, and the big mystery was completely senseless; there was absolutely no reason for the main conflict and no reason for the actions of the majority of the characters. I was constantly aware of the author trying to force the plot along, which is never a good sign.
I don't have any more to say about this one because there's honestly not a lot you can say about a book that's this bland. I won't be continuing with this series.
Rating: 1.5 stars
Review cross-posted to Paperbackd
Gaia Stone, the protagonist, lacks personality. After finishing the book I still wasn't sure who she was or why O'Brien's other characters found the few moments when she wasn't passively narrating life behind bars inspirational. Gaia's love interest was a little bit more fleshed out, but still forgettable.
The dystopian society of Birthmarked was interesting, but unoriginal, and the big mystery was completely senseless; there was absolutely no reason for the main conflict and no reason for the actions of the majority of the characters. I was constantly aware of the author trying to force the plot along, which is never a good sign.
I don't have any more to say about this one because there's honestly not a lot you can say about a book that's this bland. I won't be continuing with this series.
Rating: 1.5 stars
Review cross-posted to Paperbackd
louhoo's review
5.0
Really fell in love with the characters in this book. Was an easy read and an altogether great story.
sydofbee's review
3.0
What should I say? I liked reading it, I liked the story it is set in. Gaia grows up in Wharfton, a city more or less in front of the Enclave, where the priviledged people live. Because the Enclave has too small a population, a certain quota of babies from the "outside" has to be advanced to the people inside the Enclave. This is the job of the midwives, and Gaia (and her mother) is a midwife. While at first she doesn't seem to have any qualms about taking the babies from the women, she later grows to realize how wrong it is.
I really liked the first thirty percent or so, and the last thirty percent. Sadly, I had some problems with the middle part because I thought it was too long and it sort of dragged. Once Gaia finds her way to a certain man in the Enclave I grew slightly bored and only my anxiety (I had a job interview later that day) kept me reading. I probably would have read it, eventually, anyway. Just not this fast.
While there is a bad side, I was missing the "bad guy" to catch Gaia's interest. The romance was too one-sided for me. I don't like Romance as a book genre, but a nice triangle in a book I truly like. Gaia was more or less truly smitten with this one guy and it was too romancy for me. But maybe I'm just being picky.
Still, I'm stoked for the sequel. Why? No idea. I like the dystopian society, I really like Gaia and I want to know what happened. What is a bookworm supposed to do? Exactly, go pre-order the sequel.
sren15's review
3.0
Sinceramente este libro lo cogí de la biblioteca la semana pasada por que me llamaba bastante la atención y estuvo bien, sí, pero no la gran cosa. En un principio la historia es muy lenta pero como empieza explicando las cosas va bien para situarte, pero llega cierto punto donde cansa mucho. Hacía mitad-final del libro hay bastante acción y fue eso lo que más me enganchó e hizo que no dejara el libro en la página que me había quedado. Realmente no pensaba que me iba a encantar ni que lo iba a odiar y así estoy ahora, no es un libro que me marcará pero me gustaría seguir leyendo los otros para saber qué pasará con la protagonista y hasta donde llevará la autora esta trama.
antariksach's review
3.0
Buku pertama ini isinya tentang usaha Gaia untuk kabur dari Enclave. Less action, too many dialogues yang untungnya penting-penting. Less gereget, tapi herannya saya enjoy banget bacanya. Gaya berceritanya simpel, gak ada metafora yang ribet. Sesekali ada flash back yang syukur gak bikin bingung.
Apa lagi, ya? Saya suka sih premis ceritanya. Tapi secara subjektif (halah), menurut saya that's ridiculous, lol. Oh iya, Protectorat terasa kurang diekspos, jadi galaknya dia pas ketemu Gaia dan Leon jadi kurang ngena.
Dan, kenapa sih Leon the cool and generous itu harus pisah sama Gaia pas Gaia berusaha kabur dari Enclave? Jadi inget Alex dan Lena di Delirium deh.
3 bintang dari 5.
Apa lagi, ya? Saya suka sih premis ceritanya. Tapi secara subjektif (halah), menurut saya that's ridiculous, lol. Oh iya, Protectorat terasa kurang diekspos, jadi galaknya dia pas ketemu Gaia dan Leon jadi kurang ngena.
Dan, kenapa sih Leon the cool and generous itu harus pisah sama Gaia pas Gaia berusaha kabur dari Enclave? Jadi inget Alex dan Lena di Delirium deh.
3 bintang dari 5.
k_lee_reads_it's review
3.0
A 3.5
There is a baby quota in the land. Children on the outside are born and handed over to the Enclave, a walled community of the powerful and priviledged few. Gaia, a young woman, is following in her midwife mother's footsteps when her mother and father are taken by the Enclave. Gaia seeking to free her parents sneaks into the walled city and thus begins the tale of struggle and intrigue.
This dystopic novel has a great idea behind it. It just wasn't polished enough. It reminded me of both The Giver and The Hunger Games, but has some writing issues. For instance flashbacks that come right in the middle of the plot development and slow the momentum of the reader. Or character development problems - I struggled to believe that a girl who would timidly stay at home delivering babies for a month after her parents' arrest, would suddenly rush off to the fortified city to rescue her them. And why bother with a father character who makes a bigger appearance in the flashbacks than anywhere else? It was just a little too forced and unnatural in the story development. But it was her first young adult novel. So I'm going to grant the extra .5 rating.
So if you've read this far in my longwinded review--it is an interesting book. I'm pretty sure that readers who enjoyed The Giver, The Hunger Games, and The City of Ember would find it worth reading.
There is a baby quota in the land. Children on the outside are born and handed over to the Enclave, a walled community of the powerful and priviledged few. Gaia, a young woman, is following in her midwife mother's footsteps when her mother and father are taken by the Enclave. Gaia seeking to free her parents sneaks into the walled city and thus begins the tale of struggle and intrigue.
This dystopic novel has a great idea behind it. It just wasn't polished enough. It reminded me of both The Giver and The Hunger Games, but has some writing issues. For instance flashbacks that come right in the middle of the plot development and slow the momentum of the reader. Or character development problems - I struggled to believe that a girl who would timidly stay at home delivering babies for a month after her parents' arrest, would suddenly rush off to the fortified city to rescue her them. And why bother with a father character who makes a bigger appearance in the flashbacks than anywhere else? It was just a little too forced and unnatural in the story development. But it was her first young adult novel. So I'm going to grant the extra .5 rating.
So if you've read this far in my longwinded review--it is an interesting book. I'm pretty sure that readers who enjoyed The Giver, The Hunger Games, and The City of Ember would find it worth reading.
wildflowerz76's review
4.0
Once again, I can't remember where I got this rec. But I definitely enjoyed this one. It flowed well and I felt like it took no time to read. I liked that though Gaia took a while to catch on, she wasn't a stupid heroine. I'll definitely look for more of these from the library.
dorod59's review
4.0
L'histoire de Gaia m'a passionnée. Dans un monde où il est acquis pour une partie de la société de donner des bébésà l'autre partie, les priviligiés, Gaia aide sa mère en tant que nurse. Elle aide donc à la prise de ses nourrissons et à la livraison de ceux ci au mur qui sépare les deux mondes. C'est son travail, ce qu'elle doit faire. Bien entendu, un jour, tout est remis en question...
Un monde dystopique prenant, une histoire captivante. Gaia devient une héroïne à la la Katniss Everdeen, et j'ai vraiment aimé suivre ses aventures tout du long :-)
Un monde dystopique prenant, une histoire captivante. Gaia devient une héroïne à la la Katniss Everdeen, et j'ai vraiment aimé suivre ses aventures tout du long :-)
shecantcomplain's review
4.0
This was a read that I was interested in. I tend to devour YA fiction/fantasy over summer breaks, but I've been rather disappointed this year. Most books I read would lead into a series that I found myself uninterested in following. "Birthmarked" kept me guessing and wanting so badly for Gaia to discover the secrets surrounding her, and for her to overcome her own shyness (poor thing). I finished it and actually looked for the copyright date and was more than frustrated when it read 2010. I simply can't wait for the next book!
melissachristene's review against another edition
4.0
I surprisingly enjoyed this book quite a lot! It wasn't the best dystopian I've read but it was still quite good. I really enjoyed the world and the characters were decent. However, I found there was a few slower portions in this book which made me want to either put down the book or just skip through until the faster parts :) but other than that there wasn't much I didn't like!