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smatthew459's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-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? No
2.0
entwifereads's review
1.0
What even? What did I just read? I'm so confused. I've read a couple of other books by this author and loved them! This didn't feel well-thought-out, edited, or executed. It was a whole mishmash of ideas with no substance. A virtual reality set in ancient Alexandria, only to realize that the main character is in cryo-sleep on a ship in space? Cool concept, bro. Except...it wasn't. From the get-go, there was no flavor of ancient Alexandria. A rich culture and historical perspective could have been so immersive, yet this could have been set virtually (haha) anywhere. And there were no anachronisms that could have been utilized brilliantly to foreshadow to the reader that all is not right or as it seems in paradise. Not that that even mattered, because the plot quickly rushed forward into the realization that it was only a virtual reality and she was on a space ship. Okay. Again, I can look past that...this is a short book, so the author wanted to push the plot along. Except, well, there was NO plot. Not really. Just a bunch of random ass encounters with no real ramifications, all as a backdrop for what the book is really about - a romance between two extremely selfish, obtuse, and inconsistent characters. I don't know who infuriated me more - Kiva, the MC, who was so clueless she deserved to be put back in the cryosleep pods, or Seth, the love interest, who is a self-absorbed jerk who runs hot and cold faster than a faucet. I couldn't pin down him, his motives, or anything redeemable about him; he was just a very shallow character who did nothing more than serve the plot and its jagged rip/tear motion from one point to the next, all to...what end? The story introduces a whole new storyline, characters, and potentially magic (?) in the last 10 pages, with no resolution. It ended on a cliffhanger, but it wasn't even a good one, just a head-scratcher. In the end, I don't understand how this ever got published in the state it's in. It needed a LOT of work: 1.) better character development (heck, maybe kill off Seth and/or Kiva altogether), 2.) plot direction, 3.) the dialogue was hollow and rang false - talk about an alternate reality!, 4.) it needed to decide whether it was middle grade or ya, because it rode the line in very unsettling ways from page to page, and 5.) it needs to be longer. As much as it kills me to say this book needed to longer because it was pretty grating to read, I think length would have actually serviced this well...PROVIDED all the above changes were made beforehand. It's jumbled, it's messy. Some interesting ideas but there was nothing to gel them together to make this the novel it could have been.
angelariley03's review
3.0
It's a sci fi series and I think kids will enjoy it. The beginning was bit confusing and slow but then it picked up and is interesting. First book in a series from what I can tell
krys_and_books's review
2.0
I was excited at the start of this book because I love space and strong female leads and just was looking forward to this.
That was however was ruined once we meet Seth and see Kiva interact with him. His emotions give me whiplash, he’s all over the place and I’m supposed to believe that he loves Kiva, has loved her for awhile? I’m not feeling it. I honestly just really wanted her to take a good long look at him and realize that even not being with someone would be better than being with him.
My overall enjoyment of the book was generally ruined by Seth’s character. Thankfully The Tomb is a very fast read but I won’t be picking up the second book.
That was however was ruined once we meet Seth and see Kiva interact with him. His emotions give me whiplash, he’s all over the place and I’m supposed to believe that he loves Kiva, has loved her for awhile? I’m not feeling it. I honestly just really wanted her to take a good long look at him and realize that even not being with someone would be better than being with him.
My overall enjoyment of the book was generally ruined by Seth’s character. Thankfully The Tomb is a very fast read but I won’t be picking up the second book.
sallyparker's review
1.0
This book is so non-sensical and random at times I thought I was watching an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway?
I respect Bodeen as a writer but this book has no themes? And seemed to really have no value. It was like a stream of consciousness gone wrong.
I respect Bodeen as a writer but this book has no themes? And seemed to really have no value. It was like a stream of consciousness gone wrong.
intotheheartwyld's review against another edition
1.0
Its bad enough when a book is only mildly interesting, its worse when the author thinks they can pull a 180 and make everything you read a complete and utter waste of time within 10 pages.
I love a good twist, but this was not the right way to do it, I am highly annoyed by this book.
Two kids, Seth and Kiva, wake up from virtual reality to find they actually live in space, and they are selected to go on a mission to find a missing part their ship needs to continue their voyage through space. [Because yes it makes perfect sense to send two 15-16 year olds on such an important mission.] You spend majority of this book dealing with two teenagers who don't know how to deal with their "feelings" for each other, which was so frustrating and annoying to read through.
They meet up with another ship and the old dude on it is a psycho and Kiva magically is able to get them to safety from him [oh yah did I mention shes only been awake from this virtual world for like a day, while Seth has been awake from it for like 3 years], and then you go back to the two kids dealing with their freaking feelings AGAIN.
Then in the last 10 pages the writer tries to pull a twist, with meeting another ship, but we have EXACTLY no clue who they are, but apparently there are a few important people on this ship but we never find out why. Then Seth just backtracks EVERYTHING he felt about Kiva in 0.1 seconds, for a freaking ship part and is like "oh well sorry bye" Making all that suffering through of reading about their feelings completely POINTLESS. She introduces new characters, gives insight that there is important people, no one knows where this other ship came from and why it has the same signal as the main ship floating around, and then THE BOOK JUST ENDS.
Nothing is answered, everything you read through becomes completely pointless, you are left with more questions then anything else [like why you even bothered to read this]
Lets also not forget that the author did end it on some frivolous quote about, 'not really knowing someone', and that just ticked me off more. This was going to get a 2.5 star from me originally but after that "twist" end its lucky it even gets 1 star.
I love a good twist, but this was not the right way to do it, I am highly annoyed by this book.
Two kids, Seth and Kiva, wake up from virtual reality to find they actually live in space, and they are selected to go on a mission to find a missing part their ship needs to continue their voyage through space. [Because yes it makes perfect sense to send two 15-16 year olds on such an important mission.] You spend majority of this book dealing with two teenagers who don't know how to deal with their "feelings" for each other, which was so frustrating and annoying to read through.
They meet up with another ship and the old dude on it is a psycho and Kiva magically is able to get them to safety from him [oh yah did I mention shes only been awake from this virtual world for like a day, while Seth has been awake from it for like 3 years], and then you go back to the two kids dealing with their freaking feelings AGAIN.
Then in the last 10 pages the writer tries to pull a twist, with meeting another ship, but we have EXACTLY no clue who they are, but apparently there are a few important people on this ship but we never find out why. Then Seth just backtracks EVERYTHING he felt about Kiva in 0.1 seconds, for a freaking ship part and is like "oh well sorry bye" Making all that suffering through of reading about their feelings completely POINTLESS. She introduces new characters, gives insight that there is important people, no one knows where this other ship came from and why it has the same signal as the main ship floating around, and then THE BOOK JUST ENDS.
Nothing is answered, everything you read through becomes completely pointless, you are left with more questions then anything else [like why you even bothered to read this]
Lets also not forget that the author did end it on some frivolous quote about, 'not really knowing someone', and that just ticked me off more. This was going to get a 2.5 star from me originally but after that "twist" end its lucky it even gets 1 star.