javamama38's review against another edition
5.0
What happens when Earth is divided and run by corporations? In Freefall, Earth is split into Upper World (the elite class) and Lower World (the elite's opposite). The Corponation supplies everything, even the news. When Cam Newell glimpses a random internet feed of rebellious Lower Worlder, Sofie, he begins to question everything he's ever known. Freefall is a wonderful read, filled with artful world-building, intriguing characters, and snatches of romance that will leave readers rooting for the underdogs. But, with a new world order that suddenly seems an eerie possibility for today's mankind, they'll also find themselves . . . unsettled.
Bottom Line: A must read for sci-fi fans of all ages!
Bottom Line: A must read for sci-fi fans of all ages!
zzzrevel's review against another edition
2.0
This is YA-ish all the way and the plot and
characters are very thin. Immature and
unrealistic romance sub-plot. And all
results in a happy ending. Sheesh.
Not recommended.
characters are very thin. Immature and
unrealistic romance sub-plot. And all
results in a happy ending. Sheesh.
Not recommended.
jennybeastie's review against another edition
1.0
This one just didn't quite hit it for me -- there are some great elements -- an all too believable dystopian future of have and have-nots, a wildly imaginative off-world experience, and a quick pace, with adventure piling on adventure.
However, some of the key plot points just weren't believable to me, and I found the romantic angle troubling at best -- from the protagonist's wildly extravagant attempts to engage with the object of his affections, to the extreme objectification of Sofie, who at least doesn't quite obligingly fall in line with Cam's romantic overtures, but is still just troubling. She's a prize to be won. She's a love interest that never shows any of her real personality. She's a betrayer of a relationship that never existed outside of Cam's mind. If you're looking for a chilling depiction of young male entitlement in our society, then I think you might really enjoy this book. She seems to be considering falling in love with him at the end, so I guess there's hope for the obsessed and unrequited.
Sorry, man, I'm pretty sure I missed the whole point of the book, but it gives me the ick.
Advanced Reader's copy provided by Edelweiss.
However, some of the key plot points just weren't believable to me, and I found the romantic angle troubling at best -- from the protagonist's wildly extravagant attempts to engage with the object of his affections, to the extreme objectification of Sofie, who at least doesn't quite obligingly fall in line with Cam's romantic overtures, but is still just troubling. She's a prize to be won. She's a love interest that never shows any of her real personality. She's a betrayer of a relationship that never existed outside of Cam's mind. If you're looking for a chilling depiction of young male entitlement in our society, then I think you might really enjoy this book. She seems to be considering falling in love with him at the end, so I guess there's hope for the obsessed and unrequited.
Sorry, man, I'm pretty sure I missed the whole point of the book, but it gives me the ick.
Advanced Reader's copy provided by Edelweiss.
lacyduckie's review against another edition
2.0
The story build up started out strong and then got lost somewhere in between the back and forth time hops. Time hops need to have revelations for them to be relevant. These just felt like they were used to stretch out the story.
I also may have dissapointed myself by thinking this was more of a space opera type of story. (More like Starfall, Defy the Stars, Amid Stars and Darkness, etc.) I skimmed a lot of the book and don't feel like I missed out on much. Maybe I'll try rereading at another time.
ps I LOVE the cover.
I also may have dissapointed myself by thinking this was more of a space opera type of story. (More like Starfall, Defy the Stars, Amid Stars and Darkness, etc.) I skimmed a lot of the book and don't feel like I missed out on much. Maybe I'll try rereading at another time.
ps I LOVE the cover.
lpcoolgirl's review against another edition
5.0
This book was so great! Loved the back and forth between this new planet he's on, and back on Earth, with a 1000 year difference. So great, and I loved everything about it!
thereadingraccoon's review against another edition
4.0
There is a lesson here about our current system. It's a future world lead by greedy corporations, the earth is a polluted mess and the rich blame the poorest people for the state of just about everything. It cuts close to home a few times.
It's refreshing how Cameron is really "the girl" in all this. He's caught up in the pull of an enigmatic pull of a born leader who isn't always honest, doesn't put romance first and leaves him saying all the mushy love stuff. And guess what? Boom! YA role reversal y'all!!
It's refreshing how Cameron is really "the girl" in all this. He's caught up in the pull of an enigmatic pull of a born leader who isn't always honest, doesn't put romance first and leaves him saying all the mushy love stuff. And guess what? Boom! YA role reversal y'all!!
suspensethrill's review
3.0
This review was featured on my Mini Review Monday segment:
3.5 STARS
I found [b:Freefall|29838368|Freefall|Joshua David Bellin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1484498806s/29838368.jpg|50198457] to be a fast paced, intriguing read that, while not perfect, was certainly enjoyable. I was a bit torn on my overall feelings, which is why I went with a 3 star rating, but felt it had just enough umph to give it that extra half star increase. That's a long description above and it tells you just about everything you need to know for the story, so I'll just dive into what I thought about it. The narrative is ever-changing between past and present, keeping things fresh and unique without being overly challenging to follow. I really enjoyed this form of story telling, and I found myself engrossed in the sections focusing on the time jump forward where the ship finds itself stranded on the hostile planet. I love survival stories, so this was a huge bonus for me as a reader. While the writing and prose were lovely, it did get a bit over the top at times and made it difficult to follow what was happening. I didn't seem to ever develop the emotion I should have conveyed toward the romance in the early sections; honestly I could have done without that entire part of the story and just focused on the survival aspects, but I understand why it was written this way for credibility and it's partially due to my natural aversion to most romantic plot lines. Overall, I think any fans of YA Sci-Fi and space travel will enjoy this book and encourage you to pick it up.
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my copy
3.5 STARS
I found [b:Freefall|29838368|Freefall|Joshua David Bellin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1484498806s/29838368.jpg|50198457] to be a fast paced, intriguing read that, while not perfect, was certainly enjoyable. I was a bit torn on my overall feelings, which is why I went with a 3 star rating, but felt it had just enough umph to give it that extra half star increase. That's a long description above and it tells you just about everything you need to know for the story, so I'll just dive into what I thought about it. The narrative is ever-changing between past and present, keeping things fresh and unique without being overly challenging to follow. I really enjoyed this form of story telling, and I found myself engrossed in the sections focusing on the time jump forward where the ship finds itself stranded on the hostile planet. I love survival stories, so this was a huge bonus for me as a reader. While the writing and prose were lovely, it did get a bit over the top at times and made it difficult to follow what was happening. I didn't seem to ever develop the emotion I should have conveyed toward the romance in the early sections; honestly I could have done without that entire part of the story and just focused on the survival aspects, but I understand why it was written this way for credibility and it's partially due to my natural aversion to most romantic plot lines. Overall, I think any fans of YA Sci-Fi and space travel will enjoy this book and encourage you to pick it up.
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my copy
dilema's review
3.0
Well, it took me ten years to read this, and it took me another ten years to review it, and here we are. I really don't have much to say. This was fiiiiine, but it was a really hard buy and it required a lot of suspension of disbelief.
And there was too much romance. Did I just say that? Is that even possible for me to say? Yes. Spoiler alerT: Cam falls in luuuurve. Why? I wasn't sure. I'm still not sure. Because Sofie has nice eyes, it seems.
I'm honestly sad I didn't like this because that premise. I love hearing about classism in dystopian environments. They did some very fascinating things with this classism (creepy things, too. Creepy things that I could buy.) However, the ultimate ending required a lot of suspension of disbelief. Too many things just magically fell into place.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
--
TOO. MUCH. ROMANCE.
Wait, did I just say that? Who am I?
Review tk (it's only taken me ten years it's fine we can wait another ten)
And there was too much romance. Did I just say that? Is that even possible for me to say? Yes. Spoiler alerT: Cam falls in luuuurve. Why? I wasn't sure. I'm still not sure. Because Sofie has nice eyes, it seems.
I'm honestly sad I didn't like this because that premise. I love hearing about classism in dystopian environments. They did some very fascinating things with this classism (creepy things, too. Creepy things that I could buy.) However, the ultimate ending required a lot of suspension of disbelief. Too many things just magically fell into place.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
--
TOO. MUCH. ROMANCE.
Wait, did I just say that? Who am I?
Review tk (it's only taken me ten years it's fine we can wait another ten)
simsbrarian's review
1.0
This story follows Cam: Upperworld (Earth's white upper-class, the privileged, the 1%ers) boy and Sofie: Lowerworld (Earth's non-white lower-class "terrarists", the 99%, the rejects) girl and prophet of the masses. It is a story of alternating time-periods. 3151 when the ship meant to take the few and lucky away from a destroyed Earth (in a huge ship full of pods of humans in a 1,000-year-long deep sleep), crash-lands on a seemingly dead planet which was NOT the original destination. And 2151, when we flashback to Cam finding out about and becoming obsessed with Sofie and her cause of bringing equality to the world; allowing some Lowerworlders to join the exodus from Earth and into the stars. There are twists, turns, and lots of windy plot elements. There's some sci-fi and some space travel and some romance and some friendships and betrayals. There's diversity as well in the races portrayed.
Anything you didn’t like about it? Pretty much everything. This book fails on every level. It's dull, repetitive, and nearly 80% or more "telling" instead of "showing". After over 300 pages of alternating chapters of Cam you come to realize that he has no character arc: His "voice" both in 2151's flashbacks and the current 3151 chapters is identical. He speaks as one who is already "woke" even as he's flash-backing but it's the kind of "aware" that is cringe-worthy in that it's NOT truly wise to the ways of the world of racism and classism and inequalities he presumes to understand.
Plus? When Cam is supposedly "slumming it" with Sofie and learning all about the woes of the 99% it's never mentioned how these people are living! It's as if she and her guards are all travelling around like Upperworld dignitaries; there are no dirty living conditions or horrors to open his eyes to the vastly unequal worlds of Upper versus Lower. in fact; she has to take him to see a village completely destroyed (bodies all laying around and all) for ANYTHING to even have an impact on him. It's no wonder Sofie left him behind!
Only in the last few dozen pages do we get any truly interesting insights into the plot and it's all given via evil villain monologues. The "romance" is laughable and forced: it's 99% Cam obsessing from afar about a girl he only knows from a viewscreen and never really connects without outside of surface level interactions and yet he proclaims he "loves" her. The other 1% is a completely forced reciprocal scene at the end which doesn't mesh and falls flat.
The "science fiction" aspects are the only mildly interesting bits (held in the 3151 chapters) and even those are undermined by not giving the reader enough information to form our own thoughts just so that we can have those evil villain (and surprise double-agent good guy) mass-exposition monologues at the end explain EVERYTHING in the most boring way possible. "Oh yeah; these characters we've never before mentioned? They were INTEGRAL TO THE ENTIRE PLOT!" is a rather horrible way to go about ending a story that was a slog from start to finish.
This book tried to be a social commentary; and struggled. It tried to be a romance; and ends up being a one-sided boy-crush. It tried to be science fiction but we don't even get to really explore the planet or space.
To whom would you recommend this book? No one
Who should buy this book? No one
FTC Disclosure: The Publisher provided me with a copy of this book to provide an honest review. No goody bags, sponsorship, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Anything you didn’t like about it? Pretty much everything. This book fails on every level. It's dull, repetitive, and nearly 80% or more "telling" instead of "showing". After over 300 pages of alternating chapters of Cam you come to realize that he has no character arc: His "voice" both in 2151's flashbacks and the current 3151 chapters is identical. He speaks as one who is already "woke" even as he's flash-backing but it's the kind of "aware" that is cringe-worthy in that it's NOT truly wise to the ways of the world of racism and classism and inequalities he presumes to understand.
Plus? When Cam is supposedly "slumming it" with Sofie and learning all about the woes of the 99% it's never mentioned how these people are living! It's as if she and her guards are all travelling around like Upperworld dignitaries; there are no dirty living conditions or horrors to open his eyes to the vastly unequal worlds of Upper versus Lower. in fact; she has to take him to see a village completely destroyed (bodies all laying around and all) for ANYTHING to even have an impact on him. It's no wonder Sofie left him behind!
Only in the last few dozen pages do we get any truly interesting insights into the plot and it's all given via evil villain monologues. The "romance" is laughable and forced: it's 99% Cam obsessing from afar about a girl he only knows from a viewscreen and never really connects without outside of surface level interactions and yet he proclaims he "loves" her. The other 1% is a completely forced reciprocal scene at the end which doesn't mesh and falls flat.
The "science fiction" aspects are the only mildly interesting bits (held in the 3151 chapters) and even those are undermined by not giving the reader enough information to form our own thoughts just so that we can have those evil villain (and surprise double-agent good guy) mass-exposition monologues at the end explain EVERYTHING in the most boring way possible. "Oh yeah; these characters we've never before mentioned? They were INTEGRAL TO THE ENTIRE PLOT!" is a rather horrible way to go about ending a story that was a slog from start to finish.
This book tried to be a social commentary; and struggled. It tried to be a romance; and ends up being a one-sided boy-crush. It tried to be science fiction but we don't even get to really explore the planet or space.
To whom would you recommend this book? No one
Who should buy this book? No one
FTC Disclosure: The Publisher provided me with a copy of this book to provide an honest review. No goody bags, sponsorship, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.