night_owl9's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
greergreer's review
5.0
Ok, if all of these stories were married and had a baby "The Girl Who Owned A City", "The Island of Dr Moreau" and "Aliens" this is what this book is. It is no way close to "Lord of the flies" where each tribe or child is each to his own. This book is about comradery and trying to live together, adults still in charge. So, no Lord of the Flies here, where they turn and kill each other just because they can. Oh there is killing but it's not intentional.. think "Aliens" I'm trying not to give anything away here so read between my lines. This was great. I was on the edge of my seat and could not put this book down.
laurenmsilverman's review against another edition
4.0
YA is not my thing, but I received this book at a book swap event and I remember that I had been so enamored by the beautiful cover art in the past that I was thrilled to take it home and start reading.
The writing style leaves a bit to be desired. I'm personally not a fan of fragmented sentences without subjects, but it fits the story, so it's just my taste. (Like I said, I'm not so into YA.)
The story is devastating and inventive. I loved all the characters, and Power does an excellent job of conveying the survival instinct that sometimes overtakes the girls' empathy and other emotions. It strikes me that Byatt's regular narrative voice (aside from her delusional fragmented thoughts) could have been a little more unique, as it was similar to Hetty's. I'm also left wondering at the end more about Byatt's backstory--I think it got a little lost in the girls' rush for escape. Overall, I think Byatt was a rather weak character.
I find myself deeply upset that Hetty and Reese (my favorite character) left the rest of the girls behind in the school to escape in the boat, especially after taking on quite important roles in the previous scenes. I had to flip back and double check a few times that they really were leaving everyone to die. I was truly beside myself and felt terrible about it. Why would Hetty save Emmy from the bear, for example, if she was just going to abandon her to the jets anyway? But then again--survival instinct. Power returns to that concept repeatedly throughout.
I LOVED the explanation for the Tox with climate change. I was not expecting it but it was certainly hinted at throughout the book. Really creative! However, I found the name "Tox" rather silly so it bothered me every time I read it.
I think Reese and Hetty's kiss should have come way later in the book.
The ending is... way too abrupt. It leaves too much open. But the story is very character-focused and Hetty does get what she wants--that is, Byatt back--so maybe the story seems finished for her. But not for the audience.
Another note: I love the character names. I'm really into names and naming so I was delighted to see such an interesting array of masculine and feminine names, both unconventional (Byatt, Reese) and common (Lauren, Emmy) used for the female characters. That was a huge plus for me.
Aside from those qualms, I adored this book. I read it in a few hours and was absolutely hooked. Horrifying and unique for sure. I hate horror and gore, but Power writes about it in such a hauntingly beautiful way that I was able to not only stomach it, but admire it. I'd still give it 4/5 stars.
The writing style leaves a bit to be desired. I'm personally not a fan of fragmented sentences without subjects, but it fits the story, so it's just my taste. (Like I said, I'm not so into YA.)
The story is devastating and inventive. I loved all the characters, and Power does an excellent job of conveying the survival instinct that sometimes overtakes the girls' empathy and other emotions. It strikes me that Byatt's regular narrative voice (aside from her delusional fragmented thoughts) could have been a little more unique, as it was similar to Hetty's. I'm also left wondering at the end more about Byatt's backstory--I think it got a little lost in the girls' rush for escape. Overall, I think Byatt was a rather weak character.
I find myself deeply upset that Hetty and Reese (my favorite character) left the rest of the girls behind in the school to escape in the boat, especially after taking on quite important roles in the previous scenes. I had to flip back and double check a few times that they really were leaving everyone to die. I was truly beside myself and felt terrible about it. Why would Hetty save Emmy from the bear, for example, if she was just going to abandon her to the jets anyway? But then again--survival instinct. Power returns to that concept repeatedly throughout.
I LOVED the explanation for the Tox with climate change. I was not expecting it but it was certainly hinted at throughout the book. Really creative! However, I found the name "Tox" rather silly so it bothered me every time I read it.
I think Reese and Hetty's kiss should have come way later in the book.
The ending is... way too abrupt. It leaves too much open. But the story is very character-focused and Hetty does get what she wants--that is, Byatt back--so maybe the story seems finished for her. But not for the audience.
Another note: I love the character names. I'm really into names and naming so I was delighted to see such an interesting array of masculine and feminine names, both unconventional (Byatt, Reese) and common (Lauren, Emmy) used for the female characters. That was a huge plus for me.
Aside from those qualms, I adored this book. I read it in a few hours and was absolutely hooked. Horrifying and unique for sure. I hate horror and gore, but Power writes about it in such a hauntingly beautiful way that I was able to not only stomach it, but admire it. I'd still give it 4/5 stars.
mehsi's review
4.0
“A sparking. I know this feeling. Just before a flare-up, there’s a moment. Hard to describe, hard to pin down, but for me it almost makes it worth it. The pain and the loss, all of it a fair price for this. This strength, this power, this eagerness to bare my teeth.”
One of my very first Halloween reads and a book I have been longing to read since forever. But I wanted to save it. Save it for Halloween as this seemed to be a perfect book for that month. And it was!
For most of the book the MC we follow is Hetty, and later, when Byatt goes missing we also get Byatt's POV. I have to say from the two POVs, Hetty's was my favourite. I think it mostly had to do with one big thing that kind of turned me away from Byatt. I will put it behind spoiler tags. Hetty on the other hand was a pretty fabulous girl, and sure she made some stupid mistakes as well, but she didn't do what Byatt did.
When we meet Hetty and the other girls it has been quite some time since the Tox started. Plenty of girls died, girls are sick, they are hungry, there are fights. We see how Tox affects the girls in different ways. Hetty for instance lost her eye, Byatt has spikes (for instance over her spine), Reese has a special kind of arm/hand, and that is just the main girls. It was quite interesting to see how the Tox affects the girls. And later on we even learn what it does to animals, and HOLY CRAP, nopity.
I knew from the start that this story probably wouldn't have a good ending. No I won't tell you if I was right or not, but I will share the signs. The fact there was barely any food and the girls fought over it when the Boat Girls came back. How the adults (the two were still alive) acted. How there was just no cure, and how the paper about the cure was yellowed and old (that was just a bad sign in my eyes), the fact that the girls never had any contact with the outside world. And the signs just increased with each new page.
The story was very creepy and I loved how it got more and more creepy as events unfolded. I just couldn't stop reading either.
While we do get some background on how things got to the point we are at, I still would have loved some backstory. Maybe even have two timelines and work to the point of the now. Those earlier days, see the hope they still had, see how things got increasingly more confusing and chaotic and scary. I feel like it would have made the book even more awesome.
I loved the trio of girls and see them interacting. At times I found it a bit weird how they interacting, but in general I thought it was really sweet that their friendship from the beginning is still intact and that they protected each other and were there for each other. Of course... there is also a bit more between them, at least Hetty has feelings.
As the story continues we learn bit by bit what the Tox is, and what it does. But also we learn some more shocking information on it. It was really interesting and I was delighted with each nugget of information. I loved how everything just clicked together.
However.. the ending is were it falls apart. There were parts of the ending I loved, it was very fast-paced, and OMG whut? But the last pages... were just not my cup of tea. Too open-ended for my liking. That is why I am deducing 0.5 stars from the total.
And sure, there were some parts that had me rolling my eyes, but in general I just loved this book to bits. Just a shame of the ending.
Oh, and I also have to fangirl over this amazing cover! I already loved it when I first saw the book, loved the details, but with the book read... it became even more special and beautiful.
Another quote I just loved: “Byatt’s carved her initials over and over. BW. BW. BW. She does that everywhere. On the bunk, on her desk in every class we had, on the trees in the grove by the water. Marking Raxter as hers, and sometimes I think if she asked, I’d let her do the same to me.”
And there were many other quotes that I just adored to bits. The book is truly beautifully written. All in all, I would highly recommend this one.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
One of my very first Halloween reads and a book I have been longing to read since forever. But I wanted to save it. Save it for Halloween as this seemed to be a perfect book for that month. And it was!
For most of the book the MC we follow is Hetty, and later, when Byatt goes missing we also get Byatt's POV. I have to say from the two POVs, Hetty's was my favourite. I think it mostly had to do with one big thing that kind of turned me away from Byatt. I will put it behind spoiler tags.
Spoiler
When she kissed that one guy causing him to get Tox, causing him to hurt, causing him to die. How could she not have known that it would spread? Why wasn't she more careful? Was she that eager to get a kiss because she knew she may die?When we meet Hetty and the other girls it has been quite some time since the Tox started. Plenty of girls died, girls are sick, they are hungry, there are fights. We see how Tox affects the girls in different ways. Hetty for instance lost her eye, Byatt has spikes (for instance over her spine), Reese has a special kind of arm/hand, and that is just the main girls. It was quite interesting to see how the Tox affects the girls. And later on we even learn what it does to animals, and HOLY CRAP, nopity.
I knew from the start that this story probably wouldn't have a good ending. No I won't tell you if I was right or not, but I will share the signs. The fact there was barely any food and the girls fought over it when the Boat Girls came back. How the adults (the two were still alive) acted. How there was just no cure, and how the paper about the cure was yellowed and old (that was just a bad sign in my eyes), the fact that the girls never had any contact with the outside world. And the signs just increased with each new page.
The story was very creepy and I loved how it got more and more creepy as events unfolded. I just couldn't stop reading either.
While we do get some background on how things got to the point we are at, I still would have loved some backstory. Maybe even have two timelines and work to the point of the now. Those earlier days, see the hope they still had, see how things got increasingly more confusing and chaotic and scary. I feel like it would have made the book even more awesome.
I loved the trio of girls and see them interacting. At times I found it a bit weird how they interacting, but in general I thought it was really sweet that their friendship from the beginning is still intact and that they protected each other and were there for each other. Of course... there is also a bit more between them, at least Hetty has feelings.
As the story continues we learn bit by bit what the Tox is, and what it does. But also we learn some more shocking information on it. It was really interesting and I was delighted with each nugget of information. I loved how everything just clicked together.
However.. the ending is were it falls apart. There were parts of the ending I loved, it was very fast-paced, and OMG whut? But the last pages... were just not my cup of tea. Too open-ended for my liking. That is why I am deducing 0.5 stars from the total.
And sure, there were some parts that had me rolling my eyes, but in general I just loved this book to bits. Just a shame of the ending.
Oh, and I also have to fangirl over this amazing cover! I already loved it when I first saw the book, loved the details, but with the book read... it became even more special and beautiful.
Another quote I just loved: “Byatt’s carved her initials over and over. BW. BW. BW. She does that everywhere. On the bunk, on her desk in every class we had, on the trees in the grove by the water. Marking Raxter as hers, and sometimes I think if she asked, I’d let her do the same to me.”
And there were many other quotes that I just adored to bits. The book is truly beautifully written. All in all, I would highly recommend this one.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
batkat08's review
4.0
Rating may change as I think about this more.
So cringy and horrible to read but in a way that made me NEED to finish it for closure. In a way it's a sign of my favorite kind of book when I can't stop reading even though I really want to.
I took a star off because while I've gotten a much thicker skin when it comes to horror lately, this was so brutal to its characters that made me feel sick to read. Also this type of body affecting horror may just be not my cup of tea. Still, I might come back and give 5 stars when my stomach settles and I'm able to think more critically. Huge respect (and a bit of fear) for authors that can make me hurt like this but keep reading.
So cringy and horrible to read but in a way that made me NEED to finish it for closure. In a way it's a sign of my favorite kind of book when I can't stop reading even though I really want to.
I took a star off because while I've gotten a much thicker skin when it comes to horror lately, this was so brutal to its characters that made me feel sick to read. Also this type of body affecting horror may just be not my cup of tea. Still, I might come back and give 5 stars when my stomach settles and I'm able to think more critically. Huge respect (and a bit of fear) for authors that can make me hurt like this but keep reading.
tallyvauthor's review
5.0
Honestly, an issue I had with this book at first was how juvenile the writing style was. But now that I've finished it, I have never been more wrong. This book is a god-tier standalone.
moxiemin's review
4.0
Let me just start this with the book ends with the opening for a sequel, but from what I have looked up, with no plans for a sequel?!?! Say it ain’t so???????
I picked this book up at the library on a while and I wasn’t disappointed.
I picked this book up at the library on a while and I wasn’t disappointed.
crissfm's review against another edition
2.0
Now what?
Sinceramente este libro hubiera sido mejor si se hubiera centrado más en el virus y tal y no meter romance out of nowhere. Toda la trama ha sido "go girl give us NOTHING" hasta el final que pasa algo interesante y te quedas en plan ???
También te digo que leer un libro sobre un virus en plena pandemia no ha sido muy inteligente por mi parte.
La protagonista me ha caído mal no solo porque parece ignorar lo que tiene delante, sino porque está OBSESIONADA con su amiga. Hetty, there's people that are dying.
En fin, es una pena porque el contexto y todo estaba muy bien, y es la primera vez que leo body horror lo cual no ha estado mal, pero creo que lo voy a dejar aquí porque no es lo mío.
Sinceramente este libro hubiera sido mejor si se hubiera centrado más en el virus y tal y no meter romance out of nowhere. Toda la trama ha sido "go girl give us NOTHING" hasta el final que pasa algo interesante y te quedas en plan ???
También te digo que leer un libro sobre un virus en plena pandemia no ha sido muy inteligente por mi parte.
La protagonista me ha caído mal no solo porque parece ignorar lo que tiene delante, sino porque está OBSESIONADA con su amiga. Hetty, there's people that are dying.
En fin, es una pena porque el contexto y todo estaba muy bien, y es la primera vez que leo body horror lo cual no ha estado mal, pero creo que lo voy a dejar aquí porque no es lo mío.
clementinesurprise's review
3.0
strong women in an apocalyptic setting with sapphic characters is my favorite vibe but this left me wanting more