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largeicedtea's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was a bit critical of the first book in this duology ("The Warning"), but this follow up was stronger. Again, a great premise with a fresh spin on the alien invasion concept. "The Fallout" answers the question, "So what was on the otherside of that intergalactic vertex?" Treachery, deceit, and a dystopia hiding under a thin veneer of eutopia. This book is strongest when it focuses on Alex's struggle with anxiety - an issue many teens and adults can relate to. I appreciate our author's firm belief that a person can struggle with their mental health and still be a strong person who stands up for the right thing.
"The Fallout" was weakest in its trying to explain the scientific mumbo jumbo surrounding spacetime, nano-whatevers, laser guns, etc. It was sometimes difficult to maintain focus as our hero scientists provided page-after-page of exposition.
Not a perfect duology but a nice exploration of issues around teen mental health and how we choose to perceive eutopia.
"The Fallout" was weakest in its trying to explain the scientific mumbo jumbo surrounding spacetime, nano-whatevers, laser guns, etc. It was sometimes difficult to maintain focus as our hero scientists provided page-after-page of exposition.
Not a perfect duology but a nice exploration of issues around teen mental health and how we choose to perceive eutopia.
amarylissw's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars.
I remember liking the first book well enough, but this was a disappointment. Everything was rushed, from the “integration” into the new world, to the forming of the rebellion, to finding out the secrets. Because of the rushed quality, I never felt like I had time to register what was happening, whether it was a revealing or a death.
The characters were nothing special. Lots of new people were introduced but only given names and tags to describe them. The romance was shallow.
One thing I particularly disliked is how black and white this book seemed (something I don’t remember in the first book, which seemed more realistic). One side rebels and is willing to do anything to go back to Earth; the other side is content with staying in the new place. Is no one considering the benefits of both sides? Or even the other options?
Not a great conclusion.
I remember liking the first book well enough, but this was a disappointment. Everything was rushed, from the “integration” into the new world, to the forming of the rebellion, to finding out the secrets. Because of the rushed quality, I never felt like I had time to register what was happening, whether it was a revealing or a death.
The characters were nothing special. Lots of new people were introduced but only given names and tags to describe them. The romance was shallow.
One thing I particularly disliked is how black and white this book seemed (something I don’t remember in the first book, which seemed more realistic). One side rebels and is willing to do anything to go back to Earth; the other side is content with staying in the new place. Is no one considering the benefits of both sides? Or even the other options?
Not a great conclusion.
exlibrislynne's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
wellreadintrovert's review
2.0
Alex is the one person who knows the truth, a truth that will change everything: the holograms lied. Holo technology lets her customize everything from her clothes to her surroundings, the new planet is amazing. But she can't let it distract her from searching for her boyfriend, best friend, and brother. They need to know what happened. Because there's a rebellion brewing, and every utopia has a breaking point. What price must they all pay to survive?
The only thing that kept me going on this book was the need to know what is happening. Not only did it drag on and on - with lots of tech talk, but it then rushed the only part that felt really necessary. Basically, the whole story goesThe new planet is super cool, we don't need to work and everything is free. So let's blow some shit up and fight these people to get back to Earth where we will all suffer BECAUSE MOST OF THE WORLD LEFT THROUGH PORTALS. And then we lived happily ever after.
Things that went wrong;
- Alex's anxiety: It wasn't necessary, it wasn't representative. Just cure it.
- Dominick and his toxic behaviour: This isn't love - this is a giant red flag.
- Unnecessary tech talk: It was used as a word filler.
- Obligatory deaths: Character deaths mean more when we care for them. Unfortunately with how much was going on and how many random characters we had to follow, the reader didn't get a chance at connecting with anyone other than the obnoxious FMC.
Things I liked:
- Doctor Who references.
This is the follow up to The Warning (previously Consider), previously known as 'Contribute' and is being rereleased under the new title The Fallout on September 5th, 2023. Many thanks to Sourcebooks Fire, Kristy Acevedo and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
The only thing that kept me going on this book was the need to know what is happening. Not only did it drag on and on - with lots of tech talk, but it then rushed the only part that felt really necessary. Basically, the whole story goes
Things that went wrong;
- Alex's anxiety: It wasn't necessary, it wasn't representative. Just cure it.
- Dominick and his toxic behaviour: This isn't love - this is a giant red flag.
- Unnecessary tech talk: It was used as a word filler.
- Obligatory deaths: Character deaths mean more when we care for them. Unfortunately with how much was going on and how many random characters we had to follow, the reader didn't get a chance at connecting with anyone other than the obnoxious FMC.
Things I liked:
- Doctor Who references.
This is the follow up to The Warning (previously Consider), previously known as 'Contribute' and is being rereleased under the new title The Fallout on September 5th, 2023. Many thanks to Sourcebooks Fire, Kristy Acevedo and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
glew8's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.25
Thank you Sourcebooks FIRE for this ARC!!
"Maybe in times of great stress and despair, we need to give ourselves a break to remember our humanity. Remember why love is worth running through vertexes for. Remember to hold on to what's real in our lives"
The Fallout by Kristy Acevedo is the thrilling finale to her YA duology. I really really love science fiction. Mostly because I studied science in college and love the challenge of deducing truth in fiction vs the elements that an author could have spent more time researching. This story touches on physics, which I do not know a ton about so I kinda just took Acevedo's word for it lol.
World building is a hard thing to do and Acevedo managed to achieve something so incredibly palpable. She describes every aspect in such precise detail it doesn't take an active imagination to figure out what's going on (which I liked, not that I don't have an imagination, just that I didn't have to do mental gymnastics to understand where the characters existed in time and space). It was such a perfect conclusion to The Warning, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, absolutely ripping through the pages to see if my predictions were true.
I enjoyed every second of my time reading this, my 4.25 star rating is purely because I have matured past this as a reader but I know my teenage self would have been obsessed with Alex and Dominick (my adult self really likes them and I'm not a fan of friends to lovers in lit). Overall, this was a gripping read, the hallucinations it gave me made me feel like I was watching it as a film/tv show.
blissyreads's review against another edition
4.0
I liked it even more than the first book.
Rating: 4.3
Rating: 4.3
carahamelie's review against another edition
4.0
This whole series was great and I enjoyed it all the way through. This book was a ride, but it was also longer than it needed to be in my opinion. I felt like there was a decent amount of filler writing in it that didn't need to be there. With that said though.. it was still somewhat fast paced, and I was really curious how it was going to end. I think Kristy is really good at building and describing worlds and developing characters. Everything was very vivid and clear as I read the story. The science aspect was very thought out as well. I also feel like she did a pretty good job at filling any plot holes that would be easy to create in a story like this.
I do get a little frustrated reading main characters with anxiety disorders only because sometimes the plot focuses more on that than the story... and the characters make dumb decisions or jump to conclusions that make no sense....(like when she wouldn't put the weapon strap around her neck or she thought Dominick and Rita were having an affair for no apparent reason.) I find it more aggravating than suspense building. I understand that it can make for an interesting character... but more often than not I just roll my eyes.
Consider & Contribute were both very surprising and I probably wouldn't have picked them up if they weren't recommended to me. I am interested to see what other books Kristy comes out with.
I do get a little frustrated reading main characters with anxiety disorders only because sometimes the plot focuses more on that than the story... and the characters make dumb decisions or jump to conclusions that make no sense....(like when she wouldn't put the weapon strap around her neck or she thought Dominick and Rita were having an affair for no apparent reason.) I find it more aggravating than suspense building. I understand that it can make for an interesting character... but more often than not I just roll my eyes.
Consider & Contribute were both very surprising and I probably wouldn't have picked them up if they weren't recommended to me. I am interested to see what other books Kristy comes out with.
bookdeviant's review against another edition
1.0
See more of my reviews on my blog the Book Deviant
I would like to thank the people at Jolly Fish Press for allowing me to have an ARC of this book via Netgalley.
Wow, where do I even start with this one?
Consider rocked my world with it's realistic anxiety depiction and the engaging plot, but Contribute is basically the exact opposite. Half way through, Alex's anxiety starts to conveniently to take breaks at the oddest (and most convenient) points during the plot that I couldn't help but think that Acevedo found that having a protagonist with anxiety was too difficult to write, especially for leading a rebellion. And, once again, Alex's love interest, Dominick, starts making weird comments that just rubbed me the wrong way. There was a scene in which it was revealed that he edited his "hologuide" (the hologram that guides the Earth people around their world) to look and act exactly as Alex did. Except, he added larger boobs, and did something to it's body that was bad enough that Acevedo didn't reveal what it was. Dominick even went on to say during one of Alex's panic attacks:
"I never knew anxiety was so physical. It reminded me of my father before he died. Seeing you go through that only made me love you more. I had no idea it was that bad" - ARC, location 2601.
Dominick's comments and behavior sounds so much like romanticism and eroticism that I stopped reading for quite a while. Dominick is such an unhealthy person for Alex, especially for her anxiety, and it was ridiculous that she stayed with him and tolerated this behavior.
Not only was the anxiety rep diminished already from what it was in Consider, but everything else lost it's luster as well. The plot was everywhere, scenes happening and finishing within a paragraph, so much so that it didn't even register with me when characters died. And, most of the time I couldn't even tell if they died or Acevedo just forgot about them! Characters were so often left to the side, coming in only when convenient and forgotten otherwise. Where was Marcus for half of the book? Rita? Or maybe Dominick's family, or Nolan? What about Nolan's grandmother, who we never learned the name of? So many characters were left aside that I legit forgot they existed, and honestly wondered if I missed their death scene or not. Random characters were introduced or cut based on whether or whether not it added enough chaos to the plot.
One last thing, because I'm really trying to curb my rant here. There were two, two, gay characters. One died, and one just disappeared off the page. What kind of representation is that? Yea, one was brave and died for their family, but when the only two gay characters are brushed to the side, then you know there's a problem.
Oh, and anxiety was called a "liability".
one star - Overall?
I'm just really, really, disappointed right now. I still love Consider, but Contribute was just one problem after another. Most scenes didn't even make sense. Why would someone who lives off the grid feel so strongly about rations he didn't even use to be reinstated? Why were most of the scenes spent explaining technology?
Would I Recommend?
I, personally, would stay away from this one. Read the first one, that's fine, and if you're still curious, read this one. But I seriously would recommend to just stay with the first, and make up your own idea on what could have happened in this book.
Trigger warning for graphic suicide, anxiety attacks, panic attacks, death, death of loved ones, implied suicide, kidnapping, and ableism.
Note: I sent an email to the publisher regarding a graphic suicide scene, and recommended putting up a trigger warning for it. They responded with that it would be a disservice to readers because scenes can be interpreted in many different ways.
I would like to thank the people at Jolly Fish Press for allowing me to have an ARC of this book via Netgalley.
Wow, where do I even start with this one?
Consider rocked my world with it's realistic anxiety depiction and the engaging plot, but Contribute is basically the exact opposite. Half way through, Alex's anxiety starts to conveniently to take breaks at the oddest (and most convenient) points during the plot that I couldn't help but think that Acevedo found that having a protagonist with anxiety was too difficult to write, especially for leading a rebellion. And, once again, Alex's love interest, Dominick, starts making weird comments that just rubbed me the wrong way. There was a scene in which it was revealed that he edited his "hologuide" (the hologram that guides the Earth people around their world) to look and act exactly as Alex did. Except, he added larger boobs, and did something to it's body that was bad enough that Acevedo didn't reveal what it was. Dominick even went on to say during one of Alex's panic attacks:
"I never knew anxiety was so physical. It reminded me of my father before he died. Seeing you go through that only made me love you more. I had no idea it was that bad" - ARC, location 2601.
Dominick's comments and behavior sounds so much like romanticism and eroticism that I stopped reading for quite a while. Dominick is such an unhealthy person for Alex, especially for her anxiety, and it was ridiculous that she stayed with him and tolerated this behavior.
Not only was the anxiety rep diminished already from what it was in Consider, but everything else lost it's luster as well. The plot was everywhere, scenes happening and finishing within a paragraph, so much so that it didn't even register with me when characters died. And, most of the time I couldn't even tell if they died or Acevedo just forgot about them! Characters were so often left to the side, coming in only when convenient and forgotten otherwise. Where was Marcus for half of the book? Rita? Or maybe Dominick's family, or Nolan? What about Nolan's grandmother, who we never learned the name of? So many characters were left aside that I legit forgot they existed, and honestly wondered if I missed their death scene or not. Random characters were introduced or cut based on whether or whether not it added enough chaos to the plot.
One last thing, because I'm really trying to curb my rant here. There were two, two, gay characters. One died, and one just disappeared off the page. What kind of representation is that? Yea, one was brave and died for their family, but when the only two gay characters are brushed to the side, then you know there's a problem.
Oh, and anxiety was called a "liability".
one star - Overall?
I'm just really, really, disappointed right now. I still love Consider, but Contribute was just one problem after another. Most scenes didn't even make sense. Why would someone who lives off the grid feel so strongly about rations he didn't even use to be reinstated? Why were most of the scenes spent explaining technology?
Would I Recommend?
I, personally, would stay away from this one. Read the first one, that's fine, and if you're still curious, read this one. But I seriously would recommend to just stay with the first, and make up your own idea on what could have happened in this book.
Trigger warning for graphic suicide, anxiety attacks, panic attacks, death, death of loved ones, implied suicide, kidnapping, and ableism.
Note: I sent an email to the publisher regarding a graphic suicide scene, and recommended putting up a trigger warning for it. They responded with that it would be a disservice to readers because scenes can be interpreted in many different ways.
anatema's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0