A review by bookschief_managed
Project Dandelion by Heather Carson
4.0
First of all, a HUGE thanks to the lovely author, Heather Carson, for sending me a copy of this book! I probably would’ve picked this out based on the cover alone if I’d seen it at a bookstore, I’m honestly in love with it. But, onwards with the review!
Trigger warning for this book: rape. (This scene is addressed in the review, so please be aware!)
Okay, so the storyline behind this book was beyond intriguing. I’m all for post-apocalyptic stories and stories that lean on that Lord of the Flies behavior when it comes to groups of kids trying to hack it on their own. BUT, I feel like there was so much to the world that we didn’t get to learn about. I know that it’s only book one, but I feel like if this had been expanded and was a 300+ page novel, it would probably be one of my favorites. It just felt like it needed that bit of fleshing out to really drive some things home.
There was a lot to this book that I did enjoy very much. I loved the setting, the simple design for their underground bunker and how it functioned for the kids, but again, I feel like there could’ve been some expanding on that as well. This had to have been some long-planned contingency plan, so why were all the kids so out of the loop with any kind of information? I liked that there was legitimate conflict and that things played out in a way that was actually feasible, that’s always one of my biggest pet-peeves when it comes to apocalypse stories, things just play out way too conveniently and that wasn’t the case here.
I honestly liked Katrina as a many character a lot. She stood up for herself and her beliefs and didn’t back down in the face of a bully. The whole group mentality leaning towards those who could make them feel the most secure in the moment really did play out as I would imagine it would, so I definitely appreciated that as well. The side characters were great, but once again, I wanted more from them. Mia and James were probably my favorites after Katrina, but there were several characters I despised and a lot that we really didn’t learn anything about.
The couple things that bugged me: some typos/ misplaced words, which I could get past and I understand, especially with indie books. There was a scene where someone is allegedly accused of attempting to rape a girl. She insists they don’t do anything to the guy, and the guy complains that she was lying, that he went to comfort her, she came onto him, then proceeded to freak out. Either way, it wasn’t really addressed, nothing seemed to come from it, and aside from it causing a fight between two characters, I feel like that could have occurred under different circumstances and that particular part wasn’t needed.
The entirety of this story takes place in only two weeks, and I do feel like some of it was moved a little too quickly, but that just goes back to the fact that I wanted it to be longer. I wanted so much from this book and I feel like I barely got to scrape the surface. I’m fascinated though, and will most definitely be picking up the sequel when it’s released!
Trigger warning for this book: rape. (This scene is addressed in the review, so please be aware!)
Okay, so the storyline behind this book was beyond intriguing. I’m all for post-apocalyptic stories and stories that lean on that Lord of the Flies behavior when it comes to groups of kids trying to hack it on their own. BUT, I feel like there was so much to the world that we didn’t get to learn about. I know that it’s only book one, but I feel like if this had been expanded and was a 300+ page novel, it would probably be one of my favorites. It just felt like it needed that bit of fleshing out to really drive some things home.
There was a lot to this book that I did enjoy very much. I loved the setting, the simple design for their underground bunker and how it functioned for the kids, but again, I feel like there could’ve been some expanding on that as well. This had to have been some long-planned contingency plan, so why were all the kids so out of the loop with any kind of information? I liked that there was legitimate conflict and that things played out in a way that was actually feasible, that’s always one of my biggest pet-peeves when it comes to apocalypse stories, things just play out way too conveniently and that wasn’t the case here.
I honestly liked Katrina as a many character a lot. She stood up for herself and her beliefs and didn’t back down in the face of a bully. The whole group mentality leaning towards those who could make them feel the most secure in the moment really did play out as I would imagine it would, so I definitely appreciated that as well. The side characters were great, but once again, I wanted more from them. Mia and James were probably my favorites after Katrina, but there were several characters I despised and a lot that we really didn’t learn anything about.
The couple things that bugged me: some typos/ misplaced words, which I could get past and I understand, especially with indie books. There was a scene where someone is allegedly accused of attempting to rape a girl. She insists they don’t do anything to the guy, and the guy complains that she was lying, that he went to comfort her, she came onto him, then proceeded to freak out. Either way, it wasn’t really addressed, nothing seemed to come from it, and aside from it causing a fight between two characters, I feel like that could have occurred under different circumstances and that particular part wasn’t needed.
The entirety of this story takes place in only two weeks, and I do feel like some of it was moved a little too quickly, but that just goes back to the fact that I wanted it to be longer. I wanted so much from this book and I feel like I barely got to scrape the surface. I’m fascinated though, and will most definitely be picking up the sequel when it’s released!