A suspenseful, futuristic tale that will keep young readers entertained.
Black’s debut YA sci-fi novel confronts the realities of life in a genetically modified world.
Valeria the Fifth, or “V,” as she prefers to be called, is in the “Fifth Order” at a place called the Center. She and the 15 other people have all been genetically engineered to be more capable than other humans—stronger, faster, and most importantly, smarter; their thoughts are “collected” by a Center computer system and shared among them to help them learn faster. Now that she’s 16, it’s time for her to begin her own genetic-modification research; she hopes that her work will be published like those in the Orders before her—in fact, it’s the ultimate goal of everyone at the Center. They all live their lives by the Codex, a strict set of rules that govern how they are to act—and even feel. But V has a secret: She’s been breaking the rules by spending time with a boy in her Order that she likes named Marcus the Fifth. After V discovers that the Center’s director—whom she already despised—was responsible for editing her genetic makeup, she begins to rebel even more. She enlists the help of Julius the Fifth, another Order member, to detach her mind from the rest of the collective. Although this freedom comes with a price, it inspires V to try to build a life of her own. However, the world outside the Center is harsher than she expected. Debut author Black puts forth a rather original novel about teenage rebellion, and also reveals the harsh realities that come with tasting freedom, only to lose it again. The main character, V, may be somewhat conveniently “special,” compared with the rest of the collective, but the author does a fair job of supplying her with believable motivations for her actions. She’s not the most likable character, but she does have a redemption arc that effectively showcases Black’s writing talent. The story as a whole has a number of twists and turns, and although some are moderately predictable, others will surprise readers and leave them eager for more.
A suspenseful, futuristic tale that will keep young readers entertained.Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2019
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: IlluminateYA Fiction
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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