Book Review: Wool by Hugh Howey

Wool (Wool, #1)

by Hugh Howey 

Genre: Sci-fi/Dystopia/Post-Apocalypse

Reading Grade: Adult (Novella)

Publication Date: July 29, 2011

Source: Kindle store

Age Rating: 16+

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They live beneath the earth in a prison of their own making. There is a view of the outside world, a spoiled and rotten world, their forefathers left behind. But this view fades over time, ruined by the toxic airs that kill any who brave them.

So they leave it to the criminals, those who break the rules, and who are sent to cleaning. Why do they do it, these people condemned to death? Sheriff Holston has always wondered. Now he is about to find out.

My Review

I read about this story in a blog post somewhere (I forgot where). It's very short (12,000 words), yet was making waves like it's the next great sci-fi/dystopia out there for adult readers. I had to check out how this self-published novella got all these people so riveted over it.

• Plot: Holston is an aging man, weighed down by his desperation over wanting to leave his home in an underground silo. His wife is already dead because she dared to break the stringent rules of their community, and the sentence was to go outside, above ground, and clean the lenses on the cameras that reveal the outside world's view. That outside world is filled with toxic gases that will destroy anything in minutes, so this punishment truly is a death sentence. But now Holston wants to follow in her footsteps. He wants to find out why she and all the others sentenced to clean the lenses have always followed through with cleaning them, as ordered, even though they all died shortly afterward. He wants to know what's really up on the surface outside.
• Characters: It mostly centers around the very depressed Holston and why he's decided to willfully break a rule, despite being the silo sheriff, in order to get the cleaning sentence. His wife is featured in a few flashbacks, and she's an amazing character, what little we see of her. She's the one that got this ball rolling because she thought she found some evidence that computer files had been deleted or altered from previous generations. Did it mean their ancestors had lied to them? She ended up wanting to go outside so badly, she broke the rule of declaring she wanted to go out, and thus, got exactly what she wanted. That happened three years earlier, and now Holston is unable to live without her anymore. He wants to put all the pieces of the puzzle she left behind together and solve it, once and for all.
• Writing: The writing is really top-notch. This author is quite good with words, not to mention his storytelling ability.
• Story: And, now to mention that storytelling ability. Wow. This one is impressive. I finished it thinking, “I couldn't possibly hope to ever think up something like this. What a story!” It left me questioning so many things about the society Holston and Alison (his wife) had been raised in. And, the shocker at the end.... Yeah, not a happy ending, but it answers the question of why the cleaners always end up cleaning the lenses. Leaves you wondering a lot about stuff like, what did Holston do to get his sentence? I either missed it or can't remember. Who is really in charge down in that silo? Holston is the sheriff and there is a woman mayor, but she seemed so uniformed about stuff. Alison said the IT guys knew everything. Did they? There are sequel novellas, but I'm unsure if they reveal these answers.
• Overall Quality: Super high! I don't think there was a thing wrong with it, unless you count how short it is.
• Favorite Scene/Moment: I can't even reveal it to you because it is a major spoiler, but it happens at the end when Holston does finally go outside the silo, above ground to see the real world with his own eyes. Craziest fake-out ever. O__o
• My Score: 5/5 stars. 
  
   

Book Review: The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

The Hunt (The Hunt, #1)

by Andrew Fukuda 

Genre: Post-Apocalypse/Dystopia/Vampires

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Publication Date: May 8, 2012

Source: ARC from publisher

Age Rating: 16+ (for violence)

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Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.

When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him. He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity? 

 

 

My Review

I won this from the publisher through a LibraryThing's Early Reviewers giveaway. The Hunt has a lot of hype behind it, so I wanted to see if it would live up to it...

• Plot: Dark and riveting, with plenty of heart-pounding action. There are long stretches of slow scenes, but they provide useful information about the world-building and the characters, or whatever you need to know as the reader. The main character, Gene, is living a pretend existence as a vampiric creature, but he's exactly what those creatures live to hunt and eat. They are so dangerous and troublesome I just hate them for being so beast-like and wanting nothing but to eat 'hepers' (what they call humans). Although, I feel like I'm hating lions, tigers and bears for being beasts, and that's not fair. There must be good vampires, but we never find any in this book. The ones Gene deals with become vengeful and sadistic, so I hate—HATE them so much.
• Characters: Gene lives all alone because his family is dead, but he still goes to school with the vampire people and tries his darnedest not to get caught doing anything heper-like. Even sweating would give him away. Can't show emotion. Can't be caught out in the sun. He's never seen another heper other than his family, so I don't know what he plans on doing with his future. He's been in survival mode all his life, and even though he's nearly done with high school, that's all he can think of to do. He does like Ashley June, although going out with her would be bad because she'd figure out what he truly is, and eat him. As would all the others. They would all EAT him in a heartbeat, even those who've known him since childhood. Frickin' beasts....
• Writing: I really like the quick-paced writing that doesn't skimp out on fluid prose. Nor does it inundate you with purple prose, because Gene is narrating this and he wouldn't realistically use flowery words. The writing style is perfectly suited for this type of adrenaline-pumping, terrifying story.
• Story: Irony abounds here. The vampires all believe they are highly evolved compared to the hepers—hepers are the beasts who can't even talk and are just dumb animals. Gene discovers when he meets the hepers that will be hunted down by the vampires (after he has been selected to participate in The Hunt) that they can talk, think, reason and even sing. They can do things he has always felt like doing, but couldn't understand why he wanted to do them. The vampires have no names and they freakin' drool all the time. It's a wonder they can stand up straight! Thus, the irony abounds when they affirm so fiercely that they are the evolved beings and the hepers are the lowly animals.
• Overall Quality: It's high, although when I started to read it, I thought I stumbled upon plot hole after plot hole and a ton of illogical-nesses. I still don't know how Gene survived without water for so many days, but he does get some, eventually. And, how is it that the vampires don't figure out that he, specifically, stinks like a heper? They all just think the odor is coming from somewhere else. Maybe they are all that dumb. It's not perfect, but it builds into a very impressive narrative filled with frightening scenes that make you feel like how you do when you dream you're being chased, and all you want is to get away for your life. It's just like that, seriously!
• Favorite Moment: Maybe it's a bit SPOILERY (don't read on if you don't want even a little spoiler), but I love when Gene gets his chance to shove all that rhetoric and nonsense from the vampires right back in their faces, especially at the vampire Director of The Hunt. He shouts, “You guys are the beasts—you're the mindless, stupid, un-evolved creatures!” Something to that effect. I loved it, especially after hating with a passion those cocky, blood-thirsty, drooling “people.”
• My Score: 4 stars out of 5. (There is some graphic violence, just so you know.)
  
  

*I have provided my honest review in exchange for receiving an early edition from the publisher.

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Teaser Tuesday (1/10/2012)

"Teaser Tuesday" is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 

Anyone can play along, just do the following:
 

·Grab your current read
· Open to a random page
· Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
· Be careful not to include any spoilers so as not to ruin the book for others.

 

Make sure to share the title and the author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR piles.

 

 

This week's Teaser:

 

 

 "That, my dear, would be a waste." ... He tips my chin up with one finger. "Besides, it'd be a shame to lose such a pretty face."

-from page 55 of Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. 

 

Wow, what a great villain character! Finally one I can sink my teeth into amongst this world of YA literature.

Review: Fallen by Traci L. Slatton

Fallen

by Traci L. Slatton 

Genre: Apocalypse/Fantasy/Romance

Reading Grade: Adult

Publication Date: July 12, 2011

Source: from publisher (paperback)

Age Rating: 17+

| Amazon |

As chaos descends on a crippled Earth, survivors are tormented by strange psychic gifts. In this time of apocalyptic despair, love is put to the test. One woman with mysterious healing power guides seven children to safety. Charismatic Arthur offers her a haven. Slowly Emma falls for him. But at the moment of their sweetest love, his devastating secret is revealed, and they are lost to each other. Will Emma stay with him?

The first in a romantic trilogy set during the end times. 

 

My Review

Here's an adult romance title that suffers from having a really good story to tell, but it is ruined by its intolerable main characters. And, it doesn't take long to see just how awful they really are, as you need only read into the book a few pages to see the main character, Emma, offering to prostitute herself to a man she barely meets in order to live in his camp with eight needy kids-in-tow. No, she is not already a prostitute, so, yes, this is very random and unnecessary behavior on her part. What's worse is that Arthur, the great “hero” in this story, decides to take her for a test drive before even asking for her name. What a love story this will be, right? <rolls eyes>

No, this isn't erotica, although with this type of set-up at the beginning, you'd think that's exactly what you were getting. Add up all the stupid things these two main characters do, who are supposedly in love with each other, and you get a book that makes me want to recycle it so it can be reborn into something better one day.

This review gets a wee bit SPOILERY, just so you know...

Emma leads Arthur on, even after he's clearly fallen in love with her, but she's still married to her husband from before the Apocalypse. I can't really sympathize with such an overt adulteress. Arthur rapes Emma in one scene, and is very controlling of Emma and won't let her do anything without his permission first. Controlling, much? When Arthur finally finds out about Emma still being married, he demands she divorce her husband. She wants to officially break it off with her husband, and Arthur agrees so long as she does it over the radio. But, she wants to see him in person, which could take ten years. Unreasonable much? I'm feeling the love, I really am.

These two characters are in their thirties, yet have the combined emotional maturity of one twelve-year-old. This is rather sad, and extra sad when you consider that this story has so much potential. It's actually a really good story with an interesting plot development and concept. There is this mysterious mist that has gone around all over the planet and it kills everything made of metal properties, including people (because people have metal in them, too). It's well-thought out and has great world-building. But, I hate these two characters so much, I could care less about them and their experiences.

*I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

My score: 2.5 out of 5 stars. (I did not like it.)

Teaser Tuesday #7: Trinity Blood: Rage Against the Moons

Current Giveaway! Enter the giveaway for Dark Seeker by Taryn Browning. 

Follow this link... [click] 

"Teaser Tuesdays" is a book blogger meme hosted by

Should Be Reading.

Today, my teaser comes from my favorite Japanese light novel series, Trinity Blood... So good, I have to reread it.

"I'm almost done here, pussycat," he said over his shoulder to Jessica. "After this, I'm gonna kill ya 'til you love me."

- from Trinity Blood: Rage Against the Moons (Volume 1: From the Empire), page 40.

*****

Trinity Blood: Rage Against the Moons (Volume 1: From the Empire)

by Sunao Yoshida

Political turmoil, terrorist plots, and the relentless desire for personal revenge threaten to escalate the conflict between humans and vampires into a full-blown war. Special Ops Team AX will use every brutal weapon on hand--including a Crusnik, a vampire that preys upon other vampires--to save mankind. Packed with action, emotion, and artistry, this first volume of Rage Against the Moons contains tales of heroism, sacrifice, and retribution, as the AX agents strive to protect the innocent and keep the peace.