Review: Perfect World

Book: Perfect World

Author: Shari Sakurai

Page Count: 332

Amazon

My Rating: 3.5 TURTLES: A very enjoyable read, I recommend you check it out.

Description:
London, 2115

It is the year 2115 and the world is very different. With climate changes, natural disasters and war shaping the landscape, England has become a nation made up of several super cities and wasteland in between. 

Eric Rawlins is a genetically engineered superhero created by the London Security Agency (L.S.A) to defend and protect the city against both national and international threats. With his superior abilities, celebrity status and beautiful girlfriend, Eric appears to have the perfect life. However, it is an illusion created by the L.S.A in order to control him.

Eric's nemesis is the charismatic Adam Larimore. The only son of billionaire business tycoon Victor Larimore, Adam is gifted with a genius level IQ as well as the same longevity as Eric. 

When the actions of the L.S.A throw the two of them together Eric finds himself questioning everything that he has ever known as well as discovering the true course of events that led to Adam turning to a life of crime. As they become closer Eric realises that the L.S.A may be the real threat to London. But can he trust Adam or is he part of Adam’s plan for revenge against those who have wronged him?

Review:
I loved the premise of this book. It’s sort of Gattaca meets Captive Prince, so I was really excited to see what would happen. Although Perfect World didn’t fully live up to my expectations and hopes, it’s still an intriguing, fast-paced science fiction tale that I recommend you check out.

First of all, what’s not to love about the “hero who realizes his perfect world isn’t what it’s cracked up to be and is forced to fall in with his enemy” trope? Eric Rawlins is too naïve to see the corruption around him until it is shoved in his face, but he clings to his morals no matter what is going around him. From the get-go, I just felt for Eric and the situation he is in.

I also really enjoyed how Adam Larimore’as character was revealed to the reader. I suspected there was more to him than what met the eye, but even I wasn’t able to predict what was really going on in his head or what he would do next all the time. He could still get on my nerves sometimes, but despite that I still found myself rooting for him.

While there was a lot I liked about Perfect World, there were aspects that fell flat for me. For one thing, I felt like Adam and Eric’s relationship was way rushed. They go from being enemies to being in love in, like, a day, and I didn’t quite buy the fact that they’d fallen in love over the times they’d met as enemies. I could understand that to explain attraction, but not love. Instalove may not bother other people, but it’s kind of a pet peeve of mine.

A smaller thing that I wasn’t a huge fan of was the constant reference to Eric as “the hero” and Adam as “the villain.” I get it. Writing “Eric said this,” “Eric thought this,” “Eric was this” can get repetitive and it is nice to find other ways of referring to people other than their names. However, using “hero” and “villain” came off as cartoonish and silly. It’s made abundantly clear that the LSA and even Eric for the first half of the book (at least) sees Eric as the hero and Adam as the villain, it’s unnecessary to spell it out like that.

While not perfect, Perfect World is still an entertaining read that is absolutely worth your time. I’ll be excited to learn more about Adam Larimore in the next book released in the series, Adam, that follows the title character’s perspective.

Disclosure: this post contains links to an affiliate program (Amazon), for which I receive a few cents if you make purchases. 

Spotlight: Pendulum Heroes

About the Book:
Melvin Morrow has become a barbarian warrior maiden. Will he be able to escape this new, dangerous world and the chainmail bikini he foolishly chose as his armor or will he and his friends be stuck living their lives as their game avatars?

Melvin's a teenage boy not used to being ogled or the real world consequences of wearing a steel bikini. But the real world has shifted... him, his friends Jason and Rich, and his big brother Mike are stuck in character, in a place where danger doesn't lurk because it prefers to boldly stride out in the open.

Mages import game players like Melvin via the Rift Pendulum. The reason: the work's suicidal and pendulum heroes are insanely powerful. Usually. Melvin and his friends can be, too, if they're in the right emotional state to trigger into character. Melvin's a one-man, uh, one warrior maiden army when he's angry but anger's hard to find with all that mortal danger striding around everywhere.

The road back home's at the end of a suicidal quest. Melvin better find something to rage about... because being genre-savvy only gets you so far.

Pendulum Heroes, James Beamon's debut novel, is an adrenaline fueled adventure for anyone who's spent a little too much time on the character creation screen instead of playing the game, those of us who have thought just how godmode we'd be with mage power, but mostly it's for all of us who have wondered who the heck installs a portal to another world in a craptastic wardrobe. Fans of Ernest Cline and Scott Meyer will find a lot to love in this new series.

Author Bio:

James Beamon is a science fiction and fantasy author whose short stories have appeared in places such as Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine, Apex, Lightspeed and Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show. He spent twelve years in the Air Force, deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and is in possession of the perfect buffalo wings recipe that he learned from carnies. He lives in Virginia with his wife, son and attack cat. Currently he's cutting back on the addictive habit of penning short stories to focus on writing books. Pendulum Heroes is his debut novel. James is serious about the attack cat... do not point at it. He invites you to check out what he's up to at http://fictigristle.wordpress.com

Available now at your favorite digital store!

Check out out on Amazon



Disclosure: this post contains links to an affiliate program (Amazon), for which I receive a few cents if you make purchases.

Review: Disconnected

Title: Disconnected
Author: Nick M Lloyd
Page Count: 450
My Rating: 3 TURTLES: An enjoyable read, but I suggest check out if you like the topic before adding it to your to-read list.
Amazon
*This book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review

Description:
What if you found a way to compel someone to support your own ambitions?
But, all the while, this newly devoted follower continued to believe their own free will was intact?
Political advisor, Asha Kharjal, has mastered the mysterious science of directly manipulating the subconscious.
He can literally rewire us.
And for the good of mankind, he’s going to. Whether we like it or not. 

Review:
Disconnected has an incredibly interesting premise which I had never come across before, which is why I took it on for review even though it is a departure from the kinds of things I usually read. I was intrigued, not only by the idea of humans having these subconscious connections with one another, but also how that idea would work in a thriller. Seeing the moral implications of being able to manipulate these connections playing out on a global political and corporate scale was fascinating. I also thought that Nick M. Lloyd did a great job interweaving the various storylines. They were all intricately connected (which I guess is appropriate given the premise) and tied up really well at the end. I thought the characters were also really strong and well-crafted. All of them exist within a sort of grey area morally, even - and especially, often - the idealistic ones. At times I'd find myself rooting for a character even though they had done awful things previously because all of them are multifaceted and live complicated lives.

Despite there being so much about this book I enjoyed, it took me a while to get into it. It wasn't that it was slow paced, but for some reason it took me longer than usual to get pulled into the story and the characters. It might have had something to do with much of the story being told through Asha's point of view, especially at the beginning. It made sense to have it be like that since he is the leader of those able to manipulate the subconscious and gives us a lot of the exposition. But I definitely got more into the story as I spent more time with the other characters. Also, even though the idea of the subconscious is explained really well for the most part, it still felt a little bit confusing at times. This could partially be because it is so well though out and elaborate, but I wonder if there could have been another way the anatomy and rules of the subconscious connections could have been explained that would have made it clearer.

Fans of science fiction should definitely check Disconnected out, but is crosses genres so well that readers of contemporary political and medical thrillers should enjoy it too.






Disclosure: this post contains links to an affiliate program (Amazon), for which I receive a few cents if you make purchases. 

Review: Lotus and Thorn

Title: Lotus and Thorn
Author: Sara Wilson Etienne
Page Count: 464
My Rating: 4 TURTLES: A great read, I definitely recommend.
Amazon
*I was given this book in exchange for an honest review

About the Book:

A thrilling science fiction adventure perfect for fans of Tamora Pierce and Sarah Maas

Ravaged by a plague known as Red Death, the planet Gabriel, a former colony of Earth, is a barren wasteland. Since being abandoned by Earth 500 years ago, resources are scarce and life is cheap. To stay alive, the survivors, the Citizens, scavenge the remains of a now dead city, trading for food with the resource-rich Curadores, the only other survivors on Gabriel. Every old computer, every piece of wire, every scrap of metal counts. To steal is the ultimate sin. So when tough-as-nails seventeen-year-old Leica is caught doing just that, she's exiled and left to the mercy of Gabriel's unforgiving desert for the rest of her life. 

While in exile, Leica discovers a mysterious shuttle, which may not only lead her home, but even more impossible—reestablish contact with Earth. Then Red Death rears its head again, killing her entire work crew, leaving Leica all alone until a handsome Curador offers her refuge in the Dome—the only place on Gabriel untouched by Red Death, where a decadent and sultry life awaits. But there's a catch: Leica can only enter the Dome as his concubine—his Kisaeng. When a rogue group of Citizens see their chance for revolution in Leica's good fortune, she finds herself unraveling a deadly mystery with chilling answers to the true origin of Red Death and the reason Earth really abandoned them so long ago. 

A richly imagined fantasy in the vein of Tamora Pierce, Lotus and Thorn, is a magnificent, epic adventure.

Review:

I really enjoyed this book! I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get to, but it was certainly a good way to spend my flight back to college after going home for Easter break. Dystopian worlds (and many fictional worlds for that matter) fall into the pit of being extremely European and United States-centric. So after reading so many of those worlds, it was really cool to read a dystopia where the culture before the world went to pot was apparently a latino one. I love how the author envisioned the people would cling to certain traditions, and how they would evolve and change over time and how they would stay the same.

The characters often weren’t what they first appeared, and that made them interesting to read – and it kept me on my toes. There was quite a cast of them, but no one felt left in the wayside. They all added something to the story. (I also loved how all the Curadores were named after famous scientists, I thought that was an awesome addition!)

One thing that didn’t quite sit right with me about the story was the “big reveal” at the end. Without spoiling it, I think that part of the problem was that while it was a huge rug pull for the characters, there is a famous story that uses this exact same plot twist. Because of that, when I read it I wasn’t thinking “whoa, I didn’t see that coming” (even though I didn’t) I was thinking “oh, this is just like blank.” I think part of the reason why this reveal fell flat for me is that there was not enough foreshadowing for the reveal to not feel completely out of left field and abrupt, and because the story would have been strong enough on its own without the plot twist. The ending would not have even changed that much except that a few loose ends would have been explained differently and the characters would have had one less truth to integrate.

Lotus and Thorn is a gripping YA dystopian story of intrigue, family, and revolution. It is a real page turner and I highly recommend that you check it out.



Disclosure: this post contains links to an affiliate program (Amazon), for which I receive a few cents if you make purchases.