Tag Archives: Alternate Reality

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UnWholly by Neal Shusterman (review by Catherine H. ’17)

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UnWholly (Unwind, #2)UnWholly by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Connor is now known as E. Robert Mullard and has to run the Graveyard, a haven for AWOL Unwinds. He has less and less time for Risa, and the mysterious company, Proactive Citizenry, eventually takes her away. There, she meets Camus Comprix, a perfect person made entirely from Unwinds, who is struggling to come to terms with what he is. On the other hand, Lev has recovered from his trauma and is now helping to rescue tithes. Neal Shusterman has developed each character in a unique fashion, crafting the story to fit the world he has created. The second installment of the Unwind Dystology, I highly recommend UnWholly to anyone who enjoyed Unwind or likes dystopian novels. – Catherine H. ‘17

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Everything Matters! by Ron Currie Jr. (review by Monica K. ’14)

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Everything Matters!Everything Matters! by Ron Currie Jr.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In thirty six years, everyone on Earth will die.

Entrusted with this knowledge since birth, Junior Thibodeau must navigate the messy thirty odd years with his alcoholic mother, silent, stoic father, and cocaine-addict-turned-pro-baseball-player brother, all while dealing with breakup from the love of his life and the mysterious voice in his head insisting a comet will smash into the Earth in T minus x amount of years. Sounds weird/awesome/crazy/exhausting? Well, I agree!

While the seamless interplay of first, second, and third person narrative, love, and family drama shows off Currie’s talent as a writer, Everything Matters! by Ron Currie Jr. has a detached and cerebral approach to it, unlike the more visceral, emotional first or third person perspective of most teen books. Rather than empathizing with the characters, I related more with the situations and messages woven into the novel. Fans of Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman, The Magicians by Lev Grossman (who, by the way, are twins! I swear I had no idea.), and Kurt Vonnegut may like this book.

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Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (review by Naomi M. ’16)

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Little Brother (Little Brother, #1)Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Terrorists have attacked San Francisco. The Department of Homeland Security takes a high school computer genius, Marcus, and his friends without any explanation to be brutally interrogated. Once released, Marcus finds that the government has turned his beloved city into a police state. Everyone is a potential threat. In order to bring down the paranoid authorities, he must figure out a way to bring the truth about the DHS to light. Armed with only his computer, Marcus sets a rebellion in motion larger than he could have dreamed possible. Reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984, Little Brother is a novel of the future – where fighting is done through technology and anyone can change the world. Lovers of dystopian fiction, this is the one for you. – Naomi M. ‘16

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I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (review by Catherine H. ’17)

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I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies, #1)I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Number Four has taken on many names, becoming John Smith after moving to Paradise, Ohio. He and nine other members of the Garde, the alien race of the planet Lorien were sent on the run on Earth when Mogadorians attacked and took over. Three have died and Four knows he is next. He falls in love, hoping to lead a normal life, but his dream is shattered when the Mogadorians learn of his location. Now, everyone in the town of Paradise is in danger and John must learn to survive. This book is packed with action and suspense. Pittacus Lore has dreamed up a fantastical world hidden within ours, making it a page-turner! The first book in the Lorien Legacies series, I am Number Four will lead to much more! – Catherine H. ‘17

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Divergent by Veronica Roth (review by Anushka D. ’15)

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Divergent (Divergent, #1)Divergent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Imagine a dystopia in which everyone at the age of 16 must choose one of five factions: Dauntless, Amity, Abnegation, Candor, or Erudite. Created at first to balance and seam together society, the system soon threatens to fall apart because of greed and corruption. Veronica Roth frames the story through the eyes of Beatrice Prior, a girl who must choose her faction and deal with the decaying structure of her world. Beatrice captures the hearts of readers easily; she is incredibly brave, selfless, and intelligent. While the book presents a wonderfully unique and fascinating society that is struggling to keep itself upright, it also ensnares readers through the battles Beatrice fights with herself, her family, her friends, and the boy she grows to love. Divergent is beautifully written and extremely hard to put down. I am definitely looking forward to its sequel: Insurgent. Recommended for fans of The Hunger Games. –Anushka D. ‘15

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Altered by Jennifer Rush (review by Sophia S. ’15)

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Altered (Altered, #1)Altered by Jennifer Rush
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The plot of a romance between genetically enhanced, mentally and physically, super-human boy and a girl whose memories have been altered without her knowledge vs. the secret organization that experiments medically on human subjects has so much potential, but this book simply does not measure up. I understand what the author is trying to accomplish in the scenes where characters discover hidden truths about their lives, truths that impact their views of their place in the world, but as a reader, I am unaffected. This book also is unsuccessful in the romance department. The subtleties between the protagonists are so understated and nuanced as to be negligible. The style is similar yet inferior to Lauren Kate’s writing. All in all, not recommend except for fans devoted to supernatural romance. – Sophia S. ‘15

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Unwind by Neal Shusterman (review by Nikita R. ’16)

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Unwind (Unwind, #1)Unwind by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Imagine a world where teenagers are at a constant risk to be “unwound,” or have their body parts harvested to be donated later, by their parents. This sociological dystopia can be viewed in Neal Shusterman’s novel Unwind, a must-read. Poignant and illustrative, the story not only fully draws the readers into a grippingly heart-rending world but also raises questions about many current societal controversies, for instance abortion. Told from the viewpoints of three different desperate teenagers, Unwind is an engaging tale about a fight to survive while questioning existence itself. The first book in the Unwind Trilogy, Unwind is especially recommended for readers who appreciate powerful, complex characters, but will be relished by people of any age. – Nikita R. ’16

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Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman (review by Mrs. Vaughan, Harker librarian)

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Soon I Will Be InvincibleSoon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The world’s population includes nearly 2,000 super-powered beings. Some, like the recently escaped from high security prison Dr. Impossible, intend to rule the world. Fortunately the Champions, the world’s most famous team of superheroes, are bent on saving it. Narration flips between the obsessed evil genius Dr. Impossible and rookie Champion Fatale and leads us on a break neck ride through Impossible’s latest attempt at world domination in which he threatens a self-engineered ice age. The story includes wonderful action sequences, an imaginative set of beings that only a die-hard comic book fan could dream up and the very human side of these personalities. A pure delight from beginning to end, fans of Artemis Fowl, Ender’s Game and Terry Pratchett’s DiscWorld novels will love Grossman’s Soon I Will Be Invincible. – Mrs. Vaughan, Harker librarian

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