Expected publication: March 5th, 2015
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Book summary:
Luna is a no-hoper with a secret: in a world of illusion, she can see what is real. But can she see the truth before it is too late?
Luna has always been able to exist in virtual and real worlds at the same time, a secret she is warned to keep. She hides her ability by being a Refuser: excluded by choice from the virtual spheres others inhabit. But when she is singled out for testing, she can’t hide any longer.
The safest thing to do would be to fail, to go back to a dead-end life, no future. But Luna is starting to hope for something better, and hope is a dangerous thing...
Here we are with Luna, a girl who is growing up in a world of illusion, or a world where everything is virtual or for them real. Luna is different as she is Refuser meaning that she didn't take implant and virtual world is not within her. She chose reality and for that she suffers. Her social life the most as she is not only different, but her life story is rather tragic one. All that marked her and now she is trying to live in shadow, just day after day. But you know how it often goes with our special or different characters. They are all but that.
What once again surprised me, as usual with all books that deal with futuristic technology is how it all seems plausible. It's possibility that let's say 100 years from now people will truly live in virtual worlds rather than the one we know as realistic. This book really develops that nicely and even though interesting for me rather scary. With that we have well-developed world and biggest surprise for me was how Teri was able to incorporate her Slated series into this one. It's not a sequel, but it just builds up quite some time after it.
My biggest issue here were characters. They weren't bad or not developed, far from it. But they were rather typical which bored me a bit. I could predict how each of them would act and behave. It's again something that I guess started to bother me because let's face it after reading YA for over 5 years it get's boring. I assume that some less experienced YA readers won't be bothered, and I'm glad for that.
But all in all, greatly built up world and well developed idea.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Until the next time,
*ARC of this book was kindly provided by the publisher, Hachette Children's Books, via NetGalley. Thank you! My opinions are personal and unbiased.
World building is important to me, so maybe I could do ok with less characters
OdgovoriIzbrišiMissie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
I just read another review for this one - they liked the premise but disliked most of the characters. Looks like you felt about the same!
OdgovoriIzbrišiGlad things were well developed in this and you liked it overall. :)
OdgovoriIzbrišiI like the sound of this, futuristic stuff like this is always fascinating to me. I completely understand how overly typical characters can get annoying though, I feel like a lot of the time it can be hard to find a truly unique character.
OdgovoriIzbrišiGlad you mostly enjoyed this one. =)
Oh I didn't know she wrote another one in the world. I had only tried the first book but I really enjoyed it so I need to try more!!!
OdgovoriIzbrišiThe world in this book sounds really fascinating, I mean a dystopian where they can actually choose their outcome? That sounds interesting, although the bland characters doesn't really excite me. Great review!
OdgovoriIzbrišiYep, I know what you mean about getting bored with YA and that is why I am finding myself steering away from it more and more these days. While I like the premise of this one, the predictablitity would annoy me, so I think I will pass.
OdgovoriIzbrišiIts hard when the characters are just like a lot of other characters out there. I'm glad you enjoyed for the most part though. Great review.
OdgovoriIzbrišiI'm so used to getting the opposite Tanja! Interesting characters and mediocre world building! LOL so this is definitely a change but I have to admit that i'm still very much interested in picking this one up! Great review :)
OdgovoriIzbrišiLily @ Lilysbookblog
I always wonder if I didn't read so much YA if I would more easily get swept away by characters and situations that are repeated over and over again. Glad you enjoyed this overall despite it having that YA familiarity/predictability. Lovely honest review!
OdgovoriIzbrišiIt's hard to have that perfect balance of characters that win you over and worldbuilding that takes you away! This sounds like an enjoyable read despite a few issues. Glad you enjoyed it overall.
OdgovoriIzbrišiThanks for the thoughtful review :)
You make me laugh, Tanja :P look at you being an experienced YA reader ;) :P We have been reading too long to enjoy all the stereotypes though.
OdgovoriIzbrišiI totally agree about what you said about these futuristic worlds being plausible. I can totally see something like that happening years from now after humanity having advanced so much!
I am sorry you weren't able to enjoy this as much as you could have, Tanja! But hey, at least it wasn't all bad!
Lovely review, hon!
Rashika @ The Social Potato
Yeah, typical characters are the worst. You don't feel like connecting with them, you know? Same thing happened with this book, The Cage. At least the world-building looks good. :/ great review!!
OdgovoriIzbrišiI read the first book in her prior series and felt kind of the same. Even if the premise is the coolest ever, i need to connect with the characters!
OdgovoriIzbrišiThanks so much for stopping by! Jen @ YA Romantics
Hah, funny how you say the plausibility is there, because it is! Even at this moment we are living in a virtual world. We need something, we google it. We want to talk to someone, we chat with them on facebook. Need movies? It's on iTunes! And it will continue to evolve over time. To think the 2000s was a different world compared to today and that was 15 years ago! Sad about the lack of connection with the characters, though. I had the same problem actually with the first series of this world... the MC just made me see red and it was so hard to connect to them at all.
OdgovoriIzbrišiFaye at The Social Potato
Ah, it's a shame the originality here has started to slip as the series continued and that things have started to reach the more so typical or clichéd aspect. But it still seems like a decent enough book, and virtual realities always intrigue me.
OdgovoriIzbrišiCheck out my review: http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2015/03/insanity-review.html
Teri Terry! Hahaha! Sorry, I can't help it, that names kind of rings in your head, doesn't it? As good as it is that the world-building was great in this one, the lack of development of the characters does seem to have a negative effect. I mean, of course, we want to like the characters whose stories we read. I'm still glad this was a good enough read for you. Nice review, girl!
OdgovoriIzbrišiSarika @ The Readdicts