J.C. Buchanan

** This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.**

Title: Freakling (Psi Chronicles, #1)

Author: Lana Krumwiede

Published By: Candlewick Press (2012)

Synopsis: In twelve-year-old Taemon’s city, everyone has a power called psi—the ability to move and manipulate objects with their minds. When Taemon loses his psi in a traumatic accident, he must hide his lack of power by any means possible. But a humiliating incident at a sports tournament exposes his disability, and Taemon is exiled to the powerless colony.
The “dud farm” is not what Taemon expected, though: people are kind and open, and they actually seem to enjoy using their hands to work and play and even comfort their children. Taemon adjusts to his new life quickly, making friends and finding unconditional acceptance.
But gradually he discovers that for all its openness, there are mysteries at the colony, too—dangerous secrets that would give unchecked power to psi wielders if discovered.
When Taemon unwittingly leaks one of these secrets, will he have the courage to repair the damage—even if it means returning to the city and facing the very people who exiled him? (Taken from Goodreads)

Review:

A uniquely plotted dystopian with great writing and great characters, Freakling was an enjoyable read, full of action, clever plot twists, and a believable world/setting.

My one confusion which lowered my rating was the themes. A main theme of this book is the religion the characters have. The religion in this book is entirely fictional, not directly related to anything in the real world, and tied directly to the fictional setting. However, there were things in this religion such as “the Sabbath” “the temple” “priests”, etc, and I could not figure out if it was intentionally meaning to relate to anything or if it was just a part of the world. The themes portrayed through this were positive, but because I couldn’t quite figure out what the author was trying to do, it lowered my appreciation for the book. More or less, it was written in as just an aspect of the plotline and it didn’t seem to me to be intentionally against or for any specific religion.

As for the rest of the book? I was very impressed. The plotline was well constructed and written, with scenes that were all contributing the plot. Twists in the plot were hinted early on in a clever, foreshadowing type way, but not too much that it could be figured out what was going to happen. Everything ties into the story almost perfectly, and every loose end leading up to the ending turns out to be a crucial aspect to the storyline.

The setting was done very well; from the expressions the characters use to the way things are described, the author perfectly painted this world. Psi is elaborated with detail, written in a very realistic way. This type of thing is hard to pull off, but I think the author did a great job.

I loved the characters, too. While some of them fell a bit flat—and others plain-out unlikable—there were few important characters, so nobody got lost in the flow and everyone had their moment and importance to the story. The villains of the story were very easy to dislike and the heroes easy to love. The only character I didn’t get was Moke. We never got a chance to get to know him, so I didn’t connect with Taemon in that way. Besides that, though, most every other character was done very well.

Despite the few confusions I have about this story, really, it was a very well done book. It was a dystopian without the dystopian feel and it was clean—something I always appreciate.

Negative Content:

None.

Rating: 4.0

Recommended to: Anyone looking for a good dystopian.

** This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.**

Title: The Map to Everywhere

Authors: Carrie Ryan & John Parke Davis

Published By: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (2014)

Synopsis: To Master Thief Fin, an orphan from the murky pirate world of the Khaznot Quay, the Map is the key to finding his mother. To suburban schoolgirl Marrill, it’s her only way home after getting stranded on the Pirate Stream, the magical waterway that connects every world in creation. With the help of a bumbling wizard and his crew, they must scour the many worlds of the Pirate Stream to gather the pieces of the Map to Everywhere–but they aren’t the only ones looking. A sinister figure is hot on their tail, and if they can’t beat his ghostly ship to find the Map, it could mean the destruction of everything they hold dear!
Heart-pounding escapades and a colorful cast of characters will have readers setting sail through this wholly original and unforgettable tale. (Taken from Goodreads)

Review:

This was a great read, full of not only action but also beautiful themes. The Map to Everywhere was well worth the time spent reading.

The plotline in this book was tense, and adventure coursed through every word; however, the writing wasn’t the strongest. Though it was interesting, it lacked in some sections, feeling drawn out and expanded for no real reason, as if the authors were adding in drama just for the sake of adding in drama. Every scene contributes to the plot, that’s for sure—but even so, the scenes were longer than needed, and filled with many details that I think could have been reduced and simplified, overall creating simpler, more meaningful scenes. Ignoring these few writing flaws, however, the plotline itself was very intriguing and was very well structured.

More than the plot, though, for me it was the characters that drove this story. I just loved them so much! The authors did an incredible job of working each character in with their own flaws and fears, to make them seem realistic while still being present in a fantasty world. I loved Fin and was absolutely captivated by the concept of his being forgotten—whatever it’s called—and thought it was amazing. It was a way to connect better to sweet Fin, giving him a strange thing to overcome but in a way that developed his character further. Marrill: Marrill was amazing as well. Her passion and kindness for others was astounding and I loved getting to know her and her sweet nature. Her and Fin’s friendship touched me with its sweetness and geniunity, and it was awesome to watch their friendship take shape. Ardent was a wise old figure that I also enjoyed getting to know, more for amusement than anything else. Coll was a potential unexplored; though he was always there, I felt we never really got to know him and that had we gotten more of his life, there’s other crazy things about him too.

On the downside, I felt some of the plot was forced and there wasn’t enough reaction from some of the characters in the precarious situations. They perform some heroic action and it doesn’t even seem to phase them. I could just be missing something, but those were the only places I maybe didn’t connect with the characters as well as I did in the rest of the book.

I also hated the ending, but we don’t need to discuss that now. I’m just generally not a fan of last-minute cliffhangers. It leaves me with a distaste for the whole book. The book was just tied up so nicely and sweetly and now you’ve ruined the whole thing for me by adding a silly epilogue that completely goes against everything they’ve worked for. Not that cliffhangers are all necessarily a bad thing, but in this case, to me it made the book feel like it had all been for naught.

Overall:

I really did enjoy this book. Despite the downsides, this really was a pageturner and I and loved getting to know the characters, and I loved all the great and positive themes about friendship. The epilogue ruined the book for me, so I don’t think I’ll read the second book, but still, The Map to Everywhere was a fun read while it lasted.

Negative Content:

None.

Rating: 4.0

Recommended to: Anyone looking for a fun adventure!

** This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.**

Title: Anomaly (Anomaly, #1)

Author: Krista McGee

Published By: Thomas Nelson (2013)

Synopsis: Thalli has fifteen minutes and twenty-three seconds left to live. The toxic gas that will complete her annihilation is invading her bloodstream. But she is not afraid.
Thalli is different than others in The State. She feels things. She asks questions. And in the State, this is not tolerated. The Ten scientists who survived the nuclear war that destroyed the world above believe that emotion was at the core of what went wrong—and they have genetically removed it from the citizens they have since created. Thalli has kept her malformation secret from those who have monitored her for most of her life, but when she receives an ancient piece of music to record as her community’s assigned musician, she can no longer keep her emotions secreted away.
Seen as a threat to the harmony of her Pod, Thalli is taken to the Scientists for immediate annihilation. But before that can happen, Berk—her former Pod mate who is being groomed as a Scientist—steps in and persuades the Scientists to keep Thalli alive as a test subject.
The more time she spends in the Scientist’s Pod, the clearer it becomes that things are not as simple as she was programmed to believe. She hears stories of a Designer—stories that fill her mind with more questions: Who can she trust? What is this emotion called love? And what if she isn’t just an anomaly, but part of a greater design? (Taken from Goodreads)

Review:

A great addition to the dystopian genre, Krista McGee’s Anomaly was a great read, full of action, adventure, yet with a strong Christian themes written in cleverly, adding to the plot without taking over. The themes and messages sent were very strong and I loved it.

The storyline was creepily realistic and extremely capitivating. It tells the story of a futuristic world, after the dry land has been completely demolished through a Nuclear War, sending the last 10 survivors (The Ten) into an underground society they founded themselves. They create every human present, mixing DNA to create each one to have a specific talent to make for a productive life as possible. This element was done very well.

The characters were easy to like. I was drawn in immediately to their stories. Though at first it seemed like another cliche where the main character is the one “different” one (and there were some cliche-y elements), overall this aspect really felt much more true to the story and much more real. Thalli was a belieavable character, with her own flaws and strengths and yet real enough to feel like a friend. Berk was a strong male lead. Rhen was simply wonderful and done so well. John was just—wow. His character, as one who saw the land and lived before the War, was done just so well. The way he interacted with Thalli and the others was amazing.

The Christian message was there in this book, too, presented in a simple way but with a natural feel. It didn’t feel preachy, but rather like a part of the story. I enjoyed watching Thalli’s transformation; I couldn’t help cheering for her.

On the downside, this book was very confusing in some parts. While the plotline never lacked action and answers were always given, the way the story went about this was very confusing. It all paid off in the end, but there were some very flustering sections where I had no real idea why they were doing what they were doing. The majority of my confusion was the lack of description in the changing of settings. I couldn’t figure out where they were or how it lined up with the rest. It was  a little too abstract.

Another thing was the writing wasn’t the best quality. The sentences were short and easy to comprehend, with no real challenges. While this is good for some people, I felt since this book was targeted for the teenage audience, a little more should be expected, and in the case of Anomaly, unfortunately, it fell flat.

Overall:

All in all, this was a great read. Though it lacked a lot in some areas, the rest of the book was very enjoyable. I sped through this book in two days, it was so hard to put down!  Greatly looking forward to reading the next book, Luminary.

Negative Content:

None.

Rating: 4.0

Recommended to: All teens!