Series: The Young World Trilogy #1
Author: Chris Weitz
Release date: July 29, 2014
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Genres: action, dystopia, post-apocalyptic
Goodreads, preorder the book
After a mysterious Sickness wipes out the rest of the population, the young survivors assemble into tightly run tribes. Jefferson, the reluctant leader of the Washington Square tribe, and Donna, the girl he's secretly in love with, have carved out a precarious existence among the chaos. But when another tribe member discovers a clue that may hold the cure to the Sickness, five teens set out on a life-altering road trip to save humankind.
The tribe exchanges gunfire with enemy gangs, escapes cults and militias, braves the wilds of the subway and Central Park...and discovers truths they could never have imagined.
Review: I received a copy of The Young World from Netgalley, thank you!
When I first heard of this one, all I saw was that it was another dystopia. Queue internal groaning and wanting to throw it (metaphorically) as far away from me as possible.
But I’m actually a sucker for dystopias and so I added it to my TBR anyway. I’m glad I didn’t ignore this one like my initial reaction told me to do!
Alright, so take Earth and give it some sort of virus that wipes out anyone who isn’t between the ages of 12 and 17. (You die around the time you turn 18). Base your story in modern New York, where all those New York types live doing their New York type things. Make teenagers have to deal with everything entirely by themselves, while the world falls apart. What do you think you’re going to get? I’ll tell you: this book, probably.
My choice words to describe this book: raw, gritty, scary, horrifying, unnerving, kinda funny if you squint. Some of it is just plain ridiculous and barbarous. And I loved practically every minute of it!
Now on to the characters. Our main two characters in this one is a boy named Jefferson and a girl named Donna. Their POV’s alternate. This wasn’t perfect - sometimes I forgot who was talking because sometimes their thoughts overlap but usually it’s pretty distinct. I love that the characters themselves aren’t heralded as saviors, or even as if they will actually accomplish what they’ve set out to do. Of course, if you’ve read the same boy/girl alternate stories as I have, you’ll know these two are probably going to end up together. It’s just waiting for that to happen.
A bit of a love triangle/square, but nothing that can’t be ignored. ‘Cause who cares, right? We’re just trying to find out if they can even survive these insane ordeals they keep walking into. But you know, teenagers. Hormones. Their hormones are the only reason they’re alive, so don’t go and reprimand them, now.
Back to Donna and Jefferson: Donna’s voice is pretty much your typical teenage girl. Boy problems, life problems, identity problems. But she’s cool and has a good head on her shoulders. Jefferson is your typical noble MC. Always wants to find the right path and do the right thing. Thinks his way is the best way because of his ideals about people. He’s kind of boring, but he’s kind of like me, so I like him.
I just really loved reading about all of these characters, their different personalities, their different ways of thinking and talking. Every single character introduced in this (and there were QUITE a few) were memorable. But that doesn’t mean all of them were good, or all of them were bad. Only a few can be defined as good or bad in whole. That’s also one of my favorite things about this book, that it wasn’t black and white. I mean, what can be when you have to fight and kill for your own life and what you want?
Basically: If you’re looking for a thrilling, action packed, thoroughly saddening, post-apocalyptic dystopia, then this is for you.
Rating: 4.5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment