Category: Dystopian
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The Constant Rabbit: Ah, satire…
The Constant RabbitBy: Jasper FfordeMy Rating: FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARSBest for: 16 and up Ah, satire… Satire is an art form. Done well as a novel, it’s like getting two books in one: there’s the story you read, and then there’s the story you’re meant to understand. One entertains, and the other teaches. Or […]
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#Lux: More Reckoners? Yes, please!
Lux (Texas Reckoners, Book 1)By: Brandon Sanderson and Steven BohlsMy Rating: Four out of Five StarsBest for: 14 and up More Reckoners? Yes, please! I’ve been apprehensive about embracing Sanderson, Inc. In 2021, Brandon Sanderson released five books–Four 4 of them written (co-written?) by former students of his writing class at BYU. I’m nervous for […]
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#Unknown: More Augmented Reality, Please!
Unknown (Unreal, Book 2)By: Cindy GundersonMy Rating: Four out of Five StarsBest for: 12 and up AR?! Yes please! You know what’s cool? Augmented Reality. The possibilities are endless! At least, I thought it was cool–until crafty authors started telling stories about all the ways governments and corporations might use AR to passively exploit us […]
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#TheRampartTrilogy: Fantastic & Frustrating!
The Book of Koli (Rampart Trilogy, #1)The Trials of Koli (Rampart Trilogy, #2)The Fall of Koli (Rampart Trilogy, #3)By: M.R. CareyMy Rating: Four out of Five StarsBest For: Adults Trilogy Review I had sky-high expectations for The Rampart Trilogy, and it delivered…mostly. I loved the world, I loved the characters, I loved the story, and […]
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#Unreal: Why am I such a nerd?
Unreal (The Unreal Series, Book #1)By: Cindy GundersonMy Review: Four out of Five StarsBest for: 12 and up Sigh. Why am I such a nerd? I’m such a nerd when it comes to AR. (That’s Augmented Reality for everyone less nerdy than me.) It’s when you use a computer to change what your eyes see. […]
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#Unwind: Teenagers beware…
Unwind (Unwind, Book 1) By: Neal Shusterman My Rating: Three out of Five Stars Best for: 14 and Up I’m gonna give this a “meh.” Unwind has been on my Mount TBR for years, and I finally decided to give it a try because I loved Scythe, another Neal Shusterman book (that I highly recommend). […]
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#TheToll: Thou Shalt Kill. Folks, we have a winner!
Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, Book 1) Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe, Book 2) The Toll (Arc of a Scythe, Book 3) By: Neal Shusterman My Rating: FIVE out of FIVE STARS! Best for: Advanced 14 and up What a great story! I loved the Arc of a Scythe trilogy. It’s original, new, relevant, exciting, […]
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#Thunderhead: Still Kills
Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe, Book 2) By: Neal Shusterman My Rating: FIVE out of FIVE stars Best for: Advanced 14 and up Book 2 is done. I’m still impressed. It’s original, new, relevant, exciting, interesting, thoughtful… …and uncomfortable. How’s this for our future: The “Cloud” grew up, became sentient, and took over the world. […]
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#Scythe: This book kills.
Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, Book #1) By: Neal Shusterman My Rating: FIVE out of FIVE stars Best for: Advanced 14 and up I’m impressed. Scythe felt original, new, relevant, exciting, interesting, thoughtful… …and uncomfortable. How’s this for our future: An impartial, flawless AI has taken over the world government. Government is perfect. Everyone is […]
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#Singularity Series: ScyFy + Religion…when opposites attract.
The Legacy Human (Singularity, #1) The Duality Bridge (Singularity, #2) The Illusory Prophet (Singularity, #3) The Last Mystic (Singularity, #4) By: Susan Kaye Quinn My Rating: Four out of Five Stars Best for: 16 and up Ah, the treasure hunt. I’m a dork, I know. It’s just that there are few things as satisfying in […]
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#Matched: Hunger Games Lite. Kinda.
Matched (Matched, Book 1) Crossed (Matched, Book 2) Reached (Matched, Book 3) By: Ally Condie My Rating: Three out of Five Stars Best for: 12 and up I keep hearing this series is the next Hunger Games, but I don’t see it. Hunger Games lite, maybe. There wasn’t much by way of hunger or games […]
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#Archenemies (Renegades #2): More superheros, anyone?
Archenemies (Renegades #2) By: Marissa Meyer My Rating: Four out of Five Stars Best for: 14 and up More superheros, anyone? The angsty-teenager-in-love-double-agent-superhero-book-full-of-YA-cliches is back for part two! It took me a book and a half, but I think I’m over the things that annoyed me in book 1. The eye-roll-inducing stuff is still there, […]
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#Renegades: Super! (Kind of…)
Renegades (Renegades #1) By: Marissa Meyer My Rating: Three out of five stars Best For: 14 and up A book about superheroes? Yes! Is the book super? Not really, but it’s okay. It’s total YA, so start plugging in all the necessities. The parents are dead, protagonist is an outsider, the adults are useless, token […]
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#TheGreatLibrary: I guess I have a thing for books about books…
Ink and Bone (The Great Library, Book 1) Paper and Fire (The Great Library, Book 2) Ash and Quill (The Great Library, Book 3) Smoke and Iron (The Great Library, Book 4) Sword and Pen (The Great Library, Book 5) By: Rachel Caine My Rating: Four out of Five Stars Best For: 14 and up […]
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#Dune: So, you’ve never read it either?
Dune By: Frank Herbert My Rating: Three out of Five Stars Best for: 14 and up You know how there are some books you hate to admit you’ve never read? That’s me and Dune. Except now I’ve read it. So take that, irrational, self-imposed guilt and embarrassment! Dune, published in 1965, winner of the Hugo, […]
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#Warcross: YA fiction = reality optional
Warcross Wildcard By: Marie Lu My Rating: Three out of Five Stars Best for: 14 and up Warcross is good, YA fun. Really, that’s all you need. Because, you know…YA. All the stuff you love in your standard Young Adult novel is packed into the two books of Warcross. I could complain about them, but […]
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#TheRuleofThree: The de-Evolution of Society
The Rule of Three (The Rule of Three, Book 1) The Fight for Power (The Rule of Three, Book 2) Will to Survive (The Rule of Three, Book 3) By: Eric Walters My Rating: Four out of Five stars Best for: 12 and up Imagine: Everything with a circuit board breaks. Thanos-snap instant. No warning. […]
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#TheSelectionSeries: a.k.a The Bachelor meets The Hunger Games…
The Selection (The Selection Series, Book 1) The Elite (The Selection Series, Book 2) The One (The Selection Series, Book 3) The Heir (The Selection Series, Book 4) The Crown (The Selection Series, Book 5) By: Kiera Cass My Rating: Three out of Five Stars Best for: 14 and up The Bachelor meets The Hunger Games…no wonder everyone loves […]
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The #WaywardPines Trilogy: How very M. Night Shyamalan of you…
Pines (Wayward Pines, Book #1) Wayward (Wayward Pines, Book #2) The Last Town (Wayward Pines, Book #3) By: Blake Crouch My Rating: Four out of Five stars Best for: Adults The Wayward Pines Trilogy is one of those you can’t really justly review without spoiling the fun… …and fun is what it’s all about. So, […]
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#ReadyPlayerOne: Why haven’t you read this yet?
Ready Player OneBy: Ernest Cline, Audio Book narrated by Will WheatonMy Rating: Five out of Five StarsBest for: 16 and up 8/7/2017I had Will Wheaton read Ready Player One this time. Brilliant, obviously. Especially when Will Wheaton reads about himself in the book. Very meta. Two comments. 1) I still love this book. Belongs on […]
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#TheLastOne: How’s This for a Hook…
The Last OneBy: Alexandra OlivaMy rating: Four out of five starsBest for: 16 and up How’s this for a hook: It’s “Survivor” on steroids. Conflicting personalities. Social media interaction. Clever edits that tell viewers a story, not what actually happened. Behind the scenes of the guts of the show. Privately, the producers give the contestants […]
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The Giver (The Giver Quartet, #1)
5/5 stars The Giver (The Giver Quartet, #1) by Lois Lowry 20 Years Old and Still Holding Its Own Was there such a thing as YA Dystopian literature before The Giver? I don’t know, but I’m quite certain we’d never know Katniss or Tris if Jonus had never existed. I missed out on reading The […]
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Champion (Legend, #3)
4/5 stars Champion (Legend, #3) by Marie Lu Did you like Divergent? How about The Maze Runner? Maybe The Hunger Games? Then you’re going to love the Legend Trilogy! It’s the future. The polar ice caps have melted. Great floods changed the surface of the earth. The United States wasn’t able to deal with the […]
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Prodigy (Legend, #2)
5/5 stars Prodigy (Legend, #2) by Marie Lu Hunger Games? Divergent? Maze Runner? Meet Legend. What a story! This second book in the Legend trilogy was even better than the first. One more to go before I can say for sure, but I’m think I’m going to be really happy with how this one turns […]
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Legend (Legend, #1)
4/5 stars Legend (Legend, #1) by Marie Lu Better than Divergent, that’s for sure… I picked this one up a while ago, but just now read it. I’ve been turned off by all the trendy dystopian YA trilogies out there. Divergent and The Maze Runner nearly did me in. Legend has restored my faith in […]
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The Lord of Opium (Matteo Alacran #2)
4/5 stars The Lord of Opium (Matteo Alacran #2) by Nancy Farmer There’s some pretty harsh reviews for Lord of Opium, but I don’t understand why. This follow up to The House of the Scorpion was very, very good!
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The House of the Scorpion
5/5 stars The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer Definetly a 5 star read for me. The story was moving, the characters were deep, and the ending was happy. Full of ethical quandries and thought provocing questions, there is plenty to talk about. While there is no actual drug use, the story is about […]
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Dust (Silo, #3)
5/5 stars Dust (Silo, #3) by Hugh Howey I was afraid that Dust wasn’t going to live up to the hype. I shouldn’t have worried . . . Dust is a moving and all around fantastic ending to a story that will eventually be known as one of the greats. When the entire planet has […]
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The Great and the Terrible: From the End of Heaven, Book 5
4/5 stars The Great and the Terrible: From the End of Heaven, Book 5 by Chris Stewart Got a little lost in the plot, but still enjoyed the story. Series review to come . . . on more book!
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The Great and Terrible, Vol. 4: Fury and Light
4/5 stars The Great and Terrible, Vol. 4: Fury and Light by Chris Stewart Time to get my food storage ready . . . Series review to come.
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The Great and Terrible, Vol. 3: The Second Sun
4/5 stars The Great and Terrible, Vol. 3: The Second Sun by Chris Stewart Whoa . . . Shocking and completely frightening how plausible this story is. Excellent. I’m anxious to get to the end. I’ll review the series then.
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Where Angels Fall: The Great and Terrible, Vol. 2
4/5 stars Where Angels Fall: The Great and Terrible, Vol. 2 by Chris Stewart Now this series is really moving . . . I’ll review the series when I’m through.
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Prologue: The Brothers (The Great and Terrible, Vol. 1)
2/5 stars Prologue: The Brothers (The Great and Terrible, Vol. 1) by Chris Stewart LDS fiction at its…worst? cheesiest? Yup. If it weren’t for the numerous recommendations and the promise of an awesome story to come, I’d be done with this series.
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Third Shift: Pact (Shift, #3)
5/5 stars Third Shift: Pact (Shift, #3) by Hugh Howey As expected. Just like the rest. Completely awesome. My only complaint is it went too fast. The Wool Omnibus and The Shift Omnibus and Hugh Howey. You must read them. The end. Now to wait for Dust and the finish.
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Second Shift: Order (Shift, #2)
5/5 stars Second Shift: Order (Shift, #2) by Hugh Howey If you’re reading this book, you very likely already know exactly what to expect from Hugh Howdy. You will not be disappointed here. Completely fantastic. My only regret I’d that I wish I’d waited to read 2nd shift until 3rd shift was finished. I hate […]
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First Shift: Legacy (Shift, #1)
5/5 stars First Shift: Legacy (Shift, #1) by Hugh Howey How come I’ve never heard of Hugh Howey? He’s quickly becoming a favorite author. Three cheers for self-publishing-indie authors! Three cheers for Amazon and the Kindle that make these books available to me! Here’s a disclaimer . . . if I could write code to […]
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#Wool: You’re not prepared for this
Wool (Silo, #1)By: Hugh HoweyMy Rating: FIVE out of FIVE STARS!Best for: 14 and up ***In preparation for Dust, the final piece of the silo saga, I have just finished my re-read of Wool…one year and one month after first discovering this amazing story. There were 1600 ratings on Amazon at that time–now there are […]
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The Stand
5/5 stars The Stand by Stephen King Stephen King is so good. I’ve read many authors that are good at writing stories. They can write about events and put them in an order and the result is a story. The more successful authors are able to take that story, and by combining just the right […]
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Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2) by Suzanne Collins
4 out of 5 stars Great book, deserves the hype. Unfortunately it found its way to Middle Schools everywhere. Unless you want your kids reading about kids forced by grown ups to commit grown up violence against other kids, I suggest you keep The Hunger Games and it’s sequals on the shelf until they are […]
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The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) by Suzanne Collins
4 out of 5 stars Great book, deserves the hype. Unfortunately it found its way to Middle Schools everywhere. Unless you want your kids reading about kids forced by grown ups to commit grown up violence against other kids, I suggest you keep The Hunger Games on the shelf until they are 14. Of interest […]
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Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)
3/5 stars Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3) by Suzanne Collins Ooooh how I wish the series ended differently! I don’t care how “real” the ending was. I want to be uplifted and inspired when I read, not depressed because of reality! I can get that on the news every day!
One Man Book Club 