REVIEW #7 - Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

TITLE: Ender's Game

AUTHOR: Orson Scott Card

GENRE: sci-fi, dystopian

PUBLICATION DATE: April 1st 2010 (first published 1985)

SYNOPSIS:

Ender Wiggin is a very bright young boy with a powerful skill. One of a group of children bred to be military geniuses and save Earth from an inevitable attack by aliens, known here as "buggers," Ender becomes unbeatable in war games and seems poised to lead Earth to triumph over the buggers. Meanwhile, his brother and sister plot to wrest power from Ender.

REVIEW:

Cover

It's the newest edition of Ender's Game and by far the prettiest. I'm a  fan of good graphics when it comes to covers (I know some readers dislike them). So it's quite satisfying. And I love Ender's image - his eyes look much older than his actual age, which fits the book perfectly.

Plot

That was crazy. Totally psychotic, mad, good kind of crazy. Ender is six years old and he's supposed to save the world, taking over his brother and sister, who weren't able to do so. He's taken to a military school, where he trains, levels up quicker than anybody and leads a very, very lonely life.
It's a story with an breathtaking plot and gruesome intrigue, it's dark and totally engrossing. More than anything though, it's a story about a boy and how his own fate, chosen for him by other people, destroys him. It's utterly beautiful and terrifying.

Characters

Genius six-year-old kids - I had to take the idea with a pinch of salt, because it takes a lot to believe in a kid that speaks like a 40-year-old university professor. Despite that, the characters felt very alive. I felt real, raw emotions when I was reading about what Ender had to endure - it only happened to me once, and it was during my Chaos Walking trilogy read. Ender wasn't necessary a likable character, because in spite of his deep wisdom he was still a kid - a bit egoistic at times, but a broken, devastated even kid. I think I even shed a tear or two because of him.
Other characters were well written too - Valentine, Alai, Bean, even the "villains".
The most fascinating character was Peter though, Ender's older brother. I'm not spoiling anything about him, so read the book to find out!

Writing

I missed 3rd person point of view so much! It felt refreshing. The story was gripping and well paced, the dialogues flowing nicely. I actually read the book in Polish and I'm so used to reading in English it was a bit awkward. But the translation was quite good, from what I can tell.

Overall

The book has been recommended to me on a few occasions. It's been called a 'classic of the genre' and now I have nothing to add, just merely agree. It's the most amazing book I've read in a while. In fact, I don't think anything wow-ed me this much since I read Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins and Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness. Absolutely breathtaking. I can't praise it enough, everybody and I mean it, EVERYBODY should read it!

Rating

5 stars out of 5 and I would give more.!

REVIEW #5 - Across the Universe by Beth Revis

TITLE: Across the Universe

AUTHOR: Beth Revis

GENRE: dystopia, sci-fi, romance

PUBLICATION DATE: Jan 11th 2011

SYNOPSIS:

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

REVIEW:

Cover

One of my favorite YA covers ever. I mean it. It's so beautiful I would buy the book the second I saw it in the bookstore. I wish it made me love the book more, though.

Plot

I was excited by the premise. I expected epic love story with sci-fi and a dash of dystopia. And I guess I got everything I mentioned, only... very toned down.
I liked how the story revolved around lies. Lies being the main theme of the story in the metaphorical sense was one of the best things about this book. And that's what makes me so conflicted about AtU.
While I liked the idea behind the dystopia presented here, there was also sub-plots I didn't really enjoy. One of them was really easy to guess (it was hinted too clearly in my opinion), the other was brushed over. The other being the whole idea of mating on the ship. There was even a rape attempt which kind of faded into black as a problem that should be resolved. That really made me upset, because I cared about the characters, but not enough to not to get frustrated at the way some of the situations were handled.

Characters

Main characters, Amy and Elder, were likeable. I don't know which one of them I liked more. Amy had this strong heroine aura around her, and Elder gave me the "adorable" feelings every once in a while. What I didn't like was the insta-love between them. I mean, really. I could see the potential romance maybe a bit further in the story, they could totally work for a while as friends, but they jumped into romance like there's no tomorrow, which put me off a bit.
I enjoyed Eldest-Doc team as the villains more than the... well, other villain I won't talk about not to spoil the story to anyone.
And Harley! Let's not forget about cute Harley. His subplot was good too.

Writing

The story is divided into two POVs, Amy's and Elder's. The writing is clear, I didn't really find it irritating like in some cases with YA books. An easy ride.

Overall

It could have been better. I was really confused and didn't know how to rate it at first, because I did like and dislike it at the same time. But, in the end, I will surely read the sequel to see how it's resolved.

Rating

2.5 stars out of 5.