Publication Date: March 21, 2011
Pages: 336
Series: no
Acquisition: NetGalley
Summary:
New York City’s spirit has been crushed. People walk the streets with their heads down, withdrawing from one another and into the cold comfort of technology. Teenagers Mal and Laura have grown up in this reality. They’ve never met. Seemingly, they never will.
But on the same day Mal learns his brother has disappeared, Laura discovers her parents have forgotten her. Both begin a search for their families that leads them to the same truth: someone or something has wiped the teens from the memories of every person they have ever known. Thrown together, Mal and Laura must find common ground as they attempt to reclaim their pasts. (from Goodreads)
My thoughts:
If I had to sum up this book in one word that word would be 'weird'. Just plain 'weird'. And I'm still trying to figure out if this was a good thing or not.
A dystopian tale that at first, I forgot was dystopian. The elements that normally are thrown into your face in a dystopian story, weren't there to start. Not a bad thing really but when a oddity did pop up, it threw me for a loop. I actually read the synopsis a couple of times while reading the book to try to get my brain back on track.
There was a small part of this book I really loved, another small part I really hated and the rest kind of fell in the middle. I still don't know exactly what it was that happened to the characters...and I don't know if my lack of understanding was intentional. Did I miss something or was the story just a little too all over the place to actually work? I really don't know.
I really liked the characters. Or rather, the types of characters. Two teens are really at the heart of the story but the adults involved play a big part and the variety of personalities at play was interesting.
A stand alone? Hopefully? That's a good thing because if there is more of this story to tell, I really wish it was all in one book!
Overall, just an ok read for me. If you've been wanting to read this one, I would say give it a go but if you're looking for a pure dystopian tale, I would have to recommend others before Those That Wake.
Overall Rating:
2.5 / 5 Stars
Linkage Love:
Harcourt Children's Books
Author's Website
Goodreads
I'm in the middle with this one. So far all the reviews I've read are pretty much the same. Hm. I do like weird though, but that also depends. I guess I'll just keep reading reviews until I make up my mind!
ReplyDeleteHmm. Bummer that Those That Wake wasn't the best! It's been in my TBR for a while, but seeing a bunch of "meh" reviews has made me hold off on reading it. =/
ReplyDelete