Revolution: Pilot

Before I even get to my thoughts about this show, I'm going to say one thing.

People, this is TV. It's FICTION. I'm NOT going to be nitpicking about why guns work and engines don't.
I honestly don't care. Stuff stopped working. Stuff won't start working again. The end.
Okay? Okay.

So! Revolution!
I've been waiting years for this premiere! I remember when it was announced that Kripke and Abrams would be teaming up! There was much squeeing and rejoicing!

I find post-apocalyptic TV, books and movies fascinating and completely scary.
There's always a big WHAT IF, there, right? It COULD happen....and how would I manage?

Would I be one of the dead? Or would I adapt?
I just don't know!

In this pilot, we see all things electrical suddenly just turn off. Cars stall on the streets. Planes fall from the sky. Every single carton of ice cream in the world goes bad (Nooooooooo!).
Revolution takes place 15 years after the world 'ended'. Those of us familiar with Abrams will find comfort in the use of flashbacks (a la Lost) to tell some of the story.

I'll start with the things I didn't like.
-Charlie. Nope, not a fan of the actress at all. This is a role for someone much tougher than Tracy Spiridakos. She's not believable in the role at all. Sorry.
-Does there ALWAYS have to be a bad-guy-who-might-be-a-good-guy-because-of-love? Ugh. I mean, Nate is cute and all, but the character is so tired and overused.
-The girlfriend of the dead guy who's going to become the love interest of the dead guy's brother. Blech.
-"We have to find so-and-so!" Always. Why can't we follow a group of people who stay home for once?!
-Tim Guinee's death. There had better be a TON of flashbacks with him in them!

Things I DID like:
-Elizabeth Mitchell! She's awesome in everything! PLEASE don't let her be underused!
-Giancarlo Esposito. The guy is brilliantly terrifying!! LOVE.
-Sword fight!
-Ice = Power. Great way to show who's on the top of the pyramid.
-The mystery and tons of questions.



What questions do we have after this episode?
-Er, ALL THE QUESTIONS!?? (Seriously, everything!)
-How did the power go out?
-Who's fault was it, if anyone's?
-Where did Ben work?
-How did he know 'it' was happening?
-What did Ben download just before the power turned off?
-What's up with the militia?
-How did soldier-Monroe become bad-guy-leader-Monroe?
-Why did Monroe and Miles fall out?
-Nate--Good or bad?
-Will Danny escape?
-Will Charlie find her brother?
-How does that woman have the same type of pendant as Ben and how does it give her power?!
-Who is she talking to on the computer?
-The question on the other end of the computer--Did who find what!?

This is one series that I'm definitely keeping an eye on. I'll need until at least episode 4 or 5 before I can decide whether or not to stick with it.

Here's the trailer for next week's episode--

I'd love to hear what you thought of the Revolution premiere!

Will you continue watching? What were your likes/dislikes?

See you back here next week!

Book Review-- Quarantine: The Loners by Lex Thomas

eBook
Release date: July 10, 2012
Publisher: Egmont USA
Series: Quarantine #1
Author: Lex Thomas
Thank you to Net Galley and Egmont for providing this galley for review.

It was just another ordinary day at McKinley High—until a massive explosion devastated the school. When loner David Thorpe tried to help his English teacher to safety, the teacher convulsed and died right in front of him. And that was just the beginning. A year later, McKinley has descended into chaos. All the students are infected with a virus that makes them deadly to adults. The school is under military quarantine. The teachers are gone. Violent gangs have formed based on high school social cliques. Without a gang, you’re as good as dead. And David has no gang. It’s just him and his little brother, Will, against the whole school.  In this frighteningly dark and captivating novel, Lex Thomas locks readers inside a school where kids don’t fight to be popular, they fight to stay alive.

This book sucked me right in and I was shocked that it did it so quickly!
Right from the beginning, the action starts and it doesn't stop until the very last page. It was intense!

The characters are likable, but I didn't get attached to any one. Will, however, is annoying and I wanted to punch him. Many times. ;)

The gangs are very cool. As I read I found myself wondering where I would have fit in high school.
The story is seriously amazing. It's like nothing I've ever read before.
It's kind of a mix of The Breakfast Club meets Lord of the Flies. And it's dark. I mean DARK. Violent and bloody and terrifying.
Again I found myself wondering...how possible is it that events would unfold the way they do in the book if something like this were to happen in real life?
Sadly, I think the book comes pretty close to nailing it.

This is NOT a book for younger teens. I'd really only recommend this book for more mature 16+...especially boys. MATURE boys who can handle gore and bloody fights without wanting to reenact them with their friends. ;)
This would definitely make for some great conversation with your boys (and girls! I'm not forgetting them!) if you were to read it together.

How would teens today adapt if they were left on their own, trapped in a large group in a relativity small area? How would they survive?
I'd love to hear what your teens say if they read it!
Comments are always welcome!

Book Review-- The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

eBook
Release date: June 26, 2012
Publisher: Random House
Author: Karen Thompson Walker
Thank you to Net Galley and Random House for providing this eBook for review!

“It still amazes me how little we really knew. . . . Maybe everything that happened to me and my family had nothing at all to do with the slowing. It’s possible, I guess. But I doubt it. I doubt it very much.” Luminous, haunting, unforgettable, The Age of Miracles is a stunning fiction debut by a superb new writer, a story about coming of age during extraordinary times, about people going on with their lives in an era of profound uncertainty. On a seemingly ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, Julia and her family awake to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. The days and nights grow longer and longer, gravity is affected, the environment is thrown into disarray. Yet as she struggles to navigate an ever-shifting landscape, Julia is also coping with the normal disasters of everyday life—the fissures in her parents’ marriage, the loss of old friends, the hopeful anguish of first love, the bizarre behavior of her grandfather who, convinced of a government conspiracy, spends his days obsessively cataloging his possessions. As Julia adjusts to the new normal, the slowing inexorably continues. With spare, graceful prose and the emotional wisdom of a born storyteller, Karen Thompson Walker has created a singular narrator in Julia, a resilient and insightful young girl, and a moving portrait of family life set against the backdrop of an utterly altered world.

Wow. Wow, did I love this book.
One day, the world just starts to slow down. The days get longer and longer. The earth suffers and mankind must find a way to adapt--or not.
But life goes on like 'normal', and The Age of Miracles is the story of one girl and her family during this very odd time.

The research the author put into this book was seriously amazing. The changes and effects are just fascinating.
I LOVE how much detail she actually went into. And it's NOT boring science-y stuff, either. It's interesting and cool and scary!

Julia is a wonderful character. Very real and easy to relate to.

The writing is fantastic. It sucks you in right from the start and doesn't let go until you're done. I'm VERY impressed with Ms. Walker's debut novel. It doesn't read like a debut at all!

The ONE issue I have with The Age of Miracles is that it's NOT an adult book.
This reads as a YA novel, through and through-- albeit a YA novel for older teens because of the subject.
I'm worried that this book will fall flat because the publisher is marketing it as an adult book.
I REALLY hope that doesn't happen because this wonderful, terrifying, sad, sweet novel DESERVES to be read, praised and remembered!

I'd definitely recommend this book for older teens, 15+, and to you young-at-heart adults, too.
The subject of this book would make for some GREAT conversation with your teens!

Book Review-- Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Paperback
387 pages
Release date: January 5, 2012
Publisher: Puffin
Series: Lunar Chronicles #1
Author: Marissa Meyer

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, the ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .  Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Wow, did I love this book!
Seriously, a re-imagining of Cinderella where she's a CYBORG?! That's brilliant!

Sometime in the distant future--in a dystopian society-- androids and cyborgs are common, but definitely not seen as equals.

War looms and a plague has been killing people around the world for years.
Cinder, a mechanic, is doing what she can to survive--as well as working to support her step-mother and step-sisters.
Her only friend is an android named Iko, and her whole world suddenly changes when Prince Kai brings his android to her for repairs.

I adore Cinder. She's just so likable and my heart went out to her. The poor girl goes through hell!
Kai is also great. He's a prince, but he's not very princely. I prefer my royalty real and nice and not-snobbish, don't you? ;)

I can't really say much more without giving away key plot points, but I will tell you that I'm REALLY looking forward to book 2.

Ms. Meyer's vivid retelling of this story is fresh and new and wonderful, and I can't wait to see where she goes next!

I highly recommend Cinder to teens age 13+, and to you moms, too!

YA Book Review- Partials by Dan Wells

Paperback
468 pages
Release date: Feb. 28, 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins Childrens)
Series: Partails #1
Author: Dan Wells

Humanity is all but extinguished after a war with partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the world’s population.  Reduced to only tens of thousands by a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island. The threat of the partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to the disease in over a decade. Humanity’s time is running out. When sixteen-year-old Kira learns of her best friend’s pregnancy, she’s determined to find a solution. Then one rash decision forces Kira to flee her community with the unlikeliest of allies. As she tries desperately to save what is left of her race, she discovers that the survival of both humans and partials rests in her attempts to answer questions of the war’s origin that she never knew to ask. Combining the fast-paced action of The Hunger Games with the provocative themes of Battlestar Galactica, Partials is a pulse-pounding journey into a world where the very concept of what it means to be human is in question—one where our sense of humanity is both our greatest liability, and our only hope for survival.

Wow, was this a FUN book! Well, fun in a kind of 'end-of-the-world-humans-are-dying-off' kind of way. ;)

It's no secret that I love dystopian novels, but even I get tired of the same old thing after awhile. Luckily, although it's yet another post-apocalyptic book, Partials feels fresh and different.

As the blurb above says, it's a bit reminiscent of Battlestar Galactica, and in that way, it felt a bit like coming home (Yes, I LOVED BSG).

Kira is a great character. Strong and smart and clever, but also very normal with flaws and fears and doubts.
Life in 2036 is tough, made even tougher for Kira, who works in the maternity ward, watching babies die day after day of the dreaded RM virus that's killed off 99.9% of the world's population.

What was very, VERY cool about this book is how, at only 16 years old, these children are essentially adults.
They have adult jobs and adult lives and adult intelligence. I LOVED that Mr. Wells realizes that teens, when faced with tough situations, ARE strong enough to learn to adapt and deal with life just as well as--perhaps even better than--'adults' do.

There's not a ton of romance in this book--and, forgive me, but I was MORE than okay with that.
I find it a bit tiresome when a dystopian novel--which is supposed to be dark and even disturbing--is full of mushy BS. Forgive me, but if the world has all but ended, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be smooching it up in the middle of the apocalypse. ;)

The supporting characters are also really well written and believable.
This is a story that you will easily fall into and find yourself invested in.

There IS a great twist, so watch carefully. You'll see it coming if you're paying close enough attention.
And that's all I'll say about that! ;)

The end is GREAT, and it'll leave you desperately wishing Mr. Wells would write faster so you can get your hands on book 2 of the series.

I highly recommend Partials to teens 15+, and to you moms, too. The subjects brought up in this book would make for some great conversations with your teens.

Have you read Partials? Let me know you're thoughts about it in the comments below if you read it!

YA Book Review-- Tomorrow Land

ebook
Source: Net Galley
Release Date: March 8, 2012
Publisher: NLA Digital Liaison Platform LLC
Author: Mari Mancusi


Can true love survive the end of the world?

Imagine finding your first love, only to be ripped apart by the apocalypse. Peyton Anderson will never forget the day she was forced to make a choice--between her family--and Chris Parker, the boy she'd given her heart. And now, four years later, as she steps from the fallout shelter and into a dead and broken world, he's the only thing on her mind.

All Chris "Chase" Parker wanted was to take Peyton away and keep her safe from harm. But he waited for hours in the rain on judgment day and she never showed--breaking his heart without ever telling him why.

Now the two of them have been thrown together once again, reluctant chaperones of a group of orphan children in a post-apocalyptic world where the dead still walk...and feed. As they begin their pilgrimage to the last human outpost on Earth, can they find a way to let go of old hurts and find the love they lost--all the while attempting to save what's left of the human race?


I love a good YA dystopian novel. That seems to be there current 'theme' since The Hunger Games exploded onto the scene, like vampires were the theme when Twilight hooked millions of teens and twi-moms.
And I'm much more okay with dystopian than I was with sparkly vampires!
So when I see a cool cover like the one above, and read a cool blurb like this book has, I try to snag it as quickly as I can.

Unfortunately, this is NOT a good YA dystopian novel. I wanted to like it. I really, really did. And I tried so hard. But it just fell flat for me.

Peyton is an interesting character and she's supposed to be the 'strong female' type that's so popular now. But she's just not. I found her mopey and gloomy and depressing most of the time.

And Chris? Ugh. There are NO 19 year old boys like Chris. Nowhere. Not even after the world ends will there be boys as cheesy and love-struck and whipped as he is. I mean, come on. He calls Peyton his Goddess. Constantly. Even in his own head. Ugh.

The book has such potential. I loved the idea of what happens to some of the human race after the apocalypse, and some of the fight scenes are wicked-cool, but the rest is just.....cheesy and lame. And not a good, funny cheesy. Just a bad teenage-romance, on-again-off-again, 'I love you', 'Now I'm pushing you away', 'Now I love you again', 'Kiss me in the middle of the apocalypse', bad kind of cheesy.

Although I can see that this book has gotten some great reviews on both Goodreads and Amazon, sadly, mine can't be one of them.

It's possible that teens who don't read a ton might like this book, and it IS an inexpensive long-ish ebook if that entices you a bit...but if you're looking for a good, strong, engaging YA dystopian novel, skip this one and grab Starters.
You'll thank me for it.