Wild and Reckless by Blitzen Trapper
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The album Wild & Reckless was born from the stage production that the band spent the better part of...
folk rock
Wolf Blood
8.5
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The werewolf apocalypse begins … When a wave of vicious attacks sweeps across London, there are...
The Complication
8.0
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How do you go back to a life you can’t remember? Find out in this sixth novel in the New York...
Dystopian depression love memory manipulation the program epidemic
Marked (Populations Crumble: Resurgence #1)
10.0
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On the run from the men who murdered her parents, there's only one way to save herself. Marriage to...
Young Adult YA Dystopian Romance
Lost (The Caelian Cycle #1)
10.0
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During WW1, a meteorite crashed, releasing a mist that changed the DNA of all who were exposed. One...
Young Adult Dystopian Science Fiction Romance
Bound (The Caelian Cycle #2)
10.0
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Bound by Vengeance. Sadie has found the resolve to fight the man who caused so much pain in her...
Young Adult Dystopian Science Fiction Romance
Paradigm Lost: Jamari Shaman: Part 2
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A forest paradise surrounded by lands gutted from corporate greed. The Elk Creek Tribe holds the...
Fantasy Dystopian Futuristic LGBTQIA+
ClareR (5879 KP) rated The Future in Books
Mar 26, 2024
I’m not actually sure how I should explain this… There’s so much going on in this book - doomsday preppers with an awful lot of money, climate breakdown and pollution, social media influencers.
Actually, that doesn’t explain half of it.
This is the story of a heist. A pretty daring one, and one that could so easily fail, but in order to save the future, a group of friends decide that they will have to do something to protect the world from three of the most powerful and influential billionaires.
The story is told in punchy, short chapters, interspersed with excerpts from a chatroom ( I loved these parts - I didn’t think I would to begin with, but I really enjoyed them). This style really propels the story forward. Actually, the STORY propels the story forward.
Look, I just really, really loved this book, and I think you should go and read it. Ok?
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
It has been over twenty years since Lois Lowry’s controversial children’s story The Giver was published and it certainly deserves its status as an essential modern classic. Jonas has grown up in the perfect world of the Community whose survival relies on strict rules and rituals. Adults are assigned spouses and children (one boy and one girl) as they take up their role within the society. At the beginning of the book Jonas is approaching then end of his eleventh year and feeling apprehensive about the Ceremony of Twelve where he will be assigned a job for him to do for the rest of his adult life. Jonas gets selected as the Receiver of Memory – a very rare position – and begins to experience memories from humans who lived a long time ago. For Jonas this is exciting until he begins to see the flaws in his perfect world.
Dystopian literature has become popular over the past few years and it would not be surprising if it were The Giver that inspired these contemporary works. Lowry claims that she did not intend for The Giver to have a sinister feel about it; she was writing an adventure story and exploring the concept of the importance of memory, but it turned out to be something much more thought provoking. As the children’s novelist Margaret Mahy (The Haunting) pointed out, up until the publication of this novel in 1993 Lowry was best known for her funny stories about Anastasia Krupnik resulting in The Giver being even more shocking and unexpected.
The Giver highlights that attempting to produce perfection can often result in the loss of good things as well as the bad. The notion of the ideal world may seem like a wonderful proposal, but in order to achieve it humans would have to do away with free choice as in ironing out the inequalities and injustices of the present world would result in everything becoming the same for each individual.
This is a difficult concept to grasp, particularly for a child. Although intended as a children’s series, The Giver and its following installments are more suitable for young adults and older. The only issue with this is that the writing style was target at a younger audience meaning that the overall story is short and lacks depth. If it were to have been written for older readers then there would have been the scope for it to become a much lengthier novel.
There are a lot of mixed reviews surrounding this book although they have changed greatly since the original publication. To begin with The Giver was banned in some areas however the dystopian theme has become accepted in today’s society. What many people comment on now is the oversimplification of such strong ideas. Then again, as already mentioned, it needs to be emphasized that this book was aimed at children, thus the language reflects the reading skills of its target audience.
The Giver is a gem of a book that not only is enjoyable but also can educate the reader on the dangers of attempting a utopian society and why it is important to retain human memories – even the bad – in order that wisdom can exist. Those who have become fans of contemporary dystopian novels, for example Divergent by Veronica Roth or Delirium by Lauren Oliver, will be sure to love this series.
Beckie Shelton (40 KP) rated The Land of the Beautiful Dead in Books
May 24, 2017
EVEN HIS BED.
He ascended from the darkness years ago—Azrael the Eternal, Azrael the Undying, Azrael Who Is Death—bringing with him the black rains, the fires, the souring of the sky, and the Eaters. Now he rules in the walled city of Haven with his favoured Children and his dead court, while all that is left of the living struggles to survive in the ruins of a world that used to be their own. But even as extinction looms, humanity will never surrender to their monstrous conqueror.
For Lan, this brutal life has been the only one she’s ever known, but she still believes it can change. If the war can never truly end until the Eaters are ended, she will go to Haven, to Azrael himself, and demand he end them. To her surprise, she does not immediately die the hero’s death she expected. Instead, Azrael offers her a chance to convince him, and all she has to do is submit herself to the chill embrace of the lord of the Land of the Beautiful Dead.
From the author of The Scholomance and The Last Hour of Gann comes a new vision of erotic horror! This book contains explicit sex and gore and is intended for mature readers only.
I cannot say enough good things about this book, Land of the beautiful dead is a story I have lived and breathed over the last week,I have laughed and cried and become so emotionally attached to these two flawed characters Lan and Azrael ,I love R L Smith and did not think anything could surpass The Last Hour Of Gann for me but this did. My only criticism is it had to end, this book is one story I am unlikely to forget as it's so unique, I can honestly say I don't think I've ever read anything like this before.
If you like alternative dystopian fiction then give this a go it's an amazing read.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.beckiebookworm.com/
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