Snag The Roar (The Roar, #1) Narrated By Emma Clayton Distributed As Interactive EBook
book i ever read A YA book, I would even say it fits for younger audiences although some elements are quite frightening.
I found the hook to be just too obvious or perhaps simplistic is a more accurate word for the more seasoned readers of dystopian fiction.
Set in a dark future where some time in the past the animals of earth became infected by a plague, the people of earth are still living behind man made walls in fortified cities.
Little does everyone know that the walls and fortification are not to keep rabid beast out, but to keep them in.
But one young girl, and the twin she hasn't seen since being kidnapped years ago, are about to expose the huge secret one that goes to the darkest part of the human heart.
. . because truth can never stay hidden for long, no matter what greedy men say,
The plot in The Roar is just a tad "done before" for my tastes and the revelation of the big bad made me roll my eyes because of its obvious agenda.
Which by the way, comes off as slightly hypocritical to me since an "agenda" is what the children are fighting against in this book.
As YA fiction, this novel does fine, I think any kid under thirteen would enjoy it if they're into the sci fi/fantasy genres.
The Hero amp Heroine are only twelve, But as older youth/adult fiction Not so much,
Oh and don't expect a clearly defined ending this book is most definitely sequel bait.
LOVED it until the very endthen I had to throw the book across the room, In the future, a plague spreads through all the world's animals, To survive, the humans create a northern wall through Canada, England, etc, Every living thing south of the wall is destroyed while all the people in the world move north of the wall into multileveled cities with no plants or animals.
Their food is produced from chemicals and mold,
Because of the lack of space, it'syears before anyone is allowed to have children.
of these children are fraternal twins Ellie and Mika, When Ellie disappears, Mika's parents believe that she's dead, But the strong telepathic bond Mika shares with his twin leads him to believe that she's alive, and he'll do anything to find her again.
This leads him to follow along with what the government demands of him even when he senses there's some secret the government is trying to hide from everyone.
This includes joining his classmates in learning war games on simulators and competing in competitions that can make his family very rich.
This book is an easy read, You keep turning the pages wondering if the twins will be reunited and if the big secret is what you think it is.
It's predictable but enjoyable. It reminds me somewhat of sitelinkEnder's Game even though Ender's Game is much more compelling.
There are also nods to ideas such as twin telepathy across long distances and even into outer space such as in sitelinkTime for the Stars.
Also there are versions in this series of the animal companions from sitelinkThe Golden Compass and the rest of the His Dark Materials series although they're not called "daemons" here.
I might pick up the sequel when it comes out if I find it at a good price, but it's not a huge compulsion.
I'm sure the next book in the series will merely be a book about a battle, but I might be surprised.
Note: While I critique both purchased and free books in the same way, I'm legally obligated to tell you I received this book free through the Amazon Vine program in return for my review.
Blah blah blah. Stilleven though the ending was awful, Awful unless there is a sequel out there somewhere that will answer my questions, But I searched every end page and could find no indication that this was book one in a series.
There were so many things that needed explaining and wrapping up and I was left to make too many assumptions.
I needed closure.
Other than that, this was a splendid book, Exciting from the get goa wonderful read for kids who might not be ready for the intensity of Hunger Games or Ship Breaker, but who still want a thrilling, wellwritten sci fi.
At first I thought the story might not appeal to my boys because it seems there is a female main character.
As it turns out however, the story is told from Ellie's point of view, as well as that of her twin brother Mika.
And Mika gets way more face time, I think they would totally go for it, which is why I'll probably end up buying it, if I can over the abrupt, rushed ending.
I'm not going to pretend I didn't know this was a juvenile novel, And it gets points for being so long and being written at that level, if only because I am a big believer in long books no matter what your age.
But as for the actual content Let's just say I am not surprised that it's a first novel.
And I am surprised that sitelinkEoin Colfer gave it a good blurb, Because it doesn't "fly along like a laser beam from a blaster," it meanders forward like a bowling ball thrown by a threeyearold kept on path only because the bumpers are up.
The bumpers are, in this case, a stubborn determination that everyone over the age of thirteen be really, really dense.
Everyone thirteen and below as well, but at least they're young and have an excuse, The defining feature of this book is not the mysterious game or evil plots: it's the flatness of the characters, the ability to readpages and still not be able to ascribe a personality to a single one.
It wins a gold medal in "Telling Rather Than Showing" category, with another in the related category of "AsYouKnowBob Exposition.
"
And whoever wrote the summaryany of the summaries I've seenneeds a new job.
In my hardcover the summary for the paperback here on GR, I'm lead to believe we won't see Ellie until her brother/the hero Mika finds her, probably near the end.
I'm lead to believe that "mutant kids" are really special/rare/Xmen and that this mysterious game will be exciting.
According to the hardbackascribed summary here on GR, the book is about Ellie, who was "kidnapped as a child," and now sounds like some teenage kickbutt fighter pilotslashenvironmentalist who probably smuggles oppressed people to a new life or something after believing a lie but having a somewhat good postkidnapping upbringing.
WRONG.
Ellie was kidnapped as a child because that was a year ago and she is still a child.
She doesn't do anything active except escape from whatever at in the first chapter and then gets captured again, spending the rest of the book wondering what's going on.
But since the book opens with Ellie, the other summary is immediately shot, Mika still wants to believe that Ellie is alive OF COURSE SHE IS SHE AND HER MONKEY FRIEND JUST FLEW A JET TWO CHAPTERS AGO.
"Mutants" Until the book inexplicably decides they're special, they're kids with birth defects: webbed toes, missing limbs.
On the same topic: Book, you cannot suddenly be all "Hey! Something we didn't mention until the end is now very important! Whee!" The game It's as flat as the characters, and just as mysterious.
What I think the book was trying to do, with its alternating viewpoints from Mika to Ellie to the Big Bad, was trying to build the suspense becauseha ha!we know something's coming! And all these things that we don't have answers for! I'm on the edge of my seat!.
. . Because I'm getting up and going to do something else because this book is so freaking boring.
Oh, and the worldbuilding: it's no worse than a lot of other dystopians, including ones aimed at an older audience.
However, a lot of those don't have good worldbuilding, so that's not saying much,
How did you get the ENTIRE POPULATION OF EARTH behind even a massive enclosure and blot out all traces of nature How did you What's this about "floods" It's referenced but never explained, What are these stupid "Everlife Pills," and why are they in the story when NOTHING seems to relate to them Also:is old, yes, but not nearly so old as the book wants to convince us, which is "so old no one has EVER LIVED THIS LONG look at this freak!"
If "fab" food is nonnutritious and just empty calories that kill you, why are so many people still alive and eating it for every single meal, every day of their life How the heck did you build a wallfeet tall around all of northern Europe, Russia, and Canada Not only would that have taken too long, there's no way you could convince billions of people to live behind it.
How is the city stratified We're told there are two levels, the richpeople Golden Turrets, and the poorpeople Shadows.
Except that a lot of characters don't live in either so what's up with that "The Roar" is.
. . interesting, "Ender's Game" meets a scifi environmentalism extreme, I was unimpressed with the writing style itself a more flowery diction would have gone a long way to portray some of the dream motifs and fantastical, superpower elements prevalent in the storyline, I thought.
But then again, it's a science fiction story at its core,
I did enjoy the character development, As the story begins, you assume Ellie is the main character, and keep on waiting for the plot to refocus on her.
But she is the objective, and her twin brother, Mika, the character around whom the majority of plot revolves.
Mika embarks on a compelling journey of selfdiscovery as he tries to search out his missing sister, all the while feeling foreboding instincts of paranoia in regards to how his world is treating the new generation ofandyearold children.
The shift from one point of view to another is abrupt most times, You're rambling inside of Mika's head and then suddenly, his mother is explaining her perspective on her son.
In fact, the omnipotent editor explains everything too well, You understand pretty quickly that Mika and Ellie have a bond that allows them to communicate on a different level, yet each time they share a sensation or experience, the narrator feels obligated to explain why one feels the other's pain.
It's a kids' book though, so I'm probably being too harsh,
Most of my gripes with this book are at the beginning: the use of similes was excessive, descriptions of unfamiliar elements in the futuristic world abrupt and the plot disconnected and confused.
Once the story gets going, the simplistic writing style felt less abrasive, And, even though I felt pretty sure of where the plot was going, the scintillating ride through Mika's dreams, discovery of his powers and awareness of the world around him was nonetheless compelling.
The future world of "The Roar" is gradually explained and the mystery behind the hastilymentioned Secret yes, uppercase.
. . annoying slowly developed into a nuanced enigma,
The author did write action scenes, which included Pod Fighters, very well, I think I enjoyed the flying in this book most of all,
"The Roar" ends abruptly, almost in a rush, That's not to say I was displeased with the ending, It was appropriate, I felt, if not entirely conclusive, I'm undecided as to whether I think a sequel would be necessary or interesting,
While I wouldn't say "The Roar" is a surprising contribution to the literary world, it is a lot more imaginative, creative and expansive than the simplistic plot presented in the jacket summary.
Definitely worth a read if only for the tiny robot animals,
But seriously, I hope someone takes out the double simile in the The Roar's first very sentence and the poor summary on the jacket, which both gives away the part of ending and incorrectly conveys the themes of the book.
The "roar" referred to in the title isn't that of an animal's, I don't think, .