Jessy Jolly

I couldn't quite decide whether this book deserved 3.5 or 4 stars.

The story follows a 16-year-old boy from a struggling planet who unknowingly lives the life of a slave. He goes undercover to infiltrate the elite class known as the Golds. Alongside some other kids, he's sent place called the “Institute,” where they're forced to fight for honor, or something like that. It's a bit Hunger Games-esque.

But, honestly, it took me a while to really get into it. The beginning is slow, and there's a ton of violence - seriously, a lot. There are frequent mentions of murder, slavery, and r*pe. It was giving me Game of Thrones & GRRM vibes. I understand the true brutality of war, but the frequent recurrence of the ‘incidents' left me questioning the necessity.

On a brighter note, the main character is appalled by these actions and doesn't shy away from dishing out punishments to those causing trouble.

Another thing of note is that I sometimes struggled to picture what was happening. Maybe it's because I was listening to the audiobook, but the descriptions just didn't quite click. Though it's clear that Brown has a grand imagination.

The ending is a bit abrupt, like it's just setting the stage for more to come. And there are five more books in the series, I don't know if I can take that much darkness and brutality. Sometimes, I just need a happy ending.

Still, I liked Pierce Brown's writing style, and I'm curious to see if he's written anything else. So, while this book might not be for the faint of heart, it's worth a shot if you're a big sci-fi fan.

3.5/5 I have mixed feelings about this book.

minor spoilers
The world building (aka our world in the near future) was great; I think it was fairly realistic. And the book was quite enjoyable, but I wish the pacing was different. Someone dies but you don't really care because you don't KNOW the character yet. I love the concept of someone getting a ‘genetic upgrade' and the consequences from that, but it's a little too convenient for the story. Someone shoots at him? Well his upgrade allows him to dodge it. He needs to know how to perform a surgery? His upgrade allows him to know that for some reason. It felt a bit lazy. Also it got a bit preachy at the end, even if I do agree with his message.

I did enjoy the random multi-page explanations of scientific concepts. Were they accurate? Who knows. It reminded me of Michael Crichton's style of writing.

Overall I enjoyed the story. I wouldn't mind reading another one of Crouch's stories - I like his scifi concepts. but this one could've used some more planning.

This was a cute little tale. I think it could be extended and maybe catered to a preteen audience. Lovely story, written well.

I read this in high school. It was extremely confusing at the time, but still somewhat enjoyable. I'd really like to go back and revisit it someday.

I usually stay away from romance, but I needed it for my 2015 Reading Challenge. The premise of the book seemed interesting, but it just became extremely confusing. The narration was constantly switching without warning. Also, the plot deals with a very heavy topic (rape), but seems to beat around the bush with it. Preston just seems to not think her readers are ‘ready' to hear about such a serious topic.

The book is set in England, and being from the US, some things just kinda threw me off. A 15 year old was ready to move out and settle down with an (almost) 18 year old. She (the 15 year old girl) refuses to talk because of a problem that no one knows about (the we can assume rape).

Also! This book is apart of a series and I had no idea. There was no indication whatsoever. The ending of the book just kinda stopped. There were so many questions left to the reader.

I dunno... this is just a weird story. I really don't recommend it at all.