Nemesis by Brendan Reichs (Reviewed by Sofie K '20)

Nemesis by Brendan Reichs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Every two years, Min dies.

It's always the same man, time and time again. He appears sometime on her birthday, kills her, then she wakes up the next day as if nothing happened. She doesn't know why, or what Noah, subjectively the town's most attractive (and rich) boy, has to do with it, but it happens. On top of it all, a giant asteroid called the Anvil is threatening to destroy Earth... in like a week.

I really wanted to like this book. I hadn't seen this premise too often before in books, so it seemed that it would live up to the hype. But it just didn't make sense. The twists came out of nowhere (they were barely hinted at), so they felt super jarring, and the storyline with the asteroid seemed really separated from the plot. When Reichs tried to tie it all together at the end, it just felt really forced. It's overall not a terrible plot, it just seemed disappointing compared to what it could have been.

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Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett (Reviewed by Anya W. '20)

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sancia Grado is quite possibly the best thief in Tevanne. Not in the least because of what exactly the metal plate in her head can do--but it's safer not to talk about that. She's still not quite sure how stealing a box from one merchant house turned her into the most wanted person in Tevanne, and the only one capable of communicating with the powerful artifact that has the entire city foaming at the mouth.

Gregor Dandalo is the only living son of the family controlling another one of Tevanne's four merchant houses and trying his best to bring order and law to the commons: the only part of the city not controlled by the merchant houses. It seems like a stroke of excellent luck when he manages to find the thief who blew up half the docks stealing from a merchant-house safe. Then, he spots the assassins and well, things get complicated.

Orso Ignacio, employee of the Dandalo merchant house, might have made a mistake when he bought an artifact from an excavation site without his employer's permission. Especially now that the key's been stolen and he has no hope of learning from the scrivings it contains. Hopefully, the thief Gregor has 'arrested' can get the key back in exchange for her freedom.

Bernice is a gifted scriver, and has no idea how she got caught up in fixing her bosses stupid mistake. At least the scenery's nice.

Bennett's novel is a study in intricate world-building, and he crafts a diverse cast characters, from heroes to villains to antiheroes, with compelling backstories and motivations all the while seamlessly weaves in ethical quandaries that dissect the foundations of each character. Although sometimes his writing became unnecessarily wordy, this book is an excellent starting point to a very intriguing fictional universe. My main issue is with the side characters. While some are nicely fleshed out, the background villains seem flat and evil for the sake of evil. The romance is also lacking chemistry and feels shoehorned in for no good reason, which is a shame, considering the amazing characters involved in the relationship.
-Anya W. '20

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Warcross by Marie Lu (review by Tasha M. '20)

Warcross by Marie Lu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Marie Lu’s Warcross at first seems like an overdone virtual reality dystopia, but provides a somewhat original take on the topic. Emika Chen, a hacker barely able to pay rent, shocks the world by “glitching” into the international tournament of Warcross, the most popular virtual reality video game. The creator of Warcross enters her into the tournament to gain inside information on someone trying to infiltrate the systems.

Lu’s future world is believable and immersive. The description was well-mixed with plot that was engaging and moved at a decent pace; however, the ending confused me and seemed like it should have been the first chapter of the sequel.

The characters were incredibly well-developed, especially Emika. She comes off as a strong, knowledgeable protagonist, but later on, her vulnerable side begins to show. While I would have liked to know more about the supporting characters, they had unique personalities. Also worth noting is the characters’ diversity: along with the Asian-American protagonist, Warcross features a disabled character, a gay character, and a Hispanic character. My only criticism is that the romance seemed forced.

All in all, Warcross is an enjoyable but not spectacular read, especially for fans of YA or science fiction. - Tasha M. '20

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Amatka by Karin Tidbeck (review by Sophia G. '21)

Amatka by Karin Tidbeck
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amatka by Karin Tidbeck is a rare treasure that avoids all the cliches other modern dystopias tend to fall into. The world we are transported to is foreign and yet not so. We follow a woman who relocates to a foreign colony because of her job change. In her exploration of her new surroundings, she begins to question the order from which she came. The characters we are introduced to are real in an almost literal sense, the book makes you take a different look at both yourself and the people around you. The book is classified as ‘surrealism’ and it is certainly that. If you are one for reading books which are always perfectly logical and have a lack of ambiguity, this read is not for you. If you are interested in the function of language, the concept of necessity, the promise of revolution, or leaving behind all that is known, check out the book today.

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A Highly Unlikely Scenario, or a Neetsa Pizza Employee's Guide to Saving the World by Rachel Cantor (review by Fiona W. '21)

A Highly Unlikely Scenario, or a Neetsa Pizza Employee's Guide to Saving the World by Rachel Cantor
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Leonard is a man who works for the international fast-food chain Neetsa Pizza’s customer support hotline. He takes his job oddly too seriously, to almost an occultish extent. One day, Leonard gets a call from a man who claims to be from the 13th century, and soon falls deep into the rabbit hole of ancient cults and time traveling.

I really wanted to like this book. The concept felt like a parody version of 1984, and I was all for it. However, the execution was just wrong. Halfway through the book, the plot began to fall apart, and by the end of it, I was completely lost. It pained me to read it all the way through, and I felt like I was just reading a random string of words rather than a coherent story. It was as if the author woke up in the middle of the night and furiously wrote out a dream she had in one go while she was still half-asleep. I’m not sure how this book got published, but it definitely serves to show authors what they shouldn’t do. - Fiona W. '21

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The Diabolic by S.J. Kinkaid (review by Anya W. '20)

The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Kill in order to protect the person you've been created for. That is the duty of a Diabolic. To love their master for the entirety of their lives and be willing to do anything to protect them. In a time when a ruthless emperor reigns, that sacrifice can even extend to taking her place. If Nemesis is discovered, she's dead, and Sidonia is in danger... Be it taking on a ruthless tyrant or allying with a mad prince, Nemesis will do whatever it takes to protect her master. The Diabolic is beautifully written and definitely falls into the YA category. The world building for this novel is absolutely brilliant, and personally, I'm a sucker for good world building. From the beginning, this novel is gripping, and although the quality of the story decreases somewhat near the end, this novel ends quite nicely. Speaking as someone who has been slightly phasing out of YA novels as of late, The Diabolic definitely deserves a read. - Anya W. '20

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The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (review by Andrew R. '17)

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

To call The Handmaid’s Tale a dystopian novel would be to do it a disservice: while the near-future mockery of American society in which the novel is set does, technically, fall under that category, the freedom-fighting and romantic entanglements that we’ve come to associate with the genre have no place in this book. On its surface, the story follows Offred, a young woman assigned to a high-ranking official in the Republic of Gilead and tasked with bearing him children. With birthrates falling below crisis level, Offred and the other “handmaids” of this brutal patriarchy represent the society’s only hope, but Gilead’s fanatical and fundamentalist codes of conduct force all women into submission, their lives characterized only by traumatic memories and a fervent hope for pregnancy. Atwood intends this novel, it seems, to be a thought experiment that extends systemic gender inequalities and the “family values” that perpetuate them to their most oppressive extremes, which may explain why Gilead is sometimes so hard to distinguish from the postmodern America it replaced. The novel’s dystopian conceit is so complete that its cast of characters tends to feel more like symbols than humans in their own right; still, The Handmaid’s Tale achieves a level of social-justice-minded indignation that very few other works of science fiction manage to attain.

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Rook by Sharon Cameron (review by Andrew R. '17)

Rook by Sharon Cameron
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There are only so many post-apocalyptic dystopia concepts that exist in the world, and, thanks to the mad rush of YA science fiction sprang into being following the enormous success of The Hunger Games, it’s almost—almost—impossible at this point for an author to come up with a brand-new one. In Rook, however, Sharon Cameron may just have pulled it off. The world that protagonists Sophia Bellamy and René Hasard inhabit is full of not-so-subtle overtones of the French Revolution, with lower-class mobs overrunning the Upper City and a massive, blood-spattered blade decapitating enemies of the state. But this isn’t eighteenth-century Paris—this is Europe hundreds of years after the polar shift that wiped out most of humanity. The loss of all pre-apocalypse technology has forced society to backtrack several centuries to a bloodier and more brutal time. The characters are almost as interesting as the setting—Sophia may be a classic YA heroine fighting off the advances of two devilishly handsome suitors, but at least the love triangle has some political intrigue to spice things up. (Nearly all the characters are benevolent criminals of some sort.) Rook is lengthy, but readers will forgive its heft once they get caught up in the engaging narrative and well-conceived setting.

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Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (review by Kaitlyn N. '18)

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Aveyard skillfully combines a dystopian society with the world of fantasy in Red Queen, which addresses segregation and the conflict between different social classes. In the genetically modified future, humans are divided into two castes: those with silver blood (Silvers), and those with red (Reds). Those with silver blood enjoy a wealthier lifestyle and magical abilities, while people with red blood work as peasants and slaves. Even so, Mare, a Red, discovers that she straddles the border between the Reds and Silvers, and she is forced to become a princess under the watchful eye of the despotic king and her newly betrothed, the prince. Her plans for a rebellion go unnoticed, but Mare also faces internal struggles within her lovestruck heart and in her decision to sacrifice hundreds of innocent people for the sake of her cause. Aveyard’s unique plot and her taut writing from Mare's perspective build suspense until the end. However, the lack of description and detail may easily confuse the reader. Fans of fantasy, adventure and strong female leads would certainly enjoy Red Queen.

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In Persuasion Nation by George Saunders (review by Shannon H. '16)

In Persuasion Nation by George Saunders
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was almost addicted, inhaling this collection of dark short stories at an alarmingly fast pace. George Saunders creates a world in which advertising and persuasion overcome rational thought - his stories read like television commercials, slowly convincing the reader that the grotesque and brutal scenes are real. One short story begins with a polar bear lamenting his doomed existence to repeat the same patterns each day (he lives in a advertising scene). Each day he steals Cheetos from an igloo and is subsequently caught; afterwards, the owner of the igloo swings an ax to the polar bear’s head, and the day ends. Unsurprisingly, the polar bear engages in existential discussion and falls down the wormhole of philosophy. What a brilliant mix of realism and complete absurdism, and of course, it's great satire. Would highly recommend to anyone looking for some grim reality mixed with a dosage of humor and science fiction.

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Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A. S. King (review by Mrs. Vaughan, Harker librarian)

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Glory O'Brien is about to graduate from high school but her future remains uncertain despite her apparent talents and a supportive single father. Glory remains haunted by the suicide of her artistic and even more talented mother fourteen years previous. Confident in her tendency to eschew the passing trends celebrated by teens around her, Gloria is nonetheless crippled by the fear that she harbors some unidentified trait that will lead her down the un-understandable path her mother traveled long ago. In a bizarre twist, Glory acquires the ability to see people's futures and a terrifying dystopia, in which girls and women are reduced to less than chattel, reveals itself in sudden flashes as she encounters friends and strangers. By accident of circumstance, Glory not only needs to reconcile her identity and future, but ward off the impending devolution of society.

The beauty of King's story is the character of Glory -- a fully realized personality that subtly draws the reader into what at first seems a compelling coming-of-age story. Indeed, the much more frightening threat of societal dissolution is beautifully cloaked in the power of Glory's story. Glory is a character drawn of perfectly believable contradictions: she simultaneously exudes self confidence and self questioning. She is both determined and terrified. Little does she know that the mystery of her personal circumstances may unlock more than her own salvation.

King's is not a fantastic tale. Beyond the convention of the future visions, the existing discomfort in Glory's life, the misogynistic forebodings and the novel's satisfying ending are grounded in reality. Readers who enjoyed Chbosky's Perks of Being a Wallflower and Lockhart's We Were Liars, as well as King's Please Ignore Vera Dietz will be thoroughly pleased with Glory O'Brien's History of the Future. - Mrs. Vaughan, Harker librarian

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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (review by Andrew R.'17)

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ready Player One has the amusing (if unlikely) premise of a massive ’80s cultural revival in the year 2044 following the death of billionaire video game designer James Halliday. In a famine-stricken vision of future America, Halliday’s will is the last hope for many of the country’s hopeful gamers: it bestows the designer’s entire fortune upon the first person to complete a series of ’80s-themed riddles set in the OASIS, a sprawling virtual-reality videogame that redefines MMORPGs. For a future-world teenager, intrepid fortune-hunter Wade Watts spends a surprising amount of time obsessing over minutiae of ’80s culture that seem more likely to appeal to the author himself. (Case in point: the president of the OASIS is Cline’s fellow science-fiction novelist Cory Doctorow.) My only qualm with this book is that, while the OASIS is constantly glorified, it’s clear that the collapse of the real world is a direct result of the citizenry’s lack of regard for anything outside their alternate-reality visors. One character hints at this, but, of course, he immediately recants his views and never brings them up again. Still, Ready Player One is a fun diversion from the real world—for the author as well as the reader. - Andrew R. '17

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Four by Veronica Roth (review by Catherine H. '17)

Four: The Transfer by Veronica Roth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Four is a collection of several short stories that help clarify the background of the character Four in Veronica Roth's Divergent series. This book has several sections that begin with his Choosing Ceremony and end a short while after he meets Tris. I found this an intriguing read and thought it was nice for a quick read. I would recommend this to anyone who read and enjoyed the Divergent series. - Catherine H. '17

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Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (review by Lauren L. '17)

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Set in a dystopian future after a devastating war, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? later became the inspiration for the film Blade Runner and cleverly utilizes the unspoken need for company and labor that created the market demand for androids in the first place to emphasize the empathy and lack of appearing in the human race. The protagonist, Rick Deckard, is a bounty hunter who finds and kills rogue androids for the police on a dying Earth where animals have become a precious rarity and owning and caring for one is an indication of humanity. Most people have left to colonize Mars, and Deckard is trapped in a claustrophobic marriage with ownership of only a single animal- an android sheep. Though the writing itself didn’t appear to be anything special, the plot and the action are transfixing enough for any sci-fi reader to enjoy. - Lauren L.'17

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Homeland (Little Brother #2) by Cory Doctorow (review by Catherine H. '17)

Homeland by Cory Doctorow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Since Marcus started up the Xnet and exposed the government in Little Brother, everything has gone downhill. After the economy the crashes and leaves him with nothing, his former rival Masha shows up with a mysterious USB drive containing a load of dark secrets. She warns Marcus to leak the info on the drive if she ever goes missing, which she promptly does. However, in his new job as a webmaster for an independent candidate, Marcus can't afford to let anyone know that he's the leaker. Cory Doctorow's brilliant book, a sort of wake-up call that shows the dark side of technology, is a thrilling read. I would recommend this series to most if not all avid readers, regardless of age or genre preference.

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Delirium by Lauren Oliver (review by Catherine H. '17)

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When love, or amor deliria nervosa, is seen as a disease, scientists develop a cure. However, the cure can only be administered when the patient is eighteen, otherwise it is unsafe. Lena Haloway, now Lena Tiddle, is eager to be cured so that she can't become like her mother and sister, both previously infected. She's worried about her friend Hana, who is beautiful and has recently begun riding the edge between loyal citizen and sympathizer. She forgets about this when her evaluations go horribly wrong and she meets a Cured named Alex. She falls in love and finally wakes up to reality, that love is not a disease, and that she must escape. Delirium had an interesting idea, and some nice romance, but I felt that the plot didn't move smoothly throughout the book. - Catherine H. '17

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The Drowned Cities by Paul Bacigalupi (review by Karen T. '16)

The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Built in the same world as Paolo Bacigalupi's first book, Ship Breaker, The Drowned Cities follows the danger-ridden journeys of two children, Mahlia and Mouse, as the traverse the post-apocalyptic world of a multi-factioned civil war. As Mahlia and Mouse's precarious existence in the small village of Banyan town is torn apart by the arrival of violent bands of soldier boys, they must find their own means of survival. Bacigalupi's writing portrays the meaningless violence of war without trivializing it. Through the development of Mahlia's conscience and the shifting of each character's loyalties, Bacigalupi renders a cruel world that demonstrates the futility of war. A strong sequel to his first book, The Drowned Cities is definitely a worthy read for anyone who enjoys action and dystopian fiction. - Karen T. '16

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Plague by Michael Grant (review by Andrew R. '17)

Plague by Michael Grant
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

By the beginning of the fourth book of Michael Grant’s FAYZ series, the situation is grim: deadly epidemics sweep the population, young children resort to cannibalism to survive, an invincible sadistic demon prowls the streets, mutant insects lay eggs inside humans so their larvae can gnaw their way free upon birth…If this description of events makes this book sound over-the-top gruesome, that’s because it is. Grant forgoes any semblance of a plot in favor of graphic death after graphic death, introducing scores of characters whose sole purpose is to be eaten or burnt or flayed or stabbed, and he often undercuts the horror of his plot by going too far with his ideas. Sure, wasps with bulletproof carapaces that can gnaw through stone are scary enough, but making them the size of minivans and perching undead whip-wielding demons on their shoulders is such absurd overkill as to make them seem ridiculous, not frightening. I could go on about the story’s repetitiveness, its clichéd characters, its depressing love interest, or its awful attempts at humor, but I’ll have to be content with warning potential readers that the FAYZ takes a serious turn for the worse at this point in the series. - Andrew R. '17

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The Lord of Opium by Nancy Farmer (review by Monica K. 14)

The Lord of Opium by Nancy Farmer
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The surprise sequel of The House of the Scorpion, The Lord of Opium by Nancy Farmer follows Matt's dismantling of his predecessor's drug empire. In particular, it explores the plight of the microchipped eejits, ethics of cloning and microchipping, and the polluted, future world. While the novel had potential (and is still well-written and recommended to fans of the first book), it could have been truly great with a serious round of editing. My main problems with it were that the pacing was off and main characters shifted personalities from the first novel or acted out of character to move the plot along. I also missed the world building and suspense of the first book. In the end the Lord of Opium is pretty good but not a must-read - however, I really, really recommend The House of the Scorpion. – Monica K. ‘14

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The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey (review by Catherine H. '17)

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When the aliens come and the human population is brought to its knees, only a few unlucky people survive. Cassie Sullivan, her brother, and her father were lucky enough to live through the first few waves, but when they are separated, her only mission is to find them. Armed with a gun and her wit, Cassie struggles to stay alive in this apocalyptic world. When she meets the mysterious Evan Walker who offers to help her, she doesn't know whether or not to trust him. Rick Yancey has imagined a truly terrifying world where the enemy looks human and no one can be trusted. Though I thoroughly enjoyed the action and the plot, the strange love triangle just doesn't seem to work out so well. Some of it was confusing and not well connected. I would only suggest The 5th Wave to people who are looking for a sci-fi or dystopian read. – Catherine H. ‘17

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