- The cover looked interesting.
I recommend:
- Tankborn by Karen Sandler
Summary from GoodReads:
Eden Newman must mate before her 18th birthday in six months or she’ll be left outside to die in a burning world. But who will pick up her mate-option when she’s cursed with white skin and a tragically low mate-rate of 15%? In a post-apocalyptic, totalitarian, underground world where class and beauty are defined by resistance to an overheated environment, Eden’s coloring brands her as a member of the lowest class, a weak and ugly Pearl. If only she can mate with a dark-skinned Coal from the ruling class, she’ll be safe. Just maybe one Coal sees the Real Eden and will be her salvation her co-worker Jamal has begun secretly dating her. But when Eden unwittingly compromises her father’s secret biological experiment, she finds herself in the eye of a storm and thrown into the last area of rainforest, a strange and dangerous land. Eden must fight to save her father, who may be humanity’s last hope, while standing up to a powerful beast-man she believes is her enemy, despite her overwhelming attraction. Eden must change to survive but only if she can redefine her ideas of beauty and of love, along with a little help from her “adopted aunt” Emily Dickinson.
My Review:
I don’t do pure negative reviews very often – usually there’s some sort of saving grace in a book, a storyline I like, a character I admired, something I can pull from the book, but I can’t do it here.
Let’s look at the list of things that got to me:
1. Reverse racism. Foyt tried an experiment and, in my opinion, failed. Something that is a basic cornerstone of good writing is show, don’t tell. Don’t include a word and then reference it as being a “racist” term, in those exact words! There’s no need to turn history around to prove a point either. White-face bands? Reverse slavery/abuse? The whole idea just rubbed me the wrong way – especially since the idea for her earth was actually a good one, and so much could have been done with it that was fresh and new.
2. Beastiality. Have we gotten to the point that we’re angel/demon/vampire/werewolf/witch/mermaid/fairy -’d out? Do we really need to turn to beastial creatures to get that hot, romance-y, steam fix? I cannot tell you how much times “tail” was mentioned that seemed to get Eden all hot and bothered, and oh my goodness, it gave me the heebie-jeebies.
3. Plot. I couldn’t really find one. I mean, I could find a spoiled brat of a girl, but .. was the plot her intention to actually get away? or was it that she protests too much? or was it that.. you know, I don’t know. If you read this book, and like it, please tell me what the plot was? 75% in, I was talking about this book to a friend, and she asked what the plot was and it blew me away that I couldn’t articulate it.
I love dystopia books, I love science fiction, I love a good story with racial tension in it, it gets my mind working (Go read Tankborn by Karen Sandler). But, other than a spark of what could have been, I just didn’t find much of anything to like in this story.
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